Hellblazer #249

From Vertigo's long-running mature-readers series, Hellblazer #249 arrives in December 2008 as part three of Andy Diggle's "The Roots of Coincidence." Lee Bermejo's painted cover delivers an unsettling image: John Constantine rendered as a limp marionette, suspended by strings above an open coffin amid cemetery crosses and guttering candles — a man famous for pulling strings on others here reduced to someone else's puppet. It's a striking visual argument for why this series, with interior art by Leonardo Manco, remains one of Vertigo's most atmospheric ongoing titles.