Created by Dave Ebersole and Delia Gable Maybe Ricky Nelson was right--you can't please everyone. But theatre director and playwright Dave Ebersole and illustrator Delia Gable certainly gave it a good shot, with the creation of Dash, a comic book series put out by tiny Northwest Press, featuring DASHELL "DASH" MALONE, a gay private eye in 1940s Los Angeles … Continue reading Dashell “Dash” Malone
Tag: California
Steve Michaels
Created by Ray Bradbury (1920-2012) Perhaps my favourite story (and the most recent) in Killer, Come Back to Me (2020), Hard Case Crime's spiffy 2020 collection of Ray Bradbury's crime and detective stories, was “Where Everything Ends.” Originally published in the 2010 omnibus collection of the author's Death Is a Lonely Business (1985), A Graveyard for … Continue reading Steve Michaels
Oscar Hellian
Created by John Bolton From out of Europe (I think), via Dark Horse's global comics anthology Cheval Noir (French for Dark Horse, natch!) comes 1940's Hollywood dick OSCAR HELLIAN. Divorce may be his bread and butter, but he still has to share office space with Myra, who runs a secretarial agency, and Dan, an aspiring photographer … Continue reading Oscar Hellian
Alex Vega & Max Caplan
Created by Louisa Luna "There was always a worse thing that you couldn't see, and it was closer than you thought."-- a maxim of Alex's old boss in fugitive recovery Wary, thirty-something loner ALEX VEGA has taken her old boss's maxim to heart--she's definitely a gal who sees things as half-empty, and all the yoga in the … Continue reading Alex Vega & Max Caplan
Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski (The Big Lebowski)
Created by Joel and Ethan Coen The 1998 Coen Brothers film, The Big Lebowski, is one of the funniest and most outlandish parodies of the private eye film sub-genre, but is also, in a bizarre way, as much an affectionate tribute to and continuation of the tradition. Its main character, JEFF "THE DUDE" LEBOWSKI, is … Continue reading Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski (The Big Lebowski)
California
"That’s what I did instead of going to school, and one of the genres I read was the California novelists—Dashiell Hammett and Joseph Hansen and Raymond Chandler, who was wonderful, and then Ross Macdonald. There was always something weird about the California story, as opposed to the New York story, which was about some guy … Continue reading California
Mark Hull
Created by Norbert Davis Pseudonyms include Harrison Hunt, Cedric Titus (1909-1949) "She was one of the real mysteries of Hollywood. She was thin and flat-chested, with a complexion like yellow paste. Her black hair was lifeless and dull. Her features were assembled in regular enough order, but her face gave a queer blank effect, as … Continue reading Mark Hull
Steve Craig
Created by Bevis Winter Pseudonyms include Al Bocca, Peter Cagney, Sammy Coburn, Bennet Hill & Gordon Shayne; and the house pseudonym Hyman Zore (1918-1985) A Los Angeles (possibly Santa Monica?) private eye from the pen of prolific British pulpster Bevis Winter, from the Mushroom Jungle era--in other words, one of those Brits pumping out cheap, … Continue reading Steve Craig
Mike Strang
Created by Peter Cagney Pseudonym of Bevis Winter Other pseudonyms include Al Bocca, Sammy Coburn, Bennet Hill & Gordon Shayne; and the house pseudonym Hyman Zore (1918-1985) "A new slant on an age-old racket! Mike Strang strikes a fresh note in tough investigators" -- the front cover blurb for Hear the Stripper Scream According to … Continue reading Mike Strang
Gloria Demasco
Created by Lucha Corpi (1945--) GLORIA DEMASCO is a petite Chicana, born in Oakland, California. She came from a working class family, and was trained as a speech therapist. She's a young widow (she was married to a Puerto Rican, Nuerriqueño) with a daughter. She's very involved in local politics, both as an activist and a … Continue reading Gloria Demasco