Created by Philip K. Dick Developed for the screen by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples When the topic of sci-fi/private eyes comes up for air, so does director Ridley Scott's grim and gritty 1982 film Blade Runner, and, occasionally, the 1968 Philip K. Dick novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? that it was loosely (very … Continue reading Rick Deckard (Blade Runner)
Tag: Sci-fi
McNihil
Created by K.W. Jeter In the appropiately-titled Noir (1998), K.W. Jeter introduces McNIHIL, an ex-Collection Agency information cop with a fetish for 1940's crime flicks, stuck in the same bleak, apolyptic L.A. of the future as Ridley Scott's classic 1982 noir/sci-fi flick Blade Runner. And why not? Jeter had already written two novels by 1998 … Continue reading McNihil
Spike Spiegel, Jet Black & Faye Valentine (Cowboy Bebop)
Created by Yutaka Nanten SPIKE SPIEGAL and JET BLACK were bounty hunters of the future on the hit TV show Cowboy Bebop, who were found on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim time slot back in the early naughties. There's a difference between them and most bounty hunters, though--these guys are animated. But don't make the mistake … Continue reading Spike Spiegel, Jet Black & Faye Valentine (Cowboy Bebop)
John “GrimJack” Gaunt
Created by John Ostrander and Timothy Truman "Call me mercenary. Call me assassin. Call me a villain. I am all that and more." GRIMJACK was the titular hero of a hard-boiled mid-80s sci-fi comic book, set in an alternative reality, a weird mixture of Conan the Barbarian and Star Wars, with dashes of every genre … Continue reading John “GrimJack” Gaunt
January Cole
Created by Rob Hart JANUARY COLE is not your average house dick. That's because she's head of security at the Paradox Hotel, someplace in the not-so-distant future where uber-rich yahoos--in costume, no less--gather to be zapped back into the past. Alas, the technology--which the government's planning to privatize soon--isn't always all it could be, with … Continue reading January Cole
Mathew Swain
Created by Mike McQuay Sorry, but this sci-fi/P.I. hybrid works better as spoof, than straight. McQuay dedicated the whole series to to the memory of Raymond Chandler, "because he understood." It's too bad McQuay didn't. Chandler wanted to rise above the pulps, not wallow in them. But a bit of misguided name-dropping aside, the series … Continue reading Mathew Swain
Sian Holt (Star Wars: The High Republic)
Created by Daniel José Older and David Wachter Well, it had to happen... The Star Wars universe has, as far as I can tell, finally unveiled its very first private investigator. SIAN HOLT is a high-priced space shamus who operates during the so-called High Republic Era, which takes place about two hundred years before the events … Continue reading Sian Holt (Star Wars: The High Republic)
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.)
Thompson Heller Detective Interstellar
Created by Milton Lawson and Dave Chisholm (art) Some people call him the Space Cowboy... A tumbler of Johnnie Walker Black in hand, a Davidoff gasper in his maw, and perennially in need of a shave, party dude, cosmic slacker and avowed atheist THOMPSON HELLER is an intergalactic gumshoe, ready to roll, especially if the cause--or the pay--is … Continue reading Thompson Heller Detective Interstellar
Sam Space
Created by William F. Nolan Pseudonyms include Frank Anmar, F. E. Edwards & Warren Kastel (1928-2021) Maybe Mars aint the place to raise the kids, after all... And it may not be the best place to run a detective agency either, as William Nolan's wonked-out sci-fi gumshoe is starting to discover. SAM SPACE is a … Continue reading Sam Space