Action Comics #408

A genuinely unsettling moment graces the cover of this January 1972 issue, with a resolute Superman turning away from desperate mission control technicians as a stranded spacecraft drifts near Earth in the monitor behind them — his speech bubble delivering the jaw-dropping declaration "Not only CAN'T I save your astronaut — BUT I WON'T!" The cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson perfectly captures that tension between Superman's power and some mysterious refusal, while the banner teases "What was the shocking secret of Superman's 3rd identity?" to sweeten the intrigue. At 52 pages for just 25 cents, this issue also packages a backup tale — "The Atom's Phantom Double!" — making it a genuinely satisfying read from the early Bronze Age.