Mystery in Space #45

DC's Mystery in Space #45 from 1958 delivers pure Silver Age sci-fi tension, with cover art by Gil Kane and Jack Adler showing two spacesuit-clad Earthmen caught in a standoff on the Martian surface — a massive flying saucer looms overhead, its mechanical arm raised in warning while a rocky mountain explodes in the background under a barrage of laser fire. The cover's blunt ultimatum — "Mars is off limits to Earthmen! Leave at once — or be destroyed as utterly as that mountain!" — sets the stakes with wonderful Cold War-era drama. Inside, writer Joe Millard and artist Carmine Infantino (inked by Joe Giella) bring the featured story "Flying Saucers Over Mars!" to life, making this a fine example of DC's imaginative, science-minded adventure comics of the era.