Thursday, November 24, 2011

TRUE CRIME COMICS "Murder, Morphine and Me!" Conclusion

When Last We Left Our Heroin (sorry, couldn't resist)...
Cover for a 3-D reprint of this story from 1992. Art by Michael T Gilbert
Mary Kennedy tells the story of her sordid career as both a morphine pusher and addict, lured into depravity by the charismatic gangster Tony Petrillo, whom she loved even as he beat her and threatened to kill her...

This tawdry tale from True Crime Comics V1N2 was written and illustrated by Jack Cole, who was best-known as the creator of the humorous super-hero Plastic Man!
Besides the "injury to the eye" panel from Page 2 of Part 1 becoming one of the most famous examples of gratuitous violence in comic history thanks to Fredric Wertham's Seduction of the Innocent, this story was reprinted in its entirety in the report issued by the New York State Legislative Commission on Censorship in Comics as an example of the "trash" that was corrupting innocent American youth!
Join us next week as we present another tale your grandparents didn't want your parents to see!

Visit the
Collectibles Shop
featuring the cover art from the issue this story came from!
(and it wasn't even the cover-featured tale!)

Thursday, November 17, 2011

TRUE CRIME COMICS "Murder, Morphine and Me!" Part 1

Some stories just tell themselves...
...as does this amazingly-gory story from True Crime Comics #2, featuring one of the most famous panels in comics history (and on the next page, yet)!
Will Mary survive?
And if she does, what shape will she be in?
Be here for the stomach-turning conclusion as well as some kool background info about this tawdry tale!
Same Blog Time!
Same Blog Feed!

Collectibles Shop
featuring the cover art from the issue this story came from!
(and it wasn't even the cover-featured tale!)

Thursday, November 10, 2011

PHANTOM LADY "Soda Mint Killer"

From Phantom Lady #17, the issue Dr Wertham vilified in Seduction of the Innocent...
...The Phantom Lady deals out just desserts in this never-reprinted tale of luncheonette larceny!
Yeah, she killed them, but they deserved it!
The splendidly-sordid, but deliciously-cheesecakey art is, of course, by legendary good-girl illustrator Matt Baker!
The quirky story is probably by Ruth Roche, the editor for Iger Studios, who supplied Fox Comics with their material.
BTW, the reason the first page is only red and black is because it's the inside cover of the comic, which was only printed in two colors, unlike the four color (magenta/yellow/blue/black)  outside covers and the newsprint interior pages!
In some issues, the inside cover was blue and black, in one case, it was green and black.
Here's the cover to this issue...
...oddly enough, it has nothing to do with either Phantom Lady story in the issue,  but it's probably the single most famous example of comic book "good girl" art in history.
And, yes, it's by Matt Baker!
Dr Fredric Wertham described it in Seduction of the Innocent as "sexual stimulation by combining 'headlights' with the sadist's dream of tying up a woman."
And...?
Join us next week as we present another tale your grandparents didn't want your parents to see!
featuring goodies emblazoned with cover art that Fredric Wertham railed against in Seduction of the Innocent.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

HORROR FROM THE TOMB "Bone Man"

This 1954 comic series was so gruesome, it lasted only a single issue...
...but what an issue it was!
In late 1953, Premier Magazines entered the comic book field with seven titles, each in a different genre (romance, Western, crime, etc.), including Horror from the Tomb.
Unfortunately, the comic book "witch hunt" was in full swing and, in little over a year, Premier (along with almost 2/3rds of the industry) had ceased operations.
Horror from the Tomb changed it's name to Mysterious Stories with #2 and ran for five more issues, but the end was inevitable...
The writer is unknown, but the artist is Mannie Banks, who has less than two dozen comic stories to his credit.
Comic Collectibles Store
featuring the cover from the one (and only) issue of
Horror from the Tomb!