Slam Bradley
One of the first detectives in Detective Comics, debuting in #1, a year before Superman first appeared.
Name:
Slam Bradley
Publisher:
Real name:
Samuel Emerson Bradley
Aliases:
- Samuel Emerson Bradley
- Sam Emerson Bradley
- Detective Bradley
- Slam Bradley
Birth date:
None
Gender:
Male
Powers:
- Agility
- Intellect
- Leadership
- Marksmanship
- Stamina
- Stealth
- Tracking
- Unarmed Combat
- Weapon Master
First issue:
Golden Age
Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Slam loved to fight and was typically portrayed in the middle of a brawl. His career was originally as a tough private detective. Slam often went undercover as a teacher, a magician, a prizefighter and even a singer on the radio. His partner was an aggravating, buffoonish man named Shorty Morgan. Slam was not too original. He started out as a slightly exaggerated version of Race Williams and other hard-boiled pulp detectives. Slam had many notable characteristics. He was the first private eye to appear regularly in comic books and he resembled Superman in his features, while being tall, muscular, raven-haired and square-jawed. Given his roots, that should not come as a surprise.
Modern Age
Currently Slam is a private detective, in his late 50's, operating in Gotham City. He has one son working in the GCPD, Sam Bradley Jr. Slam was once a cop working for the GCPD, but quit after watching years of corruption. He decided to open up his own detective agency because he still wanted to help, but not within the confines of the corrupted police force.
In 2001 he was brought back to Gotham PD after a long hiatus to investigate the death of the Catwoman and is also the Grandfather of Helena Kyle, Catwoman's daughter.
In Other Media
TV
Batwoman
In the season 1 episode "How Queer Everything Is Today!" Slam Bradley is introduced as a handsome GCPD officer who's grabbing headlines alongside Batwoman. Slam Bradley is portrayed by Kurt Szarka.
