Hellblazer #98

There's something wonderfully unsettling about this February 1996 DC/Vertigo cover — John Constantine, cigarette dangling from his lips and trenchcoat billowing, is being hauled forward by a large, eerily pale-eyed dog straining at its leash, a darkened Victorian building looming in the green-tinged background behind them. Sean Phillips brings a gritty, kinetic energy to the image, perfectly matching the story's title, "Walking the Dog" — though whether Constantine is doing the walking or the other way around is very much in question. Paul Jenkins is at the helm for this one, and with art and covers by Phillips, issue #98 is the kind of Vertigo package that rewards a closer look.