Justice League International #17

This 1988 entry in Giffen and DeMatteis's beloved JLI run carries a genuinely unsettling cover: a massive, bald, grimacing figure crushes Blue Beetle's helmeted head in one enormous hand, the hero's mouth open in a cry of pain while strange pink tendrils curl ominously in the background. Kevin Maguire's pencils and Joe Rubinstein's inks give the image a raw, visceral weight that stands in sharp contrast to the series' reputation for humor. Titled "Only the Dead Know Bialya!," this issue promises a darker turn for the International League.