Spider-Man #29

Spider-Man leaps forward in dynamic action on this Chris Marrinan and Sam de la Rosa cover, surrounded on all sides by a menacing crowd of grotesque, cybernetically-enhanced figures closing in from every angle. It's a fittingly intense visual introduction to "Return to the Mad Dog Ward," a multi-part story written by Ann Nocenti that promises to push the wall-crawler into some unsettling territory. This December 1992 issue — released during Spider-Man's 30th anniversary year — is a solid pick for fans who appreciate when Marvel takes its hero somewhere a little darker and stranger.