House of Mystery #247

Few images capture the eerie playfulness of DC's 1976 horror anthology line quite like this one — a grinning skeleton surfs a massive wave on a motorboat, bearing down on two terrified women in the water below, with the tagline "Death Rides the Waves!" blazing across the bottom. Jack Sparling and Vince Colletta deliver a cover that blends sun-soaked summer fun with genuine dread, the crashing surf and fiery orange sky making the whole scene feel both vivid and deeply unsettling. Inside, Jack Oleck scripts "The Game of Death" with art by Steve Ditko — reason enough to crack open any issue of House of Mystery.