Hellblazer #170

A trenchcoated figure stands with his back to us, head bowed over a chalk outline on the floor — a quietly devastating image that sets the tone for "Ashes & Dust in the City of Angels Part One." Brian Azzarello and Marcelo Frusin kick off a new arc in March 2002, fresh off Wizard's "Best Anti-Hero, Best Writer" recognition, promising the kind of gritty, morally complex storytelling that defines Vertigo's long-running occult noir. Tim Bradstreet's muted, rain-soaked cover art lingers in the mind long after you've set the issue down.