House of Secrets #37

From DC's long-running mystery anthology comes this 1960 installment featuring a "Mark Merlin Mystery" — and the cover by Dick Dillin and Sheldon Moldoff sets the intrigue up perfectly. A bound, reptilian alien creature — rope coiled tight around its scaly green body — glowers menacingly while a confident man and a woman stand over it, apparently unaware that the captive is already plotting its revenge, its thought balloon ominously reading "The Earthman doesn't realize that my capture will lead to his own destruction!" It's a wonderfully tense sci-fi mystery setup, with interior work by writer Jack Miller and artist Mort Meskin (inked by George Roussos) promising plenty of eerie twists within.