Samuel Emerson "Slam" Bradley is a fictional character that has appeared in American

comic books 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 ...

published 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 ...

. He is a private detective who exists in DC's main shared universe. The character concept was created by

founder Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson and developed by

Jerry Siegel Jerome "Jerry" Siegel ( ; October 17, 1914 – January 28, 1996) Roger Stern. ''Superman: Sunday Classics: 1939–1943'' DC Comics/ Kitchen Sink Press, Inc./ Sterling Publishing; 2006 was an American comic book writer. He was the co-creator of ...

and

Joe Shuster Joseph Shuster ( ; July 10, 1914 – July 30, 1992) was a Canadian-American comic book artist best known for co-creating the DC Comics character Superman, with Jerry Siegel, in ''Action Comics'' #1 ( cover-dated June 1938). Shuster was involv ...

, who both later became more well known as the co-creators of

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

. As one of the first ever DC characters, the character first appears in the

Golden Age of Comic Books The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era in the history of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and ma ...

in the anthology title ''

Detective Comics ''Detective Comics'' (later retitled as ''Batman Detective Comics'') is an American comic book series published by Detective Comics, later shortened to DC Comics. The first volume, published from 1937 to 2011 (and later continued in 2016), is ...

'', being introduced in the first issue. He later commonly was associated with

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

and other spinoff Batman characters when revived. Slam Bradley appears in ''

Batwoman Batwoman is a name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, depicted as female counterparts and allies of Batman similarly to Batgirl. The original version of the character, Kathy Kane (eventually given t ...

'', portrayed by Kurt Szarka.

Publication history

Creation

Conceived by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson and developed by Superman creators

and

, the character first appeared in ''

'' #1 (March 1937) and is depicted as a hard bitten, tough private eye who loves working for dames, but prefers the platonic company of his boy sidekick "Shorty" Morgan. The character originally starred in his own stories during the

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during wh ...

, and later was revived in supporting character roles. ''Slam Bradley'' was originally outlined by Wheeler-Nicholson in a May 13, 1936 letter to Siegel. The letter stated: "We need some more work from you. We are getting out at least one new magazine in July and possibly two. The first one is definitely in the works. It will contain longer stories and fewer. From you and Shuster we need sixteen pages monthly. We want a detective hero called 'Slam Bradley'. He is to be an amateur, called in by the police to help unravel difficult cases. He should combine both brains and brawn, be able to think quickly and reason cleverly and able as well to slam bang his way out of a bar room brawl or mob attack. Take every opportunity to show him in a torn shirt with swelling biceps and powerful torso ala

Flash Gordon Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established ''Buck Rogers'' ...

. The pages are to run the same size as '' New Comics'' but to contain eight panels a page instead of six." Reportedly, the character's appearance was based on actor

Victor McLaglen Victor Andrew de Bier Everleigh McLaglen (10 December 1886 – 7 November 1959) was a British-American actor and boxer.Obituary '' Variety'', 11 November 1959, page 79. His film career spanned from the early 1920s through the 1950s, initially ...

. Some commentators have noted the similarity of Bradley's appearance to

, Siegel and Shuster's most famous creation for DC, who first appeared the following year, although the two had created the earliest version of Superman in 1933, and were shopping the character around the comic industry around the time Bradley was created. Similarities have also been noted between Shorty and future Superman villain Mister Mxyzptlk, who first appeared in 1944.

Reprints

The Golden Age Slam Bradley stories have never been reprinted, except for once on

microfiche A microform is a scaled-down reproduction of a document, typically either photographic film or paper, made for the purposes of transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about 4% or of the original d ...

. In September 2018, DC Comics announced the ''Detective Comics: Before Batman Volumes 1 and 2 Hardcover Omnibus Set'', which would reprint stories scanned from original copies from the first 26 issues of the series prior to

's first appearance, which would have included several early Slam Bradley stories. However, the omnibus set was cancelled in November of that year, with no official reasons given.

Comics appearances

Golden Age of Comics

The character first appeared as one of several ongoing features, in the debut issue of ''

'' – originally an

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 ...

series – in March 1937. He debuted a year before

first appearance In comic books and other stories with a long history, first appearance refers to the first issue to feature a fictional character. These issues are often highly valued by collectors due to their rarity and iconic status. Reader interest in fir ...

, and two years before

would become the title's lead feature. The character's adventures continued as Batman was introduced in issue #27, continuing as a supporting feature until ''Detective Comics'' #152 (October 1949). According to ''Jess Nevins' Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes'', "He fights ordinary criminals,

Yellow Peril The Yellow Peril (also the Yellow Terror, the Yellow Menace, and the Yellow Specter) is a Racism, racist color terminology for race, color metaphor that depicts the peoples of East Asia, East and Southeast Asia as an existential danger to the ...

s, stage magicians, the Human Fly, creatures from the year Two Billion, the Man-Beast, and on at least one occasion space aliens." Slam was replaced in ''Detective Comics'' #153 by '' Roy Raymond, TV Detective''. Bradley would not make another significant appearance for over 32 years and his sidekick Shorty Morgan disappeared completely. The character was originally operating out of

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, then later in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, Slam and his sidekick "Shorty" Morgan often had humorous, fight-filled adventures, often going undercover in various professions to catch their man. Though most stories had a mystery element, "Slam" was more likely to solve them with his fists than his brains.

