Volume: 1
Price: 0.10 USD
Pages: 68
On-sale Date: 1937-04-10
Editing: Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson (credited) (editor and publisher); Vin Sullivan (credited as Vincent A. Sullivan) (associate editor); Whitney Ellsworth (credited as F. Whitney Ellsworth) (associate editor)
Cover Thumbnail for Detective Comics (DC, 1937 series) #3 Edit Cover
Cover Gallery 

[no title indexed]
(Table of Contents)

cover / 1 page

Pencils:
Inks:
Colors:
?
  • Genre:crime

Issue Data

  • Indicia / Colophon Publisher: Detective Comics Inc.
  • Indicia Frequency: monthly
  • Printer: [none printed]

Indexer Notes

The on-sale date is the publication date reported in the U. S. Copyright Office filing.

[no title indexed]
(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 1)

More Fun Comics; New Adventure Comics / promo (ad from the publisher) / 0.67 page

[no title indexed]
(Table of Contents: 2)

credits, title page / 0.33 page

Script:
?
Letters:
typeset

Indexer Notes

Inside front cover.

[A Stowaway in Need]
(Table of Contents: 3)

Speed Saunders / comic story / 7 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Creig Flessel (credited as Fless) (signed as Creig Flessel)
Inks:
Creig Flessel (credited as Fless) (signed as Creig Flessel)
Colors:
?
Letters:
?
  • Genre:adventure; detective-mystery
Characters:
"Spider" Liverman (villain); Lora
Synopsis:
Speed hires a sloop to go on vacation, but out on the sound finds he has a female stowaway. She is Lora, who has escaped from the clutches of "Spider" Liverman with plans for a typewriter invented by her late brother. Liverman and his two henchmen intercept the boat and smash it. Speed and Lora are captured, but Speed fools the thugs into thinking the boat is sinking. They cast off in a row boat and Speed replaces the plug he had pulled out. They catch up with the crooks and Speed overcomes them.
Reprints (1)

The Air-Mail Mystery
(Table of Contents: 4)

Hope Hazard G-Woman / comic story / 6 pages

Script:
?
Pencils:
Alex Lovy (credited, signed)
Inks:
Alex Lovy (credited, signed)
Colors:
?
Letters:
?
  • Genre:adventure
  • First Line of Dialogue or Text:Well, here I am!
Characters:
Hope Hazard; Bill Littlejohn (pilot); Xavier, The Master
Synopsis:
Hope is called in to investigate the mysterious disappearance of three planes. She boards the next flight out, and, when over the mountains, the motor cuts out. After a rough landing she and the pilot are met by men with guns, the leader of whom tells how he used his Z Ray to cripple the planes. In a bend of the mountain ledge, Littlejohn attacks the leader, and Hope grabs the gun and holds the others at bay. Going through a tunnel, they come out above a cavern with men standing around the Master. Littlejohn wants to escape but Hope insists they find and destroy the Z Ray

[The Kidnapping of Angus MacDonald]
(Table of Contents: 5)

Cosmo, the Phantom of Disguise / comic story / 6 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Sven Elven (credited as Sven Elvén) (illustrated by)
Inks:
Sven Elven (credited as Sven Elvén) (illustrated by)
Colors:
?
Letters:
?
  • Genre:adventure; detective-mystery
  • First Line of Dialogue or Text:In the wealthy section of a big seaport city...
  • Universe:DC : mainstream
Characters:
Angus MacDonald; Ethel MacDonald; Louie; Roxton (villain)
Synopsis:
As Angus MacDonald, President of the Two Star Steamship Company, is leaving to give a speech to a board meeting, he is abducted by rough looking thugs. Mrs. MacDonald calls Cosmo, famous detective and friend of the family, and he has her postpone the meeting until that afternoon. Cosmo appears in the guise of MacDonald, and one board member is visibly shocked. Cosmo forces him to tell the location of the real MacDonald and reveals a plot by the Seamen's Union to prevent MacDonald from giving his speech.
Reprints (1)

The Claws of the Dragon, Part 3
(Table of Contents: 6)

Bruce Nelson / comic story / 12 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Tom Hickey (credited, signed)
Inks:
Tom Hickey (credited, signed)
Colors:
?
Letters:
?
  • Genre:detective-mystery; adventure
  • First Line of Dialogue or Text:It is time that we remove him...
  • Universe:DC : mainstream
Characters:
Sigrid Von Holtzendorf; Hong Ah Kay; Sing Dock; Officer Mulrooney; Joe Stucchi; Tom Lee
Synopsis:
A bloody Tong war is raging in New York's Chinatown district. On Long Island, Bruce Nelson is held at gunpoint by Joe Stucchi. Nelson overcomes him and hides when he hears the sound of approaching men. Five Asians with long knifes are looking for him. He hides in the roof beams of the summer house and overcomes one of the thugs. A scream from the house sends the others in that direction, and, when Bruce follows, he sees member of the Tong standing over the assassin, Tom Lee. Sigrid's father, Von Holtzendorf, arrives and is clearly in cahoots with the Tong.

