Superman #121

From 1958, this Silver Age issue of Superman presents one of the era's most imaginative romantic dilemmas right on its cover: a yellow-costumed figure identified as XL-49 stands inside a gleaming time machine alongside Lois Lane, who waves goodbye to a visibly stunned Man of Steel as she announces she's leaving to marry in the 22nd century. Superman's anguished thought bubble — that the machine is carrying Lois hundreds of years into the future — sells the emotional punch perfectly, all rendered with crisp energy by cover penciler Curt Swan and inker Stan Kaye. Inside, writer Jerry Coleman and artist Kurt Schaffenberger bring "The Bride of Futureman" to life, making this a wonderfully representative slice of the storytelling ambition that defined DC's Silver Age.