House of Mystery #53

From DC's long-running anthology series comes this August 1956 issue featuring a story titled "The Forbidden Statues!" — and the cover makes the premise immediately unsettling. Three towering insectoid alien figures with large oval eyes and antennae loom over a suburban streetscape, while bewildered onlookers on the ground hold a sign reading "Coming Soon — Watch for 'THEM,'" pointing to the eerie visitors overhead. Bernard Baily's cover art captures that mid-1950s fascination with alien invasion with genuine atmosphere, and the promise of a gigantic contest with 5,000 prizes makes this an especially lively artifact of the era.