Alpha Flight #51

This October 1987 Marvel issue puts Canada's super-team front and center in a scene crackling with battlefield chaos — a snarling, feral figure dominates the foreground while soldiers scramble below and a red energy cannon blazes in the background amid bursting explosions. The yellow sky gives the whole composition a sharp, urgent pop that makes the cover pencils by Hilary Barta and inks by Kevin Nowlan feel genuinely kinetic. With interior art by a young Jim Lee and writing by Bill Mantlo, Alpha Flight #51 is a fine snapshot of the series hitting its stride.