Howard the Duck #5

The cover of this September 1976 issue says it all: Howard the Duck — the feathered fury himself, clad in his polka-dot wrestling outfit — faces off in the ring against the towering brute known as Klout, a muscle-bound giant who looks ready to flatten our hapless hero with one swipe of his massive hand. Penciled by Gene Colan and John Romita with inks by Steve Leialoha, it's a wonderfully absurd image that captures exactly why Steve Gerber's "trapped in a world he never made" premise works so well — a cigar-chomping duck vs. a man-mountain, surrounded by a roaring crowd, in the "Arena of No Return." If you ever needed a single cover to explain Howard the Duck's peculiar charm, this is a strong contender.