> There is a huge Shayne fan, John Samony Jr. who used to have a Shayne
> tribute site which apparently is now defunct for some reason...maybe
> licensing. He did post at one time on Kevin Smithıs Thrilling
> Detective
> site. Iıve asked Kevin if he can get a hold of John but to no avail
> thus
> far. I thought maybe John might know the family. In the game of
> licensing
> you learn to try just about any avenue. It becomes a game of
> sleuthing in
> itself.
Interestingly enough -- and I was about to contact you -- it turns out
John Samony -- John Samony, Jr. -- is/was involved in comics himself.
He wrote a pretty good story for THRILLING DETECTIVE a few years ago,
about the time he was launching his Mike Shayne web site which has
also disappeared. As well as a few other sites he had created.
But I haven't heard from him for years. The fact the Mike Shayne site
was such an obvious labour of love and has now gone MIA does not bode
well. Maybe James Reasoner, who may be lurking here (and was Brett
Halliday for a while) might have an idea?
> Anyway thanks for your very well put transcription of the absurdity of
> disclaiming comics with works of detective fiction. Well said!
Yep, I've got to agree with the Infallible One there -- the idea of
anything being "too good" for comics is laughable. (Heck, I'm waiting
for the Limbaugh/Incredible Hulk crossover myself. The Hulk's the
green one.)
Just check out the recent BRITTEN AND BRULIGHTLY by first-timer Hannah
Berry, an awesome swirl of writing and art that's winds up like
CHINATOWN on steroids. Bleak, dark, grim and as sad as the washed out
grays of the artwork, this is as fine a classic noir novel as I've
read in a while. This Berry woman is one to watch.
But I digress...
The idea of the estate being picky seems curious, since while Halliday
was alive, almost anything was up for bids. TV, radio, film, comic
books and even the character itself were all sold, with no apparent
concerns about quality control or even faithfulness to the original
creation. Sure, some of the great names of our genre pumped out Shayne
stories for MSMM, but not all the post-Dresser stories, it has to be
admitted, were exactly golden (or for that matter, the Dresser stories
themselves). Does the Dresser family even still own the rights to the
character or was it sold off to some conglomerate decades ago?
Kevin Burton Smith
Thrilling Detective Web Site
Spring 2009 Issue Now Online
"Love Rears It's Ugly Head"
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