Excalibur #88

Part one of the "Dream Nails Trilogy" puts Kitty Pryde and Pete Wisdom front and center — she stands arms-crossed in her orange coat and blue tights, all cool composure, while he looms beside her in a battered green trench coat, blue energy crackling around his scarred face and clenched fists. Ken Lashley's pencils and Tom Wegrzyn's inks give the duo a moody, noir-tinged presence that suits Warren Ellis's grittier take on the Excalibur world perfectly. If you ever wanted to see this unlikely pairing treated with genuine edge, 1995's Excalibur #88 makes a compelling case right from the cover.