Joker Comics #12

A wonderful snapshot of 1943 humor comics at their liveliest, this issue of Joker Comics serves up a cover bursting with carnival-midway chaos. A glamorous blonde in a red skirt strides confidently past a swindling telescope booth charging a dollar to "see the stars," while a gap-toothed schemer lurks behind her wielding a spiked club and a grinning red-haired kid tumbles at her feet — her deadpan speech bubble, "You and your money saving ideas!," landing the punchline perfectly. For a dime, this was some of the most cheerfully irreverent entertainment the newsstands had to offer in 1943.