Wildstorm Swimsuit Special

For two sun-soaked summers in the mid-1990s, Image Comics published the Wildstorm Swimsuit Special, a lighthearted two-issue annual that let the publisher’s top talent—including regular writers Sarah Becker, Drew Bittner, and Dylan Anderson, and artists Joe Chiodo and Rick Mays—dress its action heroes in beachwear. Featuring a cast that ranged from Backlash and Bliss to the Blood Queen and Adrianna Tereshkova, the series was a playful, era-defining detour from grim storylines, offering pin-up style fun without narrative weight. It remains a nostalgic snapshot of the decade’s comic culture, where a swimsuit issue could be a blockbuster event.