Leading Comics #18

This 1946 DC humor book puts the spotlight on Nero Fox, billed right on the cover as "The Jive-Jumping Emperor of Ancient Rome," and the cover by Otto Feuer delivers a wonderfully absurd Roman standoff. A furious, red-robed fox emperor jabs his finger at a totem pole bearing an uncanny resemblance to his own face, insisting "It's treason, doggonit! That thing LOOKS like me, doesn't it?" — while a tiny helmeted soldier nervously protests that it isn't supposed to be a statue of him at all, with a cheerful bird perched atop the whole ridiculous monument. If the story inside matches the delightful silliness promised by "The Meat Ball Blues!" and this gloriously indignant cover scene, Leading Comics #18 is a charming snapshot of mid-1940s funny-animal comics at their most playful.