Smash Comics #76

This April 1948 Quality Comics issue puts Midnight front and center — literally — his shadowed face and wide blue hat rendered as a giant bowling ball rolling straight into a gun-toting crook who goes flying into the air. Jack Cole's cover captures the playful energy perfectly, with a colorful cast of Midnight's pals scattered around the composition, including a bumbling elderly figure and a kid with a toy bear, all caught up in the crime-busting action. The cover's tagline says it all: "Midnight and his pals bowl over crime!" — and at a dime a copy, this was a fun read waiting to happen.