Man-Thing #17

Marvel's muck-encrusted misfit takes center stage in this May 1975 issue, with cover art by Gil Kane and Tom Palmer putting the Man-Thing in all his grotesque, tentacled glory — looming enormous over a crowd of panicked townspeople as flames erupt all around them. The story title "A Book Burns in Citrusville!" sets a charged, unsettling tone, and the cover delivers on that promise with torches, fire, and terrified faces caught between the blaze and the swamp creature bearing down on them. Steve Gerber's thoughtful, socially aware take on the Man-Thing was at full stride in 1975, and this issue looks like a compelling entry in that run.