CRIME
DOES NOT PAY ARCHIVES VOL. 4 (Dark Horse, First Printing, 2013;
Hardcover)
Collects
Crime
Does Not Pay
#34-37 (cover dates July, 1944- January, 1945)
Writers:
Dick Wood, Dick Briefer, and other, unidentified writers.
Artists:
Robert Q. Sale, “Irving” (identity unknown), Dick Briefer, Rudy
Palais, R.W. Hall, Art Gates, C.L. Hartman (as Art Mann), Alan
Mandel, and other, unidentified artists, with cover art for all
issues by Charles Biro.
The
title is still climbing the mountain in this book. The writing and
artwork all vary wildly in terms of quality, with some of it being
brilliant while other stories are about as interesting as watching
paint dry. I've read the Crime Does Not Pay Primer trade years ago
and know that there is some great stuff on the horizon.
Mister
Crime is the host of the series, breaking the fourth wall and talking
to the reader while the characters in the stories remain unaware of
his existence. All of the stories in this book are based on true
stories.
This
title was a precursor to our current day sensationalist culture which
thrives on watching trainwrecks and car accidents. The criminals were
the “stars” of the series, although they always receive their due
at the end of each story. The title spawned so many imitators that by
1950 that by the end of the decade one in seven titles on the stands
were crime comics.
Lev
Gleason and Bob Wood were both characters in real life. Do a bit of
research on them. Gleason was a Progressive fanatic, spending his
fortune as quickly as he made it. Bob Wood wound up committing a
crime as gruesome as any found within the pages of the comic. Life
imitating art.
Dark
Horse has scuttled this line of Archives, canceling the solicited
Volume 11 and never soliciting the announced Volume 12. They weren't
big sellers, which is a shame. Gwandanaland Comics, a company which
uses scans of public domain comics found on the Internet and
publishes them via Amazon's CreateSpace platform, has finished the
series across fourteen softcovers. I have seen one of them at a
friend's house and am considering picking them up at some point.
This
was a good if uneven read. The better material is still in the future
of the title. It's just a damn shame that sales weren't enough to
support this line of books to see it through to the end.
Junk
Food For Thought rating: 3.5 out of 5.
The
OCD zone-
The Dark Horse Archives are narrower than the original comic books.
Linework
and Color restoration:
Solid “frame up” restoration done off of scans of the original
comics.
Paper
stock: Thick uncoated stock. It has a creamy off-white color,
being close to Mint condition pulp paper in appearance while being of
sufficient thickness that it feels like 'Archival' quality paper.
Binding:
Sewn binding which is stiff and does not lay flat. This book is light
and small enough where it is not an issue.
Dustjacket
and Hardback cover notes:
Nice faux leather casewrap with die foil stamping. Dustjacket has a
decent lamination.
