Customer Reviews

A Killing in Comics (A Jack Starr Mystery)

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Max Allan Collins's A KILLING IN COMICS is both well-researched and a labor of love that's masquerading as a mystery novel. Set in 1948, back in the days when the military was returning from World War II and the usual fiction heroes in comics and the pulps were transitioning to harder-edged fare, the novel is a fun, sort of hardboiled romp.

To an accomplished comics fan, and I admit to my geek factor and claim that title, Collins's portrayal of the industry tensions going on at the time was dead on. Wonder Man is really Superman, and the problems Siegel and Schuster had over trying to claim the rights to their greatest creation is true, and sad. But, as Collins points out, that was the way business operated in those days.

Batwing is, of course, Batman. And that tale offers up yet another depressing tale of a partnership where one partner took advantage of another. Amazonia is Wonder Woman.

I have to admit to distraction during the novel, so I wasn't completely focused on keeping up with the clues. Most of the time I was relating my comics knowledge to the story and how Collins wove in the many details. Richard Lupoff and Don Thompson's ALL IN COLOR FOR A DIME is an excellent resource to go along with this novel. Reading it before or after Collins's book is recommended for deeper enjoyment of everything that was going on at this time.

In the opening chapter of the novel, Donny Harrison, the publisher of Americana Comics, ends up dead at his own fiftieth birthday party while dressed in a colorful Wonder Man outfit. There are suspects aplenty. The two guys who invented Wonder Man are on hand and pretty upset about getting their own invention yanked away from them. Batwing's creator has a way of beating his contract and getting his contract annulled so he can get control of his character back.

But the birthday party is being held at Harrison's mistress's apartment with Harrison's wife in attendance. There are two more instant suspects.

The hero of the mystery is Jack Starr, a licensed private eye who works for Starr Syndicate, the company his father created. The syndicate is currently headed up by Maggie Starr, Jack's stepmother who was an ex-stripper and is also the smartest woman Jack knows.

I liked the breezy way Collins unveiled the story in Jack's first-person narrative. I was immediately reminded of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe mysteries with the way Jack worked for Maggie and she refused to leave syndicate headquarter.

Collins makes all the familiar moves of the hardboiled novel, including getting on the wrong side of the cops and the gangsters. While this is welcome in some respects, some it just seemed too familiar. Not hackneyed, but definitely in the old neighborhood of this kind of mystery.

I read the book in a couple of sittings and had a good time. The mystery was well planned, the research well executed, and the dialogue - most of the time - crackled. The time period was a welcome treat to the read.

I don't know how Collins could do any more books about Jack and Maggie Star, but I'd definitely read them if any more are forthcoming. I liked the characters, and getting to see Jack and Maggie back in action would be great.

Max Allan Collins, is America's greatest living mystery writer when it comes to penning fictional novels based on true crimes. Although this one uses made up characters, it a thinly veiled roman a clef for the story of how the real creators of Superman got the shaft from the comic book producers.
Set in 1948 in New York City, Collins does his usual masterful job of creating an extraordinarily believable and intriguing ambiance of the time and place.
Aided by his parnter, Terry Beatty's artful comic strip style illustrations, Collins creates a wonderous who-done-it full of fun and intiguing historical information.
The Shamus award winning author has scored again big time with "A Killing in the Comics."

A clean, fast, involving mystery from the always reliable Max Allan Collins. This one is set in the world of post-World War II comic book publishing and features thinly-veiled versions of Superman, Batman, their creators, and publisher D.C. Comics (which in the 40's was called National Comics and here is called Americana Comics).

Over the course of the book's murder investigation, there's lots of attention given to the comics publisher screwing over the creative talent, certain creative talent screwing over their anonymous writing and artwork assistants, etc., making it interesting to wonder how much of all this cutthroat activity reflects the reality of the time. My bet is, a good bit.

And, Collins being Collins, as fun as these details are, they never keep the story from moving forward and building steam, and Terry Beatty's many illustrations (clean and uncluttered, just like the prose) are a treat, too. A perfect read for comic book fans, "A Killing in Comics" will also be good fun for those who just enjoy a good mystery.

