Max Allan Collins | |
---|---|
Born | Muscatine, Iowa, U.S. | March 3, 1948
Pen name | Barbara Allan, Patrick Culhane |
Genre | Mystery in the following media: novels, screenplays, comic books, comic strips, short stories, and historical fiction. |
Notable works | Road to Perdition |
Notable awards | Inkpot Award 1982 Shamus Award 1984 and 1992 |
Spouse | Barbara Collins |
Children | 1 |
Website | |
maxallancollins |
Max Allan Collins (born March 3, 1948) is an American mystery writer, noted for his graphic novels. His work has been published in several formats and his Road to Perdition series was the basis for a film of the same name.[ citation needed ] He wrote the Dick Tracy newspaper strip for many years and has produced numerous novels featuring the character as well.[ citation needed ]
Collins has written novels, screenplays, comic books, comic strips, trading cards, short stories, movie novelizations and historical fiction. He wrote the graphic novel Road to Perdition (which was developed into a film in 2002), created the comic book private eye Ms. Tree , [1] and took over writing the Dick Tracy comic strip from creator Chester Gould. [2] Collins briefly wrote the Batman comic book in 1987 and crafted a new origin for the Jason Todd character. [3] Collins and artist Terry Beatty created Wild Dog at DC that same year in a self-titled limited series. The character later appeared as a feature in the Action Comics Weekly anthology. [4] As of 2016, Wild Dog became a recurring character in the Arrow television series and is portrayed by actor Rick Gonzalez. [5]
Another Collins contribution to the Batman franchise was scripting the English-language translation of Batman: Child of Dreams in 2003. [6] He wrote books to expand on the Dark Angel TV series. He has written books and comics based on the TV series franchise CSI . In 2006 he wrote Buried Deep (also released as "Bones Buried Deep"), based on the TV series Bones . [7]
He has written two sequel novels to Road to Perdition: Road to Purgatory and Road to Paradise. He wrote three more graphic novels starring the characters from Road to Perdition. These graphic novels, called collectively On the Road to Perdition, form the basis of the film. [8]
He co-founded the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers with Lee Goldberg. [9] The IAMTW is an organization for writers of tie-ins and novelizations. [10]
Collins studied in the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa. [11]
Collins is a fan of the mystery writer Mickey Spillane from childhood and later became close friends with him.[ citation needed ] The two collaborated on a comic book series in the 1990s called Mike Danger. [ citation needed ]Upon Spillane's death in 2006, Collins was entrusted to finish various uncompleted works by Spillane including Dead Street, The Big Showdown, and an ongoing series of Mike Hammer novel completions, beginning with The Goliath Bone in 2008. To date, Collins has completed thirteen Spillane Hammer novels, with the most recent being Kill Me If You Can, published in 2022. [12]
In 2021, he and Canadian actor/writer Dave Thomas teamed to write the sci-fi mystery novel The Many Lives of Jimmy Leighton. [13]
In addition to his work as a writer, Collins has written and directed four movies: Mommy, Mommy 2: Mommy's Day, Real Time: Siege at Lucas Street Market, and Eliot Ness: An Untouchable Life (based on his Edgar Award–nominated play). [7] All four were produced independently on location in Collins' hometown of Muscatine, Iowa. The first three are available on DVD—separately or in the Black Box set—from Troma Team Video, and the Ness film is distributed by VCI Entertainment. The DVD release of Real Time: Siege at Lucas Street Market being notable for being one of the first films to take advantage of the multi-angle feature on DVD players, thus giving viewers the opportunity to watch the story unfold from different viewpoints.
