CRIME SUSPENSTORIES #15 * 3.0 * BRADBURY'd Alive * The

Heading:
Author:
Title: CRIME SUSPENSTORIES No. 15
Place Published:
Publisher:EC [Indicia: L.L. Publishing Co., Inc.]
Date Published: February-March, 1953
Description:

Good/VG (3.0). Moderate spine stress, bottom staple pulled, top staple slightly pulled, light edge and corner crease marks, tiny chip to bottom right corner of front cover (1mm), edges of back cover toned, 1x1½" piece missing from top corner of back cover, ¾"x1" chip from bottom corner of first page. Professionally cleaned and pressed by Comics In A Flash. Cover: Johnny Craig. Plots and scripts: Bill Gaines, Al Feldstein. Art: Johnny Craig, Jack Kamen (Ray Bradbury adaptation: "The Screaming Woman"), George Evans (two "EC Quickies"), Graham Ingels. Feldstein text feature: "The EC Caper," with appearances by Feldstein, Gaines, Marie Severin, Jerry Dee, Ruby Kast. GPAnalysis: A 3.0 sold for $164 in March 2021.

Solid ish, boasting George Evans's first Crime SuspenStory, a nicely-done Jack Kamen adaptation of Ray Bradbury's "The Screaming Woman," and a classic Johnny Craig love triangle with what some consider to be a homoerotic subtext:

"Craig's 'When the Cat's Away...' has an undeniable homosexual undercurrent — Jay seems more upset by the betrayal of his pal Dick (at whose home Jay likes to sleep over) than that of his wife Emma... The climax of the story is, after all, Gay... er, Jay... shooting Dick (no comment)... Craig, incidentally, denies the undeniable: 'I do not have a copy of CSS #15 so 'Cat's Away' is vague in my mind. I do know that in the 1950s homosexuality was taboo and hardly ever in the minds of anyone, and in none of my stories was it ever a factor, subtle or otherwise.'" — Max Allan Collins, The Complete Crime SuspenStories. Russ Cochran: 1983.

A deluxe limited edition of 12 hardcover catalogues is available, in addition to a small number of softcovers. 400 lots, fully illustrated. Fun reference, great keepsake. Softcover $40, deluxe hardcover with dust jacket and limitation plate $200. Eight of the 12 hardcovers are pre-ordered and the rest will go quickly, so reserve yours now. To order, contact ivan@pbagalleries.com.

Consignments welcome for PBA's Spring 2022 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 comics auctioneers. "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.