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Skywald's Crime Machine: Gwandanaland Comics #2395 -- Both Exciting Issues in One Great Book - Thrilling Stories of Crime and Justice!
Paperback
Published July 21, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 20, 2026
Only two issues make up this short comic book series of “The Crime Machine” (published by Skywald, 1971) and I can see why. They just aren’t very good. I downloaded the 2 PDFs from the Internet Archive just to check out the genre. Both issues are about 68 pages with black and white interiors and impressive, dramatic cover art.
Issue 1 consisted of 8 mob/crime stories from the 30s and 40s. Supposedly based on true events but I doubt it. Only 2 plots - the racketeering shtick and the prison breakout trope. All kinda blah with muddy and crowded black and white illustrations. 2.5 stars.
Issue 2 had 9 comics and 3 very short stories, again all mob and gangster tales from the late 20s to early 40s. This volume had a bit more variety, but the hitman braggadocio got a bit thick and tiresome. The interior illos in this issue were a bit crisper, though – but one page was printed in mirrored (reverse) image!
Overall, an interesting era and genre for comics that I wasn’t too familiar with. So I asked Grok to fill me in on Skywald and their publications. Learned these 2 issues are basically reprints of various comics originally published by Avon periodicals in the late 1940s and early 50s (pre-Code era).
So that explains the art style – which didn’t fit the early 70s – and the lurid content. These stories weren’t too bad in that department (except for a lot of killing and blasting of guns), but evidently short comic series from Avon like “Famous Gangsters” (1951–1952, 3 issues) and “Gangsters and Gunmolls” (featuring femme fatales, 1951–1952, 4 issues) were quite graphic. Not what we want our young people reading! haha
According to Grok: These comics “Focused on real-life or semi-real gangsters and mob figures from the Prohibition and Depression eras, with biographical-style stories and dramatic artwork.” And yet they were not really “true crime” – simply “true to life.”
Also learned both cover paintings were done by Tom Palmer (whose signature appears on #2). Palmer had a good reputation as an inker for Marvel in the 1960s, collaborating with pencilers Neal Adams, John Buscema, and others. I thought the cover art was fantastic – with a dramatic, expressive flair that fits the sensational crime theme.
And in general, I liked the interior black and white illos, though some were not as good as others and were a bit muddy and crowded. According to Grok, a few of the contributing artists included Joe Kubert, Wally Wood, and Syd Shores. Overall, 3 stars for the 2 issues.
Issue 1 consisted of 8 mob/crime stories from the 30s and 40s. Supposedly based on true events but I doubt it. Only 2 plots - the racketeering shtick and the prison breakout trope. All kinda blah with muddy and crowded black and white illustrations. 2.5 stars.
Issue 2 had 9 comics and 3 very short stories, again all mob and gangster tales from the late 20s to early 40s. This volume had a bit more variety, but the hitman braggadocio got a bit thick and tiresome. The interior illos in this issue were a bit crisper, though – but one page was printed in mirrored (reverse) image!
Overall, an interesting era and genre for comics that I wasn’t too familiar with. So I asked Grok to fill me in on Skywald and their publications. Learned these 2 issues are basically reprints of various comics originally published by Avon periodicals in the late 1940s and early 50s (pre-Code era).
So that explains the art style – which didn’t fit the early 70s – and the lurid content. These stories weren’t too bad in that department (except for a lot of killing and blasting of guns), but evidently short comic series from Avon like “Famous Gangsters” (1951–1952, 3 issues) and “Gangsters and Gunmolls” (featuring femme fatales, 1951–1952, 4 issues) were quite graphic. Not what we want our young people reading! haha
According to Grok: These comics “Focused on real-life or semi-real gangsters and mob figures from the Prohibition and Depression eras, with biographical-style stories and dramatic artwork.” And yet they were not really “true crime” – simply “true to life.”
Also learned both cover paintings were done by Tom Palmer (whose signature appears on #2). Palmer had a good reputation as an inker for Marvel in the 1960s, collaborating with pencilers Neal Adams, John Buscema, and others. I thought the cover art was fantastic – with a dramatic, expressive flair that fits the sensational crime theme.
And in general, I liked the interior black and white illos, though some were not as good as others and were a bit muddy and crowded. According to Grok, a few of the contributing artists included Joe Kubert, Wally Wood, and Syd Shores. Overall, 3 stars for the 2 issues.
July 30, 2020
There exists two versions of this book, one in black & white, the other in color. The original presentation of these stories from oh-so-long ago was in glorious monochrome so I went with that edition -plus it was cheaper. However, I must admit that the art was not so overwhelming that a few splashes of red, yellow, green, and blue might have done it all a world of good. Whichever your choice these are supposedly “true” crime stories presented as morality tales, but used as excuses to show excessive violence - as in the tradition of True Crime Comics and Crime Does Not Pay. These do not however live up to the old, more grotesque predecessors of the 1940s. The magazine claims that all of the stories are true, of course, but apart from one story on Pretty Boy Floyd - a very brief one- I couldn’t find much on any of the others.
Skyward was the original publisher of the magazine, The Crime Machine, back in the 1970s. They were a start-up brand which tried to horn into the rapidly expanding horror magazine business. They emulated the more popular titles of Warren’s Creepy, Eerie, and Vamperella, with their own clones of Psycho, Nightmare, and Scream. I say clones, but those magazines weren’t bad, they just were not as good as what Warren put out. You saw a cross-over between artists and writers in the two camps, as it was generally stated that if a story was rejected by Warren, it was then usually pitched to Skywald as a backup. Thus none of their magazines lasted as long as Warren’s.
While I applaud the publishers of reprinting obscure comics from the past, there is a reason why The Crime Machine only lasted two issues. It is pretty dull in layout and storytelling. Each of the tales are essentially the same and the art is not diverse enough to keep the interest, which adds to the sameness of the stories. However, I did enjoy them keeping in all the old ads for monster kits and various other sundries, which is a nice throwback to my youth. But man, these stories really are dull compared to what was offered in Skywald’s other magazines of Psycho, Nightmare, and Scream.
Skyward was the original publisher of the magazine, The Crime Machine, back in the 1970s. They were a start-up brand which tried to horn into the rapidly expanding horror magazine business. They emulated the more popular titles of Warren’s Creepy, Eerie, and Vamperella, with their own clones of Psycho, Nightmare, and Scream. I say clones, but those magazines weren’t bad, they just were not as good as what Warren put out. You saw a cross-over between artists and writers in the two camps, as it was generally stated that if a story was rejected by Warren, it was then usually pitched to Skywald as a backup. Thus none of their magazines lasted as long as Warren’s.
While I applaud the publishers of reprinting obscure comics from the past, there is a reason why The Crime Machine only lasted two issues. It is pretty dull in layout and storytelling. Each of the tales are essentially the same and the art is not diverse enough to keep the interest, which adds to the sameness of the stories. However, I did enjoy them keeping in all the old ads for monster kits and various other sundries, which is a nice throwback to my youth. But man, these stories really are dull compared to what was offered in Skywald’s other magazines of Psycho, Nightmare, and Scream.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews