Created by Tsukasa Hojo "Mokkori!" I stumbled across City Hunter, a 1993 Jackie Chan action flick out of Hong King late one night on some streaming channel, turned my brain off, and settled in to watch Chan — as a private eye, no less! — kick the bejesus out of a bunch of bad guys. … Continue reading Ryo Saeba (City Hunter)
Category: Film
Peter Cheyney
Pseudonym of Reginald Evelyn Peter Southouse Cheyney (1896-1951) Peter Cheyney was--and so far remains--Britain's leading writer of hard-boiled fiction. He created three memorable characters: Lemmy Caution, a ruthless machine-gun toting FBI agent; Slim Callaghan, a British private eye... and himself. According to his friend and fellow writer Dennis Wheatley "he was the greatest liar unhung … Continue reading Peter Cheyney
Ed Gorman
Pseudonyms include Richard Driscoll, Chris Shea McCarrick, Daniel Ransom, E.J. Gorman, Edward Gorman Jr. & Robert David Chase (1941-2016) "Ed was a helluva writer, one of my favorites, and is sorely missed." -- Darren Heil If you're playing pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, good luck on pinning anything on Ed Gorman. He was a writer. Sure. That's the easy … Continue reading Ed Gorman
Mitch Pistolwhip (Pistolwhip)
Created by Matt Kindt & Jason Hall "Mitch, if you're going to be a good detective, you've got to be aware of your surroundings at all times. It's really about observation. . . paying attention to detail, always alert. That means keeping your eyes and ears open. . . especially to the little things." -- … Continue reading Mitch Pistolwhip (Pistolwhip)
“The Kid” (City Streets)
Created by Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961) The almost forgotten City Streets (Paramount, 1931) was one of the few Dashiell Hammett stories written expressly to be adapted to film (a couple of Thin Man films were also in that group), and as such probably deserves our attention, even if it isn’t a private eye tale. I've no … Continue reading “The Kid” (City Streets)
Huo Sang
Created by Cheng Xiaoqing (1893-1976) Chinese author Cheng Xiaoqing started his literary career in the early 1910s, translating Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories—surely one of the best ways to lift the lid and get a look at the works. It wasn’t long before he figured out, in those heady pre-revolution days, that China deserved … Continue reading Huo Sang
Ralph “Papa” Thorson
Created by (presumably) Mr. and Mrs. Thorson "I'm getting too old for this shit." Not a fictional creation, though his biography unravels like one. The Hunter was a 1980 fact-based action/adventure flick starring the late, great Steve McQueen (in his last role) as real-life bounty hunter RALPH "PAPA" THORSON. Thorson, famed as "the Greatest of … Continue reading Ralph “Papa” Thorson
Domino Harvey (Domino)
"Created" by Tony Scott, Richard Kelly and Steve Barancik "If you're wondering what's true and what's not you can beep off because it's none of your damn business!" -- Domino lays it on the line. "You're probably wondering how a girl like me arrived here, at the arse end of the Nevada desert with a … Continue reading Domino Harvey (Domino)
Richard and Grace Duvall
Created by Arnold Fredericks Pseudonym of Frederic Arnold Kummer (1873-1943) "Good Lord, Chief, am I losing my senses? What is this affair, anyway, a joke?" -- Richard, sharp as a tack as always, in The Blue Lights An early sleuthing couple, preceded only in the genre as far as I can tell, by M. McDonnell … Continue reading Richard and Grace Duvall
The Lone Wolf (Michael Lanyard)
Created by Louis Joseph Vance (1879-1933) Louis Joseph Vance's MICHAEL LANYARD, better known as THE LONE WOLF, didn't start out as a private eye, but as a criminal. However, like Jack Boyle's Boston Blackie, thanks to his numerous reboots, reincarnations and re-imaginings in radio, film and television, The Lone Wolf is now remembered by many, … Continue reading The Lone Wolf (Michael Lanyard)