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Crime Does Not Pay (comics)
Encyclopedia
Crime Does Not Pay is the title of an American comic book
series published between 1942 and 1955 by Lev Gleason Publications
. Edited and chiefly written by Charles Biro
, the title launched the crime comics
genre and was the first "true crime" comic book series. At the height of its popularity, Crime Does Not Pay would claim a readership of six million on its covers. The series' sensationalized recountings of the deeds of gangsters such as Baby Face Nelson
and Machine Gun Kelly
were illustrated by artists Bob Wood
, George Tuska
, and others. Stories were often introduced and commented upon by "Mr. Crime", a ghoulish figure in a top hat, and the precursor of "horror hosts" such as EC Comics
' Crypt Keeper. According to Gerard Jones
, Crime Does Not Pay was "the first nonhumor comic to rival the superhero
es in sales, the first to open the comic book market to large numbers of late adolescent and young males."
and "Diamond Joe" Esposito
, and gunfighter Wild Bill Hickok
.
Initial issues sold approximately 200,000 copies each, a healthy number for the time, but by the end of World War II
the title was selling 800,000 per issue. When sales reached one million in 1948, the editors added the claim "More Than 5,000,000 Readers Monthly" to the cover, a reference to the pass-along effect of comics circulation.
Recurring features included "Officer Common Sense", beginning with issue 41, "Chip Gardner", issue 22, and "Who Dunnit", puzzle mystery series with art by Fred Guardineer
, beginning with issue 39.
designed by cartoonists Milt Caniff and Noel Sickles
. The character of Mr. Crime pre-dated the Horror Hosts of EC Comics
and other publishers, and his ghostly presence is very similar to that effected by Rod Serling
on The Twilight Zone
television series and of Raymond Edward Johnson
on the Inner Sanctum
radio program.
Mr. Crime's attitude toward the tales he narrated was ambivalent at best. In some panels he seemed to approve of and even encourage the crimes of a story's miscreants (acting as a sort of anti-conscience
, invisible to the characters), while in others he was openly contemptuous of criminals, rarely failing, as the story's protagonists met their end in the denouement, to remind readers that, as the title indicated, "Crime Does Not Pay".
and Joe Simon
's Headline Comics and Real Clue for Hillman Periodicals
(1947), Marvel
's Official True Crime Cases (1947), DC
's Gang Busters (1947), and Fox
's Crimes by Women (1948). In response, Gleason and Biro ran attack ads in their own comics and launched a companion title to Crime Does Not Pay, Crime and Punishment, in 1948. However, 1948 also saw more publishers enter the genre, with the result that, by one estimate "thirty different crime comics were on the stands by the end of 1948 and by 1949 roughly one in seven comics was a crime comics."
. In the wake of books such as Dr. Fredric Wertham
's Seduction of the Innocent
and the investigations of the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency
, many publishers, including Lev Gleason, censored their own comics and adopted a strict code administered by the Comics Code Authority
. The sanitized Crime Does Not Pay that resulted lasted only a few issues before being canceled with issue #147 in 1955.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series published between 1942 and 1955 by Lev Gleason Publications
Lev Gleason Publications
Lev Gleason Publications, founded by Leverett Gleason, was the publisher of a number of popular comic books during the 1940s and early 1950s, including Daredevil, Crime Does Not Pay, and Boy Comics....
. Edited and chiefly written by Charles Biro
Charles Biro
Charles Biro was an American comic book creator and cartoonist. He is today chiefly known for creating the comic book characters Airboy and Steel Sterling, and for his 16-year run on the acclaimed 1940s series Daredevil Comics for Lev Gleason Publications.-Biography:Charles Biro studied art at...
, the title launched the crime comics
Crime comics
Crime comics is a genre of American comic books and format of crime fiction. The genre was originally popular in the 1940s and 1950s and is marked by a moralistic editorial tone and graphic depictions of violence and criminal activity. Crime comics began in 1942 with the publication of Crime Does...
genre and was the first "true crime" comic book series. At the height of its popularity, Crime Does Not Pay would claim a readership of six million on its covers. The series' sensationalized recountings of the deeds of gangsters such as Baby Face Nelson
Baby Face Nelson
Lester Joseph Gillis , known under the pseudonym George Nelson, was a bank robber and murderer in the 1930s. Gillis was known as Baby Face Nelson, a name given to him due to his youthful appearance and small stature...
and Machine Gun Kelly
Machine Gun Kelly
George Kelley Barnes , better known as "Machine Gun Kelly", was an American gangster during the prohibition era. His nickname came from his favorite weapon, a Thompson submachine gun. His most famous crime was the kidnapping of oil tycoon & businessman Charles Urschel in July 1933 for which he,...
were illustrated by artists Bob Wood
Bob Wood
Bob Wood may refer to:* Bob Wood , author of Dodger Dogs to Fenway Franks and Big Ten Country* Bob Wood , Major League Baseball catcher...
