The New Gods #17

A massive, stone-faced figure dominates the lower half of this Jim Starlin cover, commanding his unseen forces with a chilling declaration: "Your secrets are mine now, New Gods — and when I have them all — you die!" Above him, chaos reigns as a white-haired villain in a green cape clutches a captive while an ensemble of New Gods — including a robed elder with a staff, a yellow-suited warrior, a female fighter in pink, and a heavily armored figure exchanging gunfire — battle across a fiery orange backdrop. With a story called "The Memory Machine," this April 1978 issue promises high cosmic stakes for Jack Kirby's Fourth World mythology, rendered here with Starlin's sharp, kinetic energy.