#06 Jury Duty
#06 Jury Duty
Published August 1951
A Toast… to Death:Script, Pencils and Inks- Johnny Craig (signed). A wife is fed up with her lazy, good-for-nothing husband who prefers to spend his time babying a special grape vine than spending time with her. So she poisons his favorite wine, buries him and then concocts an elaborate cover-up, living the life of Riley on her late husband’s money…….until that blasted grapevine enters the picture again, costing her her lover and leading to death row for her! Craig uses the death-cell narration from “The Postman Always Rings Twice” as well as the killer being punished for the ironic accidental death. The story also foreshadows Alfred Hitchcock’s directed “Back For Christmas” (from a John Collier story), that appeared later on TV’s “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.” Out of My Mind:Script- Bill Gaines (co-plot); Al Feldstein (co-plot, script) Pencils & Inks- Jack Kamen (signed) Betty hates her husband with a passion and decides to murder him by feigning fainting attacks over a period of months, then acting out in a murderous way when Bert’s brother is present. Succeeding in the foul deed, Betty is committed to Harvey’s hospital………with unexpected results. Air-Tight!: Script- Al Feldstein The plan was air-tight, Grady knew. Grady had a fool-proof scheme to rob the Land National Bank of $250,000, and figured that he had considered all the angles. But there was one thing he failed to take into account……a fatal flaw in his plan. The Switch: Script- Bill Gaines (co-plot); Al Feldstein (co-plot, script) Pencils & Inks George Roussos (signed as Roussos). The Lamberts are fighting again, but one night Edwin over-hears Harry conversing with a person that Edwin believes is a killer being hired to kill Harry’s wife. But is Edwin ever wrong…..dead wrong! Jury Duty! Script- Bill Gaines (co-plot); Al Feldstein (co-plot, script) Pencils & Inks- Graham Ingels. Somehow Peter Kardoff survives the hangman’s noose, then starts to take revenge by killing off the members of the jury that convicted him, convinced the law cannot do anything since he was legally pronounced dead. Or at least that is what he thinks…