Crime Does Not Pay #133

Charles Biro's cover for this April 1954 issue of Crime Does Not Pay crackles with betrayal and gunfire: a smirking woman clutches a wad of cash in a doorway, gleefully urging cops to gun down a man in the alley below while officers close in with weapons blazing amid a flurry of "Bang! Bang! Bam!" sound effects. Inset above her is a brooding portrait of "Joe Crammek — Professional Killer," making the moral stakes of the scene unmistakably clear. Produced by Charles Biro for Lev Gleason, this issue — featuring George Tuska on interior art for "The Murder Mad Gang of East City" — is a sharp reminder of why Crime Does Not Pay set the standard for hard-edged crime comics in the 1950s.