The Flash #243

The Scarlet Speedster races straight into a gauntlet of enemies on Ernie Chua's cover for this August 1976 issue, carrying an unconscious, green-and-yellow-costumed figure while a crowd of Flash's rogues closes in on all sides — one brandishing a gun, another sparking what looks like a flare, and a third lurking in white — with the cover cry "Strike to avenge our pal, the Top!" making the stakes unmistakably clear. It's a wonderfully tense image that puts Flash outnumbered and on the run, the kind of overwhelming odds that defined the best mid-70s DC covers. Cary Bates, Irv Novick, and Frank McLaughlin round out a creative team that consistently delivered solid, character-driven superhero storytelling in this era.