Defying the censors, comics defiantly dared to confront the drug crisis head-on—and changed the medium forever.

From EC's harrowing 1954 heroin tale "The Monkey" to Stan Lee's Code-defying Spider-Man arc, Green Arrow's sidekick Speedy battling addiction on a groundbreaking cover, and Frank Miller's gritty Daredevil clashing with the Punisher amid PCP-fueled chaos, these are the highly controversial stories that dragged superheroes into real-world misery.

Raw, urgent, and revolutionary half a century on - the tales continue to pack an emotional gut-punch.

The Needle on the Newsstand is a stark look at when four-color panels exposed the human cost of escape.