It would be Criminal not to show your CRIME comics! 20 20

[Scrooge]

Sometimes I wonder if I am the last one to notice things. Is it just me or could Mr. Crime's iconography from Crime Does Not Pay be inspired by the host of Inner Sanctum as radio acted and portrayed in dress promo by Raymond Edward Johnson? I am sure there are other prototypes and antecedent archetypes that would be the inspiration to both but today the similarities here struck me.

 

 

Edited May 17, 2017 by Scrooge

[Ameri]

A cool bullpen

 

Edited May 18, 2017 by Ameri

[Robot Man]

Cool, thanks for posting that. I remember seeing it a long time ago. Seems like this company liked to portray their artists on the covers of their books. On this one, looks like the cop arresting Jack Kirby is holding a western toy cap gun...

[sacentaur]

My top three all-time favorite CDNP issues are #24, #33, and #42 - now I have two of 'em in grade (my #24 is raw, low-grade).

[rjpb]

Probably my three faves as well, though there are a few  close contenders. That #33 is a knockout!

[sacentaur]

New arrival, so fresh in hand - some little margin chips (siamese pages), but a book I'm very happy with.  

[Robot Man]

1 hour ago, sacentaur said:

New arrival, so fresh in hand - some little margin chips (siamese pages), but a book I'm very happy with.  

Great book Steve. Good thing I'm done with that title except one...

[sacentaur]

2 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

Good thing I'm done with that title except one...

 

[29dukedog]

I've never much been into the crime genre, but I'll try anything that says "EC" on the cover!  I've always loved this one:

 

[29dukedog]

I take back what I just said about the crime genre.  I also collect these:

[29dukedog]

[ThothAmon]

Was going through a box and stumbled upon Crime Does Not Pay 57.  None in the census and none, apparently,  sold by Heritage.  Anyone know if its a tough one?

 

[rjpb]

None of the CDNP books are particularly tough, though some can get expensive. 26 is one of the few issues i don't see come up often.  Issues from 40 on (and some earlier) just aren't worth enough to slab for the most part, they tend not to sell for $100 or more unless they are high grade. There are currently 12 copies of 57 available on ebay.

[Robot Man]

15 hours ago, rjpb said:

None of the CDNP books are particularly tough, though some can get expensive. 26 is one of the few issues i don't see come up often.  Issues from 40 on (and some earlier) just aren't worth enough to slab for the most part, they tend not to sell for $100 or more unless they are high grade. There are currently 12 copies of 57 available on ebay.

Yes, and it's a good one!

[Robot Man]

A few more of my favorites. Man, these are just brutal, inside and out.

[rjpb]

I'm a big fan of the title up through around issue 60. I've read later issues, and while there is still some quality artwork in the title, like the covers, the stories tend to get wordy without conveying much added information, and the violence is toned down. The early issues not only had better covers, but grimmer stories as well. I've long wondered why Gleason began to tone down the covers and content of CDNP just as it began to face competition on the newsstand, and even though it made it all the way to the code era, it also avoided making appeals to horror fans like many other crime titles did around 1952/53, when horror dominated the racks. 

[sacentaur]

Great stuff, Bob. 

[Ricksneatstuff]

Got another slight upgrade on my favorite crime comic.  

[rjpb]

Sweeeeet!

[sacentaur]

Crime Does Not Pay - taking a stab at a relative Scarcity Rating (with 1 being toughest) for the earliest few issues, please let me know your thoughts!

1. CDNP #26, a book I've only rarely seen and just in low grade, Lucky Luciano and Dalton Gang stories, very tough (I don't own one).

2. CDNP #25, I don't see this issue much at all, Dutch Schultz and Belle Starr stories (don't have one).

3. CDNP #23, listed as scarce, John Dillinger and Baby Face Nelson stories (I have a de-slabbed CGC 3.5).

4. CDNP #27, listed as a 'classic' cover, Pretty Boy Floyd story, not common (I have a nice raw).

5. CDNP #28 is a black cover, not that uncommon (I have a raw mid-grade).

6. CDNP #24, iconic genre cover, Billy the Kid and Legs Diamond stories, not that uncommon in lower grade (mine is a low-grade raw).

7. CDNP #22, first issue, Wild Bill Hickok and Killer Lepke stories not that uncommon (but I don't own one yet).

8. CDNP #29, fairly common (I have a nice raw).