, George Tuska
George Tuska
George Tuska , who early in his career used a variety of pen names including Carl Larson, was an American comic book and newspaper comic strip artist best known for his 1940s work on various Captain Marvel titles and the crime fiction series Crime Does Not Pay, for and his 1960s work illustrating...
, and others. Stories were often introduced and commented upon by "Mr. Crime", a ghoulish figure in a top hat, and the precursor of "horror hosts" such as EC Comics
EC Comics
Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books specializing in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-1950s, notably the Tales from the Crypt series...
' Crypt Keeper. According to Gerard Jones
Gerard Jones
For the entrepreneur see Gérard Jones.Gerard Jones is an award-winning American author and comic book writer.-Biography:Jones was born in Cut Bank, Montana, and raised in Los Gatos and Gilroy, California...
, Crime Does Not Pay was "the first nonhumor comic to rival the superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
es in sales, the first to open the comic book market to large numbers of late adolescent and young males."
Origin
When Lev Gleason hired Bob Wood and Charles Biro to edit Daredevil and Silver Streak comics in 1941, he rewarded the two cartoonists with a profit-sharing program and creator credits on the covers of the comics. In addition, Gleason urged the pair to create new titles for his company under the understanding that they would share in the profits. Biro and Wood discussed the matter and eventually came up with a concept that would become Crime Does Not Pay, a comic book series chronicling the lives of murderers and gangsters based in part on real world people. Biro is reputed to have been inspired by a meeting with a kidnapper and pimp one night in a bar, although publisher Arthur Bernhard has stated that the entire concept was created by Gleason. The title was based on a popular radio and MGM film series.First issues
Heralded by ads in other Gleason tiles, Crime Does Not Pay took over the numbering of Silver Streak comics with issue 22 cover dated July 1942. The first issue featured articles and comic stories about real criminals and was written by Biro and Wood. Biro designed and drew the first cover and wrote stories about mobsters Louis BuchalterLouis Buchalter
Louis "Lepke" Buchalter was a Jewish American mobster and head of the Mafia hit squad Murder, Inc. during the 1930s. After Dutch Schultz' request of the Mafia Commission for permission to kill his enemy, U.S. Attorney Thomas Dewey, the Commission decided to kill Schultz in order to prevent the hit...
and "Diamond Joe" Esposito
Joseph Esposito (mobster)
Joseph "Diamond Joe" Esposito was a Prohibition-era Chicago politician who was involved in bootlegging, extortion, prostitution and labor racketeering with the Genna Brothers...
, and gunfighter Wild Bill Hickok
Wild Bill Hickok
James Butler Hickok , better known as Wild Bill Hickok, was a folk hero of the American Old West. His skills as a gunfighter and scout, along with his reputation as a lawman, provided the basis for his fame, although some of his exploits are fictionalized.Hickok came to the West as a stagecoach...
.
Initial issues sold approximately 200,000 copies each, a healthy number for the time, but by the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the title was selling 800,000 per issue. When sales reached one million in 1948, the editors added the claim "More Than 5,000,000 Readers Monthly" to the cover, a reference to the pass-along effect of comics circulation.
Content
Mostly written by Charles Biro, the stories in Crime Does Not Pay became known for their lurid detail, confessional tone, and exceptional, violent artwork. The stories often dealt frankly with adult relationships, drug use and sex, in addition to the depictions of physical violence, torture, and murder that were standard for every issue.Recurring features included "Officer Common Sense", beginning with issue 41, "Chip Gardner", issue 22, and "Who Dunnit", puzzle mystery series with art by Fred Guardineer
Fred Guardineer
Frederick B. Guardineer was an American illustrator and comic book writer-artist best known for his work in the 1930s and 1940s during what historians and fans call the Golden Age of Comic Books, and for his 1950s art on the Western comic-book series The Durango Kid.A pioneer of the medium...
, beginning with issue 39.
Mr. Crime
Issue 24 introduced the Biro-designed figure of Mr. Crime, the cartoon mascot of the series, who narrated and commented on the action depicted in the comics, addressing his readers in a joking, conspiratorial tone. Mr. Crime dressed in a white top hat (labeled "Crime") and white sheet. His bizarre visage resembled a gremlin, with pointed ears, nose and teeth. In many ways he was similar to the character of Mr. Coffee Nerves from a series of print ads for PostumPostum
Postum was a powdered roasted grain beverage sold by the Kraft Foods company as a coffee substitute. The caffeine-free beverage mix was created by Postum Cereal Company founder C. W. Post in 1895 and marketed as a healthful alternative to coffee...
designed by cartoonists Milt Caniff and Noel Sickles
Noel Sickles
Noel Douglas Sickles was an American commercial illustrator and cartoonist, best known for the comic strip Scorchy Smith....
