Joe Palooka Comics #72

Atop a battle tank blazing with cannon fire and explosions, the blond, broad-shouldered Joe Palooka has an enemy soldier by the collar, growling "So you're the dirty rats who butchered those kids! C'mere!" — a cover that wastes absolutely no time setting the stakes. Al Avison's cover art crackles with kinetic energy, from the red-hot muzzle flash to the enemy face peering out from beneath the tank's treads. Harvey's 1952 war-comics lineup rarely looked this charged, making this ten-cent issue of Joe Palooka's Battle Adventures a vivid snapshot of the era's action storytelling at full throttle.