That queer feeling -- it means a crime is brewing somewhere! I'll use my trance power to rush there at once! 
- — Destiny
Police Comics #36 is an issue of the series Police Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of November, 1944.
Synopsis for Plastic Man: "Dr. Brann's Health Farm"
Dr. Brann rues that he'll have to close his health farm soon. He doesn't realize he has so few customers because, while it's located in the middle of beautiful scenery, that also means it's so isolated virtually no-one knows it's there. This fact makes it an ideal hideout for Slick Dandy and his boys to wait until the heat's off after they steal a diamond necklace. The gang commit a number of other brazen robberies, always escaping because even the police don't know about Dr. Brann's farm, and think there's no place to hide that far out in the country. Slick and his boys begin having second thoughts when, to maintain their cover as patients at a health farm, Brann makes them get up at 5 AM every day for exercises, and eat nothing but plain toast and hot mineral water.
Plastic Man catches the gang robbing a jewelry store while taking milk from the farm to sell in town. The story in the newspapers about where they'd been hiding out reveals the location of Dr. Brann's health farm to the world at large, ensuring he gets many more visitors.
Appearing in Plastic Man: "Dr. Brann's Health Farm"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Slick Dandy
- his gang
Other Characters:
- Dr. Hiram Brann
- Lana Love
Locations:
- Dr. Brann's Health Farm
Items:
- DeMeyster diamond necklace
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Flatfoot Burns: "The Beauty Parlor Holdup"
Appearing in Flatfoot Burns: "The Beauty Parlor Holdup"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Destiny: "Destiny Plays No Politics"
Destiny helps a reformist mayoral candidate avoid a blackmail scheme, and the two of them team up to subdue the gang behind it. The candidate's butler turns out to be an inside man for the gang.
Appearing in Destiny: "Destiny Plays No Politics"
Featured Characters:
- Destiny (Final appearance)
Antagonists:
- Boss Bragg
- Max
- Trixie
- Oscar
- Bevans, butler
Other Characters:
- Tom Carlson, reformer
Locations:
Synopsis for The Spirit: "Dead Duck Dolan"
Appearing in The Spirit: "Dead Duck Dolan"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Commissioner Dolan
- Ellen
- Dead Duck Dolan, father of Eustace Dolan
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Human Bomb: "Beware the Human Bomb"
Roy Lincoln's showing his newest invention to his sidekick: a device that can pick up a scream of pure terror anywhere within three miles, and point its source out to the user. He's planning on turning it over to the police, but when it picks something up, he dons his gear and grabs Hustace to go investigate. They find it was a young lady, who gave the scream when a deformed man sprang out and dragged her fiance into the woods. They quickly find the missing man on the steps of a nearby house, but having been stabbed through the heart.
Over the protestations of the house's owner, Bomb and Hustace search for anything that might make a normal man look like a monster, but turn up nothing. The fiend goes on attacking young couples. The park's cordoned off by the police in light of these horrible attacks, but Bomb blows himself over the wall to see if he can find his nemesis as darkness settles in. The killer tries to sneak up on Bomb, but the hero catches him in the act. Realizing he's outmatched, the killer flees, stabbing a police officer to get out of the park. Bomb trails him to the same house as before but loses the killer again.
Bomb has Hustace takes his girlfriend into the park to try and lure out the killer, who does indeed show up, but Hustace and Bomb's explosive powers send him running again. They follow the trail to the same house again, but this time Bomb's figured out what's up: they never found a mask there because the man they encountered was already wearing a mask, to hide the true disfigured face of the killer underneath. His face was scarred by fire, the killer explains, and his new face made his girlfriend leave him in terror. He tried to get revenge by killing happy lovers, and Bomb calls for a crew from the mental hospital to come pick him up. Hustace's girlfriend fainted when they were attacked, and Roy lets Hustace take the glory for capturing the villain.
Appearing in Human Bomb: "Beware the Human Bomb"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Hustace Throckmorton
- Honey-Bun, his girlfriend
Antagonists:
- Disfigured murderer (not named)
Other Characters:
- Lovers
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Manhunter: "City Gone Mad"
Appearing in Manhunter: "City Gone Mad"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Thor
- Policemen
Antagonists:
- Count Devere
- Norby (Dies)
Other Characters:
- Mrs. Doan
- her son Tommy (Behind the scenes)
Locations:
- Empire City
- Ritz Apartments
Items:
- Radium
Vehicles:
Notes
- Last issue for Destiny by George Brenner.
- Last issue for Rudy Palais art on Manhunter.
- Plastic Man: Dr. Brann's Health Farm is reprinted in Plastic Man Archives Vol. 3.
- Also appearing in this issue of Police Comics were:
- Dewey Drip by Bernard Dibble
- Dick Mace: "The Breed" (text story) by Robert M. Hyatt
- Burp the Twerp: "Puttin' On the Ritz Club" by Jack Cole, signed as "Ralph Johns."
Trivia
- Manhunter's story shows him treating a small skin infection with radium. Incredibly, this was a normal medical procedure at that time. There was a time when radium was used in a variety of commercial applications, including cosmetics and watches, before its danger was realized.[1]
See Also
Links and References
