By Richard Helms Featuring Eamon Gold Fall 2007 Gordon Black was a short man with an intimidating stare. His hair and beard were completely white. He liked to accentuate his points by drawing circles in the air with his index fingers. “We are nothing but organic flotsam, bobbing in the infinite sea of life. Don't you … Continue reading “The Gospel According to Gordon Black”
Tag: This Just In
Jack Levine
Created by Andrew Bergman(1945--) "Private dicks aren't known for being great abstract thinkers, Miss Lane, but we can get around town without a map."-- Jack tries to reassure a client in The Big Kiss-Off of 1944 One of the first, and still one of the very best retro eyes, predating both Nate Heller and Toby … Continue reading Jack Levine
Janie ‘Strummer’ Jones (Black’s Myth)
Created by Eric Palicki (text) and Wendell Cavalcanti (art) Come out of the closets, you boys and you girls, and meet JANIE "STRUMMER" JONES, yet another comic book werewolf P.I. Naturally it's a "punk rock urban fantasy noir horror" comic--so my guess is that the P.I. end of the hybrid schtick gets the usual short shrift, but I'll have … Continue reading Janie ‘Strummer’ Jones (Black’s Myth)
Stone & Stine (City of Angels)
Music by Cy Coleman Lyrics by David Zippel Book by Larry Gelbart ''It's as though I was hit by a wrecking ball wearing a pinky ring'' -- Stone City of Angels was an ambitious and well-received musical comedy that wowed them on Broadway in 1989, written by Larry (M*A*S*H) Gelbart, with music by Cy Coleman and lyrics … Continue reading Stone & Stine (City of Angels)
O’Neil’s Big Easy Favourites
And Other Louisiana Eyes Award-winning author and former PWA Vice-Prez O'Neil De Noux is a former real-life police officer and private investigator. He writes all over the place, in numerous genres, but he currently also writes about New Orleans private eye Dino La Stanza and 1940s gumshoe Lucien Caye. Way back when this site first started, he kindly submitted a … Continue reading O’Neil’s Big Easy Favourites
Gus Slavin (Loophole)
Created by Dwight V. Babcock and George Bricker This time out, he's GUS SLAVIN, an LA-based investigator for a bonding service, who's putting the screws on war hero turned nice guy bank teller Mike Donovan (Barry Sullivan, the star of the show, playing the classic noir bonehead/doofus to perfection). Gus is convinced Donovan had something … Continue reading Gus Slavin (Loophole)
Al Delaney
Created by Thomas B. Black (1910-93) Battered and scarred AL DELANEY is an op for the Redman Detective Agency in Chancellor City (don't waste yot time looking it up--it's ficticious). When the boss, ol' Giles Redman himself, bites the big one and gets murdered in the first book, The Whitebird Murders (1946), Al (with the … Continue reading Al Delaney
Sarge Steel
Created by Pat Mussili, Joe Gill and Dick Giordano "A cool knowing man who savors danger... who will not make one concession to fear... and whose fees may be as little as a smile from a pretty girl!" -- cover blurb from Sarge Steel--Private Detective #1 At 6'1", 198 pounds, blue eyes, black hair and a … Continue reading Sarge Steel
My Scrapbook: James Garner on the Cover of TV Guide
James Garner as Jim Rockford TV Guide (June 2, 1979) One of the most popular actors in film and television for a couple of decades, James Garner naturally graced the cover of TV Guide numerous times--he was, after all, James Garner. He appeared as the star of Maverick and The Rockford Files, of course, but he … Continue reading My Scrapbook: James Garner on the Cover of TV Guide
Sunderson
Created by Jim Harrison (1937-2016) Not really a private eye, perhaps, but Jim Harrison's SUNDERSON, after years as a detective, is no amateur sleuth. What he is is a contrary, stubborn, violent, horny and unrepentant SOB; a retired homicide dick, a brooding philosopher and an unapologetic intellectual who refuses to let things--big or small--slide. And to … Continue reading Sunderson