Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #8

Eastman and Laird's TMNT #8 from 1986 brings an unexpected crossover, teaming the Turtles with Dave Sim's Cerebus the Aardvark in what had to be one of the more delightfully unlikely pairings in indie comics that year. The cover, penciled and inked by Kevin Eastman, packs in a striking sword-wielding woman in ornate blue armor and helmet at center, flanked by two of the green-shelled brothers and a scowling Cerebus crouching in the foreground — weapons drawn and tension high. It's a vivid snapshot of the scrappy, creator-driven energy that made Mirage Studios so compelling in the mid-'80s.