''Police Comics'' was a

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

title published by

Quality Comics Quality Comics was an American comic book publishing Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, ...

(under its imprint "Comic Magazines") from 1941 until 1953. It featured short stories in the superhero, crime and humor genres.

Publication history

The first issue of ''Police Comics'' featured the debuts of

Plastic Man Plastic Man (Patrick "Eel" O'Brian) is a superhero featured in American comic books first appearing in ''Police Comics'' #1, originally published by Quality Comics and later acquired by DC Comics. Created by cartoonist Jack Cole (artist), Jack Co ...

, 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 DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

after it acquired Quality's properties. 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 William Erwin Eisner ( ; March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series '' The Spirit'' (1940–1952) wa ...

'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 (December 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) * ''Eagle Evans'' (#1–19) * ''Manhunter'' (#8–101) * ''Chic Carter'' (#1–18) * ''711'' (#1–15) * ''Destiny'' (#16–36) * ''Phantom Lady'' (#1–23) * ''Flatfoot Burns'' (#24–67) * ''Human Bomb'' (#1–58) * ''Firebrand'' (#1–13) * ''The Spirit'' (#11–102) * ''

Candy Candy, alternatively called sweets or lollies, is a Confectionery, confection that features sugar as a principal ingredient. The category, also called ''sugar confectionery'', encompasses any sweet confection, including chocolate, chewing gum ...

'' (#37–102) * '' Honeybun'' (#59–88) * ''Ken Shannon'' (#103–#127)

References

External links

''Police Comics'' at the Grand Comics Database

Read or download public domain issues of this series at the Digital Comic Museum
Comics magazines published in the United States Quality Comics titles 1941 comics debuts 1953 comics endings Magazines established in 1941 Magazines disestablished in 1953 Golden Age comics titles Comics about police officers {{comics-stub