RARA-AVIS: What I'm reading...and why.

James Fellrath (jfellrath@worldnet.att.net)
Sun, 30 Aug 1998 23:34:12 -0400 I'm reading Chandler's _The Big Sleep_. I realize most of you are long time
fans, but I'm rather new to Hard-boiled fiction. You may laugh at how I got
into it, but I'd like to share the story because I think it shows how the
Hard-boiled genre affects other genres. I just subscribed to this list
recently and I think it's an interesting story.

A few years ago, I was an active comic book collector, and one of my
favorite titles was the now-defunct _Firearm_, written by James Robinson
(currently writer of DC Comics' _Starman_ series). Robinson is an
extraordinary writer, bringing wonderful characterization in places you
might not normally see it.

Firearm was a comic about a PI in Pasadena, CA. He has the typical "super
secret agent" background. He's a former British Special Boat Service member
and also was in a fictional British spy agency called the Lodge. However,
what led him to be a PI was his love for Chandler, Hammett, etc. He's a
voracious reader, and Robinson obviously has a love for the hard-boiled
genre as well...he quotes the books regularly and Firearm often waxes
nostalgic about how the Los Angeles of Chandler is not the Los Angeles he
knows. But he still catches little glimpses of it here and there.

I realize that many of you may find this silly, to be talking about comics
in a literary mailing list, but I think that it is very interesting to see
how the hard-boiled genre affected Robinson and how he shows its effects
within the pages of Firearm and observations of his main character. He is
truly a student and fan of the genre and if any of you are interested I'd be
happy to tell you more.

Jamie Fellrath

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