Showing posts with label noir state of mind. Show all posts
Showing posts with label noir state of mind. Show all posts
February 18, 2011
December 12, 2010
October 17, 2010
October 16, 2010
March 2, 2010
Retro Vision
Japanese poster art for GUN CRAZY (Joseph H Lewis, 1950)
Starring John Dall and Peggy Cummins as the perverse love birds, Bart and Laurie. Are they gun crazy or love crazy? Or is there any difference with these two? She makes him turn Clyde to her Bonnie 'cause she can't get enough of money and thrills. Forget the stardust. These two have gun powder in their eyes.
February 23, 2010
Retro Vision
More crime comics! This one is from "Murder Incorporated," a Fox Feature Syndicate publication from the late 1940s.
I especially enjoy the "For Adults Only" warning on the right-hand side. I'm sure that was effective.
The awesome CRIMEBOSS website is my resource for all these comic book covers, by the way.
February 15, 2010
Retro Vision
A cover from Issue #24 of "Crime Does Not Pay," a 1940s crime comic published by Lev Gleason Publications. Yes, that is a woman getting her head shoved into the flames of a gas stove by a psychotic criminal. Yes, this cover graced the newsstands of 1940s America.
These were the days when comic books were more than just superhero stories. They were also the days when comic books sold in the millions of copies and were hugely popular (unlike today, where a few big name titles only sell in the hundreds of thousands, if that).
From the mid-1940s up into the mid-1950s, romance, crime, horror, and war comics were often more popular with readers than superhero comics. Certain politicians, opinion makers, religious leaders, law enforcement types, and busybodies made claims that "Crime Does Not Pay" and other true crime comics contributed to juvenile delinquency and lobbied to get these types of comics banned. Eventually all this hysteria over comics led to the institution of the "Comics Code" in 1954 and it was safe, sterile superheroes from then on out on the newsstands of America.
"Crime Does Not Pay" was known for its provocative and violent covers and Issue #24 does not disappoint!
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