Sparkling Stars #11

A tense bank-vault standoff anchors the cover of this 1946 Holyoke anthology, with a sharp-dressed man in an orange suit clutching cash and a pistol while a uniformed officer and two other armed figures struggle in the background — one man already downed on the floor. Herman C. Browner's cover art sets a genuinely gripping noir mood, teasing the "New Detective Feature" banner and a lineup that also promises Ali Baba, Magic Tricks, Hell's Angels, and Boxie Weaver across 64 pages for just a dime. With interior art by Carmine Infantino on "Murdered by the Dead," this is a fine snapshot of mid-'40s variety comics firing on all cylinders.