Doctor Strange #21

Few conflicts cut as deep as being forced to fight someone you love, and this February 1977 Marvel issue puts Doctor Strange in exactly that agonizing position. The cover by Gene Colan (pencils) and Tom Palmer (inks) captures the Master of the Mystic Arts locked in a blazing magical clash with Clea — her silver hair wild, arms raised in fury — as monstrous green tentacles engulf the surrounding street and horrified bystanders scramble for safety, while Strange's own caption admits he can't stop her without destroying her. It's a visually charged, emotionally fraught image that makes this installment of the ongoing series genuinely hard to set down unread.