The X-Men #123

The villain Arcade grins maniacally from a giant pinball machine scoreboard labeled "Arcade's Murder World" as the X-Men — Storm, Nightcrawler, Wolverine, and others — scramble across the machine's playing field like helpless steel balls, with Spider-Man's face circled in the corner promising a guest appearance. Terry Austin's cover turns a carnival game into something genuinely sinister, framing the team as prey in one of 1979 Marvel's most inventively designed set-pieces. With Chris Claremont and John Byrne at the helm of the interior, the story title alone — "Listen--Stop Me If You've Heard It--But This One Will KILL You!" — signals that the wit here is as sharp as the danger.