The Spectre #0

Part of DC's 1994 "Zero Hour" initiative, this issue promises "The Beginning of Tomorrow!" for the Spirit of Vengeance — and the cover delivers an atmosphere of genuine dread. Tom Mandrake renders the Spectre as an imposing, hooded green-cloaked figure surrounded on all sides by wax-dripping skulls mounted on spikes, creating an unforgettable tableau of supernatural menace. Writer John Ostrander and artist Mandrake were clearly in their element here, and "The Temptation of the Spectre" sounds like exactly the kind of dark, ambitious story this creative team was built to tell.