Showcase #13

From 1958, this DC Showcase issue spotlights the Scarlet Speedster in a cover that captures the sheer thrill of superhero comics at their most inventive — the Flash sprinting at full tilt across the water's surface while a skull-and-crossbones-emblazoned pirate torpedo relentlessly trails him, with his thought bubble admitting even he can't shake it. Cover pencils by Carmine Infantino and inks by Frank Giacoia give the scene a wonderful sense of kinetic motion and urgency. The story promised inside, "Around the World in 80 Minutes!", suggests the kind of globe-spanning, high-concept adventure that made the Fastest Man Alive such an exciting figure in late-'50s comics.