National Comics #49

When a stranger is shot out of Bombo's cannon during a carnival performance, The Barker discovers the corpse is actually a fugitive bank robber in disguise—and the real human cannonball has vanished. As the police close in and a pair of dangerous criminals lurk in the shadows, Carnie Callahan must untangle a web of murder and stolen bonds before the killers strike again. It's a baffling case where nothing adds up, and someone's playing for keeps at Colonel Lang's traveling show.

Windy Breeze claims to be desperately ill—so sick he can barely move—but when his sympathetic neighbors start sending flowers and gifts, his miraculous recovery is swift and convenient. This one-page humor tale plays with the classic con of playing up hardship to win sympathy, as our scheming character discovers just how far a little theatricality and a well-timed ailment can take him.

In this lighthearted 1945 tale from National Comics #49, Roger and Roberta take their dogs, Lassie and Laddie, on a trip to the city, where Roger dreams of winning a spot in national office at a bustling business convention. With their pets in tow and plenty of comic chaos on the horizon, the day unfolds in classic children's humor style.

When Sally O'Neil spots a dangerous fugitive on the street, she realizes she's the only cop in position to stop him—and decides to take on Nick the Knife herself, a cop-killer already wanted for five murders. Handcuffed together after a chaotic struggle in a seedy rooming house, Sally must outwit her desperate, violent prisoner using her wits and nerve as Nick grows increasingly violent and reckless. In this detective-mystery from National Comics #49, a lone officer and a condemned killer battle for survival in a tense, close-quarters cat-and-mouse game where the stakes couldn't be higher.

By day he's police reporter Mallory Drake, but by night the Whistler strikes fear into the underworld with his eerie trademark whistle. When a series of fatal accidents plague Milton Park, Drake suspects foul play—and discovers someone is deliberately sabotaging the amusement grounds to bankrupt the park's owner. As the Whistler, Drake sets out to unmask the true killer and stop the murderous scheme before more innocent lives are lost.