We're told that crime doesn't pay - but crime lies at the heart of nearly every comic-book story. Whether they're superheroes, cowboys or astronauts, comic-book characters have to solve crimes and punish criminals in order to triumph.
Crime comics set in contemporary urban landscapes have been a popular staple of Australian comics since the 1940s. Some, like Flynn of the FBI, strived to look American, but were actually produced by Australian cartoonists. |
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Some crimes were too big to be left to the police to solve. Private investigators like 'Flash' Cain and freelance trouble-shooters like 'Devil' Doone were called in when the cops came up empty-handed. |
Busting rackets and catching crooks didn't have to be a full-time job. When Steve Carlisle wasn't penning his next novel, he was rescuing shapely ladies from danger. Motoring champion Jet Black always found time between laps on the racetrack to foil an international espionage plot. And Dick Weston and Tim O'Hara were hard-bitten journos who made headlines by solving crimes instead of reporting them.
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Ironically, two of the biggest stars of 1950s Australian crime fiction flopped as comic-book characters. Private investigator Larry Kent had his own comic book, but found greater success as the star of the I Hate Crime radio show and book series. And Alan Yates, writing as 'Carter Brown', sold millions of light-hearted, racy crime yarns worldwide, but nowhere near as many of his fans picked up the Carter Brown comic. |
lllustrations
Top CE DRURY (cover artist), Carter Brown No 1, Sydney, Horwitz Publications, 1958
Bottom and Right Arthur MATHER (cover artist, born 1926), Flynn of the FBI No 12, Clifton Hill, Atlas Publications, 1952
