Sandman #56

Part six of the "Worlds' End" arc, this 1993 DC Vertigo issue wraps up one of Sandman's most atmospheric story cycles. Dave McKean's cover is characteristically haunting — a shadowed, hat-brimmed face looms in warm amber tones while a mist-shrouded Victorian house floats dreamlike in the foreground, as if caught between worlds. Inside, Neil Gaiman leads a remarkable creative team including Bryan Talbot, Gary Amaro, and a host of inkers, promising the layered, literary storytelling that made this series one of Vertigo's defining titles of the era.