Crime Detective Comics (Vol. 3)

    (Hillman, 1952-1953)
©1952 Hillman Periodicals, Inc.

The third volume of Crime Detective Comics continued to spin quick, clever tales of criminals and their inevitable comeuppance by the forces of law. By the time the series ended in1953, however, the crime comics scene was in serious trouble.

Although the stories claimed to be all about showing the youth of America the perils of leaving the straight and narrow, crime comics were under attack from all sides as a corrupting influence on children. The Kefauver committee investigated them (clearing them only after a sufficient amount of political grandstanding). They were similarly lambasted in numerous publications, most notably the book Seduction of the Innocent. A year after the conclusion of this series, the Comics Code was put in place, with restrictions specifically designed to spell the doom of crime comics.
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