Joe Palooka Comics #9

Three figures burst across this April 1947 Harvey cover in a flurry of action — blonde Joe Palooka leaps forward brandishing a pistol, a companion in green raises a rifle, and a woman in an exotic floral outfit recoils in alarm, all set against a tropical backdrop that hints at the "Drooten Island Mystery" promised on the cover. Ham Fisher's lively linework captures the urgency and adventure that made Joe Palooka one of the era's most widely read comic heroes, with the cover boasting a readership of over a million copies. At a dime a copy and published monthly, this is a fine snapshot of mid-1940s comics storytelling at full tilt.