The Spectacular Spider-Man #254

The cover of The Spectacular Spider-Man #254 says it all with its bold tagline — "This is going to hurt!" — as Spider-Man writhes mid-air, engulfed in crackling bolts of electricity above a city skyline, while one of Doctor Octopus's mechanical tentacles reaches in from a menacing green aircraft overhead. Cover pencils by Michael Golden and Bob McLeod (with inks by McLeod) give the scene a kinetic energy that practically leaps off the page. With J. M. DeMatteis and Tom DeFalco co-writing and Luke Ross on interior art, this February 1998 issue of the long-running series looks like a genuinely rough day for your friendly neighborhood wall-crawler.