Shazam! #33

Kurt Schaffenberger's cover for this February 1978 DC TV Comic sets up a tense standoff between Captain Marvel — resplendent in his red-and-gold costume and white cape — and the robotic villain Mr. Atom, whose detached head floats menacingly in the background while his body stands defiant in the distance. The exchange of speech balloons ("You've lost your head, Mr. Atom — I've beaten you!" / "That's what you think!") perfectly captures the scrappy energy of the Saturday Morning Super-Star era, with a group of alarmed bystanders and billowing smoke adding to the chaos. A bonus teaser promises "The World's Mightiest Race," with Captain Marvel behind the wheel of the lightning-powered Shazamobile at the Indianapolis 500 — a wild premise that makes this issue hard to pass up.