Blackhawk #44

This September 1951 Quality Comics entry packs a wallop right on the cover — Reed Crandall's sharp linework delivers a brawl on a staircase where a dark-uniformed man reels from a punch while a second figure goes flying through the air and a wide-eyed woman in an orange dress looks on in alarm. With 52 big full-width pages and four complete Blackhawk thrillers — "The King of Winds," "Azar's Brain," "Genius of Dr. Archer," and "The Execution of Timris" — this issue offers a genuinely satisfying chunk of mid-century adventure comics at its ten-cent best.