Gang Busters #36

Straight from the golden age of crime comics, Gang Busters #36 (DC, 1953) captures the nerve-wracking tension of a mob car barreling toward an armored vehicle on a winding road, while one nervous crook warns his boss about the suicidal plan — only to be coldly reminded that's just the price of running with "The Suicide Mob–U.S.A.!" Curt Swan's pencils and Stan Kaye's inks bring a sharp, cinematic energy to the scene, with the two vehicles on a collision course against a dusky landscape that makes the danger feel all too real. Promising "brand-new adventures of TV and radio's favorite" and the reminder that "you can't beat the law," this issue is a fine slice of DC's hard-boiled crime storytelling at its most gripping.