Starman #23

This fourth and final chapter of "Sand and Stars" arrives with one of the most visually arresting covers of 1996 — Tony Harris delivers a striking Art Deco-inflected composition featuring a burning zeppelin dominating a vivid sunburst sky of yellow and blue, while a mysterious goggled figure peers out from a spiraling vortex below and a glowing silhouette stands boldly to the right. The tension between those three distinct visual elements — disaster above, enigma below, defiant presence beside — captures exactly the kind of pulpy, atmospheric storytelling that made James Robinson's Starman run so compelling. A wonderful capstone to this arc, with Harris's cover work alone making it a memorable entry in DC's mid-nineties lineup.