Superman #408

A devastated Superman rises from the rubble of a nuclear wasteland, hands raised in anguish, with the chilling cover caption declaring that he alone survived — and a small frightened figure visible at his feet amid the destruction. Cover art by Ed Hannigan and Al Williamson gives this 1985 issue a haunting, end-of-the-world intensity that perfectly frames the story title "The Day the Earth Died!" Interior work comes from the reliable team of Curt Swan and Josef Rubinstein, with E. Nelson Bridwell at the helm. Published during DC's 50th-anniversary year, this is a striking piece of mid-'80s Superman storytelling that leans into the era's nuclear anxieties with real emotional weight.