The Spirit #11

Darwyn Cooke leans into Día de los Muertos with this striking December 2007 cover — a massive, ornately decorated sugar skull dominates the image, its wide grin and colorful painted details filling the frame while tiny dancing skeletons swarm the brim of its top hat beneath a full blue moon. A small red devil figure appears reflected in one of the skull's elaborately ringed eye sockets, and the Spirit's signature purple scarf trails from the skull's chin, anchoring the whole eerie tableau to Will Eisner's beloved hero. With inks and colors by J. Bone and Dave Stewart respectively enhancing every vivid, ghostly detail, this is a wonderfully atmospheric chapter in Cooke's celebrated run.