As chosen by Max Allan Collins and John Javna In their 1988 book, The Best of Crime & Detective TV, Collins and Javna served up an articulate, passionate, opinionated and often hilarious salute to crime and detective TV, including sections on cop shows, lawyer shows and more. And yes, a section on private eyes. They … Continue reading Top Ten Private Eye Shows
Tag: Max Allan Collins
Mickey Spillane: This Time It’s Personal
By Max Allan Collins EDITOR'S NOTE: This piece originally appeared, in a slightly different form, as the introduction to 2001 New American Library edition of The Mike Hammer Collection, which collected I, the Jury, My Gun Is Quick and Vengeance Is Mine. It is reprinted here with the kind permission of the author, Max Allan … Continue reading Mickey Spillane: This Time It’s Personal
Pericles “Perry” Christo
Created by Lee Child, Mary Higgins Clark, John Connolly, Charlaine Harris, CJ Box, Mark Billingham, Lawrence Block, Ken Bruen, Alafair Burke, Stephen L. Carter, Marcia Clark, Max Allan Collins, James Grady, Heather Graham, Bryan Gruley, Val McDermid, SJ Rozan, Dana Stabenow, Lisa Unger, and Sarah Weinman. Yet another of those sprawling, episodic, collaborative mystery efforts … Continue reading Pericles “Perry” Christo
Max Allan Collins
Pseudonyms include Patrick Culhane, Barbara Allan (1948--) Jack of all trades, and master of a ton of 'em. Iowa's MAX ALLAN COLLINS is a baby-boomer renaissance man in the crime and mystery genre. He's done comic strips, comic books, trading cards, short stories, novels, film, and even television novelizations. He's written hard-boiled, noir, cozies, horror, … Continue reading Max Allan Collins
Nolan
Created by Max Allan Collins (1948--) No, NOLAN's not really a private eye. What he is is a tough guy, a professional thief, reminiscent of Richard Stark's Parker, who no doubt influenced Nolan's creator, the then-25 year old Max Allan Collins. The difference, though, is that right from the beginning, in his 1973 debut, the … Continue reading Nolan
Johnny Dynamite
Created by Ken Fitch Pseudonym of William Waugh and Pete Morisi "The Wild Man from Chicago! He's rough! He's Tough! He's JOHNNY DYNAMITE!" JOHNNY DYNAMITE was definitely the best of the pre-Comics Code comic book eyes of the fiftiies -- and, it turned out, the one with the longest legs. He made his debut in "I'll … Continue reading Johnny Dynamite
Mike Mist
Created by Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty It's been a long, long road for MIKE MIST, the handsome Chicago private eye with a taste for comic books and bad puns, and a flair for solving murders in a minute or two. A pet project of Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty, co-creators of that … Continue reading Mike Mist
Ms. Tree
Created by Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty Since Mike Hammer was originally planned for comic books, it only seems fitting that Spillane defender/apologist and hard-boiled renaissance man Max Allan Collins' "female Mike Hammer," MICHAEL TREE, should appear in the appropriate medium. And who knows? Collins is probably most famous for his historical detective novels … Continue reading Ms. Tree
Quarry
Created by Max Allan Collins (1948--) The first series I know of to be based on the exploits of a hired killer, predating both Loren Estleman's Peter Macklin and Lawrence Block's Keller, was the QUARRY series penned by baby boomer renaissance man Max Allan Collins, creator of Nate Heller, Ms. Tree, Mallory, Nolan, et al. … Continue reading Quarry
Wyatt Earp
As written by Patrick Culhane (pseud. of Max Allan Collins), Robert B. Parker, Loren D. Estleman & Charles Knief Brave, courageous and bold... and a P.I.? WYATT EARP, of course, was a real person, a legendary lawman in the Old West. Dime novels, movies, TV and radio -- we're all more than familiar with the "story." … Continue reading Wyatt Earp