Created by Karl Bollers and Rick Leonardi "No time for explanation, the game's afoot!" Ever wonder what would have happened if Sherlock Holmes had been an inner city black dude? Me neither. But comic book scribe Karl Bollers did just that, and it was a pretty fun spin on the Great One. His HOLMES is … Continue reading Watson & Holmes
Tag: Black Eye
Richard Abraham Spade (aka “Superspade”)
Created by B. B. Johnson Pseudonym of Joe Greene (1915-86) Here's another fellow who is not technically a private eye, but I swear this cat could give John Shaft a run for his money. Can you dig it? RICHARD ABRAHAM SPADE was a strapping 240-pound fellow who went from the ghetto to UCLA, where he made … Continue reading Richard Abraham Spade (aka “Superspade”)
Khloé Mercer
Created by Kiki Swinson KHLOÉ MERCER is getting tired of putting her neck on the line as an investigative journalist, snooping into all sorts of malfeasance and corruption, and getting paid diddley squat for it. So she figures she might as well at least make some bucks doing it, and becomes a private eye, in … Continue reading Khloé Mercer
S.J. Rook (The Ross Agency)
Created by Delia C. Pitts The Ross AgencyPrivate InvestigationsLost? Missing? Cheated?Your Problems--Our Solutions-- the agency's business card The Ross Agency is a tiny Harlem detective firm on the side of the angels, dedicated to offering affordable services to its clients, taking those cases the police are too busy--or too indifferent--to solve. Things like tracking down … Continue reading S.J. Rook (The Ross Agency)
Tootsie Carter
Created by M. Ravenal The Arrangement (2021) marks the debut of hard-boiled African-American private eye TOOTSIE CARTER, who takes on 1975 New York City armed only with "a snub-nosed Colt .38, unmatchable wit, and a pocketful of Tootsie Rolls." It's the first book in the proposed Plainclothes Tootsie Mystery series, which is planned for 26 … Continue reading Tootsie Carter
Ezell “Easy” Barnes
Created by Richard HilaryPseudonym of Richard Bodino & Hilary Connors "...lyng to your detective is one of the privileges you get billed for."-- Easy explains how it works to a client in Pieces of Cream. In the long, mostly dry winter of discontent for Black eyes between Ernest Tidyman's ground-breaking Shaft, and Walter Mosley's game-changing … Continue reading Ezell “Easy” Barnes
Harry Tenafly (Tenafly)
Created by Richard Levinson & William Link HARRY TENAFLY (James McEachin) was what most television private eye definitely weren't: a happily married, middle-class family man, with absolutely no interest in violence, beautiful women or baffling crimes. Uncool? Harry even lived in the suburbs! Unfortunately for Harry, trouble couldn't stay away from him, despite his best … Continue reading Harry Tenafly (Tenafly)
Ellis Mason
Created by Johnnie Mitchell It's Chicago, 1988, and low-key black P.I. ELLIS MASON's one-man agency is hired by an ex-con to check up on his girlfriend, who soon enough assumes permanent room temperature. Suddenly Ellis finds himself caught up in the case, trying to defend his client against a backdrop of murder, lies, deceit, politics … Continue reading Ellis Mason
Toussaint Moore
Created by Ed Lacy Pseudonym of Leonard S. Zinberg (1911-1968) "If he had a cellophane head I couldn't have seen his little bird brain working any cleaner." Generally considered the first truly credible Black eye, TOUSSAINT MARCUS MOORE (now there's a name with more than a few Black nationalist overtones) made his debut in the … Continue reading Toussaint Moore