Mike Hammer « Friends/Family/Fans of Max Allan Collins

Hi, Hi Baby

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

Today (Aug. 16) is the publication date of the first Heller in almost a decade (but you knew that): BYE BYE, BABY. All I ask is that everybody reading this buy 25 copies and ship them to friends (or strangers if necessary).

The audio book is also available, and is the first of a new series from Brilliance that will present every single Nate Heller novel – and the two short story collections – in new audio presentations. This is exciting news, at least for me, and these audio presentations will tie in with the new trade-paperback/e-book reprint series of the complete Nathan Heller Memoirs from Amazon/Encore.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: I will be doing daily updates while Barb and I are on the road the next week’s whirlwind West Coast Tour for our bouncing BABY (see tour schedule above).

This will be a busy week around the Collins household. Barb and I are preparing for the tour, which also will be promoting “Barbara Allan” and other projects, like Hard Case Crime titles and ongoing Mike Hammer projects. And (speaking of Hammer) I will be continuing a crazy work schedule to complete LADY, GO DIE! before we leave next Monday.

Also this week, Barb and I have our 45th high school reunion and of course Crusin’ is playing for that, this coming Saturday night. The band will have a monster rehearsal this week picking up even more ‘60s material for that very special gig.

There are a few nice MAC mentions that have popped up in the last week or so on the Net. Here, for instance, is a cool discussion of Chicago crime that talks about the movie and book, ROAD TO PERDITION, liking both but liking the latter more.

The New York Post has included BYE BYE, BABY on a “required reading” list.

This blog entry – again from the Ed who isn’t Gorman – has smart things to say about Mickey Spillane and Mike Hammer, and a particularly insightful look at the film KISS ME DEADLY. Ed Who Is Not Gorman also highly recommends my documentary on the Criterion release.

There’s a very nice overview of the hardboiled/noir genre in multi-parts that includes Nate Heller and me. But the whole series is good, with insightful comments about Mickey and Hammer.

You’ll have to scroll down to find it (or just read your way down, because it’s a good blog), but here’s a nice review of the upcoming QUARRY’S EX.

M.A.C.

Tags: Bye Bye Baby, Crusin', Lady Go Die, Marilyn Monroe, Mike Hammer, Nathan Heller, Quarry, Quarry's Ex, Road to Perdition, Spillane
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Lady Goes Live

Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011

I am beginning the writing of LADY GO, DIE! today. The prep for this one has been extensive, as this is only Spillane manuscript that dates to the early period of the Mike Hammer books. In fact, you can’t get any earlier than this – the 20,000 word partial manuscript was probably written in 1947, shortly after I, THE JURY. That makes it the second Hammer novel.

By way of prep, I have been reading – and marking up like a school boy getting ready for the big test – large-print copies of I, THE JURY, MY GUN IS QUICK and THE TWISTED THING. The latter – published in 1966 but written before the official second Hammer, MY GUN IS QUICK – is particularly instructive, because it uses the same smalltown setting (fictional Sidon on Long Island) and has a few shared characters. Some of the latter will require me changing character names. Readers of THE TWISTED THING may recall the vividly rendered small-town cop/thug Dilwick. He appears prominently in LADY GO, DIE!, but will appear (unfortunately – because “Dilwick” is a wonderful, typically Spillane moniker) – under a different name in the finished novel.

Interest in the new Spillane/Hammer novels, to be published by Titan, was high on the net this week. Most of the write-ups are reworkings of the original New York Times piece.

This nice article, however, comes out of a phone interview I did, and it’s worth checking out.

In the meantime, the buzz about Harrison Ford as Wyatt Earp (in BLACK HATS) continues, apparently unslowed by the somewhat disappointing opening of Ford and Daniel Craig’s COWBOYS & ALIENS. They tied with the SMURFS. Too bad it wasn’t one movie, because that would have been more interesting, probably, than either existing film – COWBOYS & SMURFS? I’m there.

M.A.C.

Tags: Black Hats, Cowboys and Aliens, Harrison Ford, Interviews, Lady Go Die, Mike Hammer, Spillane
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San Diego Comic-Con: Day Five

Monday, July 25th, 2011

A surprisingly crowded Sunday session found me doing an interview about the Harrison Ford BLACK HATS news, but largely just roaming the crowded room looking for bargains (found a few). Sunday always is a little sad — fewer costumes, a sense of urgency tinged with despair, and security staff getting a last burst of pointless officiousness out of their system — but I did get to talk to a few folks, including the legendary Jim Steranko, who chatted with me about our mutual love for Mickey Spillane and Mike Hammer. A similar conversation took place with Nick Cuti, co-creator of Mike Mauser (Joe Station being the other half), and I also talked to a publisher about bringing out a new, single-volume collection of the MIKE HAMMER comic strip, with the Sunday pages in color.

We had a lovely evening out with Ken and Mary Levin, at the ridiculously assaultive Brazilian steak house Rei Do Gabo.

And now, thanks to Nate, here’s an array of pics from the con.

M.A.C.

M.A.C. with Titan honcho Nick Landau (excellent and still top-secret Mike Hammer covers not shown)

Comic Con 2011
M.A.C. with the RiffTrax crew: Kevin Murphy, Bill Corbett, and Michael J. Nelson

Comic Con 2011
First Comics panel

Comic Con 2011
Vertigo panel (including the reveal of the cover of RETURN TO PERDITION)

Comic Con 2011
2011 Scribes winners Nathan Long and Nancy Holder, and the Scribe Faust Award winner Peter David

Comic Con 2011
Nathan and M.A.C. at SOUTH PARK’s Year of the Fan

Tags: Black Hats, Comic-Con 2011, Faust, Harrison Ford, Mike Hammer, Nancy Holder, Nathan Long, Peter David, Return to Perdition, Road to Perdition, Scribes, South Park, Spillane, Year of the Fan
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San Diego Comic-Con 2011 Day Two

Friday, July 22nd, 2011

I promised two announcements today, both of considerable import:

First, I will be completing three more of Mickey Spillane’s unfinished Mike Hammer novel manuscripts, for a new publisher…Titan of the UK (distributed by Random House in the USA). Titan is one of my favorite publishers — they have a real feel for pop culture — and while I am sorry to leave Harcourt, I am very excited about our new home. I met with Titan honcho Nick Landau today at the con, and he showed me first passes on covers that are innovative and striking for three new Hammer novels. I will be sharing them with you soon.

The books are:

LADY GO, DIE!
COMPLEX 90
KING OF THE WEEDS

I am working on LADY, GO DIE! right now — a manuscript dating to 1948, making it the second Mike Hammer story (after I, THE JURY).

The other news — announced on the reboot of FIRST COMICS panel is that we will be doing Ms. Tree for publisher Ken Levin. The entire run will be collected in new volumes, and Terry Beatty and I be doing a new MS. TREE project, likely a comics mini-series that serializes a graphic novel.

There are number of book publishers here and I spoke to several editors about possible book projects, both tie-in and original.

Nate took a lot of pictures today and we’ll share them with you on Sunday morning. Tomorrow (Friday) are the Scribe Awards with a panel focusing on tie-in grand master, Peter David. Also, Barb and I will be appearing in a mystery/crime panel (details above).

M.A.C.

Tags: Comic-Con 2011, Complex 90, King of the Weeds, Lady Go Die, Mike Hammer, Ms. Tree, Spillane
Posted in Message from M.A.C. | 5 Comments »

Posts Tagged ‘Mike Hammer’

Hi, Hi Baby

Lady Goes Live

San Diego Comic-Con: Day Five

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 Day Two