Impossible Crime and Weird Menace
The following is an index to some comic book stories with different kinds of mystery plots.
The links are to the articles, where these characters and tales are usually discussed in depth, along with many other aspects of the tales.
The writer is given, if known.
In "Impossible Crime" tales, a crime which looks impossible to have taken place, is ultimately given a rational explanation by a detective. This is a huge and popular sub-genre of prose mystery fiction. But such tales are much rarer in the comic books. The solution in comic book impossible crime tales also tend to be much wilder and less realistic than in prose mysteries.
"Weird Menace" is a kind of impossible crime tale, that used to be popular in 1930's pulp magazines. In Weird Menace, a series of supernatural or science fictional looking events is eventually explained rationally. Quite a few comic book impossible crimes seem to draw on the weird menace tradition of the pulps. This is not too surprising - pulp fiction and comic books have strong links, with the pulps contributing many of the writers and editors to the American comic book industry that arose in the later 1930's.
The Disappearing Diamonds (Detective Comics #6, August 1937)
El Diablo, Part 2 (Adventure Comics #29, August 1938) Writer: Fred Guardineer
Steve Malone, District Attorney
The Lavalle Case (Detective Comics #18, August 1938) Writer: Gardner Fox
The Grogan Case (Detective Comics #19, September 1938) Writer: Gardner Fox
The Bank Robbery (More Fun Comics #52, February 1940) Writer: Jerry Siegel
Starman
The Strange Case of the Luckless Liars (Adventure Comics #75, June 1942) Writer: Gardner Fox
The Men Who Went Nowhere (Zip Comics #38, July 1943)
Murder Out of This World (Zip Comics #39, August 1943)
The Wrestling Cheese (Master Comics #43, October 1943)
Bus Ride to Death (Jumbo Comics #58, December 1943)
On the Air (Green Lantern #20, June-July 1946) Writer: Alfred Bester
The Flying Dutchman (Adventure #117, June 1947)
Stone Age Menace (Flash Comics #86, August-September 1947) Writer: Robert Kanigher (probably)
Johnny Becomes a G-Man (Flash Comics #5, May 1940)
Produce the Crime (Flash Comics #89, November 1947) Writer: Robert Kanigher
Triple Exposure (Flash Comics #90, December 1947) Writer: Robert Kanigher
The Tumbling Trees (Flash Comics #91, January 1948) Writer: Robert Kanigher
The Strange Invasion of Big Town (Big Town #21, May-June 1953) Writer: John Broome
The Amazing Crime Camera (Big Town #22, July-August 1953) Writer: John Broome
The Prophet of Doom (Big Town #32, March-April 1955) Writer: John Broome
The Amazing Mr. Presto (Big Town #33, May-June 1955) Writer: John Broome
The Dreams That Baffled Big Town (Big Town #44, March-April 1957) Writer: John Broome
The Return of the Fadeaway Outlaw (Western Comics #73, January-February 1959) Writer: Gardner Fox
Lois Lane's Kiss of Death (Lois Lane #7, February 1959) Writer: Robert Bernstein
The Incredible Delusion (Lois Lane #47, February 1964)
Lois Lane's Great Houdini Trick (Lois Lane #58, July 1965) Writer: Otto Binder
MC of the Midnight Scare Theater (Jimmy Olsen #38, July 1959) Writer: Robert Bernstein
The Dooms from Beyond (Showcase #35, November-December 1961) Writer: Gardner Fox
The Specter of 3000-Moons Lake (Atom #5, February-March 1963) Writer: Gardner Fox
The Mysterious Swan-Maiden (Atom #10, December 1963 - January 1964) Writer: Gardner Fox
Trouble at the Ten-Year Club (Atom #11, February-March 1964) Writer: Gardner Fox
The Gold Hunters of 49 (Atom #12, April-May 1964) Writer: Gardner Fox
The Magic Mirror Mystery (Hawkman #10, October-November 1965) Writer: Gardner Fox