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Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: crime comics, Seduction of the Innocent
How to Prepare an Alibi in 1949's Exposed #6, Up for Auction
Simple diagrams in Exposed #6 and #7 were used in Fredric Wertham's Seduction of the Innocent as examples of how-to crime instruction.
Article Summary
- Exposed #6 and #7 featured in Wertham's "Seduction of the Innocent".
- True crime comics by D.S. Publishing inspired Wertham's criticism.
- Richard Davis and A. Walter Socolow founded D.S. Publishing in 1940.
- D.S. Publishing's crime comics line became notorious in the 1950s.
As we've seen with the likes of stories about the notorious bank robber Eddie Bentz and "The Bat" inspired Lone Wolf of Boston, D.S. Publications Pre-Code crime title Exposed started off with a strong range of stories based on true crime cases. Overall, the Exposed title lasted nine issues 1948 to 1949 and contained a mix of high-profile murderers from throughout true crime history that often tended towards the brutal end of the true crime comic book spectrum. But as the series progressed, it started to move away from true crime and took a more "inspired by" approach. Interestingly, two issues of the series caught Fredric Wertham's attention in Seduction of the Innocent with what he interpreted as "how to commit crime" diagrams in Exposed #6 and #7.
Founded by Richard Davis, Exposed publisher 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.
Under the heading of "Modern Juvenile Delinquency Involves Knowledge of Technique," the diagrams from Exposed #6 and #7 were used as illustrations in Wertham's Seduction of the Innocent, labeled with "How to prepare an alibi" and "Diagram for housebreakers." Containing weak how-to crime instructions but pretty entertaining Pre-Code stories, there's an Exposed Group of 5 (D.S. Publishing, 1948-49) Condition: Average VG- up for auction in the 2024 June 9-11 Sunday, Monday & Tuesday Comic Books Select Auction #122424 at Heritage Auctions.
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