Harvey Kurtzman, founder of Mad magazine, penned a ‘Victory Garden’ comic in 1943

From Apocolyte’s World Of Comics.

“How Do You Like My Victory Garden?” in Police Comics #25, 1943

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Excerpt about Flatfoot Burns from Toonopedia:

A periodical named Police Comics may seem an unusual place to find a slapstick character like Flatfoot Burns. But maybe not. Considering it started out full of superheroes such as Plastic Man, Firebrand and The Human Bomb, maybe it was simply appropriate that after a couple of years it began to feature an actual policeman, even if not a very serious one. Burns was an early work of cartoonist Harvey Kurtzman, probably best known to the public as the creator of Little Annie Fanny.

Tho he was already working in comics (on super guys like Lash Lightning and Magno & Davey, who were published by Ace Magazines), Burns was his first humorous creation — thus setting the tone for his future career, which included founding Mad magazine.

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Flatfoot Burns first appeared in Police Comics #24 (November, 1943), replacing Phantom Lady. He was a very short guy with a bulb nose, and wore a green plaid hat sort of but not quite like Sherlock Holmes’s deerstalker, and a matching green plaid jacket. To say he displayed the lighter side of police work would be a severe understatement. In fact, he was out-and-out silly, without a serious line in either dialog or pictures.

Kurtzman’s association with the character was brief — three episodes, to be exact.

Larger images of every panel at Apocolyte’s World Of Comics.

Larger images of every panel at Apocolyte’s World Of Comics.

Larger images of every panel at Apocolyte’s World Of Comics.

Larger images of every panel at Apocolyte’s World Of Comics.

More at Toonopedia here.

Read about Harvey Kurtman here.

The complete comic at Apocolyte’s World Of Comics here.