TALES OF THE KILLERS
Vol. 1 No. 10 (Whole number 1)
December 1970
World Famous Periodicals, Inc. (Eerie Publications)
Editor and Publisher: Robert W. Farrell
Cover: Bill Alexander
Artists: E.J. Simpson; Frank Carin
Pages: 52
Cover price: 50 cents
For a while, crime comics and magazines were hugely popular, and remain so today. While channel surfing recently, a good many of the stations were broadcasting true crime stories. There is a film noir night on another station, and let's not forget our daily dose of Judge Judy and THE PEOPLE'S COURT.
In the realm of comics, titles on crime were prolific, beginning in the 1940's. They have greatly diminished today, but back then you'd be hard pressed not to find at least a handful of titles on the stands.
Even Eerie Publications got into the act. Using the "crime friendly" imprint of World Famous Periodicals, Inc., former attorney and comic book publisher, Robert W. Farrell (born Izzy Katz!) was hired for the editing chores.
The cover on the issue shown today, and several others were by Bill Alexander, who had already been working for Eerie and Stanley pubs. Despite their gruesomeness, they are today considering classic crime covers.
The content, of course, was cover-to-cover comic book reprints. Subtitled, "The Original All True CRIME DOES NOT PAY Magazine", TALES OF THE KILLERS #10, used Lev Gleason stories from the CRIME DOES NOT PAY comic book that was first published in 1942 and was murdered in the 1950's by the Comic Code Authority. This is actually the first issue of ToK, as the practice of "numbering ahead" gave newsdealers that they were successful enough sellers to be displayed prominently.