Collins has written and performed music with his rock band, Crusin'. [14]
Collins is a Democrat, describing his political views thus: "I think of myself as slightly left of center, but my father thought of himself as slightly right of center, when he was slightly right of Genghis Khan. So who knows? I do know that I veer left when the right is getting out of hand, which they frequently do." [15]
Collins and his wife, Barbara, have a son, Nathan. [7]
In 2008, the band he started in 1966 in Muscatine, Iowa—the Daybreakers—was inducted into the Iowa Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. [16] [17] Ten years later, in 2018, Collins was again inducted into the Iowa Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the band Cruisin'. [18] [19]
Collins received an Inkpot Award in 1982. [20] He won the Shamus Award in 1984 and 1992. [21]
This series features a former U.S. Marine sniper turned professional assassin after returning from the Vietnam War in 1973. The books are narrated in first person by Quarry (a code name). He maintains his own code of honor, and rationalizes his crimes by taking contracts to kill people who he believes brought about their own demise and will eventually be murdered by one enemy or another (e.g., corrupt politicians, mobsters, exploitative businessmen, drug traffickers).
Cinemax created a TV adaptation of Quarry. Written by Michael D. Fuller and Graham Gordy based loosely on the book series, the project centers on a Marine marksman who, upon returning home from Vietnam in 1972, finds himself shunned by those he loves and demonized by the public. The disillusioned vet is quickly recruited into a network of contract killers and corruption spanning the Mississippi River. [22] [23] The show was cancelled in May 2017 after the first season. [24]
This series features a professional thief, similar to and apparently inspired by Richard Stark's "Parker" character, who operates in the Midwest.
The Mallory series is about a mystery writer in Iowa who solves crimes.
Collins' longest running series and arguably his best known work is his Nathan Heller series. Heller is a Chicago private investigator who gets involved in famous crimes and meets famous people from the 1930s to the 1960s, including Orson Welles, Frank Nitti, and Sally Rand. The first novel in this historical fiction series, True Detective, won the 1984 Shamus Award for Best P.I. Hardcover from the Private Eye Writers of America. Collins won his second Shamus in 1992 for the Heller novel Stolen Away, [21] an account of the Lindbergh kidnapping. His 1999 novel Flying Blind sees Heller investigate the disappearance of Amelia Earhart, along the way becoming romantically involved with her. With the release of Chicago Confidential, Collins moved the action into the 1950s. Target Lancer, about an alleged attempt to assassinate John F. Kennedy in Chicago just weeks before the actual assassination in Dallas, was published in November 2012.
This series of novels is about real life Untouchable Eliot Ness's career as Director of Public Safety in Cleveland.
Title | Author | Release Date |
---|---|---|
Road to Perdition | Max Allan Collins with Richard Piers Rayner | June 1998 |
Road to Perdition Movie tie-in novel | Max Allan Collins | June 2002 |
On the Road to Perdition Book 1: Oasis | Max Allan Collins with José Luis García-López and Josef Rubinstein | May 2003 |
On the Road to Perdition Book 2: Sanctuary | Max Allan Collins with José Luis García-López and Steve Lieber | December 2003 |
On the Road to Perdition Book 3: Detour | Max Allan Collins with José Luis García-López and Steve Lieber | July 2004 |
Road to Perdition: On the Road (*) | Max Allan Collins with José Luis García-López and Josef Rubinstein/Steve Lieber | December 2004 |
Road to Purgatory | Max Allan Collins | December 2004 |
Road to Paradise | Max Allan Collins | December 2005 |
Return to Perdition | Max Allan Collins | August 2011 [25] |
Road to Perdition: The New Expanded Edition (Novel) | Max Allan Collins | November 2016 [26] |
(*) Note: Road to Perdition: On the Road, is a single-volume collection of On the Road to Perdition Books 1–3.
