Member Since August 2007
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CRIME SUSPENSTORIES #22 CLASSIC DECAPITATION COVER!

Location: EC Art
Artist: Johnny Craig (All)

Location: EC Art
Title: CRIME SUSPENSTORIES #22 CLASSIC DECAPITATION COVER!*
Artist: Johnny Craig (All)
Media Type: Pen and Ink
Art Type: Cover
For Sale Status: NFS
Views: 14394
Likes on CAF: 26
Favorited on CAF: 8
Comments: 42
Added to Site: 1/20/2011

Crime SuspenStories #22 original cover art by Johnny Craig - Classic and infamous decapitation cover used in Senate investigation on juvenile delinquency (EC, May 1954). Possibly the most famous and historic horror comic book cover of all time.

From William M. Gaines' New York Times obituary:

Maria Reidelbach wrote in "Completely Mad: A History of the Comic Book and the Magazine" (1991) that Mr. Gaines volunteered to testify. "The truth is that delinquency is the product of the real environment in which the child lives and not of the fiction he reads," he said.

Under questioning, he defended what he published as being in good taste. Senator Estes Kefauver asked if a cover showing an ax-wielding man holding a decapitated human head met that standard. Mr. Gaines replied that a cover would be in bad taste if the man had been "holding the head a little higher so the neck would show with the blood dripping from it." But even Mr. Gaines had his limits. He had rejected the artist's first design as too gory.

A few months later, bloodthirsty goings-on were banned under the Comics Code Authority, modeled on motion-picture production rules. But Mr. Gaines suspended publicaton of his horror comics, a decision that eventually drove him Mad. The magazine had begun when Harvey Kurtzman, a cartoonist who had been interviewing Korean War veterans for combat comic books, came down with jaundice and decided to create something that he could write from his sickbed. Mr. Gaines gave him the go-ahead.

About The Owner

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Member Since: August 2007
Last Login: July 2026
Ebay Id: lewiswaynegallery
Website: http://HA.com
Country: UNITED STATES
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MIKE SHARPE Member Since 2008

Posted On 1/20/2011

NO WAY!!!! You own a piece of comics history! Serious congratulations! Some comics don't even go this far in this day age - unless it's from Avatar Press.. Congrats!

Dries D Member Since 2008

Posted On 1/20/2011

That looks unhealthy.

Marvel Two-in-One Guy Member Since 2003

Posted On 1/20/2011

I can't believe that this actually exists. What a memorable image.

matthew reed Member Since 2006

Posted On 1/20/2011

"you should be ashamed of yourself sir" says Dr Fedric Wertham (circa 1954)

Nick Katradis Member Since 2005

Posted On 1/20/2011

James, the Holy Grail in EC Horror, as far as I'm concerned! congrats for a superb acquisition! now please throw it up on Heritage and lets see who gets it!

John B Member Since 2004

Posted On 1/20/2011

Wow.

Mike W Member Since 2007

Posted On 1/20/2011

Definitely a Grail!!! Congratulations!!!

steve staszower Member Since 2005

Posted On 1/21/2011

As historic and iconic as it is deliciously gruesome!!

Mark Levy Member Since 2004

Posted On 1/21/2011

Iconic...infamous..incredible

F M Member Since 2005

Posted On 1/21/2011

That cover is one of the best/most effective 10 covers ever published imo. Huge huge congrats :)

Sean Clarke Member Since 2005

Posted On 1/21/2011

This has entered the cultural consciousness... well, ours at least... to such a powerful extent that it's easy to forget how brilliant and effective Craig's actual design and draftsmanship are for the cover itself. Thanks for sharing!

Bill C Member Since 2009

Posted On 1/22/2011

WOW... easily one of the most important EC covers.

Anthony F Member Since 2004

Posted On 1/22/2011

Thanks for sharing and including the testimony! Easily one of the most recognized covers ever.

Timothy Finney Member Since 2006

Posted On 1/23/2011

This is a museum piece in more ways than one. We often use the word historic, but this one really is a part of American political history.

Carlos DS Member Since 2006

Posted On 1/23/2011

The stuff of dreams...superb.congrats !!

Black Adler Member Since 2005

Posted On 1/23/2011

As John said, Wow. Just Wow. Scratch that, Double-Wow.

J L Member Since 2005

Posted On 1/24/2011

Historical and fantastic too!!!! Congrats as always Jim!!!!

Lloyd White Member Since 2007

Posted On 1/28/2011

Blown away.

Phill R Member Since 2010

Posted On 12/19/2011

Holy Crap! This is so cool! Such a classic cover!

Daniel M Member Since 2009

Posted On 3/16/2013

A HORROR MASTERPIECE!!!!!!! Huge congrats!!!!!!!

