Police Comics #112

This February 1952 Quality Comics issue delivers exactly the hard-boiled tension the title promises, with cover art by Reed Crandall depicting a body plummeting headfirst from a hotel window while a horrified red-haired woman screams in the foreground and a dark-haired man in a suit looks on in shock. The cover announces private eye Ken Shannon in "The Corpse on the Sidewalk," and Crandall's draftsmanship — all sharp angles and visceral reaction — makes the scene land with genuine impact. For fans of golden-age crime comics at their most gripping, this is Police Comics doing what it does best.