Mr. Muscles #23

Charlton's Mr. Muscles #23 puts the blue-and-red-costumed strongman front and center in a genuinely impressive display — he's single-handedly holding up a collapsing structure at a construction site while bricks tumble around him and hard-hatted workers scramble nearby, one calling out "Hold it, Mr. Muscles… we'll get a steel beam to prop it!" Cover pencils by Charles Nicholas and inks by Vince Alascia capture that raw, straining heroism perfectly, with Mr. Muscles' "M"-emblazoned chest and rippling arms doing exactly what the header promises: "bang-up thrilling displays of physical strength and power." Inside, writer Jerry Siegel and artist Charles Nicholas deliver a story titled "King of the Carnival" — making this a solid 1956 Charlton package for fans of straightforward, muscle-powered heroics.