Dan Turner, HOLLYWOOD DETECTIVE in Color! "The Poisoned Puppet" (1953)

Sadly, this is likely the last in our Dan Turner in Color series. This one appeared in Crime Smashers #15, from March 1953, which was the final issue of that mag (uploaded to comicbookplus, I should add, by "narfstar"), with the art attributed to Tony Tallarico.  One more story appeared, we are told, in Crime Mysteries #8, but that one does not appear on the site, and it ain't likely I'll be able to find (or afford) a copy of my own.  If anyone out there has that one, and would care to scan it for us, legions of Turner fans would be mighty thankful!

Meanwhile, I still have many more issues of Hollywood Detective, and will be posting more of Dan's black & white adventures as time rambles on.

Dan Turner, HOLLYWOOD DETECTIVE in Color! "The Slain Gorilla" (1953)

Steve Mertz is going to hate this one. Don't know who did the art here (and don't really want to), but I know it's uglier than the work of Max Plaisted. This is week 14 of our series, from Crime Smashers #14, from Jan. 1953 (scanned for comicbookplus by freddyfly), and we have only one more color to go. 

Dan Turner, HOLLYWOOD DETECTIVE in Color! "Strangler's Ballet" (1952)

Steve Mertz will be happy this week, with a double dose of Adolphe Barreaux.

In November, 1952, Crime Smashers #13 presented this swell DT adventure. In 2009, "freddyfly" uploaded it to comicbookplus. And here it is again. 

But I happen to remember the orignal version of this one, and posted it here a few years ago. It appeared in black and white in the February 1949 issue of Hollywood Detective, and changes have been made, both in art and dialogue. Apparently the critical clue in the pulp version - breast size - was too racy for the comics, so it was changed to hair color. The second page of the original story was also deleted, but since there's nothing racy there, I have to guess that was merely a space saving measure. The credit to Barreaux was deleted in the comic, probably because the changes to the art (mostly in hair and clothing) were done by someone else. 

We present both versions here for your inspection.

Dan Turner, HOLLYWOOD DETECTIVE in Color! "Mysto-Magic Murder" (1952)

It was September 1952, and Dan was starring in Crime Smashers #12. "movielover" provided this one to comicbookplus, and thence to us. 

Dan Turner, HOLLYWOOD DETECTIVE in Color! "Trap for a Booby" (1952)

This shorty appeared in Crime Smashers #11, from July 1952. "freddyfly", whose collection I envy, scanned it for comicbookplus. Written by Robert Leslie Bellem? Probably. 

Dan Turner, HOLLYWOOD DETECTIVE in Color! "Death Trumps the Joker" (1952)

From Crime Smashers #10, May 1952. "freddyfly" strikes again on comicbookplus. Cool. This one, for the first time in this comic, does not say "by Robert Leslie Bellem," though it seems likely it was. Who drew it? It don't say, but looks a lot like the guy who did the last two, Max Plaisted.