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Slam Bradley

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Slam Bradley
Interior artwork from Catwoman Secret Files & Origins vol. 1, 1 (September, 2002 DC Comics).
Art by Michael Lark.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceDetective Comics #1 (March 1937)
Created byMalcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, Jerry Siegel, and Joe Shuster
In-story information
SpeciesHuman
Team affiliationsGotham City Police Department
AbilitiesExtremely good bar-fighter known to take down several opponents at once; excellent detective

Samuel Emerson "Slam" Bradley is a fictional character that has appeared in various comic book series published by DC Comics. He is a private detective who exists in DC's main shared universe. Conceived by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson and developed by Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the character first appeared in Detective Comics #1 (March 1937) and is depicted as a hard bitten, tough private eye who loves working for dames, but prefers the platonic company of his boy sidekick "Shorty" Morgan.[1] The character originally starred in his own stories during the Golden Age, and later was revived in supporting character roles.

Slam Bradley was portrayed in live-action by Kurt Szarka in the first season of Batwoman.

Creation

First appearance of Slam Bradley, from Detective Comics #1, March 1937. Art by Joe Shuster.

Slam Bradley was originally outlined by Wheeler-Nicholson in a May 13, 1936 letter to Jerry Siegel, who had previously created with Joe Shuster DC's character Doctor Occult. The letter stated: "We need some more work from you. We are getting out at least one new magazine in July and possibly two. The first one is definitely in the works. It will contain longer stories and fewer. From you and Shuster we need sixteen pages monthly. We want a detective hero called 'Slam Bradley'. He is to be an amateur, called in by the police to help unravel difficult cases. He should combine both brains and brawn, be able to think quickly and reason cleverly and able as well to slam bang his way out of a bar room brawl or mob attack. Take every opportunity to show him in a torn shirt with swelling biceps and powerful torso ala Flash Gordon. The pages are to run the same size as New Comics but to contain eight panels a page instead of six."

The character Slam Bradley has, from its early onset, been embedded in a history of racism, in which the character is juxtaposed against Yellow Peril caricatures.[2][3][4]

Publication history

The character first appeared as one of several ongoing features, in the debut issue of Detective Comics – originally an anthology series – in March 1937. He debuted a year before Superman's first appearance, and two years before Batman would become the title's lead feature.[5] The character's adventures continued as Batman was introduced in issue #27, continuing as a supporting feature until Detective Comics #152 (October 1949). According to Jess Nevins' Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes, "He fights ordinary criminals, Yellow Perils, stage magicians, the Human Fly, creatures from the year Two Billion, the Man-Beast, and on at least one occasion space aliens."[6]

Slam was replaced in Detective #153 by Roy Raymond, TV Detective. Bradley would not make another significant appearance for over 32 years and his sidekick Shorty Morgan disappeared completely.[7]

The character reappeared in Detective Comics #500 (March 1981). In a story titled "The Too Many Cooks... Caper!", an aging Bradley joined other DC detectives, such as Jason Bard, Pow-Wow Smith, Roy Raymond, the Human Target, and Mysto, Magician Detective in solving the murder of a fellow retiring detective. The character returned again in Detective Comics #572 (the 50th anniversary issue), teaming up with detectives Batman, Robin, Elongated Man, and Sherlock Holmes.

He appeared in the Superman titles in the 1990s, working for the Metropolis Police Department.[8] However, this incarnation of the character was short-lived. When an older Slam Bradley later appeared in Detective Comics, it was explained that the Metropolis character was Slam Bradley, Jr.[9]

The character was planned to appear in Tim Truman's 1998 Guns of the Dragon miniseries, which was set in the 1920s and teamed older versions of Bat Lash and Enemy Ace for an adventure on Dinosaur Island. However another editor had plans for the character, so the character was rewritten as Slam Bradley's heretofore unknown brother Biff, who sacrifices his life to stop the villainous Vandal Savage.

In 2001, writer Ed Brubaker and artist Darwyn Cooke revived the character in the four-part serial "Trail of the Catwoman" in Detective Comics #759-762.[10] In this story, he investigates the death of Selina Kyle and in the process runs afoul of the Batman.[11] This incarnation of the character is a former police officer in his late 50s who has always worked in Gotham City (contradicting the previous Cleveland, New York, and Metropolis settings). Bradley then became a supporting cast member in the Catwoman ongoing series. He reveals that he has a son, Sam Bradley Jr., on the Gotham City Police Department. Sam Jr. and Selina Kyle engaged in a romantic relationship that produced a child, Helena Kyle.[5] The character appears in Darwyn Cooke's 2003/2004 DC: The New Frontier as a private investigator working alongside Detective John Jones, and in Cooke's Solo #5.

