GITG Special Offer: The Detectives

Back in 1993, while I was Editorial Director of a small, B&W comics company called Alpha Productions, I persuaded the publisher to allow me to put together a 48-page, squarebound comics anthology featuring new stories of some of comics' greatest private eye characters. I originally wanted to call it Shamus, but it eventually saw print as The Detectives.

Counting the 1923 publication of the first "Race Williams" story by Carroll John Daly and the first "Continental Op" story by Dashiell Hammett as the birth of the private eye genre, I called the book a 70th Anniversary Celebration, and set out to include as many creators and characters as I could fit in.

Beneath a cover by fan-favorite artist Adam Hughes, there was a text introduction by mystery writer Ed Gorman, a new Michael Mauser, Private Eye adventure by Nicola Cuti and Joe Staton, a new MAZE Agency mystery by Mike W.Barr, Paul Pelletier and Bob Cram, a Tony Bravado, Trouble-Shooter story by Dave Darrigo and Peter Grau, and – in the volume's only reprint – a Johnny Dynamite story from the 1950's. I wanted a Ms. Tree story, but that character was tied up by DC Comics at the time, so Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty contributed a new Mike Mist Mist-ery instead. Filling out the last page in the book was a pin-up drawing of Ted Slampyak's P.I. character, Ace Mifflin, of The Jazz Age Chronicles.

There were two versions of the book – it was the 90's, after all – a standard edition with a red logo, and a "limited" edition with the logo printed in metallic gold ink. If memory serves, it was one of the best-selling books the company ever published, and I've recently found online dealers selling the standard edition for around $10 and the gold edition for twice that.

So what prompted this little stroll down Nostalgia Avenue?

Well, last night I found a box full of gold edition copies of The Detectives in my parents' basement. And, since the book's both kinda hard to find these days and, apparently, expensive if you can, I thought I'd make this once-in-a-lifetime gathering of comic book P.I.'s available again to GITG readers. So, if you're interested in getting your mitts on a mint-condition copy, I'm letting 'em go for just five bucks each, postage included. While supplies last, natch.

Orders can be made via Paypal sent to atomicpulp@gmail.com. If you don't do PayPal, and want to make other payment arrangements, contact me at the same address, and we'll work something out.