Omega the Unknown #8

This 1977 Marvel issue pits the enigmatic "Man of Mystery from Beyond the Stars" against one of his most volatile foes, as the cover — penciled by Gil Kane and inked by Frank Giacoia — hurls a battered Omega the Unknown through a storm of debris while Nitro, the Exploding Man, looms in the background unleashing a burst of explosive energy. The cover copy says it all: nothing can stop or contain Nitro, but Omega's going to try anyway, and that sheer determination leaps right off the page. With Roger Stern writing and Lee Elias on interior art, "A Blast from the Past" looks like a thoroughly satisfying chapter in one of Marvel's more thoughtful and underappreciated series of the decade.