Number 2102: Keeping murder in the family

Belle Gunness was a real person, suspected of up to 40 murders. A physically imposing woman (six feet tall, over 200 pounds) she used a lonely hearts lure, then robbed her husbands after killing them and burying them on her farm. Gunness even killed her own kids, which puts her in a special category of cold-blooded psychopath.

“Mrs Bluebeard” is from Crime Does Not Pay #44 (1945), and is drawn by Jack Alderman, an artist who drew stiff figures and drenched his drawings in black ink. He was proud of this job, you can tell, because he signed it twice. I can only imagine what effect it had on gape-jawed parents, teachers and (if he saw it) Dr Wertham.

As I have mentioned before, “true” is something of a floating concept in crime comics, but the Wikipedia entry on Belle Gunness confirms much of what is shown here.

I have shown similar stories lately, people who poison family members for instance. Heh-heh. Nothing sinister here, folks, heh-heh-heh. Sometimes I like crime comics about infamous gangsters (the Genna Brothers, a couple of weeks ago) sometimes about lone wolves, like Belle, who find the handiest victims lying next to them in bed. All types of criminals found their way into crime comics.

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