Friday, June 2, 2017

THE MALTESE FALCON Comic Book - Chapter VIII: Brigid

Hoping to bring you another morsel of information about this comic, I pawed through five and half biographies (one of them was Hellman and Hammett) and the Selected Letters without finding even a mention. The excellent Discovering the Maltese Falcon and Sam Spade merely acknowledged its existence, with a black and white cover photo and the caption, "Cover of comic-book version: David McKay, 1946 (Collection of Richard Layman)." And that treasure trove of information known as the Internet turned up nothing more than the names of the artist (Rodlow Willard) and publisher. 

So I still know absolutely nothing about what Hammett thought of it, if anything, or what he was paid, if anything. 

Discovering the Maltese Falcon, though, did cough up an interesting tidbit on a related subject. In 1948, when Warner Bros. sued the folks behind "The Adventures of Sam Spade" radio program for copyright infringement, Hammett wrote a lengthy affadavit regarding the creation of the novel and character, and made particular mention of the radio sequel to the Falcon, "The Kandy Tooth."

Last week, when I posted that show (HERE), I explained my new-found belief in the Kandy spelling, as opposed to Kandi, Khandi and Candy, so I was pleased to see that the number one Spade authority of all time was also in the Kandy camp. That case should be considered closed.

Anyway, here's today's chapter. Ten more to go.



The story so far is HERE.
Tomorrow - Chapter IX: The Belvedere Divan 

2 comments:

  1. The Maltese Falcon was published by McKay in 1946. It is Feature Book #48. It was 48 pages with no ads. Here's a blurb about it from the book Icons of Mystery and Crime Detection - https://books.google.com/books?id=p2zTtMxkExgC&pg=PA655&lpg=PA655&dq=maltese+falcon+mckay+1946&source=bl&ots=oJC30QtRGc&sig=WWdNgtq_hYNEUrHulQvfuCcVfIw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjgn_XQ2KLUAhVCKiYKHW7FAVsQ6AEIYjAP#v=onepage&q=maltese%20falcon%20mckay%201946&f=false

    Here's a copy for sale at mycomicshop.com - https://www.mycomicshop.com/search?TID=354691

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  2. Thanks! Actually, there is one ad, on the inside front cover, but the story continues on the inside back and the back itself.

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