If you like this novel, you might also want to seek out the author's "Nice Weekend For a Murder," a murder mystery set in the world of mystery publishing, which takes place during an annual mystery writers' retreat. That was a lot of fun, too.

This book was a pleasant enough mystery, but the mystery itself wasn't mysterious, and the novel wasn't clever enough to justify the expense. Terry Beatty's artwork is reminiscent of the old Dick Tracy strips, but the writing is ho-hum at best. Collins' Nate Heller books delivered far more suspense and historical factoids than this comic-book crime does.

I swear, MAC is a fantastic writer. I don't know why he's reduced to writing CSI novels. Maybe he is just keeping it real - the man is a great pulp writer, easily as good as the best of the classics. But this book is just amazing. Not only does he give us Jack Starr, an Archie Goodwin for a generation who doesn't know who Archie Goodwin even is, but he builds a delicious, fully fleshed out world of real midcentury aethetics, down to Starr's food and drink choices, and his Bauhaus furniture. Amazing. I didn't want to leave this world, and I didn't want the book to end. The plot is a little cheesy, and so is the revelation of the murder - but that's completely authentic and no different than anything Rex Stout ever wrote! The comics background was interesting, I thought even more so than Chabon's too-long, mopey, boring tale of sexual confusion and comics The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. This was exactly to my liking, and I hope he keeps up the fantastic work! Also, if you liked this, make sure to check out his most awesome contribution to the fantastic Hard Case Crime Series, Two For The Money (Hard Case Crime).

A Killing in Comics is an eminently readable mystery novel by Max Allan Collins. The action takes place in the world of comics circa 1948. The book is written in the style of the hard-boiled detective story. The protagonist is Jack Starr, who is a vice-president of Starr Syndication, and as a licensed private investigator, he is responsible for looking after the interests of Starr Syndication and its writers.

When Donny Harrison, the publisher behind the "Wonder Guy" comic, dies at his own birthday party, Jack is asked by his boss and stepmother to investigate. Wonder Guy is one of their best comics, and the creators were at the party, and thus suspects. As Jack investigates, he finds that not everything about the comic industry is fun and games. There is no shortage of suspects, ranging from Donny's mistress to a crime boss to the creators of the comic strips, all with plenty of motive to murder Donny Harrison.

The panels at the beginning of each chapter drawn by Terry Beatty are in a 1948 style, adding another element of style to the book

Max Collins writes the mystery in the classic Ellery Queen style. He even has a summary in comic strip form, thanks to Terry Beatty. All the information to solve the case is available to the reader. The question is whether the reader has picked up on all the important clues.

A Killing in Comics was an enjoyable read, without unnecessary gore or violence, and it has a terrific cast of characters. I had fun comparing his fictional comic book characters to the real-life characters that were the staple of the day.

The author's treatment of the comics and his characters rings true to life, he plays by the rules of the classic mystery, and has a lot of fun while he does so.

Armchair Interviews says: Crime in classic Ellery Queen style. Collins is a CSI author and Road to Perdition creator with lots of books to his name (and his pen name).

Harry Spiegel was the writer with a dream and he shared that with Moe Shulman; together they created a hit comic series Wonder Guy and sold it to Donny of American Comics. However they were two innocents who signed away all rights including fees for merchandise based on the comic.. Their contract is coming up and they might not sign up with American Comics. Stark Syndication, the outlet that distributes their work to newspapers across the country would be fairer to them.

They have an idea for a comic book and they want to sell that to Stark Syndication. At Donny's birthday party, he keels over and dies. A toxicology report reveals he was poisoned and Jack Stark, V.P. and troubleshooter for Stark syndication starts an investigation rights. His interest is purely financial as he doesn't want a long protracted investigation involving three players in their stable. By finding the killer, (he is a licensed P.I.) the company will know what business decisions to make but he soon realizes he has his work cut out for him. Donny was a man who many people had a motive to want him dead.

A KILLING IN COMICS takes place in 1948 Manhattan and has a nourish gothic feel to it as well using some comic book Golden Age history . It is a trip down memory lane when people believe that comics are destroying the minds of children who read them. The well executed plot and the Phillips Marlow type protagonist makes this an excellent historical mystery. The illustrations by Terry Beatty are fantastic and visualize key plot points.

Harriet Klausner