Space Adventures #25

This September 1958 Charlton anthology delivers the kind of pulpy wonder that made mid-century sci-fi comics irresistible — cover artist Dick Giordano sets the scene on an alien world where a massive pale elephant dominates the foreground while two spacesuit-clad figures scramble across the rust-colored terrain toward sleek rockets poised for launch, with alien planets hanging in the starry sky beyond. The sheer contrast of the familiar and the extraterrestrial — an elephant on another world, rockets and jungle growth side by side — captures exactly the imaginative spirit of the era. Inside, writer Joe Gill and artist Steve Ditko bring their own brand of storytelling to "The First Satellite," making this a fine snapshot of 1958 comics at their most adventurous.