Sandman #53

Part three of the "Worlds' End" arc, this September 1993 issue of Neil Gaiman's Sandman carries a Dave McKean cover that layers Dream's pale, shadowed face alongside a mysterious robed figure crowned with a blue star, a luminous cathedral spire, an ornate helm, and ghostly ships — a collage that feels simultaneously intimate and vast. The story within, "Hob's Leviathan," promises a seafaring tale spun inside the cosmic waystation of Worlds' End, and the assembled imagery on McKean's cover captures that sense of strange journeys and stranger company perfectly. With interior art by Bryan Talbot, Michael Zulli, Mark Buckingham, and Dick Giordano, this is a beautifully crafted chapter in one of Vertigo's most ambitious series.