Police Comics #1 Facsimile Edition

Take a good look at this 1941 premiere issue of Police Comics, published by non-defunct Quality Comics. Off to the side, there's Plastic Man, a one day member of the Justice League and future star of his own animated TV series and numerous solo titles. Underneath is the Human Bomb, a long-time member of the Freedom Fighters of Earth-X and occasional reservist of the All-Star Squadron. Coming in 3rd is the Phantom Lady, another member of the Freedom Fighters and star of her own solo title (twice) in the 1950s. Let's not worry about the clean-up hitter, the Mouthpiece. The world will never see him again after issue #13. Instead, I want you to focus on whom the editors choose to be the star of this anthology: The Firebrand!

Wearing a red bandana and mask, red pants and a see-through shirt, the Firebrand didn't have any super powers. He was just a bored socialite who decided to become a vigilante for kicks. After issue #13 of Police Comics, the Firebrand would also be shelved. Though, he would make a few appearances with the Freedom Fighters under DC's banner. However, his new home wasn't all that welcoming to him, unceremoniously being killed off by a super powered foe in the never published Cancelled Comics Cavalcade before just being retconned onto the sidelines and replaced by his sister in the All-Star Squadron reboot in 1981. 

Yes, Firebrand made his debut in the pages of this book. But so did Plastic Man, the Human Bomb, Phantom Lady and the Mouthpiece (remember, I told you to forget about him.) With all of these first appearances, I have to ask: why did Quality Comics choose the Firebrand to be the lead off character of this book?

Reed Crandall was the co-creator on Firebrand. He was a wunderkind writer for Quality before scaring the pants off of me in various E.C. horror titles. Maybe they were trying to build up his participation on this book. But why not give Crandall credit on the cover and not just the splash page on the Firebrand's opening story?

Based on his lack of powers, maybe Quality was trying to compete against National's (now DC) Batman. But in 1941, Batman wasn't even in the top 10 best selling superheroes. About to enter into the second World War, it was patriotic heroes like Captain America and mega-strong heroes like Captain Marvel and Superman that were dominating newsstands. Yet, for several issues, Quality kept banking on the Firebrand to be the hero to lead the title. Finally with issue #5, the publisher realized that they had a hit with Plastic Man and he became the cover star for a majority of the title's 127 issue run. 

I wish I was able to have owned an original copy of this book. However, it's a facsimile edition from 2024. Though I've read the origin of Plastic Man several times before, I still wanted to own this book. I've never read any of the other stories inside previously and I love going back in time exploring the ads and editorial material. It was a good read. The main superhero takes were the best. The other stories involving vigilantes or average Joe's taking on various criminal elements were the weaker stories. Mostly because of how over-the-top the dialogue was. Lots of cheesy one-liners and over use of 'criminal slang' that I've never encountered in my frequent watching of crime noir or as a teen devourer of Philip Marlowe. 

Oddly enough, there's very little presence of policemen in a comic book titled Police Comics. There's not even a single story starring any of the boys in blue. I find that strange. Rather strange.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.