Shade, the Changing Man #44

Duncan Fegredo's painted cover for this February 1994 DC/Vertigo entry captures a wonderfully tense tableau: Shade, draped in his swirling patchwork coat with his M-Vest billowing dramatically behind him, fires a pistol while shielding two terrified companions — a dark-haired woman and a younger figure — as a monstrous presence looms at the edge of the frame. The "Killing Time" banner and the chaotic energy of the composition make it clear that Peter Milligan, Chris Bachalo, and Rick Bryant have something urgent and unsettling waiting inside. If you've been following this run, issue #44 looks like exactly the kind of instalment that keeps Shade one of Vertigo's most compellingly strange titles.