Tom Coker Member Since 2005

Posted On 4/7/2013

Sticks in your mind, like tar on your heal at the beach. Fantastically gruesome and awesome!

Daniel C. Member Since 2009

Posted On 4/28/2013

"Infamous"! The actual cover that helped to create "The Comics Code"?? Even as I look upon the original art for this cover, I still find it hard to believe. Beyond the art itself, the signifigance of the rich history behind this piece makes it priceless. This just blows my mind.

Lance Suarez Member Since 2004

Posted On 2/27/2014

love this EC cover!

Phillip Hester Member Since 2009

Posted On 12/20/2016

The poster of this cover adorned the walls of my dorm room for a year. I should have been arrested.

Chris P. Member Since 2006

Posted On 1/28/2018

Historic piece that showcases Craig's mastery of the form! Congrats!!

Shaun Crowell Member Since 2003

Posted On 2/28/2018

Just an incredible iconic cover! Thanks for sharing!

Bill J Member Since 2009

Posted On 8/24/2018

Frighteningly Good!!!

Chuck White Member Since 2017
Forum Moderator

Posted On 8/19/2019

Amazing historical cover! Wow!

Peter Sullivan Member Since 2006

Posted On 3/23/2020

I am very happy that the original artwork is safe. Congratulations on having the original to one of comics most famous covers.

comicinkking. com Member Since 2004

Posted On 4/25/2021

Jaw-dropper!! Such a cool and classic cover!! It belongs in a museum!!!

Earl Geier Member Since 2014

Posted On 4/25/2021

You should add a close up of Crime Suspensestories #22. Bill Gaines testified that it would be in bad taste if the art showed the neck. But of course it originally did. EC self censored the art, which you can see with a close up under the logo.
Great piece.

Al Gordon Member Since 2006

Posted On 4/25/2021

Holy Spaghetti-and-Meatballs, Batman! You OWN this??? Gasp< Squa Tront!!!

Do you, perchance, have a Higher-Rez version???

James Halperin Member Since 2007

Posted On 4/25/2021

Al Gordon wrote:

" Holy Spaghetti-and-Meatballs, Batman! You OWN this??? Gasp< Squa Tront!!!
Do you, perchance, have a Higher-Rez version???
"

I'll get a high res scan made as soon as I can, and post it here.

Al Gordon Member Since 2006

Posted On 4/26/2021

James Halperin wrote:

" I'll get a high res scan made as soon as I can, and post it here.
"

Awesome! Thanx so much!

Matt Kennedy Member Since 2014

Posted On 4/25/2021

This is perhaps the greatest comic book cover art of the 1950s. It is inarguably the greatest cover art of Crime Suspense Stories and of EC's crime comics.

Amir E Member Since 2020

Posted On 1/17/2023

Hands down the best cover on CAF. Congrats Jim!

James Halperin Member Since 2007

Posted On 1/17/2023

Amir E wrote:

" Hands down the best cover on CAF. Congrats Jim!
"

Thanks, Amir. Pun intended on "hands down"? Rumor has it that underneath the paste-up artwork that comprises almost the entire image is the initial version art, including a slightly higher-held and fuller version of the head showing the truncated neck with a little blood dripping -- perhaps the basis of Bill Gaines' Senate Hearings testimony about this cover. I've never looked, though.

Amir E Member Since 2020

Posted On 1/17/2023

James Halperin wrote:

" Thanks, Amir. Pun intended on "hands down"? Rumor has it that underneath the paste-up artwork that comprises almost the entire image is the initial version art, including a slightly higher-held and fuller version of the head showing the truncated neck with a little blood dripping -- perhaps the basis of Bill Gaines' Senate Hearings testimony about this cover. I've never looked, though.
"

You get my humor 😂 well done! Jim, history is begging you to take the piece to a museum and for the benefit of the OA community ask a professional to look underneath and find out!!

James Halperin Member Since 2007

Posted On 1/17/2023

Amir E wrote:

" You get my humor 😂 well done! Jim, history is begging you to take the piece to a museum and for the benefit of the OA community ask a professional to look underneath and find out!!
"

Amir, I assure you that's on my (rather long) to-do list!

Anthony Pennza Member Since 2021

Posted On 3/5/2023

My favorite cover.

CJ Design Member Since 2018

Posted On 4/4/2023

JFC! That surviving is AMAZING! Congrats on one of the best 'Eva! Your Gallery is mind blowing...could spend all day. Back to doing my own art

Steven Dilworth Member Since 2012

Posted On 7/5/2024

At least he did it over a tile floor. Clean up will be a breeze!

Poor old Dr. Wertham. This is the sort of awesome, iconic, totally fantabulis comic cover that drove him crazy!

Flat-out museum piece!!

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CRIME SUSPENSTORIES #22 CLASSIC DECAPITATION COVER!

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