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Max Hamm: Fairy Tale Detective #1-2
Max Hamm, Fairy Tale Detective
There are a million bedtime stories in the naked city. This is one of them. When Max’s partner, Humpty Dumpty ends up dead. It doesn’t take a scratch and sniff to smell something rotten. And if Max learns the truth, alot of important people including Mother Goose, will end up with egg on their faces. Because in Storybookland dreams die hard. Fairy Tale Noir.Includes "The Big Sheep" and "The Long Ever After".
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
3 people are currently reading
31 people want to read
About the author
Frank Cammuso
43 books78 followersFrank Cammuso is the author/illustrator of the graphic novel series The Misadventures of Salem Hyde from Amulet Books. He also created the graphic novel series Knights of the Lunch Table from Graphix/Scholastic. Frank drew the comic Otto’s Orange Day and Otto’s Backwards Day for Toon-Books. He also wrote and drew his self-published graphic novel Max Hamm Fairy Tale Detective, for which he received an Eisner nomination.
Frank is the former award-winning political cartoonist for The Post-Standard newspaper in Syracuse, NY. His cartoons have been reprinted in The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today and Newsweek.
He has written fiction and satire with his good friend Hart Seely. Their work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Village Voice, Slate, and on National Public Radio. He’s the co-author of 2007-Eleven and Other American Comedies.
Cammuso currently teaches Sequential Illustration part-time at his alma mater, Syracuse University. He lives with his family in frosty Syracuse, NY, where they enjoy all things comics!
Frank is the former award-winning political cartoonist for The Post-Standard newspaper in Syracuse, NY. His cartoons have been reprinted in The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today and Newsweek.
He has written fiction and satire with his good friend Hart Seely. Their work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Village Voice, Slate, and on National Public Radio. He’s the co-author of 2007-Eleven and Other American Comedies.
Cammuso currently teaches Sequential Illustration part-time at his alma mater, Syracuse University. He lives with his family in frosty Syracuse, NY, where they enjoy all things comics!
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 11, 2017
Before Frank Cammuso became a well-known graphic novelist for kids, he did this pair of noir spoofs for adults. "The Big Sheep" is more straightforward as a parody of Raymond Chandler's novels, but "The Long Ever After" also contains enough noir detective gags that it works well. The second part is much longer than the first, and a bit more convoluted, but the extra length permits both a more elaborate story line and some truly wonderful gags, including delightful throwaway lines like:
"That day, she found a certain hair on his lapel that wasn't hers. It was blonde and 67 feet long."
Unlike his later work, this is not really aimed at kids, although teens who happen to be film buffs might appreciate some of it. Unless you've read or seen The Big Sleep and The Maltese Falcon, as well as lots of traditional fairy tales, things will go over your head.
If you do have a good background in noir detective stories and fairy tales, then this will hit you like a kiss from a sand-filled sock. Sit back and enjoy Bo Peep and Snow White as Chandler would have written them.
"That day, she found a certain hair on his lapel that wasn't hers. It was blonde and 67 feet long."
Unlike his later work, this is not really aimed at kids, although teens who happen to be film buffs might appreciate some of it. Unless you've read or seen The Big Sleep and The Maltese Falcon, as well as lots of traditional fairy tales, things will go over your head.
If you do have a good background in noir detective stories and fairy tales, then this will hit you like a kiss from a sand-filled sock. Sit back and enjoy Bo Peep and Snow White as Chandler would have written them.
March 14, 2022
I read the first story in this collection when it was originally released. I never knew there was a three-part follow-up story. But I am especially pleased that a conversation with a friend brought to mind Max Hamm and that an Internet search led me to discover the collected edition (and other books by the author).
Highly recommended for those who enjoy hardboiled detectives and fairy tales and pretty much everyone else too. If only author Frank Cammuso would return to Max Hamm and Storybookland for further adventures.
Highly recommended for those who enjoy hardboiled detectives and fairy tales and pretty much everyone else too. If only author Frank Cammuso would return to Max Hamm and Storybookland for further adventures.
December 19, 2023
So many plot twists...doesn't mean I didn't like it. 8/10
March 13, 2014
I wanted to love this, but it was only okay for me. Max Hamm is a pig and an old school detective (think black and white detective movies). He delves into the sordid details of fairytale characters' back stories seeking justice with plenty of puns to help him in his mission.
Maybe I'm ruined for this series for having read Willingham's Fables, but I felt that the jokes in this book went over the intended audiences head. The humor is best aimed at an adult, though the material isn't nearly racy enough to hold their interest. Teens might like the twist on classic fairytales, but the puns will be lost on them.
The main character's voice was spot on for the premise of channeling the old school detective movies and it's what kept me reading.
Maybe I'm ruined for this series for having read Willingham's Fables, but I felt that the jokes in this book went over the intended audiences head. The humor is best aimed at an adult, though the material isn't nearly racy enough to hold their interest. Teens might like the twist on classic fairytales, but the puns will be lost on them.
The main character's voice was spot on for the premise of channeling the old school detective movies and it's what kept me reading.
July 1, 2015
Hard-boiled detective Max Hamm is awoken after midnight by a call from the police who, “called me to come down to King Cole’s Supper Club. My not so hard-boiled partner had an accident. When I got to the joint, there he was sunny-side up. All the King’s horses and all the King’s men couldn’t put Dumpty together again. For this one they were gonna need a spatula.”
This is LOL funny, a hilarious mix of Mother Goose, the Disney version of fairy tales, and classic hard-boiled detective fiction. It’s a comic stuffed full of puns, jokes, double entendre, and femmes fatale in the guise of storybook heroines. It’s as if Dashiell Hammett had rewritten Cinderella with the glass slipper substituting for the Maltese falcon and thrown Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs into the mix.
This is LOL funny, a hilarious mix of Mother Goose, the Disney version of fairy tales, and classic hard-boiled detective fiction. It’s a comic stuffed full of puns, jokes, double entendre, and femmes fatale in the guise of storybook heroines. It’s as if Dashiell Hammett had rewritten Cinderella with the glass slipper substituting for the Maltese falcon and thrown Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs into the mix.
February 17, 2016
Fairy tales retold in film noir style. When Max's partner, Humpty Dumpty ends up dead Max investigates but a lot of important people in Storybookland are afraid of the secrets he'll learn, including Mother Goose. Max's old love, femme fatale, Snow White asks for his help. Is she really in danger or is she just sending him on another goose chase? Includes "The Big Sheep" and "The Long Ever After." Tongue-in-cheek amusing with some adult content.
October 14, 2013
A fine spoof of detective fiction, fairy tales, and modern society, riddled with bad puns and corny jokes, and illustrated with aplomb. Very funny, and despite appearances, definitely not for younger kids.
November 4, 2010
all 4 episodes of the Max Hamm Fairy Tale detective series. very cute, another fun interpretation of fairy tales....
October 2, 2012
Cute puns of a storybook detective.
June 9, 2013
silly puns and cute story. fun to read
August 13, 2013
An interesting amalgamation of fairy tales--sort of like tenth kingdom--manga style.
May 10, 2016
Picked this up on a whim at my library. Was fast paced and a great take on some fairy tales.
May 18, 2013
YGN CAMMUSO V.1
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews