CRIME COMICS 119
exclusively for him. It was during his tenure at Quality that the comics world would
come to know the quintessential Reed Crandall. While the character Firebrand failed to
catch on, Crandall contributed to Doll Man and Uncle Sam then took over the comic for
which he is known best, Blackhawk. His expertise with the anatomy of both humans
and aircraft kept him aloft on Blackhawk for nine years (save a two-year stint for the real
Uncle Sam) until Arnold unloaded the rights to National in 1953.
Greeted by “What took you so long?” as he walked into the offi ce of EC’s William
Gaines, he penciled numerous stories including the notable “Silent Towns,” “A Kind of
Justice,” and the short-lived “Picto-Fiction” title, Shock Illustrated. Th e 1950s also saw
Crandall on the Gilberton Company’s Classics Illustrated line (1954), the Pope-approved
perennial Treasure Chest, and some work for Martin Goodman’s Atlas title Tw o - G u n K i d.
Like many other Golden Age greats, he did yeoman-like work for a variety of publishers
including Avon, Eastman Color, Pine, and Ziff -Davis. Th e 1960s continued this trend in
Crandall’s professional life. He brought his illustrator’s talents to the distinctive painted
covers of Western’s Supercar, Hercules Unchained, and Th e Twilight Zone (1961– 65).
Concurrently, he drew “Hermit” for Leon Harvey’s EC knock-off , Alarming Adventures,
and a Dracula story for James Warren’s Creepy. In 1965, he ventured to Wally Wood’s
Tower Comics where he drew the adventures of T.H.U.N.D.E.R., agents No-Man and
Dynamo. He also contributed to Wood’s revolutionary prozine, Witzend and rounded
out the 1960s with one of King Features’ ill-fated eff orts to bring their heroes to com-
ics, Flash Gordon. However, the highlight of Crandall’s 1960s career is his beautifully
rendered cover illustrations for the Canaveral Press editions of Ta r z a n and John Carter
of Mars. His last published work, “Th is Graveyard is Not Deserted” appeared in Creepy
#54 (1973). Much of his 1960s output was done not in New York, but rather in Wich-
ita, where Crandall, though himself plagued by alcoholism, had moved to care for his
sick mother. After she died, he moved into the Pennsylvania home of fellow EC artist
Al Williamson. Finally, Crandall was able to conquer alcoholism, but not the eff ects of
age. He returned to Wichita where, unable to draw, he worked as a night watchman,
short order cook, and janitor. Several strokes left half of his body paralyzed and put him
in the nursing home where he died of a heart attack in 1982.
Brian Camp
CRIME COMICS. While never as strongly associated with comics as superhero narra-
tives, crime comics have nevertheless been one of the form’s most persistently popular
genres. Like other cross-media genres, crime stories in comics interact with other forms
of popular culture including fi ction, pulp magazines, radio, cinema, and television,
which have all fed the public fascination with tales of criminals, private detectives, and
the police. As a form that typically combines words and images, comics have inherited
elements from both literature, especially American hard-boiled fi ction, and Hollywood,
including 1930s gangster movies and the stylized 1940s and 1950s movies French
critics identifi ed as fi lm noir. Crime comics have regularly attracted some of the most
prominent writers and artists in the industry, and appear throughout the history of
