Crime and Punishment #9

A tense street confrontation leaps off this December 1948 cover by Charles Biro, where a heavyset criminal in a green suit and bowler hat is caught mid-scheme alongside his nervous accomplice — only to find a sharp-eyed uniformed officer already one step ahead, ordering them to show their hands. Published by Lev Gleason and dedicated to "the eradication of crime," Crime and Punishment #9 delivers true criminal case histories with a moral edge baked right into the tagline: "Crime Does Not Pay." At a full 52 pages for just a dime, this is Golden Age crime comics at its most confidently entertaining.