Crime SuspenStories #3

(February-March 1951)

Poison! (Table of Contents: 1)

Crime SuspenStories / comic story / 8 pages (report information)

Script

Johnny Craig (signed)

Pencils

Johnny Craig (signed)

Inks

Johnny Craig (signed)

Colors

? (see notes)

Letters

Jim Wroten

First Line of Dialogue or Text

The mourners in the cemetery were silent...

Genre

crime

Characters

Margaret Boles (death); Elsa (Boles' housekeeper); unnamed doctor; Mr. Boles (villain, Margaret's husband)

Synopsis

Mr. Boles was pretty smug, as he and his housekeeper attended the funeral of Margaret Boles.....smug thinking that no one knew he had killed his wife. But everything that his housekeeper says and does seems to indicate to him that she somehow knows what he did, and so he makes plans to somehow convince a doctor that the housekeeper tried to poison him.

Reprints

• in Crime Suspenstories (Russ Cochran, 1983 series) #1 (1983)
• in Iskalde Grøss (Semic, 1982 series) #7/1990 (uke 42 1990)
• in Crime Suspenstories (Russ Cochran, 1992 series) #3 (May 1993)
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #17 - Voodoo Vengeance and Other Stories (December 2016) [Reprinted in black and white.]
• in E.C. Archives: Crime SuspenStories (Gemstone, 2007 series) #1 (September 2007)

Indexer Notes

Colors were previously attributed to Marie Severin (see Indexer Notes for this issue’s cover, above).

Loosely based on "Interruption" by W. W. Jacobs.

The Giggling Killer (Table of Contents: 2)

Crime SuspenStories / comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Script

Harvey Kurtzman

Pencils

Harvey Kurtzman

Inks

Harvey Kurtzman

Colors

Harvey Kurtzman ? (see notes)

Letters

Ben Oda

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Midnight! A city sleeps!

Genre

crime

Characters

John Hewlett (death); Mrs. Hewlett (death); Tom (hotel clerk); Mrs. Loman (Lester's wife, death); Lester Loman (villain, death); The Giggling Killer (villain, hitch hiker)

Synopsis

With the newspapers reporting the deaths of people at the hands of "The Giggling Killer," poor Lester, nagged to death by his wife, plans to see if he in some way can establish an alibi and then kill his wife in the style of the killer. This he successfully does........and then he runs into a hitch hiker.......

Reprints

• in Crime Suspenstories (Russ Cochran, 1983 series) #1 (1983)
• in Geluiden uit een andere wereld (Bert Meppelink, 1989 series) (oktober 1989)
• in Crime Suspenstories (Russ Cochran, 1992 series) #3 (May 1993)
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #27 - Man and Superman and Other Stories (April 2020) [Reprinted in black and white.]
• in E.C. Archives: Crime SuspenStories (Gemstone, 2007 series) #1 (September 2007)

Keywords

Hotel Milton; Morning Star

Indexer Notes

Vaguely influenced by Chicago's "Stop me before I kill more" lipstick killings attributed to William Heirens. Charles Einstein wrote a novel called "The Bloody Spur" about Heirens, and the novel was later adapted into the film "While the City Sleeps" by Fritz Lang.

Letterer credit by Craig Delich.

Marie Severin’s statement that “[Harvey] Kurtzman colored his own art, especially on covers...” (1995) suggests that Kurtzman colored stories that he drew, albeit perhaps less consistently than he colored his cover art.
_________
References:

Cassell, Dewey, with Aaron Sultan. 2012. “The Artists of EC Comics” (reprinting Severin 1995). In Marie Severin: The Mirthful Mistress of Comics. 46–47. Raleigh: TwoMorrows Publishing.

Severin, Marie (John Province, transcriber [uncredited]). 1995. “Mostly About Color.” In CFA-APA 36, January.

Getaway (Table of Contents: 3)

text story / 2 pages (report information)

Script

Al Feldstein

Pencils

? (spot illustration)

Inks

? (spot illustration)

Colors

?

