Review- CRIME DOES NOT PAY ARCHIVES VOL. 5

CRIME DOES NOT PAY ARCHIVES VOL. 5 (Dark Horse, First Printing, 2013; Hardcover)

Collects Crime Does Not Pay #38-41 (cover dates March- September, 1945)

Writers: Dick Wood with one story by Milt. J. Kramer

Artists: Charles Biro, Al Fagaly, Dick Briefer, Jack Alderman, C.L. Hartman, Norman Maurer, Rudy Palais, Robert Q. Sale (as Bob Q. Siege), and other unidentified artists

The quality of the stories and artwork have rebounded nicely after the dullness that was Volume 4. The gist of this series is that it is a “true crime” anthology style that depicts crime from different eras and countries, with an emphasis on crime of the 1920s and 1930s.

Mister Crime is the host, and he is essentially the devil on the shoulder of these would be criminals as they embark on their life of crime. In #41 we see his counterpoint, the “angel on the shoulder” of the criminal, Officer Common Sense. Neither one of them are visible to the characters and they break the fourth wall in regard to the fact that they are speaking to the reader.

While this series was lurid for the time, in all fairness they do not glorify crime. The criminal is always shown getting killed by police, sitting in an electric chair, or ending up in prison. There is an over the top, sensationalist angle played up for kicks, though.

The Dick Briefer Who Dunnit? recurring strip has run out of steam. I was thankful to see Robert Q. Sale take it over in #40. Issue #39's King Killer Of The Mountain is one of the better tales in this book. The quality increases across the board with #41, and I am looking forward to reading Volume 6. I know from reading Blackjacked And Pistol-Whipped: A Crime Does Not Pay Sampler that the series' best days are ahead of it.

Sadly, Dark Horse pulled the plug on this line after Volume 10. They cancelled the already fully restored and ready to go Volume 11 as well as the already solicited Volume 12. Dark Horse has recently revived their Creepy and Eerie Archives, so I am hopeful that they will revive this line of books as well. I have no interest in the Gwandanaland print on demand books found on Amazon which complete the run. Dark Horse could even up the price $10-15 to make up for the low print run if that is what it would take to finish up this line of books.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4 out of 5.

The OCD zone- This is the part where I go into tactile sensations and materials of physical media. Those with heart conditions, high blood pressure, or women who are pregnant should exit my blog at their earliest convenience, as their safety cannot be guaranteed beyond this point.

The Dark Horse Archives line of books 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. It also has the sweet, delectable smell that only Chinese made books have.

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.

Review- CRIME DOES NOT PAY ARCHIVES VOL. 4

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.

Review- CRIME DOES NOT PAY ARCHIVES VOL. 3

CRIME DOES NOT PAY ARCHIVES VOL. 3 (Dark Horse, First Printing, 2012; Hardcover)

Collects Crime Does Not Pay #30-33 (cover dates November, 1943- April, 1944)

Writers: Dick Wood, Milton Kramer, and Lev Gleason

Artists: Charles Biro, Dick Briefer, Volman, R.W. Hall, Jack Alderman, Carmine Infantino, Alvin Hollingsworth, Jack Cole, A. Kaplan, Rudy Palais, Louis Trakis, Alan Mandel, Lol Silver, Volp, and Bob Montana

As tolerant and accepting as people claim to be, many people seem to enjoy seeing criminals get theirs, at least if the comments section of any news article on Facebook are any indication. This was the most popular comic book of it's day. Name any superhero on the stands and this title outsold them. In a world where organized crime was an ongoing concern, it was cathartic for people to pick up a fat 68 page comic for one thin dime and get lost in a world where bad people have good things happen to them for a while but they all inevitably learn the fateful lesson that CRIME DOES NOT PAY!

Mister Crime is the host of the series, and he whispers in the ear of the various crooks, giving them advice along the way. Mister Crime also routinely breaks the fourth wall, speaking to readers while everyone in the story is oblivious to him. Societal mores and slang of the day are on full display.

Lots of future greats worked on this series during this time. Carmine Infantino is well known to all DC fans, while Jack Cole and Dick Briefer were known in their day and have enjoyed a renewed interest in recent years due to relatively affordable collected editions like this one which reprint their work for the masses.

While the material is stronger here than it was in the first two volumes this series still hasn't reached it's high point yet. As crudely written and drawn as many of these stories are it's the promise of what is coming in future issues that makes some of these turkeys readable. Golden Age comics are crude but they certainly have their charms. It's just that the novelty of reading previously rare, expensive comics has worn off for me and I call them as I see and read them. This might have been the best selling comic at the time but DC was burying this in terms of quality. This was still very enjoyable, but the best is yet to come.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4 out of 5.

