Police Comics #73

Few covers from 1947 capture the sheer absurdity of superhero action quite like this one: Jack Cole depicts Plastic Man having stretched his entire body into an enormous paddle, his head at the handle end blowing a forceful blast of air that sends two armed crooks flying — hats, guns, and all — while his portly sidekick Woozy Winks rides the paddle's top with gleeful abandon. The cover tagline "Plastic Man deals crime a BLOW!" says it all, and Cole's rubbery visual wit makes it impossible not to smile. A wonderfully inventive piece of Quality Comics craftsmanship, this issue of Police Comics showcases exactly why Cole's elastic hero was one of the medium's most imaginative characters of the era.