Superman #139

Superman #139 brings a genuinely unsettling cosmic threat to October 1998, as the cover — penciled and inked by Jim Starlin and Joe Rubinstein — shows a grimacing Superman wrapped in a glowing orbital chain of planets, clearly in the grip of real pain. Looming behind him is a large, bald, steel-armored villain who manipulates that same cosmic chain with chilling calm, while a young blond child crouches at Superman's feet, casually playing with miniature worlds as if they were marbles. The tagline "Control of the Cosmos… Is Child's Play!" says it all: when the fate of entire solar systems becomes a game, even the Man of Steel is struggling to keep up.