Li'l Genius #7

Few things capture childhood sweetness quite like this Charlton charmer from 1955 — the cover, drawn and inked by Harry Betancourt, shows the little redheaded Li'l Genius proudly displaying his handiwork: "LUV MOTHER" painted in dripping, multicolored letters across the living room wall, paint buckets spilled at his feet and splatters decorating his own face. Standing beside the dresser, his bespectacled, blonde mother surveys the scene with the resigned patience only a parent can muster. At a dime a copy, this is warm, gentle humor at its most endearing.