Strip for Murder

Jack & Maggie Starr #2

by Max Allan Collins

Manhattan, 1953. Hal Rapp's Tall Paul, one of America's most popular comic strips, is now a Broadway musical, infuriating Rapp's longtime rival Sam Fizer, creator of the Starr Syndicate's biggest strip Mug O'Malley. Adding insult to injury is the casting of Misty Winters, Fizer's wife, as one of Rapp's hillbilly gals sashaying across the Great White Way. Then Fizer is found dead, his apparent suicide actually an obvious homicide—with all the evidence pointing to Rapp.

Starr Syndicate also had connections to the new musical, which added fuel to the fire between the cartoonists, but Jack and Maggie believe Rapp's been framed. Between loan sharks, jealous husbands, bitter artists, and Fizer's widow—who has taken a romantic interest in Jack—there are more colorful characters with murderous motives than in a month of Sunday funnies—

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Comics, Noir, Crime, Detective, Pulp

288 pages, Trade Paperback

First published May 6, 2008

About the author

Received the Shamus Award, "The Eye" (Lifetime achievment award) in 2006.

He has also published under the name Patrick Culhane. He and his wife, Barbara Collins, have written several books together. Some of them are published under the name Barbara Allan.

Book Awards
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1984) : True Detective
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1992) : Stolen Away
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1995) : Carnal Hours
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1997) : Damned in Paradise
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1999) : Flying Blind: A Novel about Amelia Earhart
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (2002) : Angel in Black

Japanese: マックス・アラン・コリンズ
or マックス・アラン コリンズ

Reviews

[Josh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book more than I did, having enjoyed Seduction of the Innocent (book.3) a few years back I had high expectations for the earlier books in the series. Strip for Murder is an OK read that's neither particularly bad nor good. The theme is classic whodunit with colorful cardboard cutout characters who briefly find their way onto the list of suspects before the easily identifiable murderer is made public.

Maggie Starr, former striptease artist and boss of a newspaper syndicate is the most interesting character to read, yet her story is mostly as an aside, with her step-son Jack, the Starr Syndicate PI taking charge of the murder investigation (his prowess even surpasses the inept police detective). I would've liked more of Maggie and less Jack but I can live with that, Jack is the one telling the story to the reader.

I found the set-up a little too long in the making and the plot, whilst formulaic (in a pulp / PI book this is fine), a little drab with little mystery sounding the killer.

My rating 2/5 stars. Overall, it felt like something was missing; more action, less descriptive content, more meaningful characterization etc. The foundation was there but it just didn't deliver for me.

[Brian Poole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strip for Murder is the second book in an enjoyable Max Allan Collins series that deserves a wider audience.

First introduced in A Killing in Comics, Jack Starr is a licensed P.I., a former Army MP and vice president of the Starr Syndicate, purveyor of fine comic strips, puzzles and columns in 1953 New York. Jack reports to Maggie Starr, his beautiful step-mother (herself a one-time stripper) who inherited the syndicate from her late husband.

In Strip for Murder, Jack and Maggie find themselves drawn into the bitter feud between two top cartoonists. When Sam Fizer, the creator of the Starr Syndicate’s most popular property, is found dead at his drawing board, suspicion falls on Hal Rapp, Sam’s chief competitor and former protégé. With a potential deal with Hal at stake, Jack wades through a sea of cartoonists, Broadway actors, gamblers, comedians and criminals on the trail of answers. Hal seems a likely candidate, but the scene of Sam’s death appears highly staged to Jack and Maggie. After some good old fashioned sleuthing, a gunfight with a masked thug and a steamy encounter with a not-so-grieving widow, Jack and Maggie ferret out the truth of Sam’s death.

No one does the neo-hardboiled detective story quite like Collins. He dropped his readers into a vividly drawn echo of New York City past, filled with lots of smart period details and some loving descriptions of the city at that time. The comic industry setting was a boon to Collins’s comic book following, but also gave Strip for Murder and the other entries in the series a distinctive feel. Collins populated the world with colorful figures, real people and colorful characters based on real people. His way with dialogue and careful plotting were on full display here. The mystery unfolded in a subtle, snaky fashion, with many potential suspects and plenty of twists, adding up to a brisk, satisfying ride.

