Number 2332: “. . . a not uncommon perversion . . .”

I am always happy to present a story recognized in the infamous anti-comics book Seduction of the Innocent, by Fredric Wertham, MD, published in 1954. The panel I used today as a teaser at the top of the page was squeezed onto a page in that book, with no explanation, just that killing people in lovers lane is a not uncommon perversion. There have been some famous real-life cases of killers preying on victims in so-called lovers lane, including the Phantom in the late '40s in Texarkana, Texas, and the Zodiac killer of California. But “a not uncommon perversion”? All right, any of you who have fantasies about killing people in lovers lane, raise your hand. I see by peering through the cameras in your phones, laptops and other devices that one guy is waving his hand, but maybe he is just asking permission to go to the bathroom. (Go, but then come right back.) I imagine there may be other perverts out there, since a lovers lane is a good spot for voyeurism, and especially now that most drive-in movies are closed. But killing, I just don’t know.

Anyway, the story, “Crimson Trail of the Lipstick Slayer” is about a Navy man who kills a woman and puts a lipstick mark on her forehead, something shared by the couple in lovers lane. I don’t know if this is based on a true story, or if it is a mashup based on the Texarkana killings and the killings of William Heirins in Chicago, also in the mid-'40s. Heirins was known as “the Lipstick Killer” in newspapers, for a message on a mirror written in lipstick, “For heavens sake catch me before I kill more I cannot control myself”...a hair-raising note that caught the public’s attention.

The artwork is by L.B. Cole, who does an excellent job, both with the story and the cover. Cole was known for designing poster-like covers, and this one is a beauty for grabbing attention on crowded newsstands.

As for the contents of Law Against Crime #3 (1948), it is a mixed bag: two violent crime stories bookending two crudely drawn funny stories, which look more at home in a child’s comic book. They were obviously filler, but how disappointed did they leave the readers of the sordid crime stories? Dr Wertham didn’t mention them. Once again I opine that comic books published in 1948, unless they were laying around in stacks of old comics, would be unavailable to most readers at the time Wertham’s book was published. He did that with many of the other illustrations, also, leaving the reader of 1954 horrified at the images which hadn’t been seen for several years. No matter...many comic books in 1954 were just as sordid. Maybe he didn’t think anyone would know that his material was mostly outdated and years later be the subject of scrutiny by people he could not have dreamed at the time would ever exist, fans of the very books he put under attack!

Number 2209: “Dam the rotten luck!” Murder morals in a crime comic

Joseph Federal is a very bad man. He strangles women for money. In “Joseph Medley Lady Killer,” from Murder Incorporated #3 (1948), he curses his luck after killing a young woman: “She wasn’t lying I know! That money is nowhere in this room. Dam the rotten luck!” Yes, the word “damn” was deliberately misspelled.

The story was reprinted four years later in Shock Detective Cases #20,* and “dam” was replaced by a standard comic book “#*@*”, using symbols to replace cursing. Showing murder wasn’t forbidden...just some mild swearing.

 Original printing, 1948

Censored, 1952.

The original version was published by Fox, and came from the height of the crime comics boom in 1948. It was the sort of thing that got parents, teachers, and guardians of public morals in a dither. I don’t think Dr Wertham ever saw this, because if he had he could have easily used several panels in his book, Seduction of the Innocent, to show how brutal crime comics could be. Sexy, too. L.B. Cole, editor of Shock Detective Cases, in a couple of panels had the dresses extended to appear more modest. This is the world of editorial decision-making: what an editor thinks goes too far, and how to fix it.

Artwork, signed by Carter, is actually by Rudy Palais. Palais, who died in 2004, was an early comic book artist who had work in various genres, including crime and horror. His artwork for Harvey’s horror comics line is known for the sweat drops flying off characters’ faces, although his style is so distinctive I don’t need sweat drops to identify it

Number 1894: “The thrills didn’t come.”

Michael is guilty of looks-ism. He loves Faye only because she is beautiful. In almost every panel where Michael appears in “I Couldn’t Go Back to Him,” he comments on Faye’s beauty. Faye and Michael are so close to marriage that Michael has even bought them a house. But then something awful happens, an accident. It makes Faye doubt her beauty. And Michael’s love.

While reading this little essay on the shallowness of some men the phrase “trophy wife” came to mind, The artwork is by L.B. Cole, whose glossy style lends itself to pretty characters. Faye needs plastic surgery and complains that her face is completely different, but to me it looks exactly the same after surgery as before. It must’ve puzzled Cole when he read the script. Make her beautiful still, but different. Cole’s figures look like they are out of magazine ads. Michael and Bob (the doctor who performs the surgery, and falls for Faye) even look alike, down to the unfortunate use of the same colors for their suits. In that way it seems Michael’s prejudices have rubbed off on Faye.

From All Romances #1 (1949):

More L.B. Cole, this time with a Toni Gayle story. Just click on the thumbnail.

Number 1464: Tony Gayle’s underwater style

When I first showed this story from Guns Against Gangsters #6 (1949) in 2006, I wrote the following about artist L. B. Cole:

L. B. Cole drew, by his estimation, nearly 1,500 covers in his career. He was a decent artist on these inside continuity pages, but it’s for his covers he’s famous. His ability to make eye-catching poster-like covers sold an awful lot of otherwise mediocre comic books. Except for his loving renditions of sexy Toni, I don’t think there’s much else about this artwork that would send anyone’s pulse racing. But then, maybe that was enough for those readers in 1949 looking for a little something extra for their dime.

“Toni” is Toni Gayle, the lead character for Guns Against Gangsters. Toni is a pin-up in the Bettie Page style. She is so stylish she can swim underwater and come up with dry hair.

And as for the cover, despite, or maybe because of, the silliness of fashion model Toni in high heels fighting a shark, I think it is one of the great covers of the Golden Age.