Adventures of Superman #439

Jerry Ordway's cover for this April 1988 issue delivers an immediately arresting image: a battered, grimacing Superman bracing himself in a doorway, his costume torn and his body clearly pushed to its limits. Behind him, two onlookers — one of whom stands near a desk marked "Perry White, Editor" — stare in evident alarm at the Man of Steel's condition. With John Byrne and Ordway collaborating on "Tin Soldiers," this is the kind of issue that reminds you why the late-'80s Superman run had such a devoted following.