Dick Tracy Monthly #7

From Dell's 1948 run of Dick Tracy Monthly, this July issue puts America's square-jawed detective front and center in his unmistakable yellow trenchcoat and green hat, gun drawn as swirling gas or smoke billows around him — clearly a dangerous situation requiring both firepower and a cloth pressed to his face. The cover's bold, dynamic composition captures that perfect pulp-era tension between cool-headed detective work and immediate physical peril. At a dime a copy, this was stylish, street-level crime drama at its most visually compelling.