Bernstein's Last Run on Crime Does Not Pay (and Bonus Artists)

Finishing up Robert Bernstein's scripts for Crime Does Not Pay; the title ended with #147. (It went under the Comics Code with #143.)

But first: while going over the last issues I made a few artist IDs. When I saw Dick Giordano's earliest stuff at Charlton it seemed to me there was a George Evans influence. Sure enough, a Giordano/Vince Alascia job at Lev Gleason has been miscredited in the Grand Comics Database to Evans--"The Fall of the Saturday Night Gang," shown above. Giordano/Alascia have "Unheeded Warning" in the next issue, CDNP 145, correctly attributed to them, and their story in 146, "The Big Mop-Up," is signed.

A few Crime Does Not Pay artists

Apr/55	144	The Fall of the Saturday Night Gang	p: Dick Giordano
			i: Vince Alascia
May/	145	Cornered: The Furious End of Vic Banner	a: Ed Robbins
July/	147	Mighty Rookie	a: Robbins

Crime Does Not Pay Anthology Stories
1953-55
Written by Robert Bernstein

Feb/53	119	Mad Dog Coll, the Mad Gunman
Mar/	120	The Brady Gang
		Cut Rate Murder
May/	122	Set for the Kill
June/	123	Hymie Weiss, Dynamo of Hate
		"Lucky Joe" Masseria, Bullet Dodger
Aug/	125	The Hair-Raising Career of Massacre Mad Frank Nash
Sep/	126	Killers from the Sticks
		Kill-Crazy Fred "Banjo" Blore
Oct/	127	Dead Man's Revenge
Nov/	128	Chuck Dorset's Rage Against Death
Dec/	129	Bill Flint, the Lone Wolf
Mar/54	132	I Beg Your Pardon
June/	135	The Crook Who Set His Own Trap
Sep/	137	Mike "Straw Hat" Vanek and His Steel Coffin
		The Bloody Saga of the Chetter Brothers
Oct/	138	The Scapegoat
Nov/	139	Eyewitness
		Joe Mosdek, the Master Dealer
		A Cop's Last Fight
Feb/55	142	The Vengeful Big "Truck" Brown
		Nickel Fare to Doom

Angel and the Ape Writers--Including Henry Boltinoff

One point makes it easy to tell E. Nelson Bridwell's scripting on DC's Angel and the Ape. Most of the other writers' ape-speak by Sam Simeon is gibberish, but Bridwell's, beginning with #4, is garbled English. In issue #6 the first story, "The Robbing Robot," is credited on the splash page to John Albano (thus I haven't listed it here). "The Ape of 1,000 Disguises" in the same issue is uncredited. Compare the ape-speak, given with translations. The ape-speak in Showcase #77 is garbled English too, but the sound effects confirm the scripting as Howard Post's.

Angel and the Ape #1 confuses me more each time I look. I would have said Post, perhaps, but the ape-speak is now gibberish.

Henry Boltinoff's writing in #7 is easy to spot when he uses the caption "And..." such as he's used in his page-or-two cartoon features like "Jerry the Jitterbug," where brevity counts. He's the best bet for that issue's other one-pagers that I couldn't be positive enough about to enter here.

I can't tell who plotted a story. In the case of Angel and the Ape #2, which I've left off this list too since it's credited, Sergio Aragonés is in those credits as co-scripter with Bob Oksner, presumably plotter as he's listed first. Showcase #77? Supposedly Nelson Bridwell, supposedly Robert Kanigher, supposedly even Al Jaffee. I'd go with Bridwell from the contemporary On the Drawing Board #67 (June 1968) listing.

Writers:
Angel and the Ape in SHOWCASE

Sep/68

#77

Angel and the Ape

Howard Post

ANGEL AND THE APE

Mar-Apr/69	#3	The Curse of the Avarice Clan	E. Nelson Bridwell
May-June/	#4	Remember the Chow Mein	Bridwell
		The Case of Trouble on the Talk Show	Bridwell
		Cheapskater's Waltz	Bridwell
July-Aug/	#5	Pigeon Mob	John Albano
		Hippie, Hippie, Hooray	Albano
Sep-Oct/	#6	The Ape of 1,000 Disguises   (Would You Believe Four?)	Bridwell

MEET ANGEL

Nov-Dec/69	#7	A Busy Little Aunt	Albano
		Suits Me Fine	Henry Boltinoff
		The Case of the "Inside Job"	Boltinoff
		The Case of the Millionaire Cat	Boltinoff