Letters

typeset

Genre

crime

Characters

unnamed Policemen (one bank guard dies); bank robber (villain, death)

Synopsis

Having successfully robbed a bank and killing the guard, the robber decides to take a chance and leisurely make his getaway, hoping that the police would not notice him. As his car climbs high into the mountains, he spots a road block and desperately looks for a way to escape, not realizing the police were stopping cars from going further on due to a landslide.

Reprints

• in Crime Suspenstories (Russ Cochran, 1983 series) #1 (1983)
• in E.C. Archives: Crime SuspenStories (Gemstone, 2007 series) #1 (September 2007)

Loot! (Table of Contents: 4)

text story / 1 page (report information)

Script

Al Feldstein

Pencils

? (spot illustration)

Inks

? (spot illustration)

Colors

?

Letters

typeset

Genre

crime

Characters

Professor Kraal (death); robber (villain)

Synopsis

A robber decides to break into the fancy home of a noted professor, kill him so there would be no witness to the crime, then take the loot and scram. Too bad he fails to read the suicide note the professor had written to the police, notifying them that he had taken his life due to the fact that he had contracted the pneumonic plague!

Reprints

• in Crime Suspenstories (Russ Cochran, 1983 series) #1 (1983)
• in E.C. Archives: Crime SuspenStories (Gemstone, 2007 series) #1 (September 2007)

Faced with Horror! (Table of Contents: 5)

Crime SuspenStories / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script

Bill Gaines (co-plot); Al Feldstein (co-plot, script)

Pencils

Wally Wood (signed as Woody)

Inks

Wally Wood (signed as Woody)

Colors

? (see notes)

Letters

Jim Wroten

First Line of Dialogue or Text

We had planned the robbery carefully!

Genre

crime; horror-suspense

Characters

Sam (bank teller, death); unnamed doctor (death); Willie Cooper (villain, robber, death); Sam Brogen (villain, gunman)

Synopsis

Sam and Willie hold up a bank and shoot a teller in the process. Unfortunately for them, an employee photographed them while making their escape, and Brogen was identified. He decides to have plastic surgery to make himself look like a different person, but what he gets is far from what he desired.

Reprints

• in Crime Suspenstories (Russ Cochran, 1983 series) #1 (1983)
• in Iskalde Grøss (Semic, 1982 series) #7/1990 (uke 42 1990)
• in Crime Suspenstories (Russ Cochran, 1992 series) #3 (May 1993)
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #2 - Came the Dawn and Other Stories (August 2012) [black-and-white reprint]
• in E.C. Archives: Crime SuspenStories (Gemstone, 2007 series) #1 (September 2007)

Indexer Notes

Script revision and letterer credit by Craig Delich.

Colors were previously attributed to Marie Severin (see Indexer Notes for this issue’s cover, above).

Blood Red Wine! (Table of Contents: 6)

The Haunt of Fear / comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Script

Bill Gaines (co-plot); Al Feldstein (co-plot, script adaptation)

Pencils

Graham Ingels

Inks

Graham Ingels

Colors

? (see notes)

Letters

Jim Wroten

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Welcome, dear reader!

Genre

crime; horror-suspense

Characters

The Old Witch (host); Ramon (wine connoisseur, death); Pietro Ballo (villain, vintner, death)

Synopsis

Old Ballo, whose wine business had been ruined by a review made by a wine connoisseur, decides to invite the man to his home and do away with him.

Reprints

• in Crime Suspenstories (Russ Cochran, 1983 series) #1 (1983)
• in Crime Suspenstories (Russ Cochran, 1992 series) #3 (May 1993)
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #23 - Doctor of Horror and Other Stories (December 2018) [Reprinted in black and white.]
• in E.C. Archives: Crime SuspenStories (Gemstone, 2007 series) #1 (September 2007)

Indexer Notes

Adapted from the short story "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe which was first published in the November 1846 issue of Godey's Lady's Book.

Cover story.

Script revision and letterer credit by Craig Delich.

Colors were previously attributed to Marie Severin (see Indexer Notes for this issue’s cover, above).