Police Comics #67

Jack Cole's cover for this June 1947 Quality Comics issue tells the gag before you even open the cover: a rotund, polka-dotted figure with a straw hat is stretching himself — rubber-band style — to snip a hammock rope with giant scissors, leaving a relaxed fellow in a red shirt completely unaware of his impending tumble. Down below, a small kid hawks a crate of "Rubber Bands — 10¢ a Bunch," tying the whole absurd joke together beautifully. Sixty pages of Plastic Man fun for a dime was an extraordinary deal in 1947, and Cole's cheerful, slapstick cover art makes it nearly impossible to put back on the shelf.