. The character of Mr. Crime pre-dated the Horror Hosts of EC Comics
EC Comics
Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books specializing in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-1950s, notably the Tales from the Crypt series...
and other publishers, and his ghostly presence is very similar to that effected by Rod Serling
Rod Serling
Rodman Edward "Rod" Serling was an American screenwriter, novelist, television producer, and narrator best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his science fiction anthology TV series, The Twilight Zone. Serling was active in politics, both on and off the screen and helped form...
on The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...
television series and of Raymond Edward Johnson
Raymond Edward Johnson
Raymond Edward Johnson was an American radio and stage actor best remembered for his work on Inner Sanctum Mysteries....
on the Inner Sanctum
Inner Sanctum Mysteries
Inner Sanctum Mysteries, a popular old-time radio program that aired from January 7, 1941 to October 5, 1952, was created by producer Himan Brown. A total of 526 episodes were broadcast.-Horror hosts:...
radio program.
Mr. Crime's attitude toward the tales he narrated was ambivalent at best. In some panels he seemed to approve of and even encourage the crimes of a story's miscreants (acting as a sort of anti-conscience
Conscience
Conscience is an aptitude, faculty, intuition or judgment of the intellect that distinguishes right from wrong. Moral judgement may derive from values or norms...
, invisible to the characters), while in others he was openly contemptuous of criminals, rarely failing, as the story's protagonists met their end in the denouement, to remind readers that, as the title indicated, "Crime Does Not Pay".
Other crime comics
The series remained essentially alone in its choice of subject matter for most of the 1940s but eventually inspired a host of imitators, including Jack KirbyJack Kirby
Jack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....
and Joe Simon
Joe Simon
Joseph Henry "Joe" Simon is an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s-1940s Golden Age of Comic Books and served as the first editor of Timely Comics, the company that would evolve into Marvel Comics.With his...
's Headline Comics and Real Clue for Hillman Periodicals
Hillman Periodicals
Hillman Periodicals, Inc. was an American magazine and comic book publishing company founded in 1938 by Alex L. Hillman, a former New York City book publisher...
(1947), Marvel
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
's Official True Crime Cases (1947), DC
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
's Gang Busters (1947), and Fox
Fox Feature Syndicate
Fox Feature Syndicate was a comic book publisher from early in the period known to fans and historians as the Golden Age of Comic Books. Founded by entrepreneur Victor S...
's Crimes by Women (1948). In response, Gleason and Biro ran attack ads in their own comics and launched a companion title to Crime Does Not Pay, Crime and Punishment, in 1948. However, 1948 also saw more publishers enter the genre, with the result that, by one estimate "thirty different crime comics were on the stands by the end of 1948 and by 1949 roughly one in seven comics was a crime comics."
Demise
Although continuously popular in terms of sales, Crime Does Not Pay and other crime comics increasingly became the targets of concerned parents, clergy, and other groups who were disturbed by the content of the comics and saw the stories as one of the root causes of a variety of societal ills, including illiteracy and juvenile delinquencyJuvenile delinquency
Juvenile delinquency is participation in illegal behavior by minors who fall under a statutory age limit. Most legal systems prescribe specific procedures for dealing with juveniles, such as juvenile detention centers. There are a multitude of different theories on the causes of crime, most if not...
. In the wake of books such as Dr. Fredric Wertham
Fredric Wertham
Fredric Wertham was a Jewish German-American psychiatrist and crusading author who protested the purportedly harmful effects of violent imagery in mass media and comic books on the development of children. His best-known book was Seduction of the Innocent , which purported that comic books are...
's Seduction of the Innocent
Seduction of the Innocent
Seduction of the Innocent is a book by German-American psychiatrist Fredric Wertham, published in 1954, that warned that comic books were a negative form of popular literature and a serious cause of juvenile delinquency. The book was a minor bestseller that created alarm in parents and galvanized...
and the investigations of the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency
Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency
The United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency was established by the United States Senate in 1953 to investigate the problem of juvenile delinquency.- Background :...
, many publishers, including Lev Gleason, censored their own comics and adopted a strict code administered by the Comics Code Authority
Comics Code Authority
The Comics Code Authority was a body created as part of the Comics Magazine Association of America, as a tool for the comics-publishing industry to self-regulate the content of comic books in the United States. Member publishers submitted comic books to the CCA, which screened them for adherence to...
. The sanitized Crime Does Not Pay that resulted lasted only a few issues before being canceled with issue #147 in 1955.
Sources consulted
- Goulart, RonRon GoulartRon Goulart is an American popular culture historian and mystery, fantasy and science fiction author.The prolific Goulart wrote many novelizations and other routine work under various pseudonyms: Kenneth Robeson , Con Steffanson , Chad Calhoun, R.T...
. Great History of Comic Books. Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1985. ISBN 0-8092-5045-4. - Jones, GerardGerard JonesFor the entrepreneur see Gérard Jones.Gerard Jones is an award-winning American author and comic book writer.-Biography:Jones was born in Cut Bank, Montana, and raised in Los Gatos and Gilroy, California...
. Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book. New York: Basic Books, 2004. ISBN 0-465-03656-2. - Wright, Nicky. "Seducers of the Innocent: The Bloody Legacy of Pre-Code Comics!". Comic Book Marketplace, #65, pp 24-27,56-50, 1998.