Howard the Duck #4

Phil Winslade's interior art and a Glenn Fabry cover combine to give this 2002 Marvel MAX series a gritty, atmospheric edge that suits the "Boarding House of Mystery" chapter perfectly. The cover — painted with an ominous orange dusk — shows a large, anthropomorphic rat-like figure in a white tee and jeans striding toward us, flanked by a dark-haired woman in casual clothes and a tan puppy, all three emerging from the shadowy façade of a creaky Victorian boarding house. Steve Gerber's signature brand of weird, adult-oriented storytelling is clearly in full effect here, and the Parental Advisory label leaves no doubt this is Howard the Duck operating at the unfiltered MAX Comics level.