Hellblazer #23

Two intense, unsettling eyes stare out from a face fragmented by strips of handwritten text — a haunting cover by Kent Williams that layers John Constantine's visage with scattered words and shadowed features, creating an atmosphere of fractured identity and unease. Writer Jamie Delano and artist Ron Tiner bring "Larger Than Life" to this October 1989 issue, and the cover alone promises the dark, literary mood that made Hellblazer one of DC's most compelling mature-readers titles. If you want comics that treat their audience as thoughtful adults, this is exactly the kind of issue to track down.