Kid Eternity #12

Sean Phillips's cover for this May 1994 Vertigo entry is a psychedelic close-up of a grinning figure — his face split between sickly yellow and deep pink, wild green tendrils snaking through his gravity-defying hair, and swirling pinwheel lenses where his eyes should be. The whole image pulses against an orange-and-green burst of spiraling color, making it feel genuinely unhinged in the best possible way. Ann Nocenti and Phillips bring their unsettling sensibility to "Eat Slap Die 2," and this cover alone makes a strong case for why Kid Eternity earned its mature-readers label.