Green Lantern #81

A quietly powerful cover for December 1996, Green Lantern #81 forgoes action entirely in favor of something more affecting — the Corps' familiar lantern symbol rendered in muted orange against a field of green, set against what appears to be a grass-covered surface, with the solemn words "His Light Will Burn Forever" inscribed beneath it. The imagery strongly evokes a gravestone or memorial, lending the issue a tone of mourning and reverence before you've even turned a single page. With pencils and inks by Darryl Banks and Romeo Tanghal, it's a restrained, well-considered design that lets the weight of the story title, "Funeral for a Hero," speak for itself.