Auctions: comic books published by D.S. Publishing

Exposed (1948 D.S. Publishing) 2 0.3

Comic is complete other than being coverless.

Cover by Ed Moritz. Stories and art by Joe Orlando, Leo Morey, Fred Bell, Henry Kiefer and Ed Moritz. Violent, offbeat pre-Code crime comics from D.S. Publishing Company. An outlaw gang springs its leader from his trial just before sentencing, in a bit of ultra-violent gunplay. Marie is so cold-blooded, she murders a dozen people just to test out her new poison. A mysterious burglar uses a drill and never lets anyone see his face. Plus an early story by legendary artist Joe Orlando. Massacre in the Courtroom; Blood Money; East Meets Test; The Case of the Giggling Killer; Quitter; The Beauty with the Heart of a Snake; Driller. 52 pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.10.

Gangsters Can't Win (1948) 3 VG/FN 5.0

Stories and art by Leo Morey and others. Starting as a brutal pre-Code true-crime comic in its early issues, Gangsters Cant Win later evolved into a standard mystery-detective title. Ma Barker and her sons become the first family of crime, until the Feds catch up with them. Beautiful Stella Irwin joins her husband Benny for a spree of bank robberies. Twin brothers Dan and Don Olson both grow up in a bad neighborhood, but one turns to crime and the other becomes a lawman. Most Dangerous Of All; Blue Eyes and a Gun: The Story of Stella Irwin; Twin Trouble; Thunder on the Mountain; Trigger Man: The Story of Frankie Uale; The Mystery of the Stolen Necklace; The Incredible Ma Barker; Brothers In Crime. 52 pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.10.

Gangsters Can't Win (1948) 4 PR 0.5

INCOMPLETE. Missing first wrap, affects art and story.

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Stories and art by Tex Blaisdell and others. Starting as a brutal pre-Code true-crime comic in its early issues, Gangsters Cant Win later evolved into a standard mystery-detective title. Lefty Schwartz is done in by his own cronies when the heat gets too hot, in a story inspired by real-life gangster Dutch Schultz. No one suspects that a quiet, suburban family man leads a secret life as a bank robber. In 1945, a gangster targets a profitable bookie joint in Chicago. Suicide on Sound Stage Seven; Mystery of the Murder in the Penthouse; Lefty Schwartz; The Ghost of Mrs. Hicks; One Eye's Gang; Death Holds the Joker; Frankie the Pug. 52 pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.10.

Public Enemies (1948-49 DS) 9 VG+ 4.5

Stories and art by Nate Brooks and Bob Jenney. Tales of true crime inspired this violent pre-Code crime comic from DS Publishing. A beautiful bad-girl is targeted for death after informing on her gangster ex-husband. A circus trapeze star is marked for death when she stands to inherit the entire circus, but the show's new PR man is determined to keep her alive. A detective watching a play is called into action after one of the stars is murdered on stage. Assignment Blackmail; Murder on the Circus Bill; The Miser; The Dummy's Revenge; Murder or Mercy?; Riddle Behind the Footlights; Paths of Penalty. Final issue of the series. 52 pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.10.