Blackhawk #253

Blackhawk #253 delivers a charged December 1982 cover by Dave Cockrum, showing the blue-uniformed Blackhawk gripping a rifle under heavy fire — bullet holes spider-webbing the glass around him — while the bold yellow-and-black Blackhawk squadron emblem looms behind him. The desperation on his face and the shattered backdrop make this one of the more viscerally tense covers in the series' run. Inside, writer Mark Evanier and artist Dan Spiegle take on "The Private War of Hendrickson," promising the kind of grounded, character-driven adventure that defined this era of the title.