Blue Beetle #50

This 1965 Charlton issue throws Blue Beetle into a tense confrontation with the red-faced, yellow-suited Mister Crabb and his mechanical menace, the Scorpion — a fearsome robotic creature whose beam weapon leaves the hero crying out "I…I'm powerless!" The cover, rendered by penciler Bill Fraccio and inker Tony Tallarico, packs in two dramatic panel insets showing the Scorpion's cutting beam at close range alongside the main scene of Blue Beetle struggling against the mechanical monster amid rocky terrain. With a 12-cent price tag and a villain duo this visually striking, it's a genuine snapshot of mid-'60s Charlton superhero storytelling at its most inventive.