The Transformers #24

From Marvel's 1987 run of The Transformers, issue #24 presents a genuinely unsettling image: a lone human figure sits at a control console, watching a large screen where two Autobot-style robots clash in a burst of energy — and the on-screen text reads "Game over, Optimus Prime!!" The framing is clever and a little eerie, suggesting the fate of Autobot leader Optimus Prime may be playing out inside some kind of virtual or simulated arena. Cover artist Herb Trimpe wraps it all in a moody palette of purples and golds that gives the scene real weight, making "Afterdeath!" one of the more thought-provoking covers of this era.