I haven’t said much about the inclusion on CW’s ARROW TV series of my character Wild Dog (co-created with my longtime pal and collaborator, Terry Beatty, currently tearing it up drawing the Sunday PHANTOM and the weekly REX MORGAN for King Features). The reason is that we are being paid little or nothing, and as yet no one from DC or Warner Bros has even approached us, telling us about this great (if non-remunerative) honor. I do understand that Terry and I are in contention this year for the “Siegel and Shuster Screwed-in-The-Ass Award.”
Still, it’s fun to see screen captures of Terry’s great costume design on an actual human being. Check these out.
You can catch glimpses of Wild Dog on ARROW in this trailer, courtesy of AV Club.
The free looks at the first three episodes of QUARRY on You Tube have been taken down. I will pass the baton to my son Nate, who has information on where you can watch the show elsewhere.
Thank you, son. As for QUARRY in the world of novels, QUARRY IN THE BLACK comes out…today! Oct. 4! In celebration, take a look at this fantastic review from Bookgasm, excerpted at length below:
reviewed by Alan Cranis
Max Allan Collins continues to chronicle the career of Quarry, the assassin-for-hire star of Collins’s long-running series (and recently a TV series on Cinemax). The latest title, Hard Case Crime’s QUARRY IN THE BLACK, focuses on the early stage of Quarry’s hit man vocation in the early 1970s. But thanks to the overriding theme Collins make it as applicable as this morning’s headlines.
The year is 1972, and Quarry gets a visit from his boss, known only as The Broker, at his A-frame house on Paradise Lake. Quarry has only been working for The Broker for two years, so the Broker wants Quarry to know that he is free to turn down this latest assignment, due to its unusual and highly political nature.
(M.A.C.: I am omitting here a lengthy plot synopsis that wanders close into spoiler territory.)
Collins again demonstrates his prodigious research skills by effectively – but unobtrusively – establishing the time frame of the story. Popular TV and movie titles of the period, along with references to fashion styles and current events help solidify the credibility of the period.
Yet in a masterstroke of irony, the theme of racial violence that permeates the plot, along with the inclusion of Ferguson – the location of a recent incident of a potential racially motivated shooting by police – transcends the period of the story and lends the novel an immediate relevance.
This is highly unexpected for a Quarry story, but fortunately – and, again, owing to Collins’s skills as a storyteller – never detracts from the suspense that keeps us moving from chapter to chapter. If anything it adds richness to the reading experience while underscoring the enduring nature of the theme.
Along the way Collins includes a cast of completely believable characters who accompany Quarry in his mission, several scenes of intense violence and action, and unexpected plot twists that few will see coming.
In his author’s note following the conclusion, Collins observes, “An odd and oddly satisfying aspect of writing new Quarry novels for Hard Case Crime has been continuing a series that began as contemporary but is now a period piece.” While not considering these historical novels, with their ’70s and ’80s settings, Collins sees them more as a retelling of his autobiography in installments. Perhaps this is reason for the unexpected but highly enriching relevance of the theme.
Reasons aside, QUARRY IN THE BLACK is highly recommended to both devoted followers of the series and those just discovering it. It is a noteworthy addition to the expanding series, and another triumph for one of crime fiction’s most prolific and creative practitioners.
(M.A.C. again: You can read the entire review here, plot synopsis and all.)
Another great review of QUARRY IN THE BLACK from that top-notch mystery and western writer, Bill Crider, can be read here.
Here’s an interview with TV’s Quarry himself, Logan Marshall-Green.
And, finally, here’s an interview with TV’s Buddy on QUARRY (“Boyd” in the novels).
M.A.C.
Tags: Interviews, New Releases, Quarry, Quarry in the Black, Quarry TV, Reviews, Wild Dog
I remember the Wild Dog comic series very fondly. As I recall, the comics came out around the time that Ms Tree had stopped being published regularly. Sad that no one’s contacted you about the character but it’s really cool to see the live-action images. It looks like he stepped right out of the comics. Hopefully the character will become really popular in the show and he gets his own series (with you guys being involved, of course). Belated happy anniversary to Dick Tracy on his 85th birthday and thanks for your great contributions to his legacy!