Mr. Mxyzptlk (Villains) #1

Part of DC's 1998 New Year's Evil event "from the pages of Superman," this one-shot puts the fifth-dimensional trickster Mr. Mxyzptlk front and center — rendered here by cover artist Jason Pearson in a striking monochromatic blue palette, crackling with wild lightning as the imp squares off against the viewer with fists charged and ready. It's a surprisingly menacing portrait of a character more often played for laughs, and with Alan Grant writing alongside artists Tom Morgan and Scott Koblish, there's real creative firepower behind the story of this "Invader from the 10th Dimension.