Created by Dick de Bartolo (script) and Jack Davis (art) "Drop your guns! I’ve got you covered! You're all going to... er... that place with... er... bars on the window and guards and..." -- Nick cracks the case (sorta) Can a private detective tip the scales of justice if there’s no tipping allowed? In "The Case of … Continue reading Nick (The Case of the Murderer Who Killed)
Tag: Humour
Lance Parkertip
Created by Don Martin (1931-2000) Public notary, private eye? In one of the more surreal take-offs on the shamus game, MAD Magazine cartoonist Don Martin wrote several stories featuring noted notary public LANCE PARKERTIP. As notaries go, Lance was no babe magnet. With his squarer-than-square tweed jackets, flyaway hair and ever-present pipe, nobody was ever going … Continue reading Lance Parkertip
Dante O’Donnell & Jazz Friendly
Created by Michael Craft DANTE O'DONNELL isn't a private eye. Nope, he's just a former actor who's finally given up on stardom and is now just an aging white gay guy working as a concierge for Sunny Junket, a vacation-rental outfit in Palm Springs, living with his memories and regrets. Seems Dante was quite the … Continue reading Dante O’Donnell & Jazz Friendly
Are You Trying to Be Funny?
The Funniest Eyes No, really. Call it "Humour in a Severed Jugular Vein," if you must, but people have been poking fun at the P.I. genre -- and the whole mystery genre, for that matter -- almost as soon as it appeared. But there were a few brave souls over the years who dared to … Continue reading Are You Trying to Be Funny?
It’s Hammer Time!
Send-ups and Put-Downs of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer "I passed this kid sucking a lollipop. Don Brown dead, and him sucking a lollipop. I rammed it down his throat. I hate injustice." -- from "Don Brown's Body" by Jean Kerr As literary poobah Christopher La Farge pointed out in an article on the Mickey Spillane … Continue reading It’s Hammer Time!
Mitch Weaver (Dirty Work)
Created by Norm MacDonald and Frank Sebastiano "Note to self...Learn how to fight." -- Mitch to his pocket recorder, after getting the crap kicked out of him in a bar fight This 1998 vehicle for Saturday Night Live refugee Norm MacDonald would have played out as a spoof of TV's Vengeance Unlimited, except that they were … Continue reading Mitch Weaver (Dirty Work)
Stanley Melvin
Created by Frank Zafiro "On a basic level, Stanley understood sarcasm." The 2021 novella "Hallmarks of the Job" is "part mystery, part humour," according to the author. It introduces nit-picky, stick-in-the-mud private investigator, STANLEY MELVIN, who works out of his very tidy office above Hamilton's Barber Shop. It's a suitably non-exciting location for a P.I. who … Continue reading Stanley Melvin
Dick Spanner (Dick Spanner P.I.)
Created by Terry Adlam "The detective who puts the P.I. in stuPId!" Private eyes are GO! Mild-mannered private detective DICK SPANNER was the suitably square-jawed (but tiny-brained) titular robot hero of Dick Spanner, P.I., a tongue-in-cheek British series set in "a parallel universe not far from here," featuring puppets, filmed entirely in stop-motion animation. Occasionally … Continue reading Dick Spanner (Dick Spanner P.I.)
“Silky” Pincus
Created by Leo Rosten Pseudonyms include Leonard Q. Ross (1908-97) Ever wondered when someone would create a nice Jewish P.I.? Well, look no further, bubeleh. SID "SILKY" PINCUS is a genuinely nice guy, an ex-cop and Vietnam vet who runs a Manhattan detective agency called Watson and Holmes, Incorporated (Chutzpah, anyone?), with his partner, Michael … Continue reading “Silky” Pincus
Frank Burly
Created by John Swartzwelder (1949--) "I'll explain the dog costume in a minute." -- Burly Go Home D'oh! Once upon a time, the roundest peg in a world of square holes, John Swartzwelder, was the go-to guy when it came to writing for The Simpsons, the animated pop culture juggernaut that's been rumbling through this promised … Continue reading Frank Burly