tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post6957398745442354121..comments2024-03-28T18:21:09.285-05:00Comments on Rough Edges: Forgotten Books: Four Frightened Women - George Harmon Coxe (Graphic Novel Version)James Reasonerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18049917964433932612noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post-46842354303738409112024-01-10T14:32:57.702-06:002024-01-10T14:32:57.702-06:00The art is by Richard Martin Fletcher a comic str...The art is by Richard Martin Fletcher a comic strip artist who also worked in comic books between 1938 and 1941- I own art I got from his estate. Given the size of the book and the number of pages he may have been assisted by his brother as Richard was doing a weekly comic strip Jed Cooper at the time Art fro mthe grpahic novel is up in my gallery at www.comicartfans.comGeorge Hagenauernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post-23428286284458034612017-09-08T15:57:09.903-05:002017-09-08T15:57:09.903-05:00But more mystery novels were adapted this way, Yve...But more mystery novels were adapted this way, Yvette. And they are read and collected ... by people who can afford them, that is. When I was growing up in Britain in the 1950s, the Amalgamated Press had a two-a-month series of digest-sized comic books called the Super Detective Library. It ran 64-page adaptations of stories by Edgar Wallace, Leslie Charteris (the Saint), Victor Canning, Bruce Graeme (Blackshirt) and others. It also re-formatted newspaper strips for some of its issues (e.g. Rip Kirby, Lesley Shane). I didn't buy them too often, mainly because my pocket money was limited. Same-priced text novels in the same format in newspaper-size print made similar entertainment last much longer while my own imagination supplied the scenes as graphically as any artist! I believe I have just one Super Detective Library issue tucked away somewhere -- THE TOFF AT BUTLIN'S by John Creasey. Chap O'Keefehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13408711495694216427noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post-15491814490971676702017-09-08T15:50:48.285-05:002017-09-08T15:50:48.285-05:00I see some similarities between Coxe's books a...I see some similarities between Coxe's books and Dresser's Mike Shayne novels. Both combine hardboiled with elements of classic fair-play detective novels. Of course, in the early Shayne novels there's screwball comedy as well, making them almost a sub-genre of their own.James Reasonerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18049917964433932612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post-50444986692035285362017-09-08T13:09:22.642-05:002017-09-08T13:09:22.642-05:00I don't think I've ever read a book by Geo...I don't think I've ever read a book by George Harmon Coxe, though his name is familiar. And I certainly never knew that a comic book graphic version existed. Wow. Interesting. I wonder why more mystery novels aren't adapted in this way. They would be fun to read and collect.Yvettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post-57165314521265437352017-09-08T11:57:58.600-05:002017-09-08T11:57:58.600-05:00Fascinating. I never knew about this one. I always...Fascinating. I never knew about this one. I always appreciated Coxe and read him when I was coming up since, as you say, for a period there he and a few others like John Creasey seemed to own the public library mystery section. I always found Coxe thoroughly competent yet with nothing to distinguish his work from the more colorful hardboiled guys like Cleve F. Adams, Carroll John Daly or Roger Torrey. But in 1950 ol' Flashgun was on a real media blitz: The Casey novels by Coxe,a movie, a radio show, a radio tie-in novel by Edward S. Aarons and this graphic novel. I guess the timing was just off as 1950 saw Mr. Spillane suck all the oxygen out of the market with is phenomenal success.Stephen Mertzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08531248810283345577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post-33241613053563736142017-09-08T08:41:13.381-05:002017-09-08T08:41:13.381-05:00I've liked every George Harmon Cox book I'...I've liked every George Harmon Cox book I've ever read (and he wrote a lot of them!). I have not seen this graphic adaption before your fine review.Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04546161337366365635noreply@blogger.com