Comic Title: Detective Comics #40
Publisher: DC (Detective Comics, Inc.)
Address: 480 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY
Cover Date: June 1940
Approx. On Sale Date: May 7, 1940 Copyright Date May 3, 1940
Source: Library of Congress, Periodicals 1940
Until 1958 DC did not report actual on sale dates to the copyright office
The publication dates listed in LoC records are NOT release dates.

Frequency: Monthly
Cover Price: $0.10
Page Count: 64
Editor: Fredric Whitney Ellsworth

Notes:
This issue's cover which features the Joker, was originally intended for the fifth story of Batman #1. The Joker does not appear in this issue.

Title: (No Title)
Pages: 8

Feature(s):
Slam Bradley (of Earth-1)

Writer: Jerry Siegel
Artist: Howard Sherman

Feature Character(s)

• Slam Bradley (last appearance in Detective Comics #39; next appearance in New York World's Fair Comics (#2))

Supporting Character(s)

• Shorty Morgan (last appearance in Detective Comics #39; next appearance in New York World's Fair Comics (#2))

Villain(s)

• Luici Barratti and Carlo Pimento (murderers; no further appearances)
• The South Side Mob (no further appearances)

Other Character(s)

• Slugger Carmen (a murder victim; no further appearances)

Synopsis:
Slam and Shorty witness a murder. Slam is unable to stop the killers from escaping, but he is able to identify the men for police. The crooks then threaten Slam to prevent him from testifying. Slam refuses, so the crooks try to kill him.

When Slam proves elusive to the killers, they go after Shorty. They kidnap him, and force Slam to surrender. Slam still promises to testify, so the crooks leave him and Shorty in a death trap. Slam escapes and is finally able to apprehend the killers and their gang.