Hellspawn #2

The second chapter of "The Clown" arrives with one of 2000's most unsettling covers — Ashley Wood's painted image of a gaunt, decayed face looming through what appears to be translucent fabric is genuinely haunting, blending photorealistic grime with an almost spectral eeriness. Wood handles every visual element here, and that painterly, deteriorating aesthetic sets a tone far darker than mainstream superhero fare. Brian Michael Bendis and Wood's collaboration on this Image series was clearly committed to pushing Spawn's world into grimier, more atmospheric horror territory from the start.