Mystery in Space #54

DC's Mystery in Space was firing on all cylinders in 1959, and this issue puts Adam Strange front and center — suited up in his red costume and jetpack, blasting away mid-flight as a wave of grey alien invaders swarms toward him across a vivid yellow-orange backdrop of an alien cityscape. The cover by Gil Kane (pencils) and Frank Giacoia (inks) captures the sheer outnumbered odds Strange faces with real kinetic energy, every attacker reaching and lunging while he holds his ground in the air. Inside, Otto Binder writes and Gil Kane draws the full story as Adam Strange journeys 25 trillion miles to take on "The Invaders from the Underground World!" — a premise that delivers exactly the cosmic adventure this series did so well.