The Demon #15

From the mind and hand of Jack Kirby (with inks by Mike Royer), this December 1973 issue of The Demon presents a cover crackling with tension: a dark-haired man in a purple shirt is flanked on both sides by towering armored figures, while a crouching tiger adds another layer of menace at the center. The cover's taunting copy — "Who was real — or who was not? It all depended on who died in the struggle!" — sets up a delicious mystery of doubles and identity that ties directly into the issue's story, "The One Who Vanished!!" At 20 cents, this was an imaginative slice of Kirby's singular cosmic-mythic storytelling at DC in the Bronze Age.