Created by Jamie S. Rich and Joëlle Jones You Have Killed Me by writer Jamie S. Rich and artist Joëlle Jones is a 1930s noir wet dream, played out in a graphic novel. Steeped in the shadowy world of frenetic jazz clubs, smoky back-room poker games, mobsters, crooked cops, a femme fatale or two, and … Continue reading Antonio Mercer (You Have Killed Me)
Tag: Historical 1930s
Errol Black
Created by Simon Swift It's the thirties (and the forties and the fifties), and New York City gumshoe ERROL BLACK talks the talk and walks the expected walk, in a proposed trilogy of "indie" books by Simon Swift. I say "proposed," because the third book, the "much anticipated" The Gold Gate Goodbye, never surfaced, although … Continue reading Errol Black
The Inklings Detective Agency
Created by John R. Kelly Pass. Okay, it was a brazen enough gimmick roping in Chandler, Hammett, Erle Stanley Gardner, Raoul Whitfield and various other torch carriers of the Shamus Game as amateur or even professional sleuths, and the results were generally, hit or miss. Now Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, C.S. Lewis and J.R. Tolkien … Continue reading The Inklings Detective Agency
Mitsuko Hoshino (My Dear Detective)
Created by Natsumi Ito My Dear Detective (subtitle: "Mitsuko's Case Files"), the manga series featuring Japan's first female private eye, MITSUKO "MIMI" HOSHINO, is a far cry from the more hard-boiled, violent manga and anime antics of, say, City Hunter or Cowboy Bebop. In fact, the concept here is more often described as "light-hearted," "sweet" … Continue reading Mitsuko Hoshino (My Dear Detective)
Spider-Man Noir
Created by Stan Lee & Steve DitkoSpider-Man Noir created by David Hine & Fabrice Sapolsky In their endless battle to reel in more customers, it's long been an established practice in the comic book biz to take established superheroes and revamp, revise, reboot and regurgitate them. Pump some new air into tired lungs. Or just … Continue reading Spider-Man Noir
Hicks McTaggart
Created by Thomas Pynchon (1937-) Given my lukewarm reaction (good fun, but not great) to American literary titan Thomas Pynchon's first foray into the Shamus Game, 2009's Inherent Vice, I'm going to hold back my opinion on Shadow Ticket (2025), his second PI novel. At least for a little while. Wouldn't want to anger the … Continue reading Hicks McTaggart
Maggie Laurent & Nick Moore (Fog City)
Created by Claire M. Johnson "I've discovered in the detective game that there are lies and there are lies." — Maggie in City Lights. I find the covers pretty dreary (AI? The author herself?), but like Bo Diddley says, "You can't judge a book by its cover." And Bo knows... NICK MOORE is the head … Continue reading Maggie Laurent & Nick Moore (Fog City)
Babs Norman & Guy Brandt
Created by Elizabeth Crowens Pseudonym of Sheri Lane For those of you who miss the star-studded, name-dropping Hollywood misadventures of Stuart Kaminsky's beloved Toby Peters, you might want to check out Elizabeth Crowens' similarly light-hearted novels featuring 1930s and 40s Tinseltown dick BABS NORMAN and her partner, best friend and aspiring actor, GUY BRANDT. They … Continue reading Babs Norman & Guy Brandt
Adam Paradise
Created by Teel James Glenn Hoo-boy. In Not Born of Woman (2024), the first of a promised series, ADAM PARADISE (that's the name he goes by) is a suitably hard-boiled private eye in 1939 New York City, but he's never quite fit in. Maybe it's because he's over two hundred years old, and was cobbled … Continue reading Adam Paradise
Juan Calavera (Calavera P.I.)
Created by Marco Finnegan "I don't know what I am." And neither do we. Rest in peace? If only... it's Dia de los Muertos, 1930, and Los Angeles private eye JUAN CALAVERA is summoned to help an Maria Valdez, a lady reporter and an old friend, rescue her kidnapped son; a case that may (or … Continue reading Juan Calavera (Calavera P.I.)