Number 2549: Chain killer...another dope addict turned to murder

Red-Hot Blaze has the files on crime. He figures that the killer of one woman is actually the killer of four women, with consistency in the killer’s modus operandi from victim to victim. But, as Red-Hot tells his young unnamed pal (unnamed but for “sonny” and “kid”) he has the real clues in his files on who is committing those egregious crimes, a chain murderer, no less. Red-Hot says to the lad that he is sending the files to Headline Comics to solve the mystery. Golly gee, Mr Blaze...would sending the information to the police be a wiser choice?

(Was “chain murderer” used in the past to describe what is now known as serial killer? Or is the term a figment of Red-Hot Blaze’s imagination?)

The story, in the all-Kirby and Simon Headline Comics #24 (1947), ends up with some dope dissing, part of the tactics in those days to try and keep kids off drugs.

Number 2505: I shot the “sherriff”

The Bob Marley song, “I Shot the Sheriff,” is playing on my radio. The criminal in this story didn't exactly shoot the sheriff, but he tried.

This is another one of the “Red Hot” Blaze tales. “Red Hot” Blaze is a Simon and Kirby character, a freelance reporter who sells stories to Headline Comics. In this story he tells the story of a mystery: who shot Carl Nissen? Also, why is the radio playing loud dance music when the sheriff shows up at the scene of the crime?

For me, as former ninth grade spelling bee champion, the crime in this story is the constant misspelling of the word “sheriff” as “sherriff.”I grit my teeth to see the word misspelled several times. I don’t even know if I should blame letterer Howard Ferguson, or the person who wrote the script (perhaps Jack Kirby?)

Grand Comics Database attributes both penciling and inking by Jack Kirby. From Headline Comics #24 (1947): 

Number 2466: The pinball racket

Joe Simon and Jack Kirby are credited with the entire contents of Headline Comics #24. It had been a superhero comic, and then became a crime comic.

In this story they tell of the pinball racket. The mob would force small businesses to put in machines that would draw money from customers, then the mobsters would benefit, usually to the detriment of the business owner. Although crime comics used a line like “Crime Does Not Pay” somewhere in the story (“Crime Never Pays” in the splash panel of this story), in the real world outside of comics Simon and Kirby probably knew that crime did pay. Organized crime controlled unions, trucking, construction, along with the usual vices in New York. To do their illegal businesses they had police and judges on their payroll. A couple of New York guys in the comic book business were likely aware that organized crime also had their hooks in periodical distribution, which included comic books.

Crime comics were big sellers in 1947, when this was published. I’ll bet gangsters also got a kick out of them.

Number 2425: Red-Hot Blaze, hot on the chase

Red-Hot Blaze was a special investigator for Headline Comics, telling tales of criminals to the artist (presumably Jack Kirby, who penciled it...or is it Joe Simon, who inked it?), ready and waiting to draw the story when Red-Hot walks in and starts to talk. I knew Simon and Kirby were fast, but could either draw as fast as Blaze could speak? Even though Red-Hot Blaze is introduced to us, he also introduces himself in the sheriff’s office as an investigator for Headline Comics. I think that would get a smile if not a laugh from the cops. But they don’t seem amused, and they invite him along for the investigation of a murder.

The story does not appear in Headline Comics, but Treasure Comics #10 (1947). What it is, ultimately, is a 6-page advertisement for Headline Comics. No crime in that!

Number 2301: The Gunpowder Plot

Simon and Kirby dipped into the history books for this tale of insurrection and a murder plot during the reign of King James I of England. Guy Fawkes,* who was a conspirator attacking the throne, has had a long lifespan in the history of England .

Jack Kirby and Joe Simon did some fine artwork in this story, and looked as if they enjoyed drawing the old clothing and hair styles, not to mention the armor and fighting men. But the story was used in a crime comic book, so they tweaked it to fit the usual crime comic book clichés. In real life Guy Fawkes, at the moment of his execution, probably did not give a sermon saying, in essence, “Crime does not pay.” History says he gave an apology to the king. He was also not hanged, as the story shows. He jumped off the scaffold and broke his neck, killing himself. It didn’t spare poor Guy’s corpse from being quartered. The public came to see a bloody and cruel execution and the public were not disappointed.

The religious component is left out, also. The Gunpowder plot was an attempt to murder the king and replace him with a Catholic sovereign. You may remember from your history books that James’ relative, Henry VIII, had a falling out with the Pope over his plans to divorce his wife. It has always struck me as backwards that they would leave religion out of a story like this, which sold itself as being historical, but I understand why they did not want to get complaints and letters from offended church members. Instead they did not spare the reader some brutal torture scenes. Like the bloodthirsty public of the 17th century, the 20th century public would be shown the violent stuff so they would not go away disappointed.

From Headline Comics #31 (1947):

*I am aware of Alan Moore and David Lloyd's V For Vendetta, and the impact the Guy Fawkes mask has had. I am mentioning it, although it is outside the scope of this blog.

Number 2271: Babyface Nelson: live fast, die young

George “Babyface” Nelson (born Lester Gillis, 1908, died November, 1934), was one of the early 1930’s “cowboys in cars,” driving from town to town robbing banks and killing some innocent folks along the way. It wasn’t called the lawless era for nothing, and antisocial psychos like Nelson helped the nascent Federal Bureau of Investigation become the foundation for today’s FBI.

Jack Kirby drew this version of Nelson’s death, which leaves out some key characters; his wife, for one. The story was just one of a whole comic book full of crime and true-life crooks whose stories are told with artistic license. My mother, at the age of 13, with my grandmother, attended the funeral of Samuel Cowley, FBI agent. Cowley was one of the two FBI men who shot it out with Nelson; Cowley and his partner, Herman Ellis, were both killed by Nelson, although Cowley lived for a time in the hospital before dying from his wounds. Nelson died soon after escaping the scene. He was wrapped in an Indian blanket by his wife and left outdoors by a church, where his body was discovered.

This shortened, action-packed drama of Nelson’s last days, appeared in Headline Comics #23 (1947).