DETECTIVE PICTURE STORIES #4 (MARCH 1937)

The early comic book company Comics Magazine Company, of Cleveland, began in 1936 by two former employees of National Allied Publishers (which later morphed into DC).  CMC was then bought out by Ullem the following year, which in turn was bought out by Centaur Publications the year after that.  Centaur was a distributor of pulp magazine and Centaur Comics ran from 1938 to 1942.  Centaur Comics, although a minor publisher, along with its early incarnations, holds a strong place in the hearts of comic book fans.

Superman first hit the stands with Action Comics #1 in 1938.  With DC leading the way, Centaur Comics followed with a long string of superheroes in an effort to cash in on that part of the comic book market.  Actually, Centaur preceded DC in the superhero market, introducing The Clock (the first masked superhero), as well as others.  None could rival the popularity of Superman, though.  Among the Centaur secondary heroes and superheroes were The Arrow The Fantom, The Masked Marvel, Speed Centaur (yeah, half man, half horse), Amazing-Man, The Iron Skull, Minimidget and Ritty, Mighty Man, The Shark, Zardi (The Eternal Man), Doctor Hypno, TNT, The Voice, Miraco the Great, The Marksman, The King of Darkness, Blue Lady, Nightshade, The Electric Ray, Rainbow, Air Man, Craig Carter (he had a magic ring), The Sparkler, Blue Fire, Solarman, The Buzzard, Dr. Synthe, The Black Panther  (not the Marvel guy), The Stars and Stripes, The Liberty Scouts, Man of War, Vapo-Man, Fire-Man, The Sentinel, The Ferret, and The Invisible Terror.  [Phew!]  None of these ever made it to the big time, but you cannot say that Centaur Comics did not try.  Some of these heroes became templates or influenced later, better-known comic book heroes.

One of the Centaur titles reflected the hard-boiled, semi-realistic detective stories the were so popular in the Thirties -- Detective Picture Stories, which ran for five monthly issues from December 1936 through April 1937.

The March 1937 issues is noted for the 7-page story "Muss-'Em-Up" by Will Eisner.  Hammer Donovan, a rogue cop who is quick with his fists and his gun, has been fired from the force for brutality.  Then a bloodthirsty gang of robbers shows up, killing all potential witnesses.  The city and the press are in an uproar and the police are pressured to bring back Donovan, offer him carte blanche to go after the killers.  Donovan beats, threatens, and blackmails his way to a conclusion where he can "muss 'em up."

This issue has nine other tough guy stories:

• "Fifty Dollar Ride" by Ellis Edwards
• "Stand-In Girl" by Joseph E. Buresch
• "Kidnapped"  by Joe Campbell, Jr.
• "The Radio Patrol" by Rodney Thompson
• "Kane and Abel" by John Wilson & John Ewing
• "The Case of the Four Haircuts" by Victor J. Dowling
• "Sapphire Seas" by Captain C. W. Scott
• "Enemy Spy" by E. F. Webster
• "Will of Uncle Dan" by Matt Curzon

Enjoy.

https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=76355&b=i