Collins is an entertaining writer and his noir dialogue, presented with the wise-cracking narration by Jack, was first rate. Jack made for a winning focal point, an active, ingratiating presence that guided readers through the action with a lot of style and energy. Maggie also emerged as a strong presence, her intelligence and beauty receiving equal attention. Collins wrung maximum benefit out of the other characters assembled for Strip for Murder, often making strong impressions with limited page space. The glimpses into various entertainment worlds (Broadway, early TV and the mid-century newspaper business) were all well handled, adding some show biz glamour to the proceedings. Really, the only small quibble was some occasional political commentary that felt tacked on for no purpose. But that was minor and easily overlooked.

Strip for Murder also featured illustrations from veteran comic book pro Terry Beatty. Beatty created some entertaining period-appropriate panels to open each chapter. His work also was deployed in a few pages just before the climax to sum up the clues and suspects just before the big reveal. The images were crisp and clean, echoing the comic strip style of the period. It was a fun way to pay homage to the series’ inspiration and add some additional personality to the story.

Strip for Murder hasn’t always been easy to get your hands on, but a new edition makes it more accessible. It’s worth grabbing, especially for fans of Collins’s work or for anyone interested in a witty, stylish homage to period detective fiction.

A version of this review originally appeared on www.thunderalleybcp.com

[Randy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's 1953, five years after A KILLING IN COMICS, and Jack and Maggie Starr have another murder to solve. Sam Fizer, creator of the strip MUG O'MALLEY, is found slumped over his desk in a clumsily staged suicide. Shot in the left temple, his left arm dangling, a gun lying on the floor below it, there were several things wrong with the scenario.

Fizer was right-handed, the gun was wiped clean of prints, and the drink n the desk was loaded with sedatives, enough to put him out with one gulp.

Chief on the suspect list was Hal Rapp, creator of the TALL PAUL hillbilly strip, Fizer's one time assistant, the two men in a twenty year long feud. A pen found on Fizer's desk had a fingerprint belonging to Rapp. He lived on the floor above Fizer and was throwing a Halloween party at the time of the murder.

There were plenty of other suspects also, including Maggie and Jack. Their Starr syndicate owned the rights to the Mug O'Malley strip and, upon his death, they would control who wrote and drew it.

This novel and the first were a lot of fun. Artist Terry Beatty, long time associate to Max Allan Collins, drew the cover and interior illustrations. Each chapter has a cartoon panel on the first page with the chapter number and title in a word balloon, something relaing to an incident in the chapter.

Quite a lot of fun.

[William Prystauk · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you're looking for a hard-boiled mystery from 1953, this isn't it. If anything, "Strip for Murder" could easily be YA fiction.

Loaded with too many one-liners and bad jokes from main character Jack, the book is predominately a bunch of talking heads as the PI goes from suspect to suspect seeking out the killer.

After far too much exposition, forced into dialogue at times, the novel doesn't really begin until chapter four.

In the end, our intrepid, wise-cracking sleuth asks the reader if we've figured out who the killer may be - only to discover that Jack and his hot step-mother, Maggie, withheld information from us.

There are some great turns of phrase on occasion, but not enough.

Ultimately, this would have worked better as a cozy mystery with Ms. Fletcher of "Murder She Wrote" fame than a supposed tough guy parodying a by-gone era.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another peek into the world of 1950's comic strips. The mystery at the core of the story held my interest, as did the many "real life" characters. This outing for Jack and Maggie Starr revolves around the infamous rivalry between Al Capp and Ham Fisher, though the lines between fact and fiction were very blurred. Too blurred for me to seperate them, that's for sure. A light and entertaining read. I'm looking forward to reading book three.
3.75 stars

[Skjam! · Rating 4 out of 5]

Years ago, Sam Fizer hired young Hal Rapp as an art assistant on his comic strip Mug O’ Malley. At first, they were good friends, but when the ambitious Rapp struck out on his own with his new strip Tall Paul, Fizer felt betrayed. Especially as the characters around hillbilly Paul were very similar to ones created for Mug’s supporting cast. The two men feuded for years; but things have become especially heated now that there’s a Tall Paul musical on Broadway and Sam Fizer’s ex-wife has a big part in it.

