Jack of Fables #38

This Vertigo gem from 2009 leans hard into meta-territory right on its cover, where a very large hand holds a pencil, actively drawing a smirking, ponytailed man in a star t-shirt who carries a briefcase — while a grinning anthropomorphic chicken stands at his side and pencil sketches of the same figure emerge in the background. The tagline "You don't want to piss off the guy who draws you if you're as vain as..." sets up a wonderfully self-aware premise about the power an artist holds over their subject. Brian Bolland's cover art is rendered with his characteristically precise, almost photorealistic detail, making the whole creator-versus-creation conceit feel as sharp as it is playful.