Chief Bradley
| The Police Chief | |
| |
| First appearance: | "The Theatre Mysteries" |
|---|---|
| Created by: | Lee Falk and Phil Davis |
The Police Chief, mostly just called "Chief", is a character from the Mandrake the Magician comic strip. First time someone resembling and having the role of the Police Chief is in the one-page story "The Clairvoyant" from January 29, 1939.
The name of the city where he is the police chief is never mentioned, but it is likely to be New York City, in a fictional version. His jurisdiction is extensive and he can appear in what appear to be smaller cities and towns, as well as in more rural settings. Even though he is the police chief, he does not have a purely office position but often appears at crime scenes and is sometimes active in the hunt for various criminals.
Fictional Character Biography
The Phil Davis Era
The first time[1] Mandrake cooperated with the Police Chief was when singer Faravelli received threats that he would be murdered if he went on stage. Even though the Police Chief had placed 50 police officers in the theater, they were unable to prevent Faravelli from being murdered. But with Mandrake's skills as a self-taught detective, he found out who the murderer was and the Police Chief was able to apprehend the criminal.
The next[2] time they collaborated on a case was after Mandrake and Narda had spoken to an unhappy boy. The boy's father was in prison on suspicion of robbery, and the boy was the only one who believed that his father was innocent. Narda took pity on the boy and made Mandrake promise her that he would investigate the matter. The closer Mandrake got to a solution, the less the Chief believed him, but in the end it turned out that Mandrake was right. The Chief apologized to Mandrake, saying he had been an ornery fool to have doubted him.
The Chief is also on active duty with the police squad, as when he helped[3] rescue Narda from a kidnapper on a river island.
The Chief has faith in Mandrake's abilities to investigate mysterious criminal cases and vouches for him in front of skeptical collaborators, like a District Attorney[4].
It is not mentioned how the city's police are organized. But it seems that the Chief has[5] at least 12 districts under him. Strange cases from the various districts are sent to the headquarters "Silly Stuff" Department. Although the police themselves refer to it as a department for cranks and crackpots, it is where Mandrake gets exciting cases to investigate.
There is scant information about the Chief having a family. It is known that he has a granddaughter[6] and a wife[7]. Later it is mentioned[8] that he is a widower and has been both mother and father to his only son, Chris. What is being said about the son is that he will soon graduate from divinity school and going to be a clergyman / minister.
The Chief's real name, Chief Bates, is mentioned only once, when Countess Donna welcomed[9] him to dinner.
The Police Uniform
The police uniform reflects the uniform worn by the police at the time the stories were made. First they wore a double-breasted round collar jacket, which soon was replaced with a wide peak single-breasted jacket. The uniform has a Sam Browne belt with the supporting strap on the right shoulder and the gun holster on the left side. In the earliest stories it was opposite, with the supporting strap passed over the left shoulder and the gun holster on the right side.
The uniform has two badges, and the one on the jacket is probably their personal Police Badge. The most common used badge in front of the eight point police cap is the heater shaped one with a two engraled top (also known as "stuart"). On the jacket, above the left breast pocket, the most common used badge is a five-pointed star-shaped one. For a short period this one was identical to the badge on the cap. There are stories where the Police Chief have some unusual badges, unique to that story.
The uniforms are missing other emblems, patches or insignia except that the Police Chief has some stripes at the bottom of the jacket sleeves which are probably an insignia of his rank.
The Fred Fredericks Era
As one of three people, Mandrake knows[10] the number of the Chief's private number for his personal phone on his office desk.
After introducing[11] Mandrake to Jed and Inter-Intel, he takes a slightly smaller role in the stories. However, he still plays an important role in combating the criminal organization, 8.
After Jed and later Inter-Intel appear less frequently in the stories, the Chief appears again in slightly larger sequences. But in no stories does he have any major roles. He is named by his real name three times during this period, but they vary slightly: Chief Bradley[12] , Chief Brand[13] and Chief Brad[14].
Story References
- ↑ 1940, the Sunday story no. 13: "The Theatre Mysteries"
- ↑ 1941, the daily story no. 25: "The Great Grando"
- ↑ 1944, the daily story no. 31: "The Dome"
- ↑ 1946, the daily story no. 42: "The Brass Monkey"
- ↑ 1952, the daily story no. 67: "Silly Stuff Department"
- ↑ 1948, the daily story no. 50: "Derek"
- ↑ 1949, the daily story no. 51: "The Amazing Ray"
- ↑ 1964, the daily story no. 125: "The Chief"
- ↑ 1960, the daily story no. 109: "The Rockaby Thief"
- ↑ 1965, the daily story no. 129: "The Sign of 8"
- ↑ 1965, the Sunday story no. 97: "The Cobra Returns"
- ↑ 1985, the daily story no. 188: "The Supercomputer"
- ↑ 1998, the daily story no. 228: "Mandrake's Wedding at Xanadu"
- ↑ 1998, the daily story no. 230: "The Fisherman"
| Characters | |
|---|---|
| Supporting |
Mandrake the Magician • Chief Bradley • Hojo • Jed • Karma • Lothar • Magnon • Narda • Theron |
| Villains |
Aleena • Derek • Luciphor aka The Cobra • The Mole • The Octon • Saki aka The Clay Camel |