Shade, the Changing Man #53

This November 1994 DC/Vertigo entry in Peter Milligan and Sean Phillips's run subtitles itself "Pop Art," and the cover makes that declaration literal — a figure in a boldly patterned black-and-white coat clutches a pin and gazes up at an enormous, luminous sphere that dominates the entire image, one outstretched hand pressing against its surface as if testing its reality. The cool blue-to-violet gradient of that massive orb, with a hint of green peeking from behind it, gives the whole composition an otherworldly, almost hypnotic calm that feels perfectly at home in Shade's surrealist universe. Part three of "The Morning of the Masks" arc, this issue is a striking reminder of why this series earned its "Suggested for Mature Readers" badge — and why Milligan and Phillips made such a distinctive team on Vertigo's strangest title.