Gemini Blood #8

Part one of a two-part arc subtitled "Shadow of the Loothka" kicks off in this April 1997 entry in DC's Helix line, and the cover by Tommy Lee Edwards makes a strong first impression — two figures locked in desperate close-quarters combat in the foreground while a woman with a gun holds her ground nearby, the whole scene drenched in deep shadows and a vivid splash of red that gives the title Gemini Blood an urgently literal feel. Edwards's gritty, painterly linework captures a world where violence erupts fast and allies have to think even faster. If you've been following this underrated Helix series, issue #8 looks like exactly the kind of escalation that makes serialized sci-fi noir so compelling.