Adventure Comics #58
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeAdventure Comics #58 (January 1941) marks the debut of Paul Kirk, the first DC character to carry the 'Manhunter' designation — a plainclothes investigator whose strip would anchor the book for over a year before being spectacularly reimagined by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. The issue also sits at the heart of Adventure Comics' Golden Age superhero peak, running Hourman and the Sandman as co-headliners at the precise moment the anthology format was driving DC's widest stable of mystery men. Because the later Simon/Kirby Manhunter in Adventure Comics #73 retroactively absorbed Kirk's name and continuity, the character's origins here became a foundational — and frequently confused — node in DC's Golden Age lineage. The Archie Goodwin/Walt Simonson revival of Paul Kirk in Detective Comics in 1973, which won multiple Shazam Awards, drew renewed attention to this debut issue as the true starting point of one of comics' most celebrated character arcs.
In "The Great Train Robbery," a classic adventure from Adventure Comics #58 (1941), a high-stakes heist unfolds on the rails, pitting cunning criminals against a determined hero in a race against time. This 10-cent comic, with its dynamic cover by Bernard Baily, captures the era’s pulse with a thrilling tale set against the backdrop of mid-20th-century America.
In "The Great Train Robbery," Hourman and the Minute Men race to solve a high-stakes heist that defies logic, uncovering a web of deception aboard a seemingly ordinary train. With time running short and a suspicious clerk at the center, they must piece together clues before the real mastermind strikes again.
ComicBooks.com Value
Show all 17 grades ▾
Find on ebay
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
The issue was edited by Whitney Ellsworth and published by Detective Comics Inc. under its standard 68-page, 10-cent Golden Age format. The Hourman lead story, 'The Great Train Robbery,' was scripted by Ken Fitch and fully drawn by Bernard Baily, who also provided the cover featuring Hourman with an inset Sandman. The Paul Kirk feature was created and illustrated by Ed Moore, launching what would be a 14-issue run through Adventure Comics #72. Creig Flessel, who had been the primary artist on the Sandman strip since its early days and is closely associated with the character, contributed the Sandman story 'Orchids of Doom' to this issue.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Paul Kirk in the feature 'Paul Kirk, Manhunter' (story: 'Manhunt on the Sun Limited'), created by writer-artist Ed Moore — the first DC character designated a 'manhunter,' though the word was a job description in the strip's title, not a name or alias Kirk ever used.
- The Paul Kirk plainclothes detective strip ran in Adventure Comics #58–72 (January 1941 – March 1942), establishing the Manhunter concept at DC before Joe Simon and Jack Kirby reimagined it as a costumed hero beginning in Adventure Comics #73.
- Cover and Hourman lead story ('The Great Train Robbery') by Bernard Baily; the cover depicts Hourman prominently with the Sandman in an inset panel — one of the few issues during this era to spotlight both of the book's superhero stars on a single cover.
- The Hourman story features Rex Tyler (Hourman) and the Minute Men of America cracking a train robbery orchestrated by gangster Nick Remos, with supporting characters Jimmy Martin and Thorndyke also appearing.
- The Sandman story, 'Orchids of Doom' — in which the Sandman battles killer orchids — is drawn by Creig Flessel, the artist most closely associated with the Golden Age Sandman strip and a 2006 Will Eisner Hall of Fame nominee.
- The Sandman's partner Dian Belmont appears in the Sandman story, continuing her role as one of the more active female supporting characters of the early Golden Age.
- The issue is a dense anthology also containing Barry O'Neill, Mark Lansing, Federal Men (Steve Carson), Cotton Carver, and Steve Conrad: Adventurer — reflecting the broad non-superhero adventure content that filled Adventure Comics throughout the Golden Age.
- The Golden Age Sandman Archives Volume 1 (DC, 2005) collects Sandman stories only through Adventure Comics #57, meaning the Flessel-drawn Sandman story in this issue has not been included in that archival reprint series.
Cast · 10 characters
Full credits
Reprints
↩ Reprints All-Star Comics #3 (1940)
Reprinted in Golden Age Sandman Archives #1 (2004)
Key issues in Adventure Comics
Variants (1)
Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.