The Amazing Spider-Man #84 (Marvel, 1970)

That's one way to squash a spider! The raging Kingpin quite literally pulls the floor out from under the wall-crawler, hurling his most hated rival into mid-air like the pesky bug Spidey's pretending to be. Long before he became Daredevil's signature nemesis, Kingpin was forged in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man, debuting in Issue #50. And it was "Jazzy" John Romita who co-created him and cemented that iconic, bull-headed silhouette. This is one of only five Kingpin covers Romita produced during his legendary run after succeeding Steve Ditko (six if you count Issue #100!), and it's pure Romita from top to bottom, both pencils and inks. As Marvel's in-house visual anchor, he was famous for redrawing or touching up other artists' pages at Stan Lee's request. The patches of whiteout on this piece proves that even Romita sometimes had to revise Romita. The final result, though, is a stunner: a full-tilt whirlwind inside the Kingpin's mansion as Spider-Man corkscrews mid-air and the furniture practically jumps off the page. "The Kingpin Strikes Back" follows the introductions of Vanessa Fisk and the Schemer, deepening the crime-family drama that has since become a hallmark of the character, one that's featured prominently in the Daredevil streaming series, with another season on the way. Add to that Spider-Man's next big-screen outing Spider-Man: Brand New Day swings into theaters this summer, and you've got two evergreen Marvel icons on one electrifying Romita cover, crafted at the very height of his powers.