Showing posts with label CRIME COMICS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CRIME COMICS. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 30, 2026

THIS TWO-FACE IS A VILLAIN(ESS)


Fans of DC's BATMAN comic books will know that Two-Face is one of the Dark Knight's most enduring arch-villains. According to creator Bob Kane, the character--first appearing in 1942--was inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" and Gaston Leroux's "The Phantom of the Opera". Harvey Kent (later Harvey Dent so he probably wouldn't get confused with a certain super-hero's alter ego, Clark Kent) was disfigured when a mob boss threw acid on his face, after which he went bonkers and became a dual-personality, displaying both his good and evil sides in the Batman stories.

Then there's this story from Lev Gleason's BOY COMICS #9 (April 1943). Possibly inspired by DC' Two-Face it's the bizarre tale of another two-face menace. Instead of being disfigured, He-She was--to use a term from the time--a freak.

Drawn by Charles Biro, in "Crimebuster Meets He-She", the villain(ess) arrives at a boarding house to rent a room. He-She immediately ingratiates his/herself with Maggie the landlady and a short time later, they're married (without her knowing the unusual physicality of her new "husband"). He-She dupes Maggie out of tens of thousands of dollars before their identity is revealed. In a fit of rage, He-She stomps Maggie to death, and dispatches her behind the walls of the basement along with her annoying cat. In a scene inspired by Poe's "The Black Cat", the two of them are discovered as a result of the cat's yowling from behind the wall.



The youthful super-hero Crimebuster and his pet monkey, Squeeks, have been working the case, and they eventually take down the two-faced He-She. This is a crime story and like nearly all crime comics during this era, crime does not pay, and He-She gets her comeuppance in the seat of an electric chair.


While this character may have more of an impact with today's use of terms and social behaviors, it still must have seemed pretty weird during the time it was published.
















Monday, March 16, 2026

THE SPIRIT ASKS: GOT ANY CRAYONS?


Published by Poor House Press in 1974, THE SPIRIT COLORING BOOK contains classic splash pages from Will Eisner's THE SPIRIT strip, each printed in black and white so anyone can color it in paint, ink, marker and yes, even crayons!

The page reproduced here is about 10" x 14". If you have a printer big enough, you can either print it full-size or reduce it using Photoshop, Corel, etc. If you are planning to color it using wet media, I suggest printing it on card stock such as Bristol Board.

Have fun!


Saturday, August 23, 2025

COMICS, BLOODY COMICS (PART 2)


Prepare yourselves for another dandy dose of sex, blood, murder and mayhem that was ubiquitous in 1950's pre-Code crime comics. Truthfully, it's no wonder parents were aghast if they bothered to see the kind of comics their kids were reading. Personally, while there may have been a few instances otherwise, I am against the idea that children got the idea to copy the violence they read in comics in real life. It may have been fun to play monsters, super-heroes and cops and robbers, but as far as my research has taken me, there was no wide-spread plague of physical violence and bloodshed acted out by youngsters as a result of reading a comic book story. As Bill Gaines once said during his Senate Subcommittee testimony: "Nobody has ever been ruined by a comic."

This is the only horror comic represented here and it's a glaring example of Fredric Wertham's coined phrase: "injury to the eye motif."

Mister Mystery #12 (Stanley Morse, July 1953).
Art by Bernard Baily.

Make no mistake, many crime comic stories contained a heady subtext of horror, or at least, horrifying imagery.

Underworld Crime #7 (Sept. 1953).

Even ALL-NEGRO COMICS got in the act with unabashed violence as seen on this page.

All-Negro Comics #1 (June 1947). Art by John Terrell.

The third panel suggests possible sexual assault as well as murder in this pre-1950's comic. LAW AGAINST CRIME #3 (Essankay, August 1948). Art by L.B. Cole.

Multiple, bloody bullet holes.

A woman beaten and bloodied. Her dress off the shoulder
adds a sexual element.

Five shootings in six panels!.

Fangs and claws makes this murderer a monster.

Lawbreakers Suspense Stories #1 (Charlton, Jan. 1953).
Art by Stan Campbell.

"Getting A-Head", art by Dennis Laugen.

A brutal and explicit car crash. Art by Lou Morales and Dennis Laugen.

Beauty and the Blast in "Yesterday's Murder", art by Stan Campbell.

Lawbreakers Suspense Stories #11 (Charlton, March 1953).
Art by Lou Morales.

Vicious dismemberment with a side-order of cheesecake.








Strangulation was one of the most-used methods of murder.
Art by Dick Giordano and Al Fago.

More cheesecake and a violent end for this gal.



Lawbreakers Suspense Stories #12 (Charlton, May 1953).
Art by Art Cappello.







Lawbreakers Suspense Stories #13 (Charlton, July 1953).
Art by Dick Giordano.

"Sharp Idea", art by John Belfi.

"Change in Script", art by Carl Memling and Stan Asch.

Strange Suspense Stories #15 (Charlton, Nov. 1953).
Art by Dick Giordano.

Attacked and eaten by ants. Art by Stan Asch.

Acid in the face. Art by ?

Fingerprint removal gone horribly wrong. Art by John Belfi.