Midnight, Mass. #5

Vertigo's supernatural series Midnight, Mass. reaches its fifth issue with a cover that sets an unsettling, atmospheric mood. Tomer Hanuka's artwork depicts a pale, ghastly figure with long blonde hair and bloodied hands pressed together in a gesture resembling prayer, while a monstrous, flame-engulfed form looms in the fiery background behind her. Written by John Rozum with interior art by Jesús Saiz and inks by Jimmy Palmiotti, this October 2002 installment — subtitled "The Dark Mother's Midwives" — promises exactly the kind of eerie, dread-soaked storytelling that made Vertigo's mature-readers line so compelling.