The Brave and the Bold #45

The cover of this January 1963 DC issue — part of The Brave and the Bold's "Strange Sports Stories" run — delivers exactly what the tagline promises: a headless batter in a gray-and-red uniform connects with a blazing pitch at home plate, while a catcher and umpire look on in a packed stadium, the ball exploding off the bat in a burst of speed lines. It's a genuinely unsettling image rendered with crisp energy by cover penciler Carmine Infantino and inker Joe Giella. The story teaser, "Challenge of the Headless Baseball Team!" and "The Most Amazing Worlds' Series Game Ever Played!", make this one of the more memorably weird chapters in DC's mid-century sports anthology.