National Comics #2

From Quality Comics' patriotic anthology series comes this August 1940 issue, with a cover by Lou Fine that puts Uncle Sam — billed right on the cover as "America's Greatest Character" — front and center, simultaneously wrenching a weapon from one villain and hurling another clean off his feet while a third reels beside him. The red, white, and blue of Sam's star-spangled suit pops brilliantly against the yellow background, and star-shaped portrait badges along the bottom remind readers that Wonder Boy, Merlin the Magician, and Sally O'Neil Policewoman are also waiting inside. With a story titled "Smashing the Enemies of Free Speech!" and a dime price tag, this issue captures the charged energy of superhero comics at the dawn of the 1940s.