The Saga of Stella & Bennie Dickson in True Crime Comics #3 at Auction

True Crime Comics #3, cover-dated July-August 1948 and revealed by Magazine Village, has lengthy been thought of an vital concern for followers of crime comics. It options the real-life saga of Stella Mae and Bennie Dickson, a Bonnie and Clyde-style husband and spouse crew who went on a multi-state crime spree in 1938-1939, tailored into a comic book story and canopy by legendary comedian ebook creator Jack Cole. A key crime comedian ebook from an vital collection and by a noteworthy creator,  there is a copy of this concern up for public sale in the 2023 January 29-30 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122305 at Heritage Auctions.

Stella Mae and Bennie Dickson had been a pair whose eight-month crime spree in 1938-1939 captured the eye of the nation. They stole automobiles, robbed banks, and traded gunfire with authorities throughout a number of states, together with South Dakota, Kansas, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, and Indiana.  As depicted on Cole’s cowl for True Crime Comics #3, Bennie was gunned down by the FBI in St. Louis on April 6, 1939, with Stella being captured the next day.

True Crime Comics #3 ‘s “drug story,” titled Joyce McAllister, is one other noteworthy inclusion in this concern. This story facilities round drug use, which was a favourite taboo topic of comics of this period. But maybe extra apparently, it’s the real-life story of a mysterious girl whose undercover work was instrumental in resulting in drug raids by native and federal authorities in Reno, Nevada in 1937. There seems to have been widespread confusion about McAllister’s true id and whether or not or not she was a authorities agent of some type.  True Crime Comics #3 additionally features a textual content story credited to O.J. Peterson, a U.S. Secret Service agent who labored in their Chicago workplace in the Nineteen Thirties and Forties. Peterson relates the story of Paul Massilotti, the chief of a hoop of test forgers who was captured and convicted in 1937.

Jack Cole was a wildly artistic and vital Golden Age artist whose most well-known creation is the character Plastic Man for Quality Comics. He was additionally a daily cartoonist for Playboy journal later in his profession, and did all kinds of materials for comics earlier than then, together with engaged on the Golden Age Daredevil and creating The Claw for Silver Streak Comics.  The short-lived True Crime Comics was the one comedian ebook title from writer Magazine Village, owned by Arthur Bernhard, who had launched the foundational Golden Age title Silver Streak Comics in 1939 and later partnered with Lev Gleason. Magazine Village was additionally the writer of a quantity of true crime magazines corresponding to Police Detective Cases, Special Detective Cases, and comparable titles, and a line of paperbacks in this identical vein.

This copy of True Crime Comics #3 has been graded Good by Heritage Auctions. While this copy is unslabbed, there are 50 entries for this concern on the CGC census, and copies are eagerly wanted by crime comedian collectors.  Notably, this concern is at the moment listed at #9 on Overstreet’s Top Ten Crime Comics listing, and there is a copy up for public sale in the 2023 January 29-30 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122305 at Heritage Auctions. If you are new to Heritage Auctions, ensure that to take a look at their FAQ on the bidding course of and associated issues.

Affiliates of Bleeding Cool purchase from and/or consign to Heritage Auctions.