Kurt Busiek's Astro City #14

Three silhouetted figures walk a prison corridor backlit by harsh fluorescent light — the central figure's hands are secured behind their back in gleaming metallic restraints, flanked by two escorts whose grip makes the situation unmistakably clear. Alex Ross's cover art gives "The Big Lockdown" a cinematic, almost noir gravity that feels remarkably grounded for a superhero title. It's a quietly arresting image from one of 1998's most thoughtful ongoing series.