So when Sam Fizer is found dead at his drawing board, in a particularly fake-looking “suicide”, Hal Rapp is the number one suspect. It’s up to Starr Syndicate’s in-house troubleshooter Jack Starr and his stepmother/boss Maggie Starr to figure out who really killed Fizer and why, if they want to hire Rapp away from his current distributor.

This is the second Starr Syndicate novel, set in the 1950s by author Max Allan Collins, who is familiar with the newspaper comics business from his time as the writer of Dick Tracy. It’s a roman a clef (novel with a key) as Fizer and Rapp stand in for Ham Fisher, creator of Joe Palooka and Al Capp of Li’l Abner fame. Several other cartoonists also get the transparent name change treatment. As the author mentions in the afterword, this is so he can switch things around and introduce entirely fictional elements. (For example, Ham Fisher didn’t die the year the book has Sam Fizer doing it.)

For a huge old-time comics fan like myself, there are lots of in-jokes and references to enjoy; but there’s also a twisty mystery with multiple suspects and several red herrings for those who just want to read a book. The experience is enhanced by the drawings of Terry Beatty, who gets to stretch a bit as he imitates the art styles of the cartoonists in question.

Jack Starr is a likable narrator, closer to soft-boiled than hard as he’s had to give up alcohol and tobacco, and drinks Coca-Cola like they’re paying him to endorse it. (He claims they aren’t, but he’s willing to make a deal.) He does the legwork, but it’s actually former stripper Maggie who is the brains of the outfit.

There are some outdated period attitudes, deliberately done, but still a teensy irritating.

Overall, good writing, a sense of fun, and you may learn a thing or two about the comics business. Highly recommended.

[Joe Kraus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lil’ Abner wasn’t so innocent.

There’s a great, bizarre nonfiction story underlying this one: Lil’ Abner writer/artist Al Capp had a rough relationship with his one-time mentor Ham Fisher, whose own strip, Joe Palooka, was also one of the defining newspaper comics of its era.

And, as a nice bonus, Fisher was from Wilkes-Barre, where I’ve lived for the last 20+ years. (He supposedly modeled one of his characters after a local kid whom I knew a bit in his later years. And there’s a monument to Joe Palooka alongside one of the local roads.)

Max Allan Collins imagines their feud, which culminated in Fisher’s suicide after being drummed out of the National Cartoonists Society in part for harassing Capp, as a quasi-locked room murder mystery. And, as a Collins fan in general, I like this. (Collins wrote a fair bit about some of my gangster relatives in his early Nate Heller novels. I got to meet him quickly at a book signing once, and he couldn’t have been warmer or more supportive of my then early work. You get just a few minutes to make an impression on a younger fan – I was 22, and he was riding high off the Dick Tracy movie – and he made the most of them with me. I remain a fan.)

As much as I do like Collins, I recognize the limits of what he’s set for himself. This is wink-and-nod genre work. He’s trying to channel Dashiell Hammett (a good idea but hard to do) and largely succeeding in channeling Mickey Spillane (a much easier but less satisfying impersonation). Every ‘dame’ here is as stacked and bodacious as an Al Capp illustration – including, and pleasantly awkwardly, our protagonist’s step-mother.

That protagonist is Jack Starr, vice president and in-house P.I. for a newspaper syndicate that distributes the Ham Fisher (aka Sam Fizer) boxing strip. When Fizer is found dead, he has to work to solve the crime.

What follows is more or less by-the-book. Starr has a series of suspects to interview, and he does that, pulling up one clue after another. The solution Fizer, suffering from the cancer that also plagued real-life Fisher, gets his top assistant to stage a suicide that might wind up framing the Capp character is only mildly satisfying, but Collins keeps things moving along at a solid clip.

One nice bonus here is the inclusion of a lot of original illustrations in the style of Dick Tracy. They punctuate the story nicely, and they’re a reminder that this is Collins’s world. He’s written more novels than I can imagine – his Wikipedia page has something like 50 titles, and that doesn’t include collections of the Dick Tracy strips – and he’s supported other writers (at least in my limited experience). This is nowhere near his best – for that, go to the early Heller novels – but it’s a pro doing what he does and having fun.

