From Beyond the Unknown #17

DC's anthology series From Beyond the Unknown delivers a standout issue with this Murphy Anderson cover that stops you cold: a suited, grinning human politician flashes a victory salute on what appears to be a television screen, while orange-skinned alien beings look on in baffled disbelief. The dialogue caption makes the joke deliciously clear — these extraterrestrials find it "scientifically impossible" that a planet like Earth could exist, ruled by a leader called "Nee-Xon." Packed with 52 big pages of Otto Binder–written science fiction and Carmine Infantino art, this 1972 issue is a wonderfully sharp slice of speculative storytelling with a satirical wink right on the cover.