Outer Space #22

This May 1959 Charlton gem drops readers right into a tense alien encounter — two green-skinned, helmeted extraterrestrials have cornered a male and female astronaut in their space suits, with one alien brandishing a ray gun and a stolen device while a sweeping pink alien cityscape glows in the background. The cover art by Charles Nicholas and Vince Alascia captures that era's wide-eyed wonder about what might be waiting for us among the stars. Inside, Joe Gill's story "The Martian Wager" and the promised tale "A Visit to Venus" offer exactly the kind of astounding space adventure the cover so vividly teases.