Crime Does Not Pay #74

Charles Biro's cover for this April 1949 entry in Lev Gleason's long-running crime anthology captures a tense bust in vivid action — a desperate criminal in a green suit comes crashing through a window, arms raised, pleading "don't shoot!" as a plainclothes detective levels a shotgun and uniformed officers close in, tear gas having smoked him out through the chimney. This full 52-page issue promises "All True Crime Illustories," including the infamous biography of the five Durin brothers — Mike, Pete, Nick, Jack, and Joe — whose gangster story the cover text tantalizes with the grim note that not one of them survived. There's also a $1,500 Lev Gleason prize contest announced on the cover, making this a particularly lively package from one of the golden age's most committed crime titles.