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

Joe Kubert Wally Wood Art in Crime Smashers, Up for Auction

Published Sun, 31 Jul 2022 14:29:09 -0500

Trojan Publishing was originally formed by Harry Donenfeld to publish The Lone Ranger Magazine in 1937. Donenfeld, best remembered for becoming a co-owner of DC Comics, had his hand in a number of other comic book publishers throughout the 1940s and early 1950s. The publisher eventually came to publish a variety of pulps and other magazines and entered the comic book business in 1950. the publisher's foray into comics was brief, including a total of 44 issues of the four titles Crime Smashers, Beware, Western Crime Busters, and Attack! from 1950 to 1953. Crime Smashers was the publisher's longest-running title at 15 issues and included contributions from the likes of Joe Kubert and Wally Wood. A notorious crime comic book series from a publisher controlled by the publisher of DC Comics, there are 11 of the 15-issue Crime Smashers run up for auction in the 2022 July 31-August 1 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122231 at Heritage Auctions.

Crime Smashers #5 (Trojan, 1951) featuring Wally Wood art.

1954 moral panic treatise Parade of Pleasure goes on about Crime Smashers #13 at length, saying, "Crime Smashers no 13, another of the so-called 'true crime' comics, carrying a cover of a girl being brutally gagged by a man, her skirt around her thighs, opens with two well-chested women shot in the first three pictures." Issue #13 is not the most extreme cover of the series by any stretch of the imagination, and there are 11 of the 15-issue Crime Smashers run up for auction in the 2022 July 31-August 1 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122231 at Heritage Auctions. If you've never bid at Heritage Auctions before, you can get further information, you can check out their FAQ on the bidding process and related matters. It's a particularly good week to take a look with lots of rare Ace Magazines comics, Champ and Champion Comics, Lev Gleason comics, and much more.

Crime Smashers #2 (Trojan, 1950) Condition: GD. Joe Kubert cover. Moisture damage. Overstreet 2021 GD 2.0 value = $54.

Crime Smashers #3 (Trojan, 1951) Condition: VG. The first copy we have ever offered. Myron Fass cover. Spine Fray. Overstreet 2021 VG 4.0 value = $86.

Crime Smashers #5 (Trojan, 1951) Condition: GD. Wally Wood art. Myron Fass cover. Color water damage inner front cover. Overstreet 2021 GD 2.0 value = $53.

Crime Smashers #6 (Trojan, 1951) Condition: GD/VG. Only the fourth copy we have encountered. Tan inner cover. Overstreet 2021 GD 2.0 value = $36; VG 4.0 value = $72.

Crime Smashers #7 (Trojan, 1951) Condition: GD/VG. Bondage cover. Female heroin junkie story. Spine chipping. Overstreet 2021 GD 2.0 value = $40; VG 4.0 value = $80.

Crime Smashers #9 (Trojan, 1952) Condition: GD. Bondage cover. Staple rust. Overstreet 2021 GD 2.0 value = $36.

Crime Smashers #11 (Trojan, 1952) Condition: FR. Just the fifth copy we have ever offered. Three-quarter spine split from top and top staple detached. Overstreet 2021 GD 2.0 value = $36.

#13 (Trojan, 1952) Condition: PR. Used in Parade of Pleasure. Contains a one page public service ad with Frank Frazetta art. Cover detached, gunk back cover, tear through front cover, and paint splatter front cover. Overstreet 2021 GD 2.0 value = $39.

#14 (Trojan, 1953) Condition: GD. H.C. Kiefer art. Top staple reinforced with tape. Overstreet 2021 GD 2.0 value = $31.

#15 (Trojan, 1953) Condition: PR. Last issue of the title. Myron Fass cover. Henry Kiefer art. Cover split/detached. Overstreet 2021 GD 2.0 value = $31.