G.I. Combat #49

This June 1957 DC war title delivers the kind of gut-punch tension that made G.I. Combat a standout among battlefield comics. The cover by Jerry Grandenetti puts readers squarely behind a red-haired soldier in a flight jacket — seated atop a vehicle marked "USA" — as an enemy jet screams directly toward him, rockets blazing through the smoke-filled sky. It's a brilliantly composed "frying pan seat" perspective that makes the danger feel immediate and personal, setting the stage for Robert Kanigher's story brought to life inside by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito.