The Flash #259

The cover by Rich Buckler and Bob McLeod wastes no time setting up the threat: a green, crackling energy tendril fired by the blue-suited Black Hand has the Scarlet Speedster caught in a vice-like grip, the Flash straining against it with every muscle while his opponent calmly directs the assault from the background. The cover copy says it plainly — "The Flash Faces Crushing Defeat from the Deadly Hands of Black Hand!" — and the image makes that feel entirely believable. Cary Bates and Irv Novick deliver this March 1978 DC issue with a villain who, at least on the outside, looks like he just might have the Fastest Man Alive exactly where he wants him.