Police Comics
Police Comics was a comic book anthology title published by Quality Comics (under its imprint "Comic Magazines") from 1941 until 1953. It featured short stories in the superhero, crime and humor genres.[1]
| Police Comics | |
|---|---|
 Police Comics #1 (Aug, 1941) Art by Gil Fox | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Quality Comics |
| Schedule | Monthly |
| Format | Standard |
| Publication date | August 1941 – October 1953 |
| No. of issues | 127 |
| Main character(s) | Mouthpiece Plastic Man Phantom Lady Human Bomb Firebrand #711 |
| Creative team | |
| Written by | Jack Cole Will Eisner Paul Gustavson |
| Artist(s) | Jack Cole Reed Crandall Will Eisner Gil Fox |
The first issue of Police Comics featured the debuts of Plastic Man, Phantom Lady, Human Bomb, Firebrand, and Mouthpiece, all of which (except the latter) are characters that continued to be published decades later by DC Comics after it acquired Quality's properties.[2] Firebrand, the initial lead feature, was soon eclipsed by Jack Cole's popular Plastic Man, who took the cover and the lead from issues #5-102. Other notable characters featured in Police Comics include Manhunter, who was introduced in Police Comics #8; #711, who was introduced in Police Comics #1; and Will Eisner's The Spirit, in the form of reprints of the character's newspaper comic strips.
After the popularity of superhero comics waned, Police Comics shifted with issue #103 (Dec, 1950) to more naturalistic detective and crime-themed stories. The series ended in October 1953 with issue #127.
Character runs
- Plastic Man (#1–102)
- Mouthpiece (#1–13)
- Manhunter (#8–101)
- 711 (#1–15)
- Phantom Lady (#1–23)
- Human Bomb (#1–58)
- Firebrand (#1–13)
- The Spirit (#11–102)
- Candy (#37–102)
- Honeybun (#59–88)
References
- Koolman, Mike; Amash, Jim (2011). The Quality Companion. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 223. ISBN 978-1605490373.
- Benton, Mike (1992). Superhero Comics of the Golden Age: The Illustrated History. Dallas: Taylor Publishing Company. p. 177. ISBN 0-87833-808-X. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
External links
- Police Comics at the Grand Comics Database
- Read or download public domain issues of this series at the Digital Comic Museum
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The first Firebrand was debuted by S.M. Iger and Reed Crandall. See Firebrand (DC Comics) for more info and next timeline. → |