EXTRACTS: Illustrators Crime Comics Special © 2020 Book Palace Books (144 pages in full edition)

112 demon drink and Wood served three years jail time. Unfortunately upon gaining an early release, with typical fecklessness, Wood promptly broke his parole ending up back in jail for another three years. By the time he was released his days as a cartoonist were well and truly over—his last mode of employment was as a dishwasher. His death beneath the wheels of an automobile while attempting to cross the road to his place of work has often been attributed to debts he ran up with the mob while serving jail-time. However, as anecdotally enticing as this might be, the real reason seems far more prosaic as the motorist involved stayed at the scene of the accident, and was interviewed by police who made no charges. Like much of Wood’s life, it was just another instance of self-induced bad luck. In common with the comics he had helped create, by the time he died the glory years were well and truly over. ● ● Readers hungry for more of this fare can track down volumes 1-10 of The Crime Does Not Pay Archives and Black-Jacked and Pistol-Whipped, which were published by Dark Horse Books. Illustration by Peter Richardson RIGHT: The last few years of Crime Does Not Pay were characterised by a toning down of overt violence in favour of a much more muted depiction of crimes and declarations of civic responsibility in the portrayal of the agents of law and order, as is evident in this cover by Biro. BELOW: Wood served a total of six years jail time. His early release was undermined by his breaking the conditions of his parole, and he was sent back to Sing Sing where he completed the remainder of his original sentence.