The Dreaming #43

Against a smoldering crimson sky, Dave McKean's cover juxtaposes two haunting images: a massive, decaying cocoon-like form suspended above, its surface revealing what appears to be a dragon or serpentine creature coiled within, and below it a slender, skeletal winged figure standing sentinel on a thin perch. This is the epilogue to "Fox and Hounds" — subtitled "The Two Trees" — and the cover's atmosphere of transformation and desolation captures exactly the kind of dreamlike unease that made Vertigo's The Dreaming such a compelling corner of the DC universe in 1999. Written by Caitlín R. Kiernan with interior art by Bo and Scott Hampton, this December issue rounds out a story arc with the quiet gravity it deserves.