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

Wertham and Legendary Killers in Exposed True Crime Cases, at Auction

Published Sat, 30 Jul 2022 19:57:09 -0500

D.S. Publishing began life in the early 1940s as a publisher of "song sheet" magazines which reprinted lyrics of popular songs of the time (comic book publisher Charlton was in the song sheet business as well) and jumped into the comic book business in the late 1940s. 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. 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. 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. A short but memorable crime comic series that was part of a publishing line known for such titles, there are several issues of D.S. Publishing's Exposed title up for auction in the 2022 July 31-August 1 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122231 at Heritage Auctions.

The debut issue of Exposed includes such notorious historical figures as George Leonidas Leslie aka "Western George" the so-called King of the Bank Robbers, who legend has it was responsible for responsible for 80% of the bank robberies in the United States from 1865 to 1884. The cover of that debut issue seems to be very loosely inspired by the interior story "Corpse Cash and Carry", which chronicles the 1820s exploits of William Burke and William Hare, whose grave robberies to sell corpses to the medical school at Edinburgh University swiftly progressed to committing murders for the same purpose.

One of the most gruesome and notorious stories in the title is "The Case of the Giggling Killer", about a boy who grew up a psychopath torturing animals and progressed to brutal murders. A notorious crime comic book of the late-1940s era, there are several issues of D.S. Publishing's Exposed title 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.

Exposed #1 (D.S. Publishing, 1948) Condition: PR. Skull cover. Cover detached, rusty staples, and rust migration. Overstreet 2021 GD 2.0 value = $110.

Exposed #2 (D.S. Publishing, 1948) Condition: GD. Overstreet notes: "giggling killer story with excessive blood, two injury-to-eye panels, and an electrocution panel." Water damage and staining to cover. Overstreet 2021 GD 2.0 value = $43.

Exposed #3 (D.S. Publishing, 1948) Condition: VG. Joe Orlando and Henry Kiefer art. Overstreet 2021 VG 4.0 value = $40.

Exposed #6 (D.S. Publishing, 1949) Condition: Apparent GD/VG. Graham Ingels art. Mentioned in Seduction of the Innocent. Water damage to cover. Restoration includes: inner tape repair to spine. Overstreet 2021 GD 2.0 value = $43; VG 4.0 value = $86.

Exposed #9 (D.S. Publishing, 1949) Condition: GD/VG. Overstreet 2021 GD 2.0 value = $20; VG 4.0 value = $40.