Blue Beetle #3

Blue Beetle finds himself seriously outnumbered on this vibrant 1986 cover, as the blue-suited hero is swarmed by a wild mob of colorfully costumed villains — the Madmen — rendered in a chaotic tangle of greens, pinks, purples, and yellows by Paris Cullins and inker Bruce Patterson. The cover's bold tagline promises Blue Beetle "mixes it up with the Malevolent Madmen," and the sheer visual energy of that pile-on sells the threat perfectly. With Len Wein handling the script and the story titled "If This Be Madness...!", this third issue of DC's 1986 series delivers exactly the kind of frenetic super-heroics fans were looking for.