Slam made an appearance during a flashback in the story arc "Heart of Hush", where he was the primary detective in the murder of Thomas Elliot's father.

Slam was featured in the out-of-continuity[12] comic Legends of the Dark Knight #5, in which he had to team up with Batman to clear his name of a murder charge. This story was released digitally as Legends of the Dark Knight #11-13.[13]

Fictional character biography

Originally operating out of Cleveland, then later in New York City, Slam and his sidekick "Shorty" Morgan often had humorous, fight-filled adventures, often going undercover in various professions to catch their man. Though most stories had a mystery element, "Slam" was more likely to solve them with his fists than his brains.

In other media

"Slam" Bradley appears in the Batwoman episode "How Queer Everything Is Today!", portrayed by Kurt Szarka. This version is a member of the Gotham City Police Department. He first appeared when Batwoman stopped a hacked train from crashing into a concrete wall. Those who saw them photographed together thought they were dating. A running gag is that there were comments that "Slam" Bradley had a similar appearance to Chris Evans. When the Crows and the GCPD arrived at Gotham Prep to evacuate the prom attendees before Alice's bombs went off, Batwoman used her cape to block the flames before they could hit Bradley. Afterwards, she told the press that she and Bradley were not dating.

"Slam" Bradley appears in the direct-to-video animated film Justice League: The New Frontier, voiced by Jim Meskimen. He appears as Martian Manhunter's detective partner and helps him and the Batman save a young boy from a cult that worships the Centre.

References

  1. ^ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
  2. ^ Johnston, Rich (27 March 2019). "Slam Bradley in Detective Comics #1000 - a Grand Tradition of Anniversaries, Get-Togethers and Insensitive Language". Bleeding Cool News And Rumors. Slam Bradley is also notable for a number of blatantly racist stories back in the day, [...]
  3. ^ Johnston, Rich (16 November 2018). "Was Detective Comics Before Batman Cancelled Over Racial Concerns?". Bleeding Cool News And Rumors. Certainly those early issues of Detective Comics had quite the obsession with Yellow Peril. and a few of this panels will show. Siegel and Shuster's Slam Bradley is always finding some 'inscrutable' East Asian person to punch – maybe DC Comics didn't want to advertise that as from the creators of Superman quite so much?
  4. ^ Jackson, Londyn (1 August 2019). "Beyond the Batcave: Why DETECTIVE COMICS is Batman's Life Line". Comicosity. While even today Slam Bradley is known as a classic detective in comparison to DC's "World's Greatest Detective", Batman, his and other figures within the pages of Detective are seen today as having racist and sexist tendencies, such as throwing around the term "Chinks" when fighting Chinese gang leader Fui Onyui and his henchmen in both of their very first appearances.
  5. ^ a b Wallace, Dan (2008), "Slam Bradley", in Dougall, Alastair (ed.), The DC Comics Encyclopedia, London: Dorling Kindersley, p. 59, ISBN 0-7566-4119-5
  6. ^ Nevins, Jess (2013). Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes. High Rock Press. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-61318-023-5.
  7. ^ Markstein, Don. "Slam Bradley". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  8. ^ Greenberger, Robert; Pasko, Martin (2010). The Essential Superman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. pp. 37–38. ISBN 978-0-345-50108-0.
  9. ^ Slam Bradley Jr. at the Unofficial Guide to the DC Universe
  10. ^ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Manning, Matthew K.; McAvennie, Michael; Wallace, Daniel (2019). DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle. DK Publishing. p. 285. ISBN 978-1-4654-8578-6.
  11. ^ Greenberger, Robert (2008). The Essential Batman Encyclopedia. Random House Digital, Inc. p. 64. ISBN 9780345501066.
  12. ^ Phillips, Brandy (June 6, 2012). "New Batman Digital Comic Series LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT to Debut Tomorrow". DC Comics. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
  13. ^ Beedle, Tim (August 16, 2012). "DIGITAL FIRST SPOTLIGHT: Legends of the Dark Knight". DC Comics. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
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