Volume: 1
Price: 0.10 USD
Pages: 68
On-sale Date: 1937-05-10
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) #4 Edit Cover
Cover Gallery 

[no title indexed]
(Table of Contents)

cover / 1 page

Pencils:
Inks:
Colors:
?
  • Genre:detective-mystery

Issue Data

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

Indexer Notes

On-sale date from copyright registration.

The Comic Headliner!
(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 1)

More Fun 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.

The Mystery of San José Island
(Table of Contents: 3)

Speed Saunders / comic story / 6 pages

Script:
Creig Flessel (credited as Fless) (signed as Fless)
Pencils:
Creig Flessel (credited as Fless) (signed as Fless)
Inks:
Creig Flessel (credited as Fless) (signed as Fless)
Colors:
?
Letters:
?
  • Genre:detective-mystery
Characters:
Arthur Bell (introduction, death); May Adams (introduction); Nick Del Borno (introduction, villain); "Padre" Desoto (introduction, villain)
Synopsis:
Speed flies to San Jose Island to investigate the death of a friend. Disguising himself as a ragged old beggar he meets May Adams, another friend of Arthur Bell, in a bar. He is abducted but finally brings the murderer to justice.
Reprints (1)

Indexer Notes

Creig Flessel claimed he wrote these in Alter Ego #45 (February 2005).

Big Prizes and Cash Profits!
(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 4)

Crowell / Crowell-Collier Publishing Company Magazines / advertisement / 0.25 page

[no title indexed]
(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 5)

New Book of Comics / promo (ad from the publisher) / 0.25 page

[no title indexed]
(Table of Contents: 6)

cartoon / 0.33 page

Script:
?
Pencils:
?
Inks:
?
Colors:
?
Letters:
?
  • Genre:humor
  • First Line of Dialogue or Text:Hey - Pop - Why are yuh burgling that safe?

[no title indexed]
(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 7)

promo (ad from the publisher) / 0.05 page

[no title indexed]
(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 8)

Brazel Novelty Fireworks; Spencer Fireworks / advertisement / 0.12 page

[The Rajah's Ruby]
(Table of Contents: 9)

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:Aboard the steamship Empress of India...
  • Universe:DC : mainstream
Characters:
Capt. Nelson (intro); Paul Hartley (intro); Rajah Daj (intro); VILLAIN: Hutchinson (intro)
Synopsis:
Cosmo is sailing to Bombay. The Captain asks him to help gem merchant Hartley, who is to deliver a precious ruby to the Rajah Daj. He disguises himself as a deaf mute native and secures passage on a caravan heading inland. Cosmo delivers the ruby without mishap, but Hartley is kidnapped by Hutchinson, who orders him killed. Cosmo, still in disguise, is nearby and saves him.
Reprints (1)

Death Message
(Table of Contents: 10)

Buck Marshall / comic story / 6 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Inks:
Letters:
?
  • Genre:western-frontier; adventure
Characters:
Vanter (villain, intro); Lefty Logan (villain, intro)
Synopsis:
Buck accompanies the sheriff to the Diamond V Ranch, where Vanter has found his partner shot in the back. In a hotel, Buck spots the crooked Logan, who has been hanging around for the past six months. Trailing him, Buck sees Logan and another man packing sacks with slaughtered beef. The captured Logan tells of how Vanter paid him, in order to sell the meat.
Reprints (1)

The Claws of the Red Dragon [Part 4]
(Table of Contents: 11)

Bruce Nelson / comic story / 12 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Tom Hickey (credited, signed)
Inks:
Tom Hickey (credited, signed)
Colors:
?
Letters:
?
  • Genre:adventure; detective-mystery
  • First Line of Dialogue or Text:It is von Holtzendorff...
  • Universe:DC : mainstream
Characters:
von Holtzendorff; Stucchi (villain)