Revival

The character reappeared in ''Detective Comics'' #500 (March 1981). In a story titled "The Too Many Cooks... Caper!", an aging Bradley joined other DC detectives, such as

Jason Bard Jason Bard is a fictional character in the DC Universe. He first appeared in ''Detective Comics'' #392, which was published in 1969. He appeared in several back-up stories throughout the 1970s and 1980s in ''Detective Comics''.. Fictional charact ...

Pow Wow Smith Ohiyesa "Pow Wow" Smith is a fictional Western comics, Western hero published by DC Comics. Created by writer Donald Clough Cameron, Don Cameron and penciler Carmine Infantino, he is a Sioux who is the sheriff of the small Western town of Elkhor ...

, Roy Raymond, the Human Target, and Mysto, Magician Detective in solving the murder of a fellow retiring detective. The character returned again in ''Detective Comics'' #572 (the 50th anniversary issue), teaming up with detectives Batman, Robin, Elongated Man, and

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

. He appeared in the

titles in the 1990s, working for the

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big city b ...

Police Department. However, this incarnation of the character was short-lived. When an older Slam Bradley later appeared in ''Detective Comics'', it was explained that the Metropolis character was Slam Bradley, Jr. In 2001, writer

Ed Brubaker Ed Brubaker (; born November 17, 1966) is an American comic book writer, cartoonist and screenwriter who works primarily in the crime fiction genre. He began his career with the semi-autobiographical series '' Lowlife'' and a number of serials i ...

and artist Darwyn Cooke revived the character in the four-part serial "Trail of the

Catwoman Catwoman is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, she debuted as "the Cat" in ''Batman (comic book), Batman'' #1 (spring 1940). She has become one of the superhero Batman' ...

" in ''Detective Comics'' #759-762. In this story, he investigates the death of Selina Kyle and in the process runs afoul of the Batman. This incarnation of the character is a former

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

in his late 50s who has always worked in Gotham City (contradicting the previous Cleveland, New York, and Metropolis settings). Bradley then became a supporting cast member in the ''Catwoman'' ongoing series. He reveals that he has a son named Sam Bradley Jr. who is a detective on the

Gotham City Police Department Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city in the Northeastern United States that serves as the primary city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It is best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his List ...

. Sam Jr. also worked when detectives James Lenahan and Carl Worth in getting close to Black Mask when posing as Smart Bomb. Sam Jr. and Selina Kyle engaged in a romantic relationship that produced a child, Helena Kyle. Slam made an appearance during a flashback in the story arc " Heart of Hush", where he was the primary detective in the murder of Thomas Elliot's father. Bradley is the main protagonist in the 2022 Tom King/ Phil Hester miniseries ''Gotham City: Year One'', a story set in 1961 Gotham involving Slam with Bruce Wayne's grandparents.

Outside mainstream continuity

The character appears in Darwyn Cooke's 2003/2004 '' DC: The New Frontier'' as a private investigator working alongside John Jones, and in Cooke's ''

Solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''Star Wars Legends'' continuity * Kylo Ren (Ben Solo), a ''Star Wars'' character * Napoleon Solo, fr ...

'' #5. He also appeared in '' Legends of the Dark Knight'' #5, in which he had to team up with Batman to clear his name of a murder charge. This story was released digitally as ''Legends of the Dark Knight'' #11-13.

In other media

* ''The New Frontier'' incarnation of "Slam" Bradley appears in '' Justice League: The New Frontier'', voiced by Jim Meskimen. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. * "Slam" Bradley appears in the ''

'' episode "How Queer Everything Is Today!" portrayed by Kurt Szarka. This version is a member of the Gotham City Police Department.

Controversy

Slam Bradley's comics have a long history of racism, in which the character is juxtaposed against

caricatures. This is explored in-universe in ''New Super-Man'' #16, where Kong Kenan is horrified to see Bradley attacking Chinese-American civilians. Criticism has also been directed towards the portrayal of women in the Golden Age Bradley stories. They have been described as "often feisty but exist in a very objectified way to be ogled, rescued, kissed, then discarded forever to the limbo of single-issue appearances." It has been speculated that the planned ''Detective Comics: Before Batman'' omnibus set was cancelled due to the stereotypes in the stories featuring Bradley and other early Detective Comics characters that would have been reprinted.

References

External links

The Grand Comics Database

at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on March 6, 2015

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradley, Slam 1937 comics debuts 1949 comics endings 1981 comics debuts Batman characters Characters created by Jerry Siegel Characters created by Joe Shuster Comics characters introduced in 1937 Detective comics DC Comics male superheroes Fictional American detectives Fictional American police detectives Fictional characters from Cleveland Fictional characters from New York City Fictional private investigators Golden Age superheroes Race-related controversies in comics