Savage Dragon #1

Image Comics' long-running series kicked off in 1993 with this striking first issue, and Erik Larsen's cover makes an immediate statement — a massive, green-skinned figure with a fin atop his head glowers directly at the reader, fresh claw marks bleeding down his face, one fist raised and a firearm clutched in the other. The Savage Dragon looks battered but absolutely unbowed, rendered in Larsen's bold, muscular linework against a stark black background that gives the whole image a punchy, no-nonsense energy. At $1.95, this was an early showcase for what Image Comics was bringing to the 1993 direct market — raw, creator-owned storytelling with a lead character who looks like he's already been through hell and is ready for considerably more.