Hunter: The Age of Magic #22

A young man with dramatically spiky hair drifts weightlessly above a rolling landscape, his jacket covered in a collage of curious imagery, while colorful balloons spelling out "MAGIC" float beneath him — it's a hauntingly dreamlike image from Chris Bachalo that perfectly captures the tone of Vertigo's Hunter: The Age of Magic. This June 2003 issue, titled "The Art of Magic," pairs Dylan Horrocks' writing with Richard Case's interior art for what promises to be a thoughtful chapter in this mature-readers series. The addition of a hand painting a window frame into the scene gives the whole composition a quietly surreal, self-aware quality that sets this series apart from the superhero mainstream.