Created by Cheryl A. Head CHARLENE "CHARLIE" MACK is a Black private eye from Detroit, and Boy! Is she ever! She's covers that beleaguered city better than anyone this side of Loren Estleman's Amos Walker. And just in case it slips your mind, the series is billed as "The Charlie Mack Motown Mysteries." So don't … Continue reading Charlie Mack
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West Investigations (Ryan West, Shawn West, James West & Gideon Wright)
Created by K.D. Richards "I'm a PI. I know how to handle myself." -- Shawn West in Missing at Christmas Is this a first for Harlequin? Not just a steamy one-off, but a whole series based around a detective agency? African-American stud RYAN WEST is the hard-nosed top dog at West Investigations, specializing in personal … Continue reading West Investigations (Ryan West, Shawn West, James West & Gideon Wright)
Gil Yates
Created by Alistair Boyle (Pseudonym) (1952--) GIL YATES is a real find: a private investigator from--get this!--California! What're the odds? But actually, Gil does carve a bit of a cockeyed niche for himself, as a sort of high-tech, big business, high-priced, Los Angeles contingency expert. But it's all a delicious blend of mid-life crisis and … Continue reading Gil Yates
Kane Keen, Private Eye
Created by Harvey Kurtzman (script) and Jack Davis (art) A lot of people (and most of the internet) seem to think that KANE KEEN, the eponymous hero of MAD Magazine spoof "Kane Keen, Private Eye," which appeared in the June-July 1953 issue, was a roasting of the then-popular Martin Kane, Private Eye television show. But they'd be wrong. Because if the seven-page … Continue reading Kane Keen, Private Eye
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
Nick (The Case of the Murderer Who Killed)
Created by Dick de Bartolo (script) and Jack Davis (art) "Drop your guns! I’ve got you covered! You're all going to... er... that place with... er... bars on the window and guards and..." -- Nick cracks the case (sorta) Can a private detective tip the scales of justice if there’s no tipping allowed? In "The Case of … Continue reading Nick (The Case of the Murderer Who Killed)
Tony Cassella
Created by Larry Beinhart Brooklyn's TONY CASSELLA has an extremely flexible set of ethics and "half a law degree from Yale" (he dropped out of law school, figuring on a more hands-on occupation). But there was a hiring freeze in the Police Department at the time, so he opted for the corrections department, where he … Continue reading Tony Cassella
Lisa Jamison
Created by Lori Duffy Foster When she got pregnant at fifteen, single mom LISA JAMISON vowed her daughter Bridget would have a better life than she did, and then set about getting her one. It took a while, but she cut ties with her own drug-addled parents and Marty, Bridget's father. Lisa worked her ass … Continue reading Lisa Jamison
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
Dek Elstrom
Created by Jack Fredrickson Wry, spry and "creatively unemployed," Chicago's VLODEK "DEK" ELSTROM is a hapless, soft-boiled private eye in a hard-boiled world, scrounging to pay the rent on his fixer-upper turret and feed his junk food habit. And he's not suffering from an abundance of pride or ego. So... whatever it takes. As long … Continue reading Dek Elstrom