The OCD zone- There is a typo on the Table of Contents page. The cover date for #33 is incorrectly listed as May, 1944, when it is in truth April, 1944.

All original text pieces and advertisements are presented. I dig looking at the old ads.

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.

Review- CRIME DOES NOT PAY ARCHIVES VOL. 2

CRIME DOES NOT PAY ARCHIVES VOL. 2 (Dark Horse, First Printing, 2012; Hardcover)

Collects Crime Does Not Pay #26-29 (cover dates March- September, 1943)

Writer: Bob Wood, Dick Wood, Sam Burlockoff, and other, unidentified writers.

Artists: Charles Biro (covers), “Roy” (artist otherwise unidentified), Dick Wood, Jack Alderman, Norman Maurer, Bob Wood, Alan Mandel, Dick Briefer, and other, unidentified artists.

People love to see criminals get theirs. It's human nature to want to see justice meted out to the guilty party. That (and probably a lack of television and Internet) is why public hangings and executions were so popular in the olden days. That tradition continues here in the 21^st century, albeit through vicarious things like news stories, movies, video games and the like. If you journey back in time 70+ years you get to the crux of why this was the most popular comic book of it's day. Name any superhero on the stands and this title outsold them. In a world where organized crime was an ongoing concern, it was cathartic for people to pick up a fat 68 page comic for one thin dime and get lost in a world where bad people have good things happen to them for a while but all inevitably learn the fateful lesson that CRIME DOES NOT PAY!

Mister Crime is the host of the series, and he whispers in the ear of the various crooks, giving them advice along the way. This is one of those “beauty of the medium” sort of things. While the majority of the stories are taken from crimes of the 1920s and 1930s there are several from the Old West. There was a large adult readership for this title. Someone who was, say, 60 when these issues were on the stands would be old enough to remember those days. Think about that for a minute.

Things start out with a bang in issue 26. The True Life Story of Charles “Lucky” Luciano is awesome. While some events in these stories are glossed over and omitted, it is amazing that any of this is true. It of course lends a real weight to what you're reading. Not all of these tales are true, though, such as #27's The Weird Tale Of Mister Destin. At least I don't think that one is true. #27 also tells the tale of the Touhy mob, and the tale ended with them on the lam. There was a quick addition to the final panel, as they were caught just as the issue was going to press. The tale of their capture was told in the following issue.

There were several tales with Horror imagery and overtones. I liked how Hex Horror married the worlds of the occult and true crime. In #29's Whodunit? Can You Solve The Catnip Club Murder we see some of the values of the day seep into the story, such as Times Square beginning to descend into a seedy nightclub district. By the 1970s it of course would be home to porn theatres and become a mockery of it's former grandeur. I have been there twice (2007 and 2013) and it is awesome today. Of course there are some New Yorkers who bemoan the demise of the seediness of 1970s New York City. #30s The Corpse That Would Not Stay Dead is yet another one that uses a sensational macabre-tinged title for an otherwise true crime tale.

The artwork ranges in quality from serviceable to outstanding. Some artists, like Jack Alderman, are long forgotten greats who didn't last too long. Dick Briefer is another great who has received renewed recognition in recent years thanks to collected editions of his Frankenstein by Yoe Books/IDW and PS Artbooks, although the first one was released by Idea Men Productions years ago.

This is a marked improvement over the issues in Volume 1. I read Blackjacked And Pistol-Whipped: A Crime Does Not Pay Primer years ago and I know that the best is yet to come. I own them all and hope to read and review them for you someday.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4.5 out of 5.

The OCD zone- All original text pieces and advertisements are presented. I dig looking at the old ads.

Linework and Color restoration: I do not own the original comics and cannot locate scans of the issues collected here. It looks good but I have nothing to compare it to. Given Dark Horse's track record I am sure that this is a solid restoration job.

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: Oversewn Smyth sewn binding. Binding is stiff and the book does not lay flat.

Dustjacket and Hardback cover notes: Nice faux leather casewrap with die foil stamping. Dustjacket has a decent lamination.

Review- CRIME DOES NOT PAY ARCHIVES VOL. 1

CRIME DOES NOT PAY ARCHIVES VOL. 1 (Dark Horse, 2012; Hardcover)

Collects Crime Does Not Pay #22-25 (cover dates July, 1942- January, 1943)

Writers: Woody Hamilton, Dick Wood, and Ivy

Artists: Woody Hamilton, Charles Biro, Harry Lucey, Carl Hubbell, Bob Montana, George Tuska, Richard Norman, Norman Mauer, Alan Mandel, Dick Wood, Bart Tumey, Sam Burlockoff, Dick Briefer, Frank Giacoia, and Dan Barry

Crime Does Not Pay was not only the first crime comic book on the stands but also the highest-selling comic book of it's day with a circulation of over a million copies every month. These early issues are nowhere near the level of quality that the title would soon achieve. Indeed, these early issues have some fumbling around as they find their way, with #22 even featuring a superhero story. The War Eagle makes his first and only appearance here, for reasons seen below.

