Firearm was written by James Robinson, who currently writes
_Starman_ for DC
Comics and has been the subject of many award nominations (if
not actual
awards...I'm really not up on the awards right now). It was
published by Malibu
Comics, in their Ultraverse line. The title had many artists,
but the principal
ones were Cully Hamner, pencils, and John Lowe, inker. The
art is very angular
and characterizing, with the one possible bad point being the
brightness of the
colors, but that is more an issue with the printers than the
colorists.
The basis of the Ultraverse was that certain random people on
earth were suddenly
endowed with powers and the various titles revolve around how
they dealt with
them. Alec Swan, AKA Firearm, was not one of these people,
but no matter what
case he's on, it seems that somehow people with powers
(called "ultras") got
involved. One of the greatest lines in the entire series was
at the beginning of
issue 2, when Swan states "I'm a Touchstone guy in a Walt
Disney world."
It was published starting in September 1993, and went 19
issues (starting with an
issue 0 and up to issue 18), and he explored many hard-boiled
themes, including
the gumshoe making the rounds and existing in the seemy
underbelly of his city;
the occasional femme fatale; having to interact with those
"in the light," or the
rich and powerful; plots and conspiracies; and the whole
series ended with Swan's
hunt of a serial killer of ultras named Rafferty, the final
issue being a
wonderful John Woo-esque fight in the collapsing building
with fire raging all
around them.
Malibu's Ultraverse has since been dismantled by its new
owners, Marvel Comics,
and none of the Ultraverse characters are being used any
more. However, noir and
hard-boiled themes are in many of the books...especially
Firearm, Night Man (a
Batman-type book where the hero can hear the evil thoughts of
others and he is
driven to act against them), and Solitaire (the son of a
crime lord who fights
his own father's actions with a wonderful cast of supporting
characters, much
like that of the Shadow or Doc Savage).
They're probably pretty hard to find now, as the company
hasn't been around for
2-3 or more years, but if you make the effort I think you
won't be disappointed.
Jamie Fellrath
Kevin Smith wrote:
> Jamie Fellrath wrote:
>
> >Firearm was a comic about a PI in Pasadena,
CA.....
> >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.
>
> I've never even heard of Firearm! It sounds
intriguing! Tell us more about
> Firearm! Who published them, how many, who drew 'em,
etc. And who cares,
> anyway, how you got here, you're here now. I got here
through Roy Rogers
> myself!
>
> The whole comic thing has, in fact, been discussed a
bit here before, and
> probably will again. In fact, I think comic book
P.I.s might be the next
> topic for a poll or guestbook on my site. I'll let
you guys know in a few
> days...I'm re-compiling the list of cheese (damn free
Guestbook crashed!)
> and I'll have it up soon...
>
> By the way, speaking of comics, Stray Bullets #15
just came out (at last!).
> It's on my TBR comics pile, along with a few other
hardboiled-type comics,
> including Hitman, Jonny Double, Sandman Mystery
Theatre, and The Detective
> (which seems to be an English reprint or update of
Max Faccione, which was
> originally done in Belgium, I think, in the early
eighties...does anyone
> know anymore about Faccione?)
>
>
**************************************************
> Kevin Smith
> It's summertime, and the living is cheesy...What are
you reading this summer?
> Tell us in this month's P.I. Poll on The Thrilling
Detective Web Site
> http://www.colba.net/~kvnsmith/thrillingdetective/
>
> Now with fresh fiction monthly....
>
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