Mage #5

Mage: The Hero Defined #5 finds Matt Wagner's series in confident mid-stride with this January 1998 Image issue. The cover, penciled and inked by Wagner himself, puts a bearded, long-haired hero front and center — dressed in a trenchcoat over a lightning-bolt tee and wielding a glowing staff crackling with energy — while a dreadlocked companion in blue and round shades reacts urgently behind him. There's a palpable sense of two people bracing for whatever's coming next, making "Come What Come May" feel like exactly the right title for the tension Wagner has rendered here.