Author:
Title: CRIME SUSPENSTORIES No. 17
Place Published:
Publisher:EC [Indicia: L. L. Publishing Co. Inc.]
Date Published: June-July, 1953
Description: CGC certified: Fine/VF (7.0). White pages. Grader notes: Spine stress lines breaks color; light fingerprints on cover; light staining to cover.

CGC Census: 208 graded copies (197 Universal, 1 Signature, 10 Restored).

GPAnalysis: A 7.0 sold for $1705 in 9/22; a 7.5 sold for $2750 in 1/24.

Credits: Cover: Johnny Craig. Scripts: Al Feldstein, Johnny Craig, Ray Bradbury, Bill Gaines. Art: Johnny Craig, Jack Kamen, Al Williamson, Franki Frazetta, Bill Elder. Self-Snuff Scenario: Suicide cover by Johnny Craig, one of the artist's most jarring images (injury-to-"I" motif?). Under the covers, a man's face is branded with a red-hot cattle iron. The poor sap's burned and blistered visage is depicted with stark realism by Al Williamson and Frank Frazetta, and the reader's revulsion is only partly alleviated by admiration of Frazetta's masterful inks and Williamson's stellar Craft-Tint technique.

"Williamson was so devoted to his craft that he would spend days on a single panel, rendering fine details that would be obliterated by the comics' cheap printing." – David Hadju, The Ten Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America. FSG: 2008, p. 187.

In his notes to Russ Cochran's Crime SuspenStories boxed set, Max Allan Collins calls this ish "the single most interesting Crime SuspenStories issue, containing as it does Johnny Craig's most famous story [an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's 'Touch and Go'], a vastly underrated Al Williamson/Al Feldstein collaboration," and a particularly "shocking cover."______________________________________________________________

A limited edition of ten hardcover catalogues is available, in addition to a few dozen softcovers. Fun reference, great keepsake, fully illustrated, chockablock with obscure facts, gags, bon mots. Softcovers are $40, deluxe hardcovers with dust jackets and limitation plates are $200. These books always go fast so don't delay. To order, contact ivan@pbagalleries.com.

Consignments welcome for PBA's Summer 2024 Comic Book sale. Top prices for Pre-Code Horror, Golden Age, Silver Age, original art and ephemera. Find out why PBA is the new fan-fave of funnybook fiends. "This is some of the best commentary I've yet seen on the quality of the content of comic books... Priceless." – R. Crumb. Send inquiries to ivan@pbagalleries.com.

Coming Soon: The DC Universe Collection Part 3: The Golden Age (August 2024) and Weird Tales and Amazing Stories: The PBA Pulp Sale (September 2024). Contact ivan@pbagalleries.com to get on the notifications list.