Sabretooth Special #1

Part of Marvel's January X-Men Special Event lineup, this 1996 oversized one-shot puts Sabretooth front and center in "In the Red Zone" — and Michael Golden's cover makes an immediate impression. Golden depicts a snarling, feral Sabretooth lunging through a nighttime cityscape, his massive frame dominating the image as he clashes with a red-haired X-Men-uniformed figure while a second white-costumed figure plummets through a burst of shattered glass below. Written by Fabian Nicieza with interior art by Gary Frank, this special delivers the kind of raw, high-stakes energy that made Sabretooth one of Marvel's most compelling wild cards of the era.