Uncle Charlie's Fables #2

Charles Biro's cover for this March 1952 Lev Gleason anthology is pure storybook chaos — a grinning pirate in a skull-and-crossbones hat duels with large black fish as weapons, facing off against a red-haired girl and a crowned blonde queen in a magnificent red-and-blue gown, all atop a ship's deck overflowing with a treasure chest of gold. Sailors scramble through the rigging above while a leering buccaneer looms at the queen's shoulder, and the whole riotous scene practically spills off the page. Promising "all new and original stories," including "Peter Pester's Wonderful Secret," this is the kind of gleefully imaginative fare that made mid-century anthology comics such a delight for young readers.