Collins, Max Allan
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
(1948- ) US author, best known for mysteries and thrillers, many written as Max Collins; under that form of his name he also wrote the Dick Tracy comic strip from 1977 to 1993, assembling a good deal of this output – much of which features sf-like Inventions and villains with assorted Superpowers – in graphic collections like Dick Tracy Meets Angeltop: Flattop's Little Girl (graph coll 1980). He also wrote Dick Tracy (1990), novelizing the film, and other tales set in the Dick Tracy world. Collins's nonfantastic work – amounting to at least 50 titles – is generally more ambitious than his strip work. Further ties include three novels based on the television series Dark Angel (2000-2002): Dark Angel: Before the Dawn (2002), Dark Angel: Skin Game (2003) and Dark Angel: After the Dark (2003). The War of the Worlds Murder (2005), not sf, is a historical thriller starring Orson Welles at the time of his notorious 1938 War of the Worlds broadcast.
In 2021 Collins received the Scribe Award for his novelization work. [JC/DRL]
Max Allan Collins
born Muscatine, Iowa: 3 March 1948
works
series
Dick Tracy
See also under works as editor below.
- Dick Tracy Meets Angeltop: Flattop's Little Girl (New York: Ace Books, 1980) [coll of strips from Dick Tracy: graph: Dick Tracy: pb/]
- Dick Tracy Meets the Punks (New York: Ace Books, 1980) [coll of strips from Dick Tracy: graph: Dick Tracy: pb/]
- Dick Tracy: Tracy's Wartime Memories (New York: Ken Pierce, 1986) with Terry Beatty [coll of strips from Dick Tracy: graph: Dick Tracy: pb/]
- Dick Tracy (New York: Bantam Books, 1990) [tie: novelizing the film: Dick Tracy: pb/]
- Dick Tracy goes to War (New York: Bantam Books, 1991) [tie: Dick Tracy: pb/]
- Dick Tracy and the Nightmare Machine (New York: St Martin's Press, 1991) [tie: Dick Tracy: pb/]
- Dick Tracy Meets His Match (New York: Bantam Books, 1992) [tie: Dick Tracy: pb/]
- Dick Tracy: The Collins Casefiles, Volume 1 (New York: Checker Book Publishing Group, 2003) [coll of strips from Dick Tracy: graph: Dick Tracy: pb/]
- Dick Tracy: The Collins Casefiles, Volume 2 (New York: Checker Book Publishing Group, 2004) [coll of strips from Dