Crime and Punishment #73

The cover of this June 1955 issue from Lev Gleason tells the whole crooked story at a glance: a fighter called Packy is landing a devastating blow on the champion under the ring lights, while horrified ringside gamblers gasp that half a million dollars is riding on the outcome — a fix gone spectacularly wrong. Bill Walton's cover art captures the chaos beautifully, from the stunned crowd to the fight-game crooks watching their scheme unravel in real time. "The Big Kayo" promises exactly the kind of sharp, morally satisfying crime drama that made Crime and Punishment a staple of mid-1950s comics — and the banner says it all: tinhorns fixed the fight, but crime does not pay.