[MarkWarner]

I am just finishing off last week's Detective Eye ... but it's already time for another book.

I was determined to actually manage to choose a crime book, rather than get sidetracked like I did last week. Luckily (phew) I found a suggestion from one of our esteemed number:

"I have just read Gang World #5 & think it would make a great book for the CB+ reading group"

I had a look at the cover, and was sold without even opening it up. The story we will concentrate on is "Road to the Morgue". But unless I am mistaken this looks like a c2c read. So here it is courtesy of the legendary JVJ and   Tilliban  (a real life German comedian) https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=58282

[Morgus]

I was worried at the start when they had that line about 'wholesome reading' at the bottom. But the comic was a fun read start to finish. Art was good, coloring a bit off now and again. (My fave was the first page of GUN MOLL with the jacket on the gangster that is suddenly two tone.) I always wonder just how true these stories were, but even these guys didn't try to sell DANNY CONWAY'S DOOM as anything other then an interesting crime story with a twist ending. Nice job, and a great transfer to digital.

[EHowie60]

Hi all. I'm pretty new to the site, thought I'd check the forums out.

This was a decent book. Road to the Morgue followed a typical "Crime Does Not Pay" route. The moral, though, comes off a bit strange. The story is a cautionary tale, but it almost cautions the reader to always follow the advice of older, more experienced criminals!

The artwork was enjoyable, particularly the expressiveness of Allie's face. It's amazing how much he managed to say while being repeatedly shot to death.

[crashryan]

Pretty good comic over all. Nice Cardy cover.

"Road to the Morgue": This reads like a Lev Gleason story. Mr. Crime would be hanging over the action urging Allie to his doom. Rocco Mastroserio was in his mid-20s at this time and already a solid artist.

"Danny Conway's Doom": A straightforward crime story with an ironic spook-comic twist ending. They're hard on women in these stories.

"The Gun Moll": At least the woman gets to live in this one. More good Mastroserio artwork.

"On the Lam": I like this story the most because it has a touch of characterization. Jim McArdle turns in an excellent art job.

"This is the Tip-Off": Not really a story; more of a documentary feature. I like Jerry Grandenetti's art from this period better than the style he developed in the 1960s.

The bit about Bertillon opposing fingerprint identification is news to me. I looked him up on Wikipedia and he sounds like something of a nut job.

Ads: Anyone ever own one of those "magic" cars? I gather the magnet simply pulls the metal car along the floor, but it must be a pretty strong magnet to move the car from a foot away. Unless--this just occurred to me--the car is only like an inch long. Yeah, that's probably it.

[narfstar]

Great cover with GGA to start the book. I really enjoy Rock's art. The inks were not the best but still some good work. I liked the story. Yeah it had a lot stupid parts but it was still good over all. The wife expecting that this guy would ever go straight was obviously delusional. Then the reason she stayed with him was the fear of his talk of millions. It did not look took much like fear when she was enjoying the fruits of his labor. I do wonder why he thought Kel was such a good roll model when he first found him being shot up. He got away with too much too easily. Then they wrapped it up. But somehow it worked as a readable crime story.

[SuperScrounge]

Road To The Morgue - Okay story and art.

Anyone else think the Dubble Bubble ad should have had a crime angle? Like Pud and his gang brutally gunning down the store owner and taking all the Dubble Bubble? 

Crime Facts - Interesting.

Danny Conway's Doom - Any relation to Gerry Conway?  Okay.

Woman Killer - Not bad.

The Gun Moll - Love sure makes ya dumb. Sadly I know too many women who've made similar dumb decisions about the losers they fell in love with.

On The Lam! - Okay.

This Is The Tip-Off - Interesting.

[paw broon]

Nice cover which made me want to open the book. And there's "Road to the Morgue"  Good stuff even if you just know it'll all end in tears.  But I must have missed something.  Where does Tess come from?  Suddenly she's there and it looks like we missed how they got close.  I also noticed that on our page 4, the blood on Kel's temple is there in one panel and gone the next.
Allie is a nasty piece of work and I have no idea why Kate sticks with him.
As I got further into the story, I was more and more curious as to how Allie was going to get his comeuppence and I was pleased with the ending. Many more of those tollies should go the same way.
Danny Conway was a bit Haigs - (Haig's Dimple - simple - thick and pretty useless. He doesn't even check the reporter is dead).  Then he gets the gas station heist wrong and goes to the one place the police will likely check first. He's such an obnoxious character who comes to a fitting end.
I've only read those 2 stories and I quite enjoyed them. As with the horror stuff recently, I'm being exposed to material I wouldn't normally turn to and I'm enjoying it, so thanks all.

[MarkWarner]

I am so late on parade that another one has been and is just about gone ... but anyway here we go ...

When it comes to scoring hit or miss, this book has to have one of the best comic book covers in the whole of our collection. So a great start.

Road to the Morgue: A moralistic tale, but good. Plus to be honest the takeout for me was lack of brains leading to greed is the criminal's downfall. Think smart, don't do the same job twice, don't get greedy and you should be fine.

Is it really true that the ancient Chinese used finger printing methods??

Danny Conway's Doom: Really great art, but the villain "executing" himself escaping has been done SO OFTEN!

The Gun Moll: Another crime does not pay ... well apart from if you are a cop's sister like Claire. She was a tad naughty and it looks like she is going to get off scot-free.

On the Lam!: This is by far the best storyline in the book 

This is the Tip-Off: Had a slightly sinister "keep an eye on your neighbors" feel to it.

We finish off with a full page advertisement I have never seen before "Cracker Jack's Magnetic Car"

Verdict: A HIT!! Stories were a bit corny, but great cover and internal art easily carried this over the victory line. Plus it had a wonderful magnetic car advertisement!