Superman #397

Superman #397 delivers a viscerally unsettling cover by Eduardo Barreto, depicting the Man of Steel caught in the glowing green grip of a monstrous, Kryptonite-infused figure — his face contorted in agony as the villain's toxic energy radiates across the entire image. The cover copy teases "The Born-Again Kryptonite Man!" and promises that his motive for wanting Superman dead will surprise you, setting up a compelling mystery for the interior story by Paul Kupperberg. It's a striking 1984 entry in the Superman run that puts its hero in genuine peril right from the first glance.