Number 1939: Lucky gets unlucky

Charles “Lucky” Luciano was born Salvatore Lucania in Sicily, Italy, in 1897. At age 9 he emigrated to America with his parents, and over a lifetime made his reputation as the man who helped create modern day organized crime. You can read a lot about Luciano through various internet sources. This version of his life is from Crime Does Not Pay #26 (1943), and gives a version of Luciano’s life up until he went to prison in New York State. There was a lot that went on with Luciano after he went to prison, including a commutation of his sentence for “compulsory prostitution,” to help the Americans with the war effort in Italy. It didn’t help him, though, because he remained persona non grata in America until he was safely dead in 1962, when his relatives were able to return his body to New York for burial.

Of necessity this 13-page story glosses over much, but is essentially correct. It does not mention prostitution. It shows Lucky getting stabbed by three men in a gruesome and sadistic torture attack that left him permanently scarred, but censors itself by not mentioning that he was imprisoned for running a prostitution racket.

The Grand Comics Database does not guess who drew the story. It looks like it was worked on by diverse hands. Like organized crime.

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