Superman #74

Superman faces one of his most personal threats on this 1952 cover, as a gleeful, bald Luthor aims a massive ray cannon — claimed to be the invention of Jor-El himself — directly at the Man of Steel, while a gray-toned Lois Lane stands frozen nearby, apparently already caught in the weapon's petrifying beam. Win Mortimer's cover sets a tense, high-stakes scene, framing Luthor's taunting speech bubble against Superman's urgent, mid-stride charge forward. With 52 big pages and Edmond Hamilton writing alongside artist Wayne Boring and inker Stan Kaye, "The Lost Secrets of Krypton!" promises a story that turns Superman's own heritage against him.