Shooting Lesson
(Table of Contents: 7)

text story / 6 pages

Script:
E. R. Anthony (credited as Capt. E. R. Anthony)
Pencils:
Creig Flessel (credited) (signed as Creig Flessel)
Inks:
Creig Flessel (credited) (signed as Creig Flessel)
Colors:
?
Letters:
typeset
  • Genre:adventure
  • First Line of Dialogue or Text:As the powerful black sedan careened...
Characters:
State Trooper Marden; Doran (Public Enemy Number 1)

The Wales Case
(Table of Contents: 8)

comic story / 4 pages

Script:
Russell Cole (credited as Alger)
Pencils:
Russell Cole (credited as Alger)
Inks:
Russell Cole (credited as Alger)
Colors:
?
Letters:
?
  • Genre:humor
  • First Line of Dialogue or Text:To Dingtown came...
Characters:
Elmer Bell; Helen White; Jasper Wales; Grandpa Spears; Col. Aspinwall; Dimwit Bayles
Synopsis:
Elmer Bell shoots Jasper Wales but has an iron-clad alibi. After fifty witnesses identify him in court it transpires that he has a twin brother.

[The Nearly-Weds]
(Table of Contents: 9)

Spy / comic story / 4 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Joe Shuster (credited)
Inks:
Joe Shuster (credited)
Colors:
?
Letters:
?
  • Genre:adventure; spy; detective-mystery
  • Feature Logo:Spy!
  • First Line of Dialogue or Text:Do you, Philip Marsden...
  • Universe:DC : mainstream
Characters:
Philip Marsden; Olga Balinoff (villain)
Synopsis:
Olga Balinoff is still after the stolen bronze figure, and abducts Sally at her nuptials, knowing that ex-G.I. agent Regan will try to save her.

Bullets in the Dark
(Table of Contents: 10)

Buck Marshall / comic story / 6 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Inks:
Letters:
?
  • Genre:adventure; western-frontier
  • First Line of Dialogue or Text:After a long day's ride...
  • Universe:DC : mainstream
Characters:
Bull Leary; Jim Slade
Synopsis:
Buck arrests Leary and takes him to the sheriff. Returning to the line shack he is himself captured by ranch foreman Slade, who also brings him to the sheriff, charging him with being one of the rustlers. Leary, in one of the cells accuses Slade of hiring him to rustle cattle.
Reprints (1)

[Slam Delivers the Message]
(Table of Contents: 11)

Slam Bradley / comic story / 13 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Jim Bettersworth (credited) (signed as Bettersworth)
Inks:
Jim Bettersworth (credited) (signed as Bettersworth)
Colors:
?
Letters:
?
  • Genre:detective-mystery
  • First Line of Dialogue or Text:Sighting a group of hoodlums...
  • Universe:DC : mainstream
Characters:
D'arcy (villain); Purnelli (villain)
Synopsis:
Slam and Shorty get caught in the middle of a double-cross.
Reprints (1)

Indexer Notes

Bettersworth signs on both the first and final pages.

Look!
(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 12)

Detective Comics / promo (ad from the publisher) / 1 page

[no title indexed]
(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 13)

Johnson Smith & Co. Catalog / advertisement / 1 page

my.comics.org
Tracked in 20 collections.
Issue at www.comics.org
View Change History
Table of Contents ToC
    Table of Contents
  1. [no title indexed]
  2. ["In all my years of detective work..."]
    More Fun Comics; New Adventure Comics
  3. [no title indexed]
  4. [A Stowaway in Need]
    Speed Saunders
  5. The Air-Mail Mystery
    Hope Hazard G-Woman
  6. [The Kidnapping of Angus MacDonald]
    Cosmo, the Phantom of Disguise
  7. The Claws of the Dragon, Part 3
    Bruce Nelson
  8. Shooting Lesson
  9. The Wales Case
  10. [The Nearly-Weds]
    Spy
  11. Bullets in the Dark
    Buck Marshall
  12. [Slam Delivers the Message]
    Slam Bradley
  13. Look!
    Detective Comics
  14. [no title indexed]
    Johnson Smith & Co. Catalog
Related Links
Issue was modified by, among others
  • Katie
  • David Banuelos
  • Keith Chandler
  • Jerry Hillegas (R.I.P.)
  • Bob Hughes
  • Jerzy Kiekrz
  • R. S. Martin
  • Mike Nielsen
  • Matthew Peets
  • Antonio Pontes Junior
  • Tony R. Rose
  • Per Sandell
  • Jim Van Dore
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