RARA-AVIS: Re: Nina Zero

From: Kevin Burton Smith ( kvnsmith@thrillingdetective.com)
Date: 31 Jan 2005


On Jan 31, 2005, at 12:37 AM, miker wrote:

> There's a big difference between Nina and Hendricks's
> protagonists. Nina is a triumphant comic strip
> character. You can torture her all night long but
> give her an opening and she'll kick your ass, drag a
> Harley off the ground and ride it through a ring of
> fire. Hendricks's women come from Lou Ford's
> neighborhood, not Superman's.

Nina? Nina Zero?

I don't really consider her really noir at all. Hard-boiled, sure, but not all that noir.

And one of the things I like about Nina IS her vulnerabilty, and her continuing battle to rise above it. She's no more a super hero than Marlowe or Archer or any of them.

Are you sure you've read the books? I haven't read all of them, but in all the ones I've read it's her inner toughness (arguably what makes a character hard-boiled) that helps her persevere, not some over-boiled macho comic book bravado. You make her sound like Don Pendleton's Executioner, that shoot 'em up moron who was always far more of a comic book than anything (and considerably more "comic bookish" than most comic books these days).

Kevin Burton Smith The Thrilling Detective Web Site Holiday Issue There's still time to vote for the 2004 Thrillies! http://www.thrillingdetective.com

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