Four Color #730

Dell's 1956 Smokey Stover Four Color entry captures the lovably chaotic firefighter at his slapstick best — on the cover by Bill Holman, Smokey grins ear to ear as he wrestles a wildly arcing fire hose, using an open umbrella as a makeshift rain shield while a small campfire burns cheekily nearby and a fire hydrant looks on. It's a perfectly absurd snapshot of the bumbling-but-cheerful hero, and with Paul S. Newman writing and Hy Eisman on art, the promise of "All Brand-New Stories" inside — including "Training the Dog to Fight Fires" — makes this a genuinely fun ten-cent package.