Price: 0.10 USD
Pages: 68
On-sale Date: 1938-05-10
Editing: Vin Sullivan (credited as Vincent A. Sullivan) (editor)
Cover Thumbnail for Detective Comics (DC, 1937 series) #16 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)

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

The Case of the Missing Corpse
(Table of Contents: 2)

Speed Saunders / comic story / 6 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Inks:
? (see notes)
Colors:
?
Letters:
?
  • Genre:adventure; detective-mystery
  • First Line of Dialogue or Text:At a lonely cemetary...
  • Universe:DC : mainstream
Characters:
Mike Bruno (intro, villain); Miss Bannon; Joseph Bannon (flashback)

Indexer Notes

We formerly credited the script of this story to Gardner Fox, but in an interview in Alter Ego #20 (June 2003), he stated that his first comic story, sold in March 1938, appeared in Detective Comics #18.

Most of the inking here is of a lighter and more delicate nature than Flessel's usual style.

Black Tony Barmacino: Dictator of the Dope Dynasty
(Table of Contents: 3)

comic story / 1 page

Script:
Pencils:
Inks:
Colors:
?
Letters:
?
Characters:
Black Tony Barmacino

Indexer Notes

Compare the art style with the subsequent, signed, story.

[The Plot to Kill Larry Steele, Part 2]
(Table of Contents: 4)

Larry Steele / comic story / 6 pages

Script:
Bill Ely (credited as Will Ely)
Pencils:
Bill Ely (credited as Will Ely)
Inks:
Bill Ely (credited as Will Ely)
Colors:
?
Letters:
?
  • Genre:adventure; detective-mystery; crime
Characters:
Snow (villain)

[The National Museum Mystery]
(Table of Contents: 5)

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

Script:
?
Pencils:
Sven Elven (credited as Sven Elvén)
Inks:
Sven Elven (credited as Sven Elvén)
Letters:
  • Genre:adventure; detective-mystery
  • First Line of Dialogue or Text:Late one night...
  • Universe:DC : mainstream
Characters:
Korensky (intro, villain)

Too Many Crooks, Part 3
(Table of Contents: 6)

Bruce Nelson / comic story / 12 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Tom Hickey (credited) (signed as TH)
Inks:
Tom Hickey (credited) (signed as TH)
Colors:
?
Letters:
?
  • Genre:adventure; detective-mystery
  • First Line of Dialogue or Text:Mr. Parsons and I...
  • Universe:DC : mainstream
Characters:
Tony Freeland (intro, villain, death)

The Tattoo Trap
(Table of Contents: 7)

text story / 1.65 pages

Script:
Vin Sullivan (credited as Paul Dean)
Pencils:
Inks:
Colors:
?
Letters:
typeset
Characters:
Ken (F.B.I. agent)

Indexer Notes

We formerly credited the script of this story to Gardner Fox, but in an interview in Alter Ego #20 (June 2003), he stated that his first comic story, sold in March 1938, appeared in Detective Comics #18.

Big Extra Value
(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 8)

Brazel Novelty Fireworks / advertisement / 0.1 page

Boys Earn This Bicycle
(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 9)

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

[A Traitor in Our Midst]
(Table of Contents: 10)

Spy / comic story / 8 pages

Script:
Jerry Siegel (credited as Siegel)
Pencils:
Joe Shuster (credited as Shuster)
Inks:
Joe Shuster (credited as Shuster)
Colors:
?
Letters:
?
  • Genre:adventure; spy; detective-mystery
Characters:
Barrow (intro, villain, death); Kleog (intro, villain, death); Mrs. Barrow (intro)

"Fingerprint" Farson, the Plain Clothes Man
(Table of Contents: 11)

comic story / 4 pages

Script:
Russell Cole (credited as Alger)
Pencils:
Russell Cole (credited as Alger)
Inks:
Russell Cole (credited as Alger)
Colors:
?
Letters:
?
Characters:
"Fingerprint" Farson

Trading Trouble
(Table of Contents: 12)

Buck Marshall / comic story / 6 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Inks:
Letters:
?
  • Genre:adventure; western-frontier
Characters:
Ned Tobin (intro, villain)

[The Broadway Bandit]
(Table of Contents: 13)

Slam Bradley / comic story / 13 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Joe Shuster (credited)
Inks:
Joe Shuster (credited)
Colors:
?
Letters:
?
  • Genre:adventure; detective-mystery
Characters:
Joan Carter (intro); The Broadway Bandit [Boris Desmond] (intro, villain)

Indexer Notes

story title from next issue blurb in previous issue

[no title indexed]
(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 14)

Johnson Smith & Co. Catalog / advertisement / 1 page

[no title indexed]
(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 15)

Spencer Fireworks / 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. ["Flash! Here's a new magazine you can't afford to miss!"]
    Action Comics
  3. The Case of the Missing Corpse
    Speed Saunders
  4. Black Tony Barmacino: Dictator of the Dope Dynasty
  5. [The Plot to Kill Larry Steele, Part 2]
    Larry Steele
  6. [The National Museum Mystery]
    Cosmo, the Phantom of Disguise
  7. Too Many Crooks, Part 3
    Bruce Nelson
  8. The Tattoo Trap
  9. Big Extra Value
    Brazel Novelty Fireworks
  10. Boys Earn This Bicycle
    Crowell / Crowell-Collier Publishing Company Magazines
  11. [A Traitor in Our Midst]
    Spy
  12. "Fingerprint" Farson, the Plain Clothes Man
  13. Trading Trouble
    Buck Marshall
  14. [The Broadway Bandit]
    Slam Bradley
  15. [no title indexed]
    Johnson Smith & Co. Catalog
  16. [no title indexed]
    Spencer Fireworks
Related Links
Issue was modified by, among others
  • Katie
  • David Banuelos
  • Keith Chandler
  • Matthew Head
  • Jerry Hillegas (R.I.P.)
  • Bob Hughes
  • Jerzy Kiekrz
  • R. S. Martin
  • Matthew Peets
  • Derek Reinhard
  • Tony R. Rose
  • Per Sandell
  • Ramon Schenk
  • Jim Van Dore
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