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Detective Comics #1 (of 1000000)

The Murders of Cap'n Scum
March 1st, 1937
Publisher:
Number:
1 (of 881)
Name:
The Murders of Cap'n Scum
Aliases:
Cover date:
March 1st, 1937
Store date:
February 25th, 1937
cover

  1. "The Murders of Cap'n Scum" (Speed Saunders and the River Patrol) written and penciled by E.C. Stoner and inked by Creig Flessel. Cyril Saunders (Known as Speed) gets a call from the chief of the River Patrol saying that he has a hot case for him. He hurries over and the chief introduces him to a bayman who talks of finding four dead Chinamen in the bay. After Speed looks for some clues in Chinatown and the morgue he decides to work as a stevedore(dockworker) to look for any strange activity. He ends up finding a suspicious sail boat and decides to row a boat to get on to it. The men on the boat capture him and the captain of the ship, Cap'n Scum, throws him out to sea. He swims to shore where he rents a small sailboat from a friend to try to get back to the suspicious boat. He gets to the sail boat as it pulls up next to a freighter. On board the two captains meet and discuss their deal. The captain of the freighter, Luke, explains that he can only give 200 Chinamen to Cap'n Scum as he drowned 100 sick ones in the bay. Meanwhile Speed sneaks aboard the freighter and discovers the Chinamen in the hold. He then sneaks around to where the two captains are having their meeting and pulls a gun on them telling them that he is will turn them into the River Patrol. The story ends with Speed turning down a raise and a bonus for a well earned vacation.
  2. "The Rhangwa Pearls" (Cosmo, The Phantom of Disguise) written, penciled and inked by Sven Elven. Taro, the cleverest gem thief on two continents, attempts to steal some precious gems; a battle of the disguisers is had.
  3. "The Peruvian Mine Murders Part 1" (Bret Lawton) written by Unknown, penciled and inked by Creig Flessel. "The ace international detective is confronted with a series of baffling murders. Mystery and adventure lurk at every step as he penetrates the silent Peruvian jungles.
  4. "The Claws of the Red Dragon Part 1" (Bruce Nelson) written by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, penciled and inked by Tom Hickey. Hungering merely for some chow mein, Nelson arrives at an out-of-place Chinese restaurant where no one wishes to serve him. When a father and daughter also appear, tension continues to mount, until all three are attacked! (Features Vincent Sullivan Cover Character Sen Yoi as the Villain)
  5. "The Gotlotz Jewels" (Gumshoe Gus) written, penciled and inked by Bill Patrick. Gus keeps an eye out on Mrs. Gotlotz's jewels, only to see them stolen by someone he eventually bops on the noggin'.
  6. "The Balinoff Case Part 1" (Bart Regan) written by Jerry Siegel, penciled and inked by Joe Shuster. Bart goes undercover to "make the acquaintance of Olga Balinoff, who is suspected of using her charms to worm valuable army secrets out of young officers."
  7. "The Gotrox Pearls" (Eagle-Eye Jake) written, penciled and inked by Russell Cole (aka ALGER). Jake is the last resort to solve the case of the missing Gotrox Pearls, only to realize "neither gems nor thief exist"!
  8. "Silly Sleuths" by Fred Schwab. A collection of one-panel jokes.
  9. "The Bar S Rustlers" (Buck Marshall) written, penciled and inked by Homer Fleming. "Cattle thieves are terrorizing the country [and] Buck loses no time in responding to the Sheriff's appeal for help."
  10. "The Streets of Chinatown" (Slam Bradley) written by Jerry Siegel, penciled and inked by Joe Shuster. "Don't mind my torn shirt, lady. This is a special occasion - the first time I ever met a dime-store princess." Said princess offers Slam a job guarding her valuable poodle-dog; when Slam ... "politely" declines, the bumbling Shorty takes his place.

Note: E. C. Stoner's first works.

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