Created by Emily J. Edwards “I’ve been a Girl Friday for the best P.I. in the city for years, ya moron… You think I didn’t learn a thing or two?” Rough-and-tumble Tommy Fortuna is allegedly the best private eye in 1950s New York City, but it turns out VIVIANA VALENTINE, his spunky, long-time "Girl Friday" (her … Continue reading Viviana Valentine
Tag: Historical 1950s
H.P. “Philip” Lovecraft
Created by Joseph Dougherty "The omens are bad. Me, I'm going to Florida!" -- you know things are bad when the landlady threatens to call it quits Raymond Chandler's mean streets were never like this! A pleasant surprise was Cast a Deadly Spell, a pulpy, tongue-in-cheek 1991 HBO offering that took the world of the … Continue reading H.P. “Philip” Lovecraft
Aloysius Archer
Created by David Baldacci It's 1949, and rough-and-tumble WWII vet ALOYSIUS ARCHER is a hard-luck drifter and a total shit magnet, freshly sprung from Carderock Prison, when he hits the road in One Good Deed (2019), a sly, noirish change of pace from the #1 New York Times bestselling author Baldacci. His parole conditions are pretty … Continue reading Aloysius Archer
Tommy “Dapper” Luoo
Created by John Triptych Although primarily a sci-fi writer, John Triptych has written and published two books (so far) about TOMMY "DAPPER" LUOO, a Chinese-American private eye in 1940-50s Los Angeles, and he intends to keep going. As the author says, "If you like hard-boiled detective fiction with equal helpings of James Ellroy, Walter Mosley, Raymond Chandler, Ross Macdonald, … Continue reading Tommy “Dapper” Luoo
Mitch Roberts
Created by Gaylord Dold (1947-2018) Brooding MITCH ROBERTS is the hero of one of the best--and most criminally overlooked--private eye series of the 1980's. The first six books in the series were all paperback originals, the first put out by Avon, the next five by Ivy Books, that seemed to have vanished with barely a trace. … Continue reading Mitch Roberts
The Twenty-Year Death Trilogy
Created by Ariel S. Winter "I had on my good suit, a navy blue so deep it looked black, with a pressed white shirt, a red-and-blue-striped tie, a red handkerchief, and freshly polished loafers. I'd had a shower and a shave." -- Dennis Foster calls on his client, in The Falling Star "Yeah, I'd always … Continue reading The Twenty-Year Death Trilogy
Byrd (Hawaiian Dick)
Created by B. Clay Moore & Steven Griffin "Thank God the Tiki Bar's still open Thank God the Tiki lights still shine Thank God the Tiki Bar's still open Come on in and open up your mind..." --John Hiatt If Raymond Chandler had worn a few more Hawaiian shirts and learned how to chill, maybe … Continue reading Byrd (Hawaiian Dick)
Jack Levine
Created by Andrew Bergman(1945--) "Private dicks aren't known for being great abstract thinkers, Miss Lane, but we can get around town without a map."-- Jack tries to reassure a client in The Big Kiss-Off of 1944 One of the first, and still one of the very best retro eyes, predating both Nate Heller and Toby … Continue reading Jack Levine
Freddy Otash
Created by James Ellroy "Ellroy’s a dipshit. I knew him in my waning months alive. I’ve been granted tell-all telepathy. I will know that cocksucker cold." -- Freddie nails Ellroy to the wall, in "Shakedown" According to Wikipedia, FREDDIE OTASH was "a Los Angeles police officer, private investigator, author, and a WWII Marine veteran, who became known … Continue reading Freddy Otash
Sam Cairo
Created by Gary Phillips and Manoel Magalhães Los Angeles' South Central district, 1958, and private eye SAM CAIRO is on the case, in a digital comic available exclusively on Aces Weekly, a British web site. And that's about all I know, so far. BUT... It's scripted by Gary Phillips, a man who knows a thing or … Continue reading Sam Cairo