Police Comics #1 - First Appearance of Plastic Man, Printings and Contents

Identification plate

Series: Police Comics (Quality Comics, 1941 series)
Issue: #1
Publication date: August 1941
Key date: August 1941
On-sale date: May 14, 1941
Indicia publisher: Comic Magazines 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 Plastic Man - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

First appearance (cover) of Eel O'Brian - the earliest appearance on record is a cover, not an interior story.

First appearance (cover) of Phantom Lady - the earliest appearance on record is a cover, not an interior story.

First appearance of Sandra Knight - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

First appearance (cover) of The Human Bomb - the earliest appearance on record is a cover, not an interior story.

First appearance (cover) of Roy Lincoln - the earliest appearance on record is a cover, not an interior story.

First appearance of Chic Carter - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

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

First appearance (cover) of Rod Reilly - the earliest appearance on record is a cover, not an interior story.

First appearance of Dick Mace - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

First appearance of Senator Henry Knight - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

First appearance of The Mouthpiece - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

First appearance (cover) of Bill Perkins - the earliest appearance on record is a cover, not an interior story.

First appearance of Dan Dyce - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

First appearance of 711 - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

First appearance of Eagle Evans - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

First appearance of Steele Kerrigan - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

Origin story on record for: 711, Dan Dyce, Eel O'Brian, Plastic Man, Roy Lincoln.

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	Introducing the Firebrand	cover	1	pencils: Gill Fox; inks: Gill Fox	Firebrand First, The Human Bomb First, Sandra Knight First, Roy Lincoln First, The Mouthpiece First, Eel O'Brian First, Bill Perkins First, Phantom Lady First, Plastic Man First, Rod Reilly First
2	Introducing the Firebrand	comic story	11	script: S. M. Iger; pencils: Reed Crandall; inks: Reed Crandall	Firebrand First, Rod Reilly First
3	The Origin of #711	comic story	6	script: George Brenner; pencils: George Brenner; inks: George Brenner	711 First, Dan Dyce First
4	Dr. M. Balm's Man-Eating Plant	comic story	1	script: Gill Fox; pencils: Gill Fox; inks: Gill Fox	Super Snooper (introduction); Dr. M. Balm (villain)
5	The Attack of Ali Harid	comic story	7	script: Witmer Williams; pencils: Witmer Williams; inks: Witmer Williams	Eagle Evans First
6	The Legend of the Black Baron	comic story	6	script: Vern Henkel; pencils: Vern Henkel; inks: Vern Henkel	Chic Carter First
7	The Origin of Plastic Man	comic story	6	script: Jack Cole; pencils: Jack Cole; inks: Jack Cole; letters: Jack Cole	Eel O'Brian First, Plastic Man First
8	The Redemption of Steele Kerrigan	comic story	6	pencils: Al Bryant; inks: Al Bryant	Steele Kerrigan First
9	The Alien Smuggling Racket	comic story	6	script: Fred Guardineer; pencils: Fred Guardineer; inks: Fred Guardineer; letters: Fred Guardineer	The Mouthpiece First, Bill Perkins First
10	Vengeance	text story	2	script: Robert Hyatt	Dick Mace First
11	The Coming of the Phantom Lady	comic story	6	pencils: Art Peddy; inks: Art Peddy	Sandra Knight First, Senator Henry Knight First, Phantom Lady First
12	-	comic story	1	script: John Devlin; pencils: John Devlin; inks: John Devlin; letters: John Devlin	Dewey Dip (introduction); Mr. Drip; Mrs. Drip; Lulu (Dewey's girl)
13	The Origin of the Human Bomb	comic story	6	script: Paul Gustavson; pencils: Paul Gustavson; inks: Paul Gustavson; letters: Paul Gustavson	The Human Bomb First, Roy Lincoln First

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

Where to read it

Collection	Year
The Great Comic Book Heroes #[nn]	1965	On eBay ›
DC Special #15	1971	On eBay ›
A Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Comics #[nn] ISBN 0-87474-228-5; 0-8109-0696-1	1981	On eBay ›
Plastic Man 80-Page Giant #1 ISBN 1-4012-0114-8	2004	On eBay ›
Millennium Edition: Police Comics No. 1 #[nn]	2000	On eBay ›
Plastic Man Archives #1 ISBN 1-56389-468-8	1999	On eBay ›
Secret Origins of the Super DC Heroes #[nn]	1976	On eBay ›
Comic Reprints #[5]	1974	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

1 of 127#2 ›

Sources

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

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