MURDER, MORPHINE AND ME

We'll linger a little while longer on the narrow line between crime and horror with one of the most notorious pre-Code comic stories ever printed.

"Murder, Morphine and Me", written (probably) and drawn by Jack Cole appeared in TRUE CRIME COMICS Vol. 1 No. 2, published by the obscure Magazine Village Inc. and it seems to be the only comic title they published. I'm wondering if it's possible it was produced by Cole and then dropped when he went elsewhere to work.

The cover date of May 1947 has come into question and was later determined to be actually published on March 3rd in 1948, making the true cover date May 1948.

What distinguishes this story is its overt brutality, violence and drug theme, hitting all the right buttons for Dr. Fredric Wertham to call it out in "Seduction of the Innocent". It is also infamous for its frightening "injury to the eye" panel which he included in the book. While multiple injury to eye panels appeared during this era, this one has been most often used as a prime example.

Now, let's read Mary Kennedy's confession . . .

WEB OF EVIL NO. 1

There's not much in the way of creator information regarding this first of 21 issues of Quality's WEB OF EVIL with the exception of Jack Cole's art on the story, "Custodian of the Dead" and lettering by Ben Oda.

Alfred Grenet (Editor); Richard Arnold (Associate Editor) put together some fairly good tales here, especially "Ghosts of Doom", an eerie revenge story and the bizarre "The Phantom Freaks".

INTRIGUE ONE-SHOT (QUALITY)

One of the indications of horror comics winking out after the hammer dropped with the Comics Code Authority is this example from Quality Comics. Quality published only one continuing horror title, but for some reason they were still hanging on. WEB OF EVIL ran for 21 issues from November 1952 through December 1954.

Amazingly, one month later, in January 1955, Quality released a new horror comic (without the CCA's seal) with the innocuous title of INTRIGUE, containing all reprints from WEB OF EVIL featuring Jack Cole's art. It's hard to say what was behind this, especially from a publisher that really wasn't invested in these kinds of comics. In any event, it definitely a little -- well -- intriguing.

INTRIGUE

Vol. 1 No. 1 (One-shot)

January 1955

A Quality Comic Publication (Quality Comics)

Editor: Al Grenet

Cover: ?

Pages: 36

Cover price: 10 cents

NOTE: Ads removed from this scan.

CONTENTS

"Death Swamp" reprinted from Web of Evil #1 (November 1952)

Script: ?

Art: ?

NOTE: Original title: "Ghosts of Doom"; one page removed from story.

"The Corpse That Wouldn't Die" reprinted from Web of Evil #2 (January 1953)

Script: ?

Art: Jack Cole

"The Vengeful Curse" reprinted from Web of Evil #5 (July 1953)

Script: Jack Cole?

Art: Jack Cole

"Ghost Ship" reprinted from Web of Evil #2 (January 1953)

Script: ?

Art: ?

Original title.

Removed page.