Halloween Horrors KEN SHANNON "Corpse that Wouldn't Sleep"

It's almost Halloween, so let's present a scary private eye story...

...from the 1950s, the era when horror comics were all the rage, starring private dick Ken Shannon, to whom this sort of thing happened quite often, as seen HERE!

This tale from Quality's Ken Shannon #3 (1952) was one of several cover-featured stories during his run that featured horror comics elements, though the "monsters" were fakes created to cover-up crimes!

The superb artwork by Reed Crandall makes up for the fairly obvious plotting by an unknown writer.

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Weird Detective

The Stars are Wrong

Crime College PUBLIC ENEMIES "Graduation for Murder!"

It's June and school graduations are happening every day this month!
But some "graduates" flunked basic civics, like this couple from DS Publishing's Public Enemies V1N2 (1948)!

Though allegedly based on true events, due to the name and locale change for this never-reprinted story, I've been unable to verify tale's authenticity!
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Valentine's Day Violence HEADLINE COMICS "To My Valentine"

You thought we wuz gonna send roses?

Hell, no!

We bring you the sordid story of the most famous crime ever perpetrated on the Day for Lovers!

In 1947, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over editorial control for several titles of the Prize Comics line, giving them much-needed revamps, upping the action and violence quotient.
This tale was from Prize's Headline Comics #23 (1947), the first issue under their stewardship.
When this story was published, the massacre was less than twenty years earlier, and the incident wasn't history, but news the authors read and heard as kids and now re-presented in four-color form.
It's not totally historically-accurate, but then, what dramatization of a real-live event is?

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Simon & Kirby Library
CRIME

ALL-NEGRO COMICS "Ace Harlem" Conclusion

When Last We Left Ace Harlem, Famed Negro Detective...

...well, I'll let the author explain what's going on...

A second issue was written and illustrated, but, sadly, was never published, and no art for it has ever been seen by the public.

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Invisible Men

Trailblazing Black Artists of Comic Books
(Including Ace Harlem's John Terrell)

ALL-NEGRO COMICS "Ace Harlem" Part 1

Before Virgil Tibbs!

Before John Shaft!

Before Easy Rawlins!

There was..Ace Harlem...

...the first Black detective in any literary format to star in his own story!

To Be Continued...
Friday!
Written and illustrated by Black creative John Terrell, this tale features a fashion phenomenon unique to the 1930s/40s...zoot suits!

There's a superb article about the trend HERE that explains it far better than I could.

As to Ace himself, publisher, Orrin C. Evans, wrote in his editorial...

Through Ace Harlem, we hope dramatically to point up the outstanding contributions of thousands of fearless, intelligent Negro police officers engaged in a constant fight against crime throughout the United States.

A second issue was written and illustrated, but, sadly, was never published, and no art for it has ever been seen by the public.

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World of Shaft
Complete Guide to the Novels, Comic Strip, Films and Television Series