Hellblazer #52

A brooding, intense face looms large over a pile of skulls and heavy chains on Glenn Fabry's striking cover for this April 1992 issue — the blade of a large knife thrust toward the viewer reveals an etched demonic figure within its steel, hinting at dark supernatural forces at work. This is "The Players," the opening chapter of the Royal Blood storyline, with Garth Ennis writing and Will Simpson on art. It's a moody, unsettling package that signals Hellblazer is operating at full, mature-readers intensity.