Police Comics #16 is an issue of the series Police Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of February, 1943.
Synopsis for Plastic Man: "The Revenge of Chief Great Warrior"
An Indian warlord, "Chief Great Warrior", urges his fellow tribesmen to revolt and reclaim North America while the white government is busy fighting a foreign war. He almost succeeds, but one brave is actually Plastic Man in disguise, who speaks out against the renegade chief, and convinces the others he speaks for the great spirits by morphing into a totem pole. Great Warrior hurls himself into a quicksand bog, rapidly sinking out of sight, but promises he will yet have his revenge.
Soon after, a man named Hawes sees Chief Great Warrior's reflection in his mirror, and it hypnotizes him into planting parcels around town and mailing in letters to a radio show where people are instructed to look for something only to fall victim to pranks. These pranks turn out to be deadly, like a bomb under the mayor's hat or needles in the police chief's face. Plastic Man finds a bomb up his chimney, but his rubbery form saves him from injury.
Chief Great Warrior returns to haunt Hawes again, as his scheme failed to kill Plastic Man. Hawes smashes his mirror and runs, unwilling to be turned into a tool of death again, but the chief appears in any reflective surface he sees. Smashing windows in his fury, Hawes is hauled in by the police. His story of being hypnotized by a wrathful Indian spirit reaches Plastic Man, who's willing to consider the possibility after his own confrontation with Great Warrior. Indeed, Great Warrior's spirit appears in a window and hypnotizes Plastic Man into going on a rampage to destroy the city. Police are unable to stop the slippery hero, but Great Warrior's son commands his father's spirit to appear, and vows to live a life of disgrace unless Great Warrior ceases his evil. Rather than condemn his own progeny to ignominy, Great Warrior releases Plastic Man from his control and departs to his eternity.
Appearing in Plastic Man: "The Revenge of Chief Great Warrior"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Will Hawes of Wagner Law
- Woozy Winks
- Captain Murphy
Antagonists:
- Chief Great Warrior's Ghost (Dies)
Other Characters:
- Officer Danny
- The Host of Surprise Party
- Chief Great Warrior's Son
- Mayor Crawley of Windy City (Dies)
- Police Commissioner Kaine (Dies)
Locations:
- Earth-X
- Windy City
- Station WXXM
- Police HQ
- A Blackfoot Reservation
- Windy City
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Manhunter: "Wanted:Thor, Manhunter's Dog, Dead or Alive"
A man ignores a warning from Dan Richards about entering a certain park late at night, because three people have already died mysterious deaths there. Hearing the scream as another victim's claimed, Richards runs into the park and sees the man having just been savaged to death by a large dog. A large dog that looks just like Thor, which Richards lets get away because of the resemblance. An APB's put out for Thor, over Richards' objections. He goes home and finds his loyal companion, lacking any kind of murderous rage.
Suiting up as Manhunter to investigate the killer dog, but leaves Thor behind since the police have orders to shoot him on sight. Suddenly Thor crashes through a glass window and goes running off after his master. Meanwhile, some crooks summon Thor with a dog whistle, having plotted this to deprive Manhunter of his loyal animal companion and make him an easy opponent. The hero falls into their trap, and they try to get poetic by having Thor murder Manhunter. Loyalty to his master wins out, and the pair mop up the crooks.
Appearing in Manhunter: "Wanted:Thor, Manhunter's Dog, Dead or Alive"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists
- Max Ricker
- Killer the Dog (Dies)
Other Characters
- Officer Tom
- Officer Murphy
Locations
- Earth-X
- Graham Park
- Graham Park
Synopsis for The Spirit: "Palyachi, the Killer Clown!"
A circus sets up, and Palyachi the clown tries to impress the beautiful but heartless Marka into marrying him. She toys with him by getting him to murder other circus performers and rob banks in the name of gaining her love, but this comes back to haunt her when the cops find powdered rosin at the site of the latest robbery. From that clue alone the Spirit's easily able to deduce the crook was a circus performer, and seeing one set up through the windows of his secret lab, decides to start his search there.
Marka tries to ingratiate herself to the Spirit by promising to turn Palyachi over to him, but this overheard by the smitten clown. The hero pursues him only for Palyachi to sic a gorilla on him, and while Spirit's in a fight for his life, the clown gets revenge on his manipulator. When Spirit finally sees off the ape and catches up to Palyachi, the clown's lost his mind over killing the woman he loved.
Appearing in The Spirit: "Palyachi, the Killer Clown!"
Featured Characters:
Synopsis for The Human Bomb: "Jitterbug Jeopardy"
Roy and Hustace both show up at a service dance, and while dancing the jitterbug, Hustace accidentally kicks his shoes off. His explosive feet make the dance contest more interesting and more perilous for Jean, his partner. Roy changes into the Human Bomb and saves Hustace from falling on her by breaking through a wall, but both Jean and Hustace's aggressive wife, Honey-Bun, are furious at the two of them.
Appearing in The Human Bomb: "Jitterbug Jeopardy"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Hustace Throckmorton
- Honey-Bun
- Jean Caldwell
Synopsis for Chic Carter: "Chic Carter and the Strange Case of Professor Tomorrow?"
A strange little man walks down the street, talking about people who aren't there, a truck crash that doesn't happen, and how he believes it's the next day. The next day, however, gangster Slugs McGirk's men read about a truck crash that happened exactly where the strange little man acted one out. They set out to investigate him, thinking of the illicit possibilities of a man who knows the future. Like when a bank vault's going to be open so the dosh can be snatched. Investigating the robbery, Chic Carter hears about the strange little man, and learns his name is Professor Tomorrow.
Chic swings by a jewelry store to pick up a birthday present for his inamorata, only to catch Professor Tomorrow in the act of buying an expensive watch with one huge bill. Figuring the jeweler's will be the next place hit, Chic lets the police know. However they arrive too late, since Professor Tomorrow saw the future and the gang showed up before the police raided the store. Furthermore, Chic's implicated when said inamorata calls the store and says a load of jewelry from the store arrived for her, signed "C.C." Chic punches his way through the police and hurries off to the McGirk gang's hideout. After the gang's arrested, Sergeant Monahan bops Professor Tomorrow on the head, changing his frame of reference for tomorrow to today.
Appearing in Chic Carter: "Chic Carter and the Strange Case of Professor Tomorrow?"
Featured Characters:
Synopsis for Destiny: "The Coming of Destiny"
In Main City one evening, an unnamed ill-dressed tramp encountered a vaudevillian mind-reader, and afterward was able to foresee death, trouble, and disaster, precognitively. He could also teleport himself to the scenes of these problems, and was fated to intervene in them. This was how he encountered Oscar Jones, who had only minutes earlier murdered 711. They fought, and Jones escaped by throwing himself out a closed window from an upper floor, but swung away to safety on a telephone line. Destiny resolved to pursue him.
Appearing in Destiny: "The Coming of Destiny"
Featured Characters:
- Destiny (Origin)
Supporting Characters:
- Prof. Seezall Nozal (First appearance)
- 711 (As a spirit)
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
Locations:
Synopsis for Phantom Lady: "The Mystery of the Opera House Robberies"
Appearing in Phantom Lady: "The Mystery of the Opera House Robberies"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters
Antagonists
- Ramon
Notes
- This issue's Plastic Man story is reprinted in Plastic Man Archives Vol. 1.
See Also
Links and References
