The Punisher: War Zone #20

Frank Castle charges straight at the reader on this October 1993 cover, red-eyed and snarling, dual-wielding a handgun and a heavy automatic rifle with his skull emblem front and center — a cover by Hoang Nguyen that practically vibrates with aggression. The bold cover copy asks, "Has the Punisher's past finally caught up to him?" — a question that gives the interior story, "Numbah One Boom Boom," written by Larry Hama, a genuinely intriguing hook. It's a punchy, kinetic entry in the War Zone run that captures the series' relentless, hard-edged energy at its mid-1993 peak.