The Funnies #31

A delightful May 1939 anthology from Dell, The Funnies #31 opens with a cover gag that practically writes itself: a grinning red-headed boy proudly presents his teacher a can of apple sauce — his cheeky alternative to the fresh apples already piling up on her desk from classmates Mildred and Jack, declaring "I just wanted to be different!" Inside, the lineup is genuinely impressive, featuring Alley Oop, Capt. Easy, Crime Buster, Lightning Jim Whipple, a Dick Tracy story, and Jim Gary's adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' A Princess of Mars. At just ten cents, this issue packs a wonderfully varied stack of adventure and humor into a single package.