The Spectacular Spider-Man #219

Part four of "Back from the Edge" arrives in December 1994 with a cover that says it all — a maskless Peter Parker clutches a test tube of glowing liquid in the foreground, his expression grim and determined, while a fully armored Daredevil looms behind him in the shadows. The stark cover copy — "The Spectacular Spider-Man Is Dying!" and "Is it too late to save the life he's fought to reclaim?" — sets a tense, stakes-laden mood that Sal Buscema's pencils and Michel Le's inks deliver with real dramatic weight. If you've been following this arc, this concluding chapter looks like exactly the kind of issue you won't want to set down.