Omega the Unknown #10

The penultimate issue of this Marvel series brings things to a head with Dave Cockrum and Pablo Marcos delivering a cover that crackles with desert tension — a dark, clawed creature known as the "desert demon" has Omega himself in a fierce chokehold against a sun-baked southwestern landscape, his red cape whipping dramatically as energy bursts erupt around them. The cover copy cheekily promises that this clash leads somewhere unexpected, building toward the climax of "The Last Gamble!" With Steve Gerber and Mary Skrenes at the helm of the interior story "The Hottest Slot in Town!," this 1977 issue offers the kind of offbeat, genuinely unpredictable superhero storytelling that made Omega the Unknown one of Marvel's most distinctive series of its era.