Out of the Vortex #4

Dark Horse's Comics' Greatest World corner of the early nineties gets a fierce showcase in this fourth issue of Out of the Vortex, with a cover by Dave Dorman and Joe Rubinstein that puts two striking figures front and center — a glowering, orange-eyed costumed figure looming large in the foreground while an armored, flame-wielding warrior blazes dramatically behind him amid crumbling architecture and bursts of fire. The story inside, "Planet Crusher," is crafted by writer Neal Barrett Jr. and artist Damon Willis, promising the kind of large-scale conflict the title suggests. It's a vivid, energetic package from 1994 that captures Dark Horse's ambition to build a superhero universe entirely its own.