Detective Comics #14

From April 1938, Detective Comics #14 delivers an immediately gripping cover by Creig Flessel: a desperate man in a police badge and vest sits bound and helpless on a wooden floor, his wrists tied behind him as a lit fuse snakes toward a box of TNT just inches away. The tension is almost unbearable — you can practically feel the seconds ticking down. Inside, Sven Elvén and Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson bring "The Mystery of Hondoku Isle" to life, making this a fine snapshot of early crime comics firing on all cylinders.