Sgt. Fury #18

The stark cover blurb — "Killed in Action!" — sets a sobering tone for this 1965 Marvel war comic, with Jack Kirby's pencils and Chic Stone's inks depicting an intense underwater struggle between a bare-chested fighter and a Nazi soldier, bubbles churning around them as the battle hangs in the balance. Surrounding that central scene, portrait vignettes of the full Howling Commandos roster — including Fury himself and a cast of diverse, battle-hardened faces — remind you just how much is at stake when one of their own is in danger. The cover copy promises "you will never forget the ending of this powerful war masterpiece," and with Stan Lee at the typewriter and Dick Ayers also contributing art, issue #18 delivers that kind of earnest, no-holds-barred WWII storytelling that made this series a standout of its era.