New Adventure Comics #4 (16) for Sale - First Appearance of Operator 48 - Where to Buy

Identification plate

Series: New Adventure Comics (DC, 1937 series)
Issue: #4 (16)
Publication date: June 1937
Key date: 1937-06-00
On-sale date: 1937-05-07
Indicia publisher: Nicholson Publishing Co. Inc.
Price: $0.10
Pages: 68

Match the book in your hand against this plate before paying an edition-specific price.

Why this issue matters

First appearance of Operator 48 - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

First appearance of Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

The evidence

Claims here come from the story records for this issue, listed under Sources at the bottom of the file. Character hubs with full evidence tables are coming to this site.

Seq	Story	Type	Pages	Credits	Characters
0	-	cover	1	pencils: Creig Flessel; inks: Creig Flessel	Steve Carson, Operator 48 First
1	The Comic Headliner!	promo (ad from the publisher)	0.67	pencils: Vin Sullivan; inks: Vin Sullivan
2	-	credits, title page	0.33	letters: typeset
3	-	comic story	4	script: Jerome Siegel; pencils: Joe Shuster; inks: Joe Shuster	Steve Carson
4	-	in-house column	1	script: ? (in character as Steve Carson); letters: typeset
5	The Tsin Lee Incident, Part 3	comic story	2	script: Will Georgi; pencils: Will Georgi; inks: Will Georgi	Dale Daring; Tsin Lee (villain); Captain Brewster
6	Murder at the Thousand Bleeding Dragons, Part 3	comic story	2	script: Joe Donohoe; pencils: Joe Donohoe; inks: Joe Donohoe	Sgt. Carey; Sleepy; Sin Fu (villain)
7	Episode 14	comic story	4	script: Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson; pencils: Sven Elvén; inks: Sven Elvén	Kendall Quick
8	Rajah Marajah, Part 12	comic story	4	script: Homer Fleming; pencils: Homer Fleming; inks: Homer Fleming	Sandor; Benar
9	-	text article	1	script: I. W. Magovern
10	Patsy Kelly	cartoon	1	script: Laidlaw; pencils: Laidlaw; inks: Laidlaw	Patsy Kelly; Robert Young; Ted Healy; Ole Olsen; Chic Johnson
11	-	comic story	2	script: Alger; pencils: Alger; inks: Alger
12	Concord Hymn, by Ralph Waldo Emerson	comic story	2	script: H. C. Kiefer, Ralph Waldo Emerson; pencils: H. C. Kiefer; inks: H. C. Kiefer
13	-	comic story	2	script: Leo E. O'Mealia; pencils: Leo E. O'Mealia; inks: Leo E. O'Mealia
14	Th' Cunnel	comic story	1	script: Whit Ellsworth; pencils: Whit Ellsworth; inks: Whit Ellsworth	The Cunnel [Colonel] (only appearance)
15	-	comic story	1	script: Bill Patrick; pencils: Bill Patrick; inks: Bill Patrick	Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson First
16	Episode 3	comic story	4	script: Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson; pencils: PAD; inks: PAD	Douglas Stewart; Baroness Elsa Von Saxenberg; Von Bolander; Sgt. Miller; Corporal Drenoff
17	-	cartoon	2	script: Vin Sullivan; pencils: Vin Sullivan; inks: Vin Sullivan
18	Knights of the Royal Bull, Part 4	comic story	2	script: Bill Patrick; pencils: Bill Patrick; inks: Bill Patrick
19	Episode 10	comic story	4	script: Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, H. Rider Haggard; pencils: Sven Elvén; inks: Sven Elvén	She; Holly; Leo
20	Episode 13	comic story	2	script: Merna Gamble, Charles Dickens; pencils: Merna Gamble; inks: Merna Gamble
21	Shanghai Pete, Part 8	comic story	2	script: Bill Carney; pencils: Bill Carney; inks: Bill Carney
22	Episode 16	comic story	2	script: Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson; pencils: Anthony; inks: Anthony	Ivar; Hasylwyn
23	-	letters page	2	script: Ann Leslie
24	The Revenge of Devachan, Part 4	comic story	4	script: Fless; pencils: Fless; inks: Fless	Steve Conrad; Myra; Davachan; Tangi (introduction, villain)
25	Episode 11	comic story	4	script: Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson; pencils: Tom Hickey; inks: Tom Hickey	Ian; Pan Chi-Lou; doris
26	-	comic story	1	script: Alger; pencils: Alger; inks: Alger
28	-	promo (ad from the publisher)	0.25
29	-	cartoon	0.35
30	-	promo (ad from the publisher)	0.05
32	Episode 3	comic story	4	script: Win; pencils: Win; inks: Win
33	The Train Robbery, Part 15	comic story	3	script: H. Fleming; pencils: H. Fleming; inks: H. Fleming
34	Mystery! Adventure! Thrills!	promo (ad from the publisher)	1	pencils: Creig Flessel; inks: Creig Flessel

Plus 1.35 pages of advertisements and other matter across 3 sequences, as published.

Where to read it

Collection	Year
Detective Comics #4	1937	On eBay ›

Reading the story costs a fraction of owning the issue. Both routes are on every file.

Before you buy

Golden-age paper is brittle. Ask about page suppleness and check edges for chips in the photos.
Check for trimmed edges, married covers, and clipped coupons - all common on books this old.
Confirm the indicia matches this plate; many golden-age titles changed names mid-run.

Series context

‹ #3 (15)5 of 20#5 (17) ›

Sources

Grand Comics Database, issue record (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Found an error in this file? corrections@comicrecord.com