Green Lantern #27

Part 2 of the "Evil Star Rising!" trilogy puts Hal Jordan in a genuinely dire spot — the cover by M. D. Bright and Romeo Tanghal shows Green Lantern swarmed and entangled by a horde of Evil Star's Starlings, their red-starred masks and purple uniforms closing in from every direction as he grits his teeth and fights to break free. It's a wonderfully kinetic image that captures the overwhelming odds stacking up against Earth's emerald protector. Writer Gerard Jones keeps the three-part story rolling with this August 1992 issue, subtitled "Confrontation!" — and that cover makes the title feel entirely earned.