Author: Mike Gold

Once upon a time, mystery writer Max Allan Collins (Road To Perdition, CSI, Dick Tracy) teamed up with his pal Terry Beatty to create one of the longest-running independently-owned hardboiled crime comics, Ms. Tree. It enjoyed a long and healthy life, outlasting several of its publishers.

In the interest of full disclosure, I should point out that I edited the last lengthy run of the character over at DC Comics, where we produced ten novelette-length stories.

Now the indomitable private eye is making her return – not as a comic book, but as a prose novel written by Max Allan Collins and published this December by Hard Case Crime, who handles writers such as Pete Hamill, Stephen King and Ed McBain. I’m happy to report co-creator Terry Beatty is not being left out of the action: as you can see from the above illustration, Terry has contributed the cover painting to Deadly Beloved, "the first ever Ms. Tree Novel." This puts Terry alongside such masters as Robert McGinnis, Arthur Suydam and Bill Nelson.

All I can say is, well, hell, it’s about time.

Artwork copyright Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty. All Rights Reserved.

Our pal Craig "Modern Arf" Yoe has posted a scan of the very first Pogo comic strip over on his website. He does this ahead of Fantagraphics’ forthcoming Pogo reprint series, which will be a companion to their Peanuts, Popeye and Dennis programs (sounds like a law firm).

The last time – actually, the only time – I’d seen this original before was when it was framed and on the wall of Craig’s kitchen. To my everlasting credit, that is exactly where I had left it. Quite reluctantly.

Artwork copyright Walt Kelly Estate. All RIghts Reserved.

By now you’ve heard about all the new teevee shows announced by the networks. Here’s some new Comedy Central shows you might be able to look forward to, as a while bunch of new shows are going to pilot:

Root of All Evil, a courtroom show in which comedians argue that their client is the root of all evil. The show would pit Paris Hilton against Dick Cheney, or chick flicks against video games. Lewis Back is the judge.

Held Up, in which a bank teller is held hostage by two teams of robbers and a comic version of the Stockholm syndrome ensues.

An animated Larry the Cable Guy show, as if Larry wasn’t animated enough. Here he’s the co-owner of a cable TV channel whose other owner would prefer to program classier fare.

Michael Ian Black Doesn’t Understand, starring you-know-who in a sketch show/

Night Writer from one-time Saturday Night Live head writer T. Sean Shannon.

The Watch List, which features material from up-and-coming Middle Eastern-American comedians.

According to TV Week, Comedy Central also has production deals in the works for David Alan Grier and JoKoy.

Bryan Talbot’s legendary British graphic novel of the 70s and 80s, The Adventures of Luther Arkwright, has been adapted to a full-cast audio drama by the folks at Big Finish Productions, the same people who bring us original full-cast audio of Dark Shadows, Sapphire and Steel, and Doctor Who. The production spans three CDs and stars everybody’s favorite 10th Doctor, David Tennant, as the title character.

No stranger to audio drama, Tennant has been featured in several Big Finish Doctor Who-related adventures prior to being cast in the current television version.

The Adventures of Luther Arkwright was published in the United States by Dark Horse Comics.