The Presentation and Representation of Police Officers in comic books – The 1980’s

The Presentation and Representation of Police Officers in comic books – The 1980’s – CCTV, DNA and Cell Phones

Guest blog by Sergeant Clayton Brown

In the 1980’s, many of the police techniques and law enforcement tools we now take for granted were in their infancy. CCTV (closed-circuit television) was brand new and only a handful of private companies had it.  There are now an estimated 30 million CCTV cameras in the United States and 6 million in the UK. DNA was in its infancy and its first use was in a major criminal case in England. Two girls had been murdered in 1983 and 1986 and it was a DNA that exonerated one suspect while identifying the guilty party. Cellphones were in their infancy and at time the issued police service radios were unreliable. 

Without video, social media and cellphones, investigation was the key to solving crime. In 1981, Suzanne Medicis became the first woman to receive the Combat Cross, while Sharon Fields and Tanya Braithwaite became the first women to receive the NYPD’s Medal of Honor. In 1984, Irma Lozada became the first female police officer killed in the line of duty. In 1985, the first Women in Policing Conference was held. In 1988, Mary Lowery became the first female police officer assigned to the Aviation Unit in the NYPD.

In comic books, the 1980’s was seen as a creative high point by many fans with more freedom for artists to express themselves and to write more in depth and more mature stories. There was an explosion of new publishers that were promoting creator owned series. What that meant was that the artists who created their characters retained the ability to write and shape the direction that the character and the characters stories would take. This was far different than in the past where companies expected artists and writers to create characters which were then owned by the business and could be used as the company directed. First Comics, Comico, Eclipse and Dark Horse Comics were just a few of the new creator owned companies that appeared on the scene at that time. Unfortunately, of those named, only Dark Horse has survived to this date. Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons became one of the most celebrated mainstream comic books in history and earned a place on Time Magazine’s list of the 100 greatest English Language novels of the 20^th century. Watchmen did so well as a comic that it was turned into a feature movie in 2009 and then a TV series in 2019.

In 1980, we were introduced to PSI Judge Cassandra Anderson.  Her first appearance was in British science fiction comic 2000AD #15.  She was created by John Wagner and Brian Bolland as a supporting character in the Judge Dredd comics. However, her popularity led to her starring in her own series Anderson: PSI-Division (since 1988), her own novels and an appearance in the recent ‘Judge Dredd’ movie (2012). She was presented as a character that could hold her own and thrive as a stand-alone character creating an identity outside the Judge Dredd character and comic. Judge Anderson is part of the PSI unit meaning that she is an officer that has precognitive and telepathic abilities and is part of a unit of similar officers with such skills. 

In August of 1980, Marvel Comics presented Sabra.  She made her first cameo appearance in Incredible Hulk #250 and then appeared fully in issue #256 (February 1981). She was created by Bill Mantelo and Sal Buscema. Belinda Glass came up with the name and the concept for the character. ‘Sabra’ means a native of Israel and a kind of prickly pear.  The character is Ruth Bat-Seraph and was born near Jerusalem, Israel. She was a police officer that later becomes the first superhuman agent to serve with the Mossad (the Israeli Secret service). Of note with this character is the fact that she demonstrates the evolution, not only of the representation of police officers, but also of expanding views of the world. When comics started there were very few female characters, as well, there was very little in the way of diversity. Most comics in the early days had male, white, American characters. Sabra is an excellent example of the evolution of the art and societal awareness and acceptance.

From 1985 – 1991, Fish Police was a comic book that told the story of Inspector Gill, a fish Detective who tries to solve various crimes in a fictional underwater city. Many of the crimes are mafia related and many of the plots and dialogue are reminiscent of film noir. The comic was adapted into an animated series in 1992 which only lasted one season. 

In 1987, Maggie Sawyer appeared in Superman #4. Sawyer was a police Captain during Superman’s early days. As the character appeared more in the series and her history was developed it was revealed that she was a lesbian. This was almost unheard of in the 1980’s, but the ground breaking development of this character lead to more diversity and inclusion in comic books as time went on. Maggie was portrayed as strong and capable and as someone not afraid to jump into the action. Sawyer was assigned the task of battling superpowered menaces to the community and became Superman’s primary contact within the police department. The character became so popular that she got her own story; Metropolis S.C.U. which was about a Special Crimes Unit in the Metropolis Police Department. Eventually she got transferred to Gotham to assist Batman. I’m not certain if that would be considered a promotion or a lateral transfer. This character is still in use today almost 30 years later and has been involved with Batwoman, another character who has come out as openly gay, something that would certainly have not been as accepted without the ground breaking character development from 30 years prior. The popularity of the character also led to her being a recurring character on the current Warner Bros. TV series “Supergirl’. 

Savage Dragon first appeared as ‘Dragon’ in Graphic Fantasy #1 (June 1982) and then as Savage Dragon in Megaton #3 in 1986. He was created by Erik Larsen for Image Comics and is a large finned, green skinned humanoid who has super strength and a healing factor. He is also amnesiac so for most of the series the origin of his powers and his appearance are a mystery. The interesting thing about this character is that, although he is a green super human using his vast strength to help his community, he chose to become a Government sanctioned super hero and join the police department in Chicago. He used his police authority and his might to protect the city from a variety of foes. As his creator indicates: “Dragon could have been anything, but the green guy chose to wear the blue and become part of the worlds proudest profession.  He may not walk a beat anymore but the Dragon still has the soul of an honest cop”. A significant fact about this character is that he is one of the few comics that has been almost exclusively written by his creator for his entire print run. Savage Dragon is the longest running American comic book to feature a single artist/writer. The character has also been adapted into an animated series that ran for two seasons starting in 1995.  Savage Dragon was listed by Wizard Magazine as the 116^th greatest comic book character of all time.

Join us next month when the ongoing special about Policing in Comics continues with a look at the 1990’s