Shadow Cabinet #15

Part of DC/Milestone's "Long Hot Summer" crossover event, this August 1995 issue puts Payback front and center — literally — as the cover by John Paul Leon depicts the imposing, razor-clawed figure crouching in a state of raw tension against an urban backdrop crackling with unrest. The cover copy says it plainly: trapped at the center of a riot, Payback must decide which kind of monster it's safest to be — a question that gives Leon's brooding, shadow-drenched artwork real moral weight. With Matt Wayne writing and Shawn Martinbrough sharing inking duties alongside Leon, "Melon in Season" promises one of the more charged entries in this Milestone series.