Justice League of America #79

A dramatic Neal Adams cover sets the stage for this 1970 installment of "The World's Greatest Super-Heroes," as a towering, caped villain looms over a stricken Superman and a struggling Justice League — Green Lantern, Black Canary, the Flash, and others visible in the smoky, industrial haze behind him. The cover's urgent warning — "Stop the deadly pollution — or no one on Earth will be left alive!" — gives the issue a timely, real-world weight that feels genuinely ambitious for its era. With Denny O'Neil scripting and Dick Dillin and Joe Giella handling interior art, Justice League of America #79 is a fine example of super-hero storytelling reaching for something a little more meaningful than a typical slugfest.