The Amazing Spider-Man #114

John Romita's cover for this 1972 Marvel issue says it all: Spider-Man is caught squarely in the middle of a full-blown gang war, with armed factions clashing all around him, a car blasting through the chaos, and Doctor Octopus tangled up in the melee at his feet. The cover copy makes the real hook explicit — neither Spidey nor Doc Ock has ever faced a foe like the mysterious Hammerhead, whose presence looms over the entire brawl. Gerry Conway and the Romita-led creative team deliver a cover that crackles with street-level tension, making this one genuinely hard to put back on the shelf.