Title | Author | Release Date |
---|---|---|
Double Dealer | Max Allan Collins | November 2001 |
Sin City | Max Allan Collins | October 2002 |
Cold Burn | Max Allan Collins | April 2003 |
Body of Evidence | Max Allan Collins | November 2003 |
Grave Matters | Max Allan Collins | October 2004 |
Binding Ties | Max Allan Collins | April 2005 |
Killing Game | Max Allan Collins | November 2005 |
Snake Eyes | Max Allan Collins | September 2006 |
Mortal Wounds * | Max Allan Collins | October 2006 |
Title | Author | Release Date |
---|---|---|
Florida Getaway | Max Allan Collins | August 1, 2003 |
Heat Wave | Max Allan Collins | July 5, 2004 |
Exotic Racing Bombers Of Death | Max Allan Collins | June 19, 2003 |
Title | Author | Release Date |
---|---|---|
Jump Cut | Max Allan Collins | November 6, 2007 |
Killer Profile | Max Allan Collins | May 6, 2008 |
Finishing School | Max Allan Collins | November 4, 2008 |
A mystery series set in and around the American comic book industry during the tail end of the Golden Age of Comic Books
Dick Tracy is an American comic strip featuring Dick Tracy, a tough and intelligent police detective created by Chester Gould. It made its debut on Sunday, October 4, 1931, in the Detroit Mirror, and was distributed by the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate. Gould wrote and drew the strip until 1977, and various artists and writers have continued it.
Chester Gould was an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of the Dick Tracy comic strip, which he wrote and drew from 1931 to 1977, incorporating numerous colorful and monstrous villains.
Michael Hammer is a fictional character created by the American author Mickey Spillane. Hammer debuted in the 1947 book I, the Jury. Hammer is a no-holds-barred private investigator whose love for his secretary Velda is outweighed only by his willingness to kill a killer. Hammer's best friend is Pat Chambers, Captain of NYPD Homicide. Hammer was a World War II army veteran who spent two years fighting jungle warfare in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II against Japan.
Frank Morrison Spillane, better known as Mickey Spillane, was an American crime novelist, called the "king of pulp fiction". His stories often feature his signature detective character, Mike Hammer. More than 225 million copies of his books have sold internationally. Spillane was also an occasional actor, once even playing Hammer himself in the 1965 film The Girl Hunters.
Road to Perdition is a 2002 American crime drama film directed by Sam Mendes and written by David Self, based on the first volume of the graphic novel series of the same name by Max Allan Collins and Richard Piers Rayner. It stars Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Stanley Tucci, Daniel Craig and Tyler Hoechlin in his film debut. Set in 1931 during the Great Depression, the film follows a mob enforcer and his son as they seek vengeance against the mobster who murdered the rest of their family. The film explores themes such as father-son relationships and the consequences of violence.
Dick Tracy is a 1990 American action crime film based on the 1930s comic strip character of the same name created by Chester Gould. Warren Beatty produced, directed and starred in the film, whose supporting cast includes Al Pacino, Madonna, Glenne Headly and Charlie Korsmo, with appearances by Dustin Hoffman, James Keane, Charles Durning, William Forsythe, Seymour Cassel, Mandy Patinkin, Catherine O'Hara, Ed O'Ross, James Caan, James Tolkan, R. G. Armstrong and Dick Van Dyke. Dick Tracy depicts the detective's romantic relationships with Breathless Mahoney and Tess Trueheart, as well as his conflicts with crime boss Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice and his henchmen. Tracy also begins fostering a young street urchin named Kid.
Hardboiled fiction is a literary genre that shares some of its characters and settings with crime fiction. The genre's typical protagonist is a detective who battles the violence of organized crime that flourished during Prohibition (1920–1933) and its aftermath, while dealing with a legal system that has become as corrupt as the organized crime itself. Rendered cynical by this cycle of violence, the detectives of hardboiled fiction are often antiheroes. Notable hardboiled detectives include Dick Tracy, Philip Marlowe, Nick Charles, Mike Hammer, Sam Spade, Lew Archer, Slam Bradley, and The Continental Op.
Ms. Tree is a comic book series named for its lead character, co-created by writer Max Allan Collins and artist Terry Beatty. Her name is a paronomasia, or play on words, of the term "Mystery".