The Evil Oak
(Table of Contents: 12)

text story / 6 pages

Script:
Vin Sullivan (credited as Paul Dean)
Pencils:
Creig Flessel (signed)
Inks:
Creig Flessel (signed)
Colors:
?
Letters:
typeset
  • Genre:drama; detective-mystery
Characters:
Detective Pat Byrne; Stanley Harwick; Bates; Police Captain Mahoney
Reprints (1)

The Bumps Mystery
(Table of Contents: 13)

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:detective-mystery
Characters:
Mortimer Quakenbush Bumps

[The Balinoff Case, Part 4]
(Table of Contents: 14)

Spy / comic story / 4 pages

Script:
Jerry Siegel (credited as Siegel)
Pencils:
Joe Shuster (credited as Shuster)
Inks:
Joe Shuster (credited as Shuster)
Colors:
?
Letters:
?
  • Genre:adventure; detective-mystery; spy
Characters:
villains: Olga Balinoff and her spy ring; Officer Patrick O'Toole
Synopsis:
Regan and Sally are still prisoners of Olga Balinoff. He pushes a flower pot onto the head of Officer O'Toole, who races up the fire escape in time to save Regan from being shot. But he is duped by Olga and allows her and her two cronies to leave. Taking Regan and Sally to the police station, he is bawled out by the commissioner, who tells Regan that the lab have figured out the secret of the mysterious bronze figure.

The Bloody Will
(Table of Contents: 15)

Mr. Chang / comic story / 6 pages

Script:
?
Pencils:
Ed Winiarski (credited as Win) (signed as Win)
Inks:
Ed Winiarski (credited as Win) (signed as Win)
Letters:
?
  • Genre:adventure; detective-mystery; crime
Characters:
Joshua McAllister (intro, death); Agatha (villain, intro, death)

Indexer Notes

story in black and white

The Hollywood Murders
(Table of Contents: 16)

Slam Bradley / comic story / 13 pages

Script:
Jerry Siegel (credited as Siegel)
Pencils:
Joe Shuster (credited as Shuster)
Inks:
Joe Shuster (credited as Shuster)
Colors:
?
Letters:
?
  • Genre:detective-mystery
Characters:
Terril Desmond (villain, intro)
Synopsis:
Slam gets a job as a Hollywood stuntman.
Reprints (1)

Better Than Ever!
(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 17)

New Adventure Comics / promo (ad from the publisher) / 1 page

[no title indexed]
(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 18)

Johnson Smith & Co. Catalog / advertisement / 1 page

my.comics.org
Tracked in 21 collections.
Issue at www.comics.org
View Change History
Table of Contents ToC
    Table of Contents
  1. [no title indexed]
  2. The Comic Headliner!
    More Fun Comics
  3. [no title indexed]
  4. The Mystery of San José Island
    Speed Saunders
  5. Big Prizes and Cash Profits!
    Crowell / Crowell-Collier Publishing Company Magazines
  6. ["Ask for the big "New Book of Comics""]
    New Book of Comics
  7. ["Hey - Pop - Why are yuh burgling that safe?"]
  8. ["It pays to read the advertisements!"]
  9. [no title indexed]
    Brazel Novelty Fireworks; Spencer Fireworks
  10. [The Rajah's Ruby]
    Cosmo, the Phantom of Disguise
  11. Death Message
    Buck Marshall
  12. The Claws of the Red Dragon [Part 4]
    Bruce Nelson
  13. The Evil Oak
  14. The Bumps Mystery
  15. [The Balinoff Case, Part 4]
    Spy
  16. The Bloody Will
    Mr. Chang
  17. The Hollywood Murders
    Slam Bradley
  18. Better Than Ever!
    New Adventure Comics
  19. [no title indexed]
    Johnson Smith & Co. Catalog
Related Links
Issue was modified by, among others
  • Katie
  • David Banuelos
  • Keith Chandler
  • Craig Delich
  • Bob Hughes
  • Terry Jeffress
  • Jerzy Kiekrz
  • Matthew Peets
  • Antonio Pontes Junior
  • Derek Reinhard
  • Tony R. Rose
  • Per Sandell
  • Ramon Schenk
  • Jim Van Dore
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