Let's return to Daredevil #105 from December 1953.

If you weren't here the last time I posted from this comic book, this is the Lev Gleason Daredevil comic--from which the title character had long departed. The stars were instead the Little Wise Guys, who'd been Daredevil's sidekicks back in the day. Originally the stories involving them were pretty gritty (one of the gang even died!) but this is towards the end of the run when the Comics Code had come in.

This story is in the public domain, so you can enjoy it in its entirety, along with a vintage ad!

( Ah, the days of party lines. )

Your thoughts and comments?
SKJAM!

Hi folks!

Today we look at Crimebuster, the lead feature of Boy Comics, from Lev Gleason Publications. Born Chuck Chandler, he was at a military prep school hockey game when her received word that his parents had been murdered by the Nazi agent Iron Jaw. Without waiting to change out of his uniform, Chuck went into action, and got dubbed Crimebuster.

He battled the man with the metal prosthetic lower face for several issues, until Iron Jaw died. Crimebuster then went on to battle other criminals until Iron Jaw came back to life...somehow.

By this issue, Boy Comics #74 (Feb 1952), Chuck had moved into high school and started wearing long pants. He also fought Iron Jaw pretty much exclusively; the three stories in this issue are really just arbritarily divided chapters in their ongoing struggle.



I'm just going to skip to the third story, which matches the cover. Lev Gleason comics are in the public domain, so I can bring this story to you in its entirety.

( That's one batch of beer they're going to have to mark down in price. )

Your thoughts and comments?
SKJAM!
http://www.skjam.com

Hi folks!

It's been a bit since I last posted from this comic, so here's the cover story from Crime Does Not Pay #132.



This scene does not appear in the story. Not anything even close. Or in any other story this issue, although "A Fat Tip For Murder" did take place in a hospital.

Again, this issue was after the Comics Code was imposed, so is tamer than the series was at its height. As this comic book is in the public domain, the story is brought to you in its entirety.

( Beginner's Hard Luck! )

Next time...I dunno, maybe a video game comic? After that, more public domain.


Your thoughts and comments?
SKJAM!

Back in 1942, the Lev Gleason line of comics had a profit sharing arrangement with their top cartoonists, Bob Wood and Charles Biro. They came up with the idea of a comic book concentrating on the crime genre, with an emphasis on stories ripped from the headlines of actual crooks. Silver Streak Comics became "Crime Does Not Pay", the first crime comic.

Reaching a paid circulation of one million at one point, Crime Does Not Pay paid very well indeed, eventually spawning many imitators. But a backlash of moral outrage from parents and educators eventually created the Comics Code, which sanitized the industry and protected it from outside regulation at the cost of losing much of the maturation process it had begun.

Crime Does Not Pay struggled on under the new regime, but with the loss of much of its luridness, circulation dropped drastically. Today's story is from the dying days of the magazine, #132, the March 1953 issue. As all the Lev Gleason line has fallen into the public domain, we can present this story in its entirety.

( The story you are about to read is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent. )

There's also a story about a cabbie who finds a dropped envelope, and one about a gambler who makes one too many tosses--if there's interest they might pop up later.

Your thoughts and comments?