*EC: We return to the Bute Collection for four examples of EC’s Crime Suspenstories. While technically, generally not strictly horror comics, EC’s Crime SuspenStories was certainly horrific, featuring as it often did gruesome deaths of betrayed spouses or untrustworthy friends, and this selection definitely belongs in the ‘horror zone’, including #17, the infamous ‘bullet in the head cover’.  Containing tightly-plotted twist-ending shockers illustrated by Frazetta, Williamson, Craig, Kamen, Wood, Ingels, Crandall and others, these are outstanding examples of their genre. Somehow, without the supernatural elements of EC’s more famous horror titles, these seem all the more scary!
PICTURED: CRIME SUSPENSTORIES ALL SOLD
#16 GD/VG £245 Pre-code. Nice unmarked cover with strong colour. Small upper spine split (about 3.5 cm), small chip out base of spine, tight, firm staples, nice creamy pages. Only minor edge irregularities.
#17 GD £275 Pre-code. Infamous ‘bullet in the head’ cover. Nice unmarked cover with strong colour. Small upper spine split (about 4 cm), lower spine split of about 2 cm. Front cover off bottom staple (staples otherwise tight and firm). Small chips out top and bottom right corners and bottom edge. Presents well.
#24 GD £90 Pre-code. Spine neatly taped with magic tape. Otherwise a perfectly decent copy without other significant defects.
#26 VG+ £175 Pre-code. Solid mid-grade copy with strong, unmarked cover image, tight, firm staples and nice white to off-white pages. Only minor edge and corner wear and very soft creasing to the spine from the back with no colour breaks.