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The shark isn’t too menacing in this cover but Namor’s way of impressing the Blonde Phantom is...unusual to say the least

https://www.marvel.com/comics/issue/16796/marvel_mystery_comics_1939_84

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Hah, never seen this cover before. I guess when you’re competing with Captain America throwing the double-bicep pose at her and Human Torch juggling fireballs one-handed, you have to do what you can to stand out. But a couple nice lobsters might’ve been a better way to try to win her over than gifting her a dead shark.

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“Die bungling gnat” is first-rate trash talk.

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Especially coming from a sentient shark.

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I wonder which animal has made the most number of comic book cover appearances, sharks or gorillas?

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I think gorillas win out. As former DC editorial director Irwin Donenfeld once said, "I followed every single magazine that we produced and I was able to see how certain themes would sell. For example, I discovered that gorillas sell. We had gorilla covers on Star Spangled War Stories or Wonder Woman - you name a magazine, we had a gorilla on it. You know what happened? Sales exceeded our expectations."

And Carmine Infantino had a list of Seven Things Guaranteed to Sell a Comic If Shown on the Cover, and atop that list? Gorillas.

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