Auctions: comic books published by Hillman

Crime Detective Comics Volume 1 (1948) 9 VG/FN 5.0

Staple rust.

Cover by Dan Zolnerowich and Herb Rogoff. Stories and art by Charles Raab, Art Peddy, Jules Steiner, Jack Keller, and Dan Zolnerowich. Tales of crime and mobsters, both true and fictional, a prime example of the genre that thrived in the years before the Comics Code. The notorious cover of this issue portrays a spoof of anti-comics crusader Dr. Fredric Wertham bound and gagged, something acknowledged by the artists and Wertham himself, who points it out in both the illustrations and text of his 1954 anti-comics classic, Seduction of the Innocent. A female crimelord tries to turn herself and her fellow crooks into high-society types in 1880s New York. Spinster sisters Tabby and Birdie Rosebud, "the 70-year-old teenagers," enter a stock-car race in their ancient jalopy and astound fans and drivers alike with their speed. Beautiful Meat-Hooks; Elmo's Penthouse; No Mice Are Nice; The Apple; Strange Confession; The Rosebud Sisters; Smith Does It Again; The Witness; Corkscrew Alley. 52 pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.10.

Real Clue Crime Stories Vol. 7 (1952) 11 VG+ 4.5

Art by John Prentice and others. Another crime comic from the prolific studio of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, this one featuring crimes throughout history as well as the standard gangster tales. Sometimes listed as Real Clue Crime #83. No issue # on cover; Vol. 7, issue #11 in indicia. A hotel maid has a double life as a high-dollar jewel thief. Feds investigating foreign agents focus on their latest asset, Adrian Zadek. Up-and-coming singer Roman gets involved with Sheila, the girlfriend of his ganglord employer. Also featuring a vintage ad for training as a "Criminal Investigator" by mail. The Mink Shroud; Goodbye Mouthpiece; The Two-Flag Huckster; The Law vs an Envelope Seal; Johnny the Gent; Third Window-Street Level; Purloined Pathos; Pigeon in the Jungle. 36 pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.10.