Don McGregor Donald Francis McGregor (born June 15, 1945) is an American comic book writer best known for his work for Marvel Comics; he is the author of one of the first graphic novels. Early life Don McGregor was born in Providence, Rhode Island, where he ...

Marshall Rogers William Marshall Rogers III (January 22, 1950 – March 24, 2007),William Marshall Rogers III

Gene Colan Eugene Jules Colan (; September 1, 1926 – June 23, 2011)Eugene Colan
at the

, and printed directly from his detailed pencils; a later comic-book reprinting added a sepia-tone wash in place of inking. These two early graphic novels were not superhero or

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

/

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

stories, and ''A Remembrance of Threatening Green'' (1980) was the first naturalistic graphic novel to follow

Will Eisner William Erwin Eisner (March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series '' The Spirit'' (1940–1952) was no ...

's influential '' A Contract with God''. The Gay League's "LBGT Comics Timeline" cites the book as "featuring the first lesbian characters in mass-market comics".

Publication history

The books' genesis, author

Don McGregor Donald Francis McGregor (born June 15, 1945) is an American comic book writer best known for his work for Marvel Comics; he is the author of one of the first graphic novels. Early life Don McGregor was born in Providence, Rhode Island, where he ...

recalled, had gone back several years. "I had created ''Detectives Inc.'' as early as 1969, as roles for

Alex Simmons Alexandria Patrice Simmons (; born July 7, 1986) is an American basketball coach and former player who is currently the head women's basketball coach at the University of Memphis. From 2018 to 2023, she coached at Gardner–Webb University. Pl ...

and myself to play in Super8 millimeter movies I was making". In the early 1970s, the two produced a crude ''Detectives Inc.'' comic book, self-published via

photocopier A photocopier (also called copier or copy machine, and formerly Xerox machine, the generic trademark) is a machine that makes copies of documents and other visual images onto paper or plastic film quickly and cheaply. Most modern photocopiers ...

. In 1980, Eclipse Enterprises published ''Detectives Inc.: A Remembrance of Threatening Green'', the first of what would become two

graphic novels A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

in this series, both written by McGregor. This initial book featured black-and-white art by penciler- inker

Marshall Rogers William Marshall Rogers III (January 22, 1950 – March 24, 2007),William Marshall Rogers III

. The second book, ''Detectives Inc.: A Terror Of Dying Dreams'', followed in 1985, drawn by

Gene Colan Eugene Jules Colan (; September 1, 1926 – June 23, 2011)Eugene Colan
at the

, and printed directly from his detailed pencils; a later comic-book reprinting added a sepia-tone wash in place of inking. In the American comics market, these two graphic novels were among the first not featuring superhero or

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

/

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

stories, and ''A Remembrance of Threatening Green'' (1980) was the first naturalistic graphic novel to follow

Will Eisner William Erwin Eisner (March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series '' The Spirit'' (1940–1952) was no ...

's influential '' A Contract with God''. The Gay League's "LBGT Comics Timeline" cites the book as "featuring the first lesbian characters in mass-market comics". Eclipse Comics later reprinted the two graphic novels as color

comic-book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

miniseries, dividing the former into two issues (1985) and the latter into three (June, Sept., Dec. 1987), with new Colan covers inked by Steve Leialoha. The graphic novels themselves were reissued by Image Comics in 2001 ( and , respectively). In 1985, McGregor wrote and directed a low-budget, shot-on-video movie version of ''Detectives Inc.'', which has been shown at comic book conventions but remains unreleased commercially.

Plot

Set in and around

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, the two humanistic

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

-

dramas Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been c ...

each stars interracial-buddy private detectives Ted Denning and Bob Rainier. ''A Remembrance of Threatening Green'' involves a

midwife A midwife is a health professional who cares for mothers and newborns around childbirth, a specialization known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughout their lifespan; co ...

hiring the investigators to find who killed her lesbian lover. In ''A Terror of Dying Dreams'', a social worker has the duo investigate a wife-beating millionaire.

Critical assessment

In a contemporaneous review of the first book,

Kim Thompson Kim Thompson (September 25, 1956 – June 19, 2013) was an American comic book editor, translator, and publisher, best known as vice president and co-publisher of Seattle-based Fantagraphics Books. Along with co-publisher Gary Groth, Thomps ...

of ''

The Comics Journal ''The Comics Journal'', often abbreviated ''TCJ'', is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing r ...

'' described ''Detectives Inc.: A Remembrance of Threatening Green'' as "a disastrously mawkish and disjointed attempt to lash together pulp fiction (in this case, a detective story) with a serious theme." Conversely,

Peter Gillis Peter B. Gillis (born December 19, 1952) is an American comic book writer best known for his work at Marvel Comics and First Comics in the mid-1980s, including the series '' Strikeforce: Morituri'' and the digitally drawn comic series '' Shatter' ...

of ''Comics Feature'' found it "tense and powerful and draws one into its action….

he creators He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

assert (and show) that two detectives, the divorced wife, two lovers separated by death from their common object of passion and others, can be just as exciting, as powerful, as dramatic an ensemble as the Avengers or the

Justice League of America The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in '' The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceive ...

.” Later assessments were largely positive. As a commentator at

Ain't It Cool News Ain't It Cool News (AICN) is an entertainment news website founded by Harry Knowles and run by his sister Dannie Knowles since September 2017, dedicated to news, rumors, and reviews of upcoming and current films, television, and comic book pro ...

wrote in 2001, Writing of the 2001 edition of ''A Terror of Dying Dreams'', Ben Herman of the website NegativePop.com said the story "is as much about these three individuals as it is about the solving of a mystery" and that "McGregor's introspective writing superbly portrays these characters, and establishes the realities they live in. While still occasionally ponderous, for the most part McGregor's narration is strikingly appropriate." He found Colan's black-and-white art, reproduced directly from pencil, "crisp and stunning. ... Visible is the intricate detail of his work, the subtle gradations of shadow and lighting that he utilizes. The emotions of McGregor's characters are vividly brought to life by Colan's illustration of their facial expressions and fluid body language."

References

External links

Don McGregor
(Official site) * {{Eclipse Comics American graphic novels Defunct American comics Eclipse Comics titles

Publication history

Plot

Critical assessment

References

Further reading

External links