THE MALTESE FALCON Comic Book - Chapter I: Spade and Archer

When I started this blog eight years ago, one of my first grandiose plans was to post this comic book. It was too good not to share. So I trotted down to my storage unit and started digging through boxes. And came up empty. Undaunted, I kept searching until I'd been through all four or five hundred boxes. And found zilch. In the years since I've kept an eye out on every visit. The lesson I've learned from storage hunting is that you almost never find the thing you're looking for when you're looking for it -- you find it when you're looking for something else. But in the case of the Maltese comic book, that never happened. 

Then a few weeks back I came across some online photos of 3-D Tarzan gum cards (watch for those in a future post), and started thinking fondly of the stack of 3-D comics sheltered in the back of my top desk drawer . . . Mighty Mouse, Batman, Superman, Crypt of Terror, EC Classics, and others. And I had a thought. Could the Falcon be there too? Nah, wouldn't make sense. It's not 3-D. But it was worth a look. And there it sat, shining like the Holy Grail. Right where it had been for at least twenty years, less than two feet from the tip of my nose. 

So at long last, more or less direct from 1946, just in time for Hammett's birthday (it's tomorrow), here it is. Or here, at least, is Chapter I. I'll be presenting a chapter a day until all 18 have been laid before your eyes. Hope you think it was worth the wait. 

The stylish artwork is by Rodlow Willard, best known for his work from 1946-1954 on the Scorchy Smith comic strip.

Tomorrow - Chapter II: Death in the Fog