The Files of Ms. Tree, Volume One by Max Allan Collins

Tree' (co-created by artist Terry Beatty) 'Batman' and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, for which he has also written video games, jigsaw puzzles, and an internationally bestselling series of novels. His other comics credits include the syndicated strip 'Dick Tracy' his own 'Ms. His graphic novel Road to Perdition (1998) – basis of the Academy Award-winning Tom Hanks film, directed by Sam Mendes – was followed by two acclaimed prose sequels and another graphic novel. Currently he is completing a number of 'Mike Hammer' novels begun by the late mystery writer, Mickey Spillane, starting with The Goliath Bone (2008). Tree is a character for the ages, and deserves to be more widely known.MAX ALLAN COLLINS, a frequent Mystery Writers of America 'Edgar' nominee, has earned an unprecedented fifteen Private Eye Writers of America 'Shamus' nominations for his historical thrillers, winning for his Nathan Heller novels, True Detective (1983) and Stolen Away (1991). But their characters are sound, and you can definitely see their work improving as the book progresses.Īlthough this book is long out of print-it was published in 1984 it's currently 2019 as I type this-it's worth tracking down. Both Collins and Beatty were still developing their skills. Yes, there are some rough edges at first. Tree stories, along with a previously unpublished short prose story. This volume consists of the first two Ms. In somewhat of a break from tradition, said partner is also her husband. In traditional private eye fashion, her first case is tracking down the person responsible for her partner’s death.

Tree (to be fair, Collins was also writing Dick Tracy at the time, so it's not like he descended on comics completely out of the blue.) Yes, the name is a pun Chester Gould would have envied, but there's nothing silly about her.

And Dick Tracy was comfortably ensconced in the nation’s comics pages.Īnd then along came Collins and Beatty with Ms.

Sure, some superheroes-Batman and Elongated Man mostly-would put on the detective hat from time to time. Back in the pre-Brubaker days of the 1980’s, crime and detective fiction in comics were fairly rare.

The Files of Ms. Tree, Volume One by Max Allan Collins