Gang Busters #40

A desperate criminal holds a gun on his hostages inside a car, glaring into the rearview mirror at a uniformed officer outside with his hand raised — all while snarling "No false moves, now! I'm already slated for the hot seat — an' they can only burn me once!" It's a taut, street-level standoff rendered with real menace by cover penciler Curt Swan and inker Ray Burnley. This 1954 DC crime anthology, promising "brand-new adventures of TV and radio's favorite," delivers exactly the hard-boiled tension the Gang Busters title was built on.