Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: crime comics, golden age

Diamond Lil and the Scene of the Crime in Pay-Off #1, Up for Auction

Published Mon, 17 Oct 2022 13:47:10 -0500

Founded by Richard Davis, D.S. Publishing began life in 1940 with the company name Dance Forum, Inc, as the publisher of Dance Magazine. A short time later, the company was renamed D.S. Publishing after the last names of Davis and then-partner A. Walter Socolow. D.S. Publishing put out a wide range of magazines throughout the 1940s, including Song Parade and Song Leader, "song sheet" magazines that reprinted lyrics of popular songs of the time, Tune-In, which covered the radio industry, and Silhouette, a fashion magazine. The company got into the comic book business in late 1947 with Jeff Jordan, U.S. Agent. With crime comics on the rise at the time in the wake of the success of titles such as Lev Gleason's Crime Does Not Pay, D.S. Publishing is best remembered today for a short-lived but extensive crime comic book line including titles like Gangsters Can't Win, Outlaws, Public Enemies, Pay-Off, Underworld, and Exposed. Gangsters Can't Win is perhaps their most infamous title, but the entire line is worthwhile, including the five-issue Pay-Off. There's a copy of the debut issue of that series with Pay-Off #1 (D.S. Publishing, 1948) CGC VG 4.0 Dark tan to off-white pages up for auction in the 2022 October 16-17 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122242, plus copies of the rest of the Pay-Off series in the 2022 October 27 – 28 Halloween Pre-Code Horror and Crime Comics Showcase Auction #40207 from Heritage Auctions.

While we've seen in the past that many D.S. Publishing titles did a solid job with chronicling actual "true crime", a glance at Pay-Off #1 suggests a more "inspired by" approach in this particular instance. The stand-out story of the issue, "Diamond Lil of Otsego" seems to be very loosely inspired by events surrounding a real-life bar known as Diamond Lil's Roadhouse in operation in that area in the late 1930s. As for the title, the general idea was that the "payoff" for crime is eventually not what criminals hope it will be. There's a copy of the debut issue of that series with Pay-Off #1 (D.S. Publishing, 1948) CGC VG 4.0 Dark tan to off-white pages up for auction in the 2022 October 16-17 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122242, plus copies of the rest of the Pay-Off series in the 2022 October 27 – 28 Halloween Pre-Code Horror and Crime Comics Showcase Auction #40207 from Heritage Auctions.