The Flash #249

This May 1977 issue of DC's long-running scarlet speedster series presents one of the more inventive cover setups of its era: the Flash is shown getting battered by a green-and-yellow costumed villain sporting a bold "M" on his chest, while in the foreground a young man frantically sketches a superhero figure at a drawing board, urging, "Hang in there, Flash — I'm almost through drawing a new super-hero to save you!" The cover pencils by Rich Buckler and inks by Jack Abel give the scene real kinetic punch, with lightning-bolt impact flashes and the villain's sneering taunt — "No one can stop me from destroying you!" — cranking up the urgency. It's a genuinely fun, self-aware premise that makes issue #249 a satisfying snapshot of mid-1970s DC storytelling at its most imaginative.