''Crime Illustrated'' was a black-and-white magazine published by

EC Comics Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books, which specialized in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction, dark fantasy, and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-195 ...

in late 1955 and early 1956. Part of EC's Picto-Fiction line, each magazine featured three to five stories. The format alternated panels of typography with panels of illustrations. Thus, it was arranged in tiers like a comic book but eliminated hand-lettering, balloons and panel borders. The first issue appeared with a cover date of November–December 1955. ''Crime Illustrated'' ran for a total of two issues. The Picto-Fiction magazines lost money from the start, and when EC's distributor went bankrupt, they had no choice but to cancel them.

Writers

The editor of ''Crime Illustrated'' was

Al Feldstein Albert Bernard Feldstein ( ; October 24, 1925 – April 29, 2014) was an American writer, editor, and artist, best known for his work at EC Comics and, from 1956 to 1985, as the editor of the satire, satirical magazine ''Mad (magazine), Mad''. Aft ...

. As with EC's comics, Feldstein was the most prolific writer of this title, and generally wrote up to three stories per issue. In addition to stories credited to him, Feldstein also wrote using the pseudonyms Maxwell Williams and Alfred E. Neuman. In a move suggested by publisher

William Gaines William Maxwell Gaines (; March 1, 1922 – June 3, 1992), was an American publisher and co-editor of EC Comics. Following a shift in EC's direction in 1950, Gaines presided over what became an artistically influential and historically import ...

, Feldstein included retellings of previous stories: the first issue's "Fall Guy for Murder" and "Mother's Day", and the second issue's "Screenplay for Murder" and "Pieces of Hate". Writers included

Jack Oleck Jack Oleck (March 1, 1914 – March 10, 1981)Social Security Death Index, SS# 115-01-6988. was an American novelist and comic book writer particularly known for his work in the horror genre. The brother-in-law of comics pioneer Joe Simon, Oleck' ...

(who had contributed to EC's earlier publications), Richard Smith and John Larner.

Artists

Artists featured in ''Crime Illustrated'' include

Joe Orlando Joseph Orlando (April 4, 1927 – December 23, 1998) was an Italian American illustrator, writer, editor and cartoonist during a lengthy career spanning six decades. He was the associate publisher of '' Mad'' and the vice president of DC Comics, ...

, Bernard Krigstein,

Reed Crandall Reed Leonard Crandall (February 22, 1917 – September 13, 1982) Reed Crandall
at ...

Graham Ingels Graham J. Ingels (; June 7, 1915April 4, 1991) was a comic book and magazine illustrator best known for his work in EC Comics during the 1950s, notably on ''The Haunt of Fear'' and ''Tales from the Crypt'', horror titles written and edited by Al ...

, George Evans, Jack Davis and

Johnny Craig John Thomas Alexis Craig (April 25, 1926 – September 13, 2001),John T. Craig
at the ...

Reprints

''Crime Illustrated'' was reprinted along with the other Picto-Fiction magazines in hardbound volumes by Russ Cochran (and

Gemstone Publishing Gemstone Publishing is an American company that publishes comic book price guides. The company was formed by Diamond Comic Distributors President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Geppi in 1994 when he bought Overstreet. Gemstone published licen ...

) in 2006 as part of his ''Complete EC Library''. These reprints also included the first-time publication of the third issue (assembled in 1956 but never published by EC).

Issue guide

References

{{Reflist Defunct magazines published in the United States EC Comics publications Fiction magazines Magazines established in 1955 Magazines disestablished in 1956 Quarterly magazines published in the United States 1955 establishments in New York (state) 1956 disestablishments in New York (state) Magazines published in New York City Magazines about comics