Justice for Asians ALL-TRUE CRIME "Tong War!"

Non "big-name" Asians and Asian-Americans (like Fu Manchu)...

....were rarely featured in crime comics, the way the Italian Mafia, Irish Westies, or other ethnically-based criminal groups were!

Writer Carl Wessler and artist Jack Keller played on numerous, already outdated, racist cliches about Chinese in America in this never-reprinted tale from Atlas' All-True Crime #51 (1952), including speech patterns, clothing, and methods, indicating that the Tong members shown were immigrants, not native-born Asian-Americans!

Unfortunately, all the Chinese shown are given the bright lemon-yellow skin coloring common in comics of the era to denote Asians.

(Note: The non-Tong Chinese are shown in contemporary American clothing and speak impeccable English.)

BTW, though this is listed as issue #51, this is the first issue of this title.

Before this, the book was titled All-True Crime Cases Comics.

Shortening the title didn't help.

The book's run ended with the next issue!

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Tongs, Gangs, and Triads

Chinese Crime Groups in North America

LOVE MYSTERY "Death Take All!" Conclusion

When Last We Left Our Hero and Heroine......

Sports reporter Don Black becomes romantically-involved with Norma Brisbey, whose father owns Buckeye, the odds-on favorite to win in the $100,000 Gold Cup Horse Race.

But threats to both the owner and Spider, the horse's jockey, and an attempt on Mr Brisbey's life convince Black there's a conspiracy to rig the race.

Returning home from visiting her father in the hospital, Norma sees someone lurking outside the house, and Don goes to investigate...

This tale of love and legal matters from Fawcett's Love Mystery #3 (1950) was illustrated by Bob Powell, an ideal choice since he was expert at both romance and crime tales!

The scripter is unknown.

Fawcett tried things no one else would attempt including this title and Negro Romance, hoping to find untapped markets.

Unfortunately, in both cases, the audience never materialized, and both books were cancelled after only three issues.

LOVE MYSTERY "Death Take All!" Part 1

Crime has been combined with many genres in comics...

...like westerns, war, sci-fi...even horror and the supernatural!

But only once did comics combine mystery with romance, in the appropriately-named Love Mystery!

Who's lurking outside?

Be here next week for the thrilling conclusion!

This tale of love and legal matters from Fawcett's Love Mystery #3 (1950) was illustrated by Bob Powell, an ideal choice since he was expert at both romance and crime tales!

The scripter is unknown.

Fawcett tried things no one else would attempt including this title and Negro Romance, hoping to find untapped markets.

Unfortunately, in both cases, the audience never materialized, and both books were cancelled after only three issues.

It's Christmas Crime! JOURNEY INTO UNKNOWN WORLDS "Lady Who Believed"

Here's a Yuletide tale with a slightly-different take on Kris Kringle...

....as a Christmas crime-fighter and defender of the innocent!

This never-reprinted tale is from Atlas' Journey into Unknown Worlds #34 (1955), the first issue published under the restrictive auspices of the Comics Code Authority.

I wonder if it was originally-meant to be as gruesome as EC's legendary "...and All Through the House..."?

We'll never know the answer...but we will return in 2021 with more proof that...

Crime Does NOT Pay!
Merry Christmas
and a
Happy New Year!

Halloween Horrors AMAZING DETECTIVE CASES "Ghost Story"

Here's a never-reprinted 1950s tale...

... that's both about law enforcement and justice from beyond the grave!

You may note the Joe Maneely-illustrated cover doesn't really match the Bill Everett-rendered tale from Atlas' Amazing Detective Cases #13 (1952)

There are several possible reasons for that.

1) the cover and interior art were done at two different points in time, sometimes months apart!

2) The cover artist didn't have copies of the interior pages as visual reference, only plot descriptions from the editor!
3) the cover was done before the interior art as a "springboard" and the actual writer/artist(s) made changes when they were creating the story!
All three of these reasons could (and did) apply to Atlas Comics' books if the story's artist didn't do the cover...as was the case most of the time!

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Blackjacked and Pistol-Whipped

A Crime Does Not Pay Primer

CoronaVirus Crime Comics SCOTLAND YARD "Little Al of the Secret Service in Case of the Microbe Menace"

When Commies attempt to use biological warfare on US soil...

...only America's brave intelligence agents can uncover and neutralize the threat!

This never-reprinted story from Charlton's crime anthology Scotland Yard #3 (1955) is actually previously-unpublished inventory from Ziff-Davis' Little Al of the Secret Service (previously Little Al of the FBI) that Charlton acquired when Ziff-Davis' short-lived comic division closed and they sold the previously-published and never-published material to recoup costs.

Illustrated by Mike Roy, the story is probably written by Ziff-Davis' comics editor Jerry (Superman) Siegel.

Little Al was called that because, though he was shorter than average but so feisty and determined that he overcame that height disadvantage with martial arts skills and superb deductive abilities.

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Mammoth Book of Best Crime Comics

PERRY MASON "Case of the Shoplifter's Shoe" Conclusion

When Last We Left the Hard-Boiled Lawyer (yes, it is a thing")...

There's a helluva lot of plot here.
Reread Part 1 and Part 2, then join us as the trial begins...

Until two issues of a 1960s Perry Mason comic based on the TV show, this (and the previous issue we showed) were Perry's only comic book appearances!

Speaking of TV...

...here's a pre-Star Trek Leonard Nimoy as Pete Chennery in the adaptation of "Case of the Shoplifter's Shoe.

BTW, in the 1963 Perry Mason TV episode, Chennery was the murderer!

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Case of the Shoplifter's Shoe

(the novel this comic was adapted from)