The New Adventures of Superboy #52

The quiet outskirts of Smallville hide something far from ordinary in this April 1984 DC issue, as the cover — penciled by Kurt Schaffenberger and inked by Ricardo Villagrán — sets an urgent, eerie tone. Superboy charges forward in full costume, fists clenched, alongside a snarling Krypto, while a massive dark scaly creature looms from the right, its enormous limb dominating the foreground. The tagline "Outside Smallville Lurks the Thing in the Cave!" promises that even the Boy of Steel's hometown isn't always as peaceful as it looks.