Justice League America #54

Part 3 of the "Break Downs" storyline, this September 1991 issue presents one of the more quietly striking covers of the era — Blue Beetle's crumpled costume and helmet sit discarded against a city grate, while two ordinary-looking figures walk away down an urban street, oblivious. The image, rendered with understated elegance by cover penciler Chris Sprouse and inked by P. Craig Russell, speaks volumes about the toll a superhero life can take without resorting to spectacle. With the story by Giffen & DeMatteis and interior art by Wozniak & Smith, this is the kind of JLA issue that reminds you the team's early-'90s run had genuine emotional range beneath all its laughs.