And it’s an in-the-know cartoonist dishing on a great and largely forgotten feud.

[Bernard Convert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roman à clef sur le monde du comic strip des années 50. Inspiré de la rivalité entre Ham Fisher, le créateur de Joe Palooka et Al Capp, celui de Li'l Abner, qui avait été son assistant dans les années 30. Inspiré aussi de l'adaptation de Li'l Abner en comédie musicale. Plaisante évocation de Broadway et du monde des comic strips.

[Araych · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maggie and Jack Starr #2. Fictionalized account (with murder thrown in) of the feud in the early 1950's between cartoonists Al Capp and Ham Fisher. Capp becomes Rapp, Fisher becomes Fizer. Look for Li'l Abner, Ernie Kovacs, Edie Adams and others to appear under assumed names. Light reading but very entertaining. I really liked it -- this might be the best of the Starr trilogy. 4 stars.

[Charles Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this is the best of the three books in this series. They are all not great, but a good, fun read. They also illustrate (sic) the early comic strip/comic book world for those of us who don't know much about it, and I enjoyed that aspect despite not being much of a comics geek.

[Claudette Gabbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. It started off a bit slow. After a couple of chapters, it picked up pace and got more interesting. A lot happens, but in the end the case was solved. Everything tied up neatly. I enjoyed it.

[Dave Robertson · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5⭐️

[Beth Medvedev · Rating 2 out of 5]

The dialogue (which was pretty constant) was too campy for me.

[David Caldwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fictional story based on real world events in the world of comic strip industry.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a terrific historical mystery very much in the tradition of Collins' Nathan Heller series. It is hard boiled and filled with period references. It packs just the right amount of attitude and humor to be highly readable. Although the background of the story is certainly steeped in the comic book publishing world of the late forties, you don't have to know much about that industry to enjoy it.
Take a glad-handing, overweight publishing executive. Dress him in a superhero costume - Wonder Guy to be precise. And, have him drop dead while cutting the cake at his birthday party thrown at his mistress's suite at the Waldorf-Astoria with his wife in attendance as well as several comic writers who are bitter about their contracts. All of a sudden, it seems like you have the makings of a story.
Better yet, throw in a gorgeous world-famous ex-stripper who runs a comic syndicating service and her stepson, a private detective. Also, throw in s mobster or two, a homicide detective, a blonde whose blue eyes seem to hypnotize every man, and half a dozen others with murder motives and you've got a lot real good story brewing.
Nothing weak or flimsy about this story. This is a solid one.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

That's comic strip, folks. Max Allan Collins is well-known for his love of comics. He combines his love of comics and their history with his love of historical mysteries and hard-boiled dialogue in his second entry in this series.

Well-written, time-appropriate dialogue and a good mystery to boot; you don't have to be a comics fan to enjoy this book.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second of Collins' books about Jack and Maggie Starr set in the comic strip industry of the 40's. This once focusing (very loosely) on the feud between Al Capp (of Lil Abner) and Ham Fisher (of Joe Palooka). You don't need any historical background to enjoy the book however.

The book is sprinkled with Terry Beatty's great panel art throughout.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good series. Accurate albeit fictionalized portrayal of some of the giants of the golden age of comics. Done in an Ellery Queen/Agathie Christie style of bring all the suspects together at the end. I hope this series continues.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, but hardly a classic.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great fun mystery. Collins is and always will be one of my favorite mystery writer. I'd like to see some more Jack & Maggie Starr mysteries. This one is the second book.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fictitious tale of Al Capp (Hal Rapp) and Li’l Abner vs. Joe Palooka. Ernie Kovacs appears and others. Pretty good.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than the first one. Maybe he's settling into the style and the period. Jack still has a creepy fascination with his step-mother, but perhaps that's on purpose...

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not his best character. But the series does have legs, this is book two and I need to read the first one. Too many "in" jokes.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Starr books are what they are, entertaining, but to me not up Collins other series.