Hellblazer #55

Glenn Fabry's cover for this July 1992 issue stops you cold: a grotesque, skull-faced demonic visage — raw, glistening, and baring jagged fangs — looms directly over a Union Jack, making the British flag feel like anything but a comfort. It's a striking visual statement for "Dog Eat Dog," the fourth chapter of the Royal Blood storyline, written by Garth Ennis with interior art by Will Simpson. The marriage of patriotic imagery and visceral horror sets exactly the kind of unsettling, politically charged tone that made Hellblazer essential mature-readers reading in 1992.