Crime SuspenStories #17 CGC 3.0 (1953) – Classic Suicide Cover | EC Comics | Ray Bradbury Adaptation

Crime SuspenStories #17 — CGC 3.0, The Johnny Craig Suicide Cover

A powerful and iconic Pre-Code crime comic from the legendary EC Comics line. This issue features the famous Johnny Craig suicide cover — widely regarded as one of the most memorable and controversial covers of the EC crime era and one of the most reproduced images in comics history.

EC Comics pushed boundaries in the early 1950s with mature storytelling and striking artwork, and Crime SuspenStories became one of the publisher's most celebrated titles. The line's confrontational covers — this one chief among them — became central evidence in the 1954 Senate hearings that gave rise to the Comics Code Authority.

The book also includes a Ray Bradbury story adaptation, layering literary credibility onto a book already loaded with significance. Encapsulated by CGC at 3.0 with Cream to Off-White pages — a respectable presentable copy of a 70-year-old paper artifact.

Key Details

• Title: Crime SuspenStories
• Issue: #17
• Publisher: EC Comics
• Publication Date: June–July 1953
• Grade: CGC 3.0
• Page Quality: Cream to Off-White
• Era: Pre-Code Golden Age
• Cover Artist: Johnny Craig

Why It Matters

• The Classic Johnny Craig suicide cover. One of the most reproduced — and most debated — cover images in the history of American comics.
• A Pre-Code artifact. Published in 1953, EC's mature crime line was central to the 1954 Senate hearings on juvenile delinquency that produced the Comics Code Authority — fundamentally rewriting what comics could publish for decades.
• Includes a Ray Bradbury story adaptation. Literary credibility from one of the 20th century's most important short-fiction writers, layered onto an already loaded book.
• An EC creator roll-call. Stories by William Gaines and Al Feldstein; cover and lead art by Johnny Craig; interior work by Jack Kamen, Bill Elder and Al Williamson — a credit list most modern books never come close to assembling.
• Cream to Off-White pages on a 70+ year-old book. Most surviving 1953 EC copies grade with worse page quality due to newsprint chemistry. This copy sits on the better side of that distribution.

Creators

• Stories: Al Feldstein, William Gaines
• Cover & Art: Johnny Craig
• Interior Art: Jack Kamen, Bill Elder, Al Williamson
• Adaptation: Ray Bradbury story

A creator credit list that doubles as a hall-of-fame index. William Gaines and Al Feldstein built EC into the most respected publisher of the era. Johnny Craig is the artist behind the cover that defined the line's legacy. Bill Elder and Al Williamson went on to become two of the most influential illustrators in American comics. Ray Bradbury needs no introduction.

Collector Notes

EC Comics remain some of the most respected publications of the Golden Age, famous for their mature storytelling and legendary artists. Crime SuspenStories is one of the publisher's flagship crime titles and is highly sought after among EC collectors. This issue's dramatic suicide cover by Johnny Craig is one of the most recognisable images from the EC crime line.

Pre-Code EC books are valued primarily on cover significance, creator line-up and publisher prestige — the classic "blue-chip Golden Age" criteria. Once a copy of this issue lands in a serious EC or horror/crime collection, it tends not to come back to market for years at a time.

CGC 3.0 with Cream to Off-White pages is a fully presentable, slabbed copy at a meaningfully more accessible price than mid- and high-grade examples — which trade in the multiple-thousands when they surface at all.

Shipping

Your CGC slab is carefully packaged using slab-specific inner protection and a rigid outer box, then shipped insured to keep the case intact in transit. Golden Age slabs of this profile travel in extra protective layering for the value involved.

• UK Dispatch: Within 24 hours
• International: Tracked + signed
• Insurance: Included on slabs