This series is an anthology of 'true crime' stories, we are treated to criminal acts of all kinds and from different points in time. All of them involve gunplay, and there is almost always the warning at the end of each story that CRIME DOES NOT PAY! I love the old slang and fashions in these Golden Age comics. These old comics are not politically correct by any stretch of the imagination, and I find them to be unintentionally funny because of it.

Prohibition was still fresh on the minds of the country, and stories about John Dillinger and his ilk resonated with the public. Mr. Crime, who goes on to be the host of the series, debuts in #24.

The writing is decent and the artwork is hit or miss. On the art side there are a few greats, seen here before they became greats. This particular volume is for those interested in how one of the defining comic books of the Golden Age got its start. Things will get much better in subsequent volumes.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4.25 out of 5.

The OCD zone- There are a few credits in the Table of Contents that conflict with the credits provided on The Grand Comics Database. There is also a one page strip listed in #24 called Conny The Convict which did not appear in the original issue. The GCD is a good tool but it is not perfect.

Linework and Color restoration: Linework is very, very good and the original color palette is faithfully maintained.

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: Oversewn Smyth sewn binding. Binding is stiff and the book does not lay flat.

Dustjacket and Hardback cover notes: Nice faux leather casewrap with die foil stamping. Dustjacket has a decent lamination but is thin. I need to get a roll of Brodart sleeves and embark on the next OCD frontier.

 

Review- Crime Does Not Pay: Blackjacked and Pistol-Whipped

CRIME DOES NOT PAY: BLACKJACKED AND PISTOL-WHIPPED (Dark Horse, 2011; Softcover)

Collects selections Crime Does Not Pay Nos. 23, 25, 26, 30-32, 41, 42, 48, 50, 53-55, 57, 59-61, 64-67 (cover dates September, 1942- September, 1948)

Writer: Unknown

Artists: Bob Montana, Alan Mandel, Dick Briefer, Carmine Infantino, Rudy Palais, Robert Sale, Jack Alderman, Dan Barry, George Tuska, Fred Guardineer, Paul Parker, and Ed Moore

I bumped this one way up in the backlog because I wanted to make sure that I liked the material before committing to yet another line of high end hardcovers, and you know what? Crime Does Not Pay rules! 

There is an excellent introduction in this book on the history of both these comics in relation to popular culture of the day (i.e. pulps, film noir) and the impact that this title had on comic books as a whole. Did you know that this was the best selling title in it's day? Yup, it even outsold Superman and Batman. The history of the publishers and creators also offers tremendous insight into the mindset behind this title, and the stories about the creators themselves are equally amazing. 

While this title was a “preachy”, it offered tons of violence and murder, so as to deter impressionable youth from a life of crime. I love how inappropriate old comic books and cartoons are. If this were marketed to, or sold to, children today, Faux News would have a field day with it. I often chuckle when reading Golden Age comic books because of how neutered and politically correct we as a society have become. It's fun to see people “get theirs” because, after all...CRIME DOES NOT PAY!

One of the things that I noticed while reading this was how slow law enforcement responded to crimes back then, the result of a lack of technology. It seems so simple to fake a new identity and make a run for it back then.

These are based on true stories, but as the introduction states, there are liberties taken with the facts. While some of these issues are historically accurate, others have minor facts altered. This was 220+ pages and it wasn't enough. I want more more more! I can't wait for the Archives.

The OCD zone- I absolutely love this new paper that Dark Horse is using in their Archives. While it doesn't lay flat, it feels and smells wonderful. They used that same paper here in this high quality trade paperback. Sewn binding and a cardstock cover with fold-out flaps help give the cover an extra thick and extra durable feel. The restoration is excellent, and the uncoated paper stock gives it an authentic comic book feel while the weight maintains the luxurious feel that I have come to expect from collected editions. It's the happy medium that fans have been clamoring for.

Not really an OCD issue but rather an aesthetic one, I dislike the faux weathering on the cover. I will never understand people's desires to see things artificially distressed, be it this book or those lame fake distressed concert shirts. I love things that are genuinely distressed through use, wear, and love, but not the fake scratches and coffee splotches like you see on the cover of this book.

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