The Invisibles #15

DC Vertigo's The Invisibles #15 (December 1995) delivers one of the more arresting covers of its era: Sean Phillips's painted image of an enormous pair of red lips, dramatically parted around a tiny blue-skinned figure caught within their darkness, with a lipstick tube pressing in from the corner — a surreal tableau that feels simultaneously glamorous and deeply unsettling. It's a fitting visual for "Sheman, Part Three: Apocalipstick," Grant Morrison and Jill Thompson's ongoing chapter in one of Vertigo's most ambitious series. If you've been following this arc, this issue's cover alone signals that the strange, transformative territory isn't letting up anytime soon.