Created by Henry Beard (1945) Appearing under the gag pen name of Germaine Spillane, it's obvious that "My Gun is Cute" was intended of a parody of Mike Hammer. Only problem? With Spillane it's hard to tell who's zooming who, since more than a few people think Mike Hammer was already a parody. But here … Continue reading Meg Hammer
Tag: Lampoon
Let ‘er Rip!!!
Some of My Favourite Spoofs & Parodies "Somewhere a Roscoe" October 15, 1938, The New Yorker By S.J. Perelman The humourist's affectionate tribute to pulp writer Robert Leslie Bellem and his greatest creation, Hollywood orb, Dan Turner. "The White Rabbit Caper" November 19, 1941, The New Yorker By James Thurber A parody of the tough … Continue reading Let ‘er Rip!!!
Pete Ingalls
Created by Ellis Weiner Talk about your crime and PUNishment. PETE INGALLS, the narrator of Drop Dead, My Lovely (2004), Ellis Weiner's decidedly broad but loving lampoon of the private eye genre, is a thirty-three year old bookstore nebbish who suffers a serious whack on the kabonza. Before you can say "Don Quixote," he's set … Continue reading Pete Ingalls
Spike Bludgeon
Created by Marion Mainwaring (1922-2015) "You're so wonderful, Spike," she muttered, "All those ugly scars....your broken nose...and the ear that's chopped off...How could they do it, Spike? How could anyone bear to hurt you?" "The ones who did it are dead," I told her. "People who cross me usually end up that way." Murder in … Continue reading Spike Bludgeon
Bugs Bunny, Private Eye
Created by Warner Bros. "Bugs Bunny, private eyeball – thugs thwarted, arsonists arrested, bandits booked, forgers found, counterfeiters caught and chiselers chiseled.” — Bugs answers the phone in “Bugs and Thugs" Created in the late 30s by a slew of producers, writers and directors at Warner Bros., BUGS BUNNY has always seemed like a natural as … Continue reading Bugs Bunny, Private Eye
Sam Diamond, Dick and Dora Charleston, Inspector Milo Perrier, Inspector Sidney Wang & Jessica Marbles (Murder by Death)
Created by Neil Simon Lionel Twain, an eccentric millionaire (played with some kind of awkwardly mad brilliance by Truman Capote) invites five of the "world's greatest detectives" to his secluded castle for the weekend, and offers $1 million to the one who can solve a murder, in Neil Simon's 1976 at-times delightful send-up of the … Continue reading Sam Diamond, Dick and Dora Charleston, Inspector Milo Perrier, Inspector Sidney Wang & Jessica Marbles (Murder by Death)
Charlie Willis
Created by Lee Goldberg Down, down, down. CHARLIE WILLIS is a Beverly Hills cop who lands a plum security gig for a major Hollywood studio, after being shot in the stomach by one of their most beloved stars, in this wicked spoof by Lee Goldberg, a TV scriptwriter and producer (Spenser: For Hire, Monk, Diagnosis Murder, … Continue reading Charlie Willis
Private Eye Popeye
Created by E.C. Segar Pseudonym of Elzie Crisler Segar (1894-1938) POPEYE, everyone's favourite spinach-chugging sailor man, gets the P.I. treatment in "Private Eye Popeye," a lame, low-budget cartoon from the mid-fifties, put out by Famous Studios. It was not Popeye’s greatest moment. Despite the fact this was produced smack-dab-in-the middle of the hard-boiled P.I. craze, with … Continue reading Private Eye Popeye
See Ya in The Funny Papers
P.I. Spoofs and Callouts in Comics & Cartoons If Mickey Spillane Wrote NANCY… from MAD Magazine In the Tradition of Hammett, Chandler, Macdonald and Snoopy (Peanuts) by Charles Schultz Arlo, Janis & Spenser Bugs Bunny, Private Eye Johnny Eyeball (Goofy) (1952, "How to Be a Detective") Private Eye Popeye (1954, Famous Studios) Meat Hamburg (Pogo) by Walt … Continue reading See Ya in The Funny Papers
Nick Danger (The Firesign Theatre)
Created by The Firesign Theatre "Well, now, the gum's on the other shoe." -- Nick Danger, on a sudden plot shift, in The Case of the Missing Yolks .Even more than the literature, the classic radio eyes of the forties and fifties thrived on first person. And they did it in present tense, as in … Continue reading Nick Danger (The Firesign Theatre)