The Awakening #3

Stephen Blue's cover for this 1998 Image series immediately commands attention — a wide-eyed figure in a red jacket claws desperately at a shattering surface, shards of broken glass splintering outward as if reality itself is coming apart. The expression of raw panic on their face sets the tone perfectly for a series built around unsettling transformation. Issue #3 of The Awakening promises the kind of psychological unease that makes late-'90s independent horror comics so compelling.