Oh, Guardian Fate! Send me to that dark land where lies the thread of innocent life! --- (I've never tried THIS before! ... I hope it works!) 
- — Destiny
Police Comics #32 is an issue of the series Police Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of July, 1944.
Synopsis for Plastic Man: "The La Cucaracha Caper"
After Plastic Man captures the gangs of the Mask, Mopes McGee, Red Nose and Booby Benson all in the same day, there's no room for anyone inside police headquarters with all the space the captured crooks are taking up! For this abuse of their workforce, the police send a petition to his FBI boss that Plas be dealt with, and the chief fed sends Plas on a mandatory vacation to Mexico to let the police's frustration with him burn off. The gang bosses whose operations the hero's just wrecked decide to hold a conference somewhere far away to come up with a plan to get revenge, but happen to pick the same town and even take the same plane, wearing the same female disguises! Sure he's seen them somewhere, Plas provokes a fight, but is forced to jump out after Woozy when the crooks shove his sidekick out the hatch. He forms himself into a parachute and they float safely to the ground. Woozy spots the four gang bosses leaving the hotel room across from theirs on the way to see a bullfight, and since he has nothing to wear but the dress his disguise consisted of, Woozy steals clothes of the bullfighter to be able to go into the street and keep an eye on them. After a series of hijinks at the bullfight, Plas manages to knock out the bull and then returns home to deliver the four gang bosses. It's not until his boss chews him out that he remembers he was supposed to be on vacation.
Appearing in Plastic Man: "The La Cucaracha Caper"
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Antagonists:
- The Mask
- Mopes McGee
Other Characters:
- Simeon T. Whistlebutton
- Mr. Ames
- Ellen Ames
- Pancho
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Synopsis for Flatfoot Burns: "The Crooks Convention"
Appearing in Flatfoot Burns: "The Crooks Convention"
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- Jughead Jones
Synopsis for Destiny: "The Gates of Perdition"
Destiny gets summoned into the death cell of a wrongly-condemned convict, three hours before execution time. The real murderer has just that day died in a car crash, so Destiny won't be able to wring a confession out of him. Destiny vows to pursue Evans, the murderer, even into the afterlife, and petitions Fate for the power to do so. He is whirled away from the prison and into the Realm of Death. From Death, Destiny learns that (a) Death has standing orders to leave Destiny alone, and (b) the late Evans is now owned by the Master of the Underworld, with whom it will be difficult to deal. It is; the Master challenges Destiny to a fight. Destiny isn't stronger than the Master but he throws him with a jiu-jitsu move then punches him off his feet. The Master of the Underworld agrees to send Evans back to Life for one hour.
Destiny and Evans materialize in the execution chamber at State Prison, where the dead man confesses to the murder and admits to the frame-up, in front of everybody in the room, then immediately dies again. The Warden, Executioner, and at least one guard witness this. By the next day, the innocent convict has been released.
Appearing in Destiny: "The Gates of Perdition"
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Antagonists:
- Evans, butler, murderer (Dies)
- Master of the Underworld
Other Characters:
- Roy Carson, condemned innocent
- Anne Dale, Roy's girlfriend
- Mr. Ladd (Mentioned only)
- Death
Locations:
- Main City
- State Prison
- Realm of Death
- The Underworld
Synopsis for The Spirit: "Thomas Hawkins"
(Sunday newspaper "Spirit Section" reprint)
Appearing in The Spirit: "Thomas Hawkins"
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Synopsis for The Human Bomb: "Often a Bomb, Never a Dud"
Mig Mulgrew has a dastardly plan to burn the oil wells of his neighbors deep south in oil country, driving up the value of his own holdings and forcing the government to pay him inflated rates for oil for the war. Roy Lincoln and Hustace Throckmorton are in the area doing scientific tests for the government, and Mulgrew has his men attack them to make sure his plans stay a secret. The two heroes are buried, but Roy becomes the Human Bomb and easily blasts his way free. After a beating from Bomb, Mulgrew eagerly confesses to the sheriff to get sent to a nice safe jail cell far away from the Human Bomb.
Appearing in The Human Bomb: "Often a Bomb, Never a Dud"
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Synopsis for Manhunter: "The Giggling Corpse"
Famed diamond cutter Junius van Vleet is scheduled to cleave the great Krishnu Diamond, and determined to get a good night's sleep before the big job. When he calls for his butler, however, he finds the butler's body on the floor and his head on a nearby table, mocking him. Van Vleet screams in terror, and Officer Dan Richards happens to be walking the beat nearby and hears it.
Van Vleet's nephew confides that Vleet's under a lot of strain and it's unsurprising he'd crack up; the Krishnu Diamond's cursed, allegedly. When Dan Richards investigates, he finds the butler whole and intact, but is sure he's seen the man before. So sure he becomes Manhunter and sneaks back in to investigate his suspicions. Manhunter confronts Van Vleet and explains the fact that he believes he's going crazy is proof he isn't; lunatics always thinks everyone else is crazy except themselves. They're overcome by gas and come to to find themselves sitting on the ceiling, while the butler looks in on them from the floor. Van Vleet wonders why Thor doesn't fall off the ceiling when he attacks the butler, revealing he'd been stuck to it with suction cup shoes. Manhunter remembers where he'd seen the butler before: as a magician in a circus. He and Van Vleet's nephew were in on it together, trying to make Van Vleet think he was crazy so they could steal his money and the diamond.
Appearing in Manhunter: "The Giggling Corpse"
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Notes
- Destiny
- "Death" appears as the traditional hooded shrouded skeletal personification of Death.
- "Master of the Underworld" appears like a carnival fake Satan, a red-skinned man in a tight red costume, with a big red pitchfork.
- Plastic Man
- "The La Cucaracha Caper" is reprinted in Plastic Man Archives Vol. 3.
- Also appearing in this issue of Police Comics were:
- Dewey Drip, by John Devlin
- Dick Mace: "The Wolf Man" (text story) by Robert M. Hyatt
- Burp the Twerp: "Doc Brewer's Tonic",' by Jack Cole
See Also
Links and References