I, the Jury is a 1982 American neo-noir crime thriller film based on the 1947 best-selling detective novel of the same name by Mickey Spillane. The story was previously filmed in 3D in 1953. Larry Cohen wrote the screenplay and was hired to direct, but was replaced when the film's budget was already out of control after one week of shooting. He was replaced at short notice by veteran TV director Richard T. Heffron.
Terry Beatty is an artist who has worked as a penciler and inker in the American comic book industry, where he is perhaps best known for his co-creation of the female detective Ms. Tree.
Crime comics is a genre of American comic books and format of crime fiction. The genre was originally popular in the late 1940s and early 1950s and is marked by a moralistic editorial tone and graphic depictions of violence and criminal activity. Crime comics began in 1942 with the publication of Crime Does Not Pay published by Lev Gleason Publications and edited by Charles Biro. As sales for superhero comic books declined in the years after World War II, other publishers began to emulate the popular format, content and subject matter of Crime Does Not Pay, leading to a deluge of crime-themed comics. Crime and horror comics, especially those published by EC Comics, came under official scrutiny in the late 1940s and early 1950s, leading to legislation in Canada and the United Kingdom, the creation in the United States of the Comics Magazine Association of America and the imposition of the Comics Code Authority in 1954. This code placed limits on the degree and kind of criminal activity that could be depicted in American comic books, effectively sounding the death knell for crime comics and their adult themes.
Road to Perdition is a series of fictional works written by Max Allan Collins.
Edward Joseph Gorman Jr. was an American writer and short fiction anthologist. He published in almost every genre, but is best known for his work in the crime, mystery, western, and horror fields. His non-fiction work has been published in such publications as The New York Times and Redbook.
Harry Frank Sahle was an American comic book artist who drew for such publishers as Archie Comics—helping create the defined look of Archie Comics' breakout character, Archie Andrews—Quality Comics and the Marvel Comics precursor company Timely Comics during the 1930s-1940s period historians and fans call the Golden Age of Comic Books.
Dutton Guilt Edged Mysteries was an imprint which published detective fiction. Between 1947 and 1956, the imprint published eighty-two novels. Its best known author was Mickey Spillane; Dutton published his first seven Mike Hammer novels.
Brash Books is an American crime fiction imprint founded in 2014 by authors Lee Goldberg and Joel Goldman. The main focus of Brash Books is to republish award-winning and critically acclaimed novels, primarily from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, which had fallen out of print. The imprint also publishes new crime fiction and suspense novels.
Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, with Stacy Keach in the title role, is an American crime drama television series that originally aired on CBS from January 28, 1984, to May 13, 1987. The series consisted of 51 installments: 46 one-hour episodes, a two-part pilot episode, and three TV Movies.
More Than Murder is a 1984 American made-for-television mystery film starring Stacy Keach as Mickey Spillane's iconic hardboiled private detective Mike Hammer. It aired on January 26, 1984, at 9:00 p.m. and was the second of two pilots featuring Keach in the part - the other being Murder Me, Murder You (1983) - that blazed a path for the 1980s version of the CBS series Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, which debuted on January 28, 1984.
Charles Harding Wells was an American crime novelist and protégé of Mickey Spillane. He wrote two novels, 1953's Let the Night Cry and 1955's The Last Kill.
Earle Morris Basinsky, Jr. (1921–1963) was an American crime novelist and protégé of Mickey Spillane. He wrote two novels, 1955's The Big Steal and 1956's Death is a Cold, Keen Edge, and five short stories.
Collins teamed with artist Terry Beatty to introduce Ms. Tree in the first issue of Eclipse Magazine (May, 1981).
Jason Todd's origin had been a virtual carbon copy of Dick Grayson's. However, with the clean slate offered by Crisis on Infinite Earths, writer Max Allan Collins decided to make the characters more different.
{{cite book}}
: |first2=
has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Wild Dog was introduced at the beginning of Arrow Season 5.
Crusin's lead singer and keyboardist Max Allan Collins is better known to fans as a prolific author of novels, short stories and comic books.