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
Tag: Sci-fi
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
Ruth Law
Created by Ken Liu "He misses her, like missing a mirror you’ve broken." In "The Regular," a short story by acclaimed sci-fi writer Ken Liu, we're introduced to RUTH LAW, a coldly efficient half-Chinese, half-American private eye who works out of a tiny office above a butcher shop in Boston's Chinatown. She specializes mostly in "hidden assets, … Continue reading Ruth Law
Sig Dreyer
Created by F. Paul Wilson Another gloomy future. Most of the Earth's population has got while the getting's good, abandoning the ol' home planet for the safety of outer space. The few that have stuck around in horror and sci-fi writer F. Paul Wilson's Dydeetown World (1989) have to make do with a world where, … Continue reading Sig Dreyer
Lije Baley & R.D. Olivaw
Created by Isaac Asimov(1920-92) Sorry, but as several folks have pointed out, sci-fi meister Isaac Asimov's ELIJAH "LIJE" BALEY and his robot partner R. DANEEL OLIVAW don't really cut it as private eyes. As members of the New York city police, sometime in the future, they fail to meet even the minimum standards for private … Continue reading Lije Baley & R.D. Olivaw
Patrick “P.I.” Immelmann (Private Eye)
Created Brian Vaughan "Nothing in life is completely confidential." -- P.I. It's hard to believe comic book mastermind Brian Vaughan originally gave this away Private Eye, an absolutely stunning graphic novel from 2015, for free! Or as much--or as little--as you felt it was worth. And yet there it was, on Panelsyndicate.com, for the asking. And it's … Continue reading Patrick “P.I.” Immelmann (Private Eye)
Vernay and Zeno Zenobius of The Anthropol Detective Agency
Created by Louis Trimble Louis Trimble was a prolific pulp fiction writer, pounding out westerns, mysteries and even the occasional sci-fi story. He created such private eyes as Bert Norden, Peter Cory and Tom Blane. But one of his more interesting creations was the intriguingly-titled THE ANTHROPOL DETECTIVE AGENCY, whose turf seems to be outer … Continue reading Vernay and Zeno Zenobius of The Anthropol Detective Agency
Gil Hamilton
Created by Larry Niven GIL HAMILTON isn't actually a private eye, but he sure acts like one. He's a member of A.R.M., a special unit of the U.N. dedicated to the task of tracking down organleggers. You see, in the future, medical knowledge has reached the point where almost any body part is transplantable. But … Continue reading Gil Hamilton
Marîd Audran
Created by George Alec Effinger (1947-2002) When George Alec Effinger dropped When Gravity Fails in 1987, nobody was expecting a ballsy cyberpunk mash-up of Raymond Chandler and 1001 Arabian Nights--or that it would work as well as it did. Although, come to think of it, cyberpunk already owed a good deal of its grittiness and jaded cynicism to … Continue reading Marîd Audran
Jake Cardigan
Created by William Shatner (1931--) When I first heard about this one, I was all set to lace into this one. I mean, Tiberius Hambone a writer? But he -- or at least Ron Goulart -- pulled it off. The first novel, TekWar (1989), which kicked off the whole franchise, was nothing earth-shattering, but decent … Continue reading Jake Cardigan