Justice League of America #168

The cover of Justice League of America #168 sets up something deeply unsettling: a glowing, ornate box sits on a pedestal at the center of the scene while a large crowd of heroes — including Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Batman, the Flash, Hawkman, Black Canary, Green Arrow, and Red Tornado among others — stand gathered around it in two opposing groups, their posture tense and watchful. The cover copy asks point-blank, "What unholy ritual is about to take place between the super-villains and the JLA?" — a question that gives the assembled figures a distinctly ominous charge. Dick Dillin and Dick Giordano deliver a wonderfully atmospheric composition that makes this 1979 issue feel like the whole DC universe is holding its breath.