Joe Palooka Comics #25

Ham Fisher brings a delightful slice of rural comedy to the cover of this 1948 Harvey issue, depicting a crowd of amused onlookers gathered around a donkey standing on a wooden platform, apparently mid-trick — tapping out an answer while an elderly man in flannel grumbles, "Gol…dang it! Third time she's done it wrong." The speech bubbles and the crowd's gleeful reactions give the scene an infectious, carnival-sideshow energy that's hard not to smile at. With over 50,000,000 daily readers at the time, Joe Palooka Comics was clearly doing something right, and this charming cover shows exactly why Fisher's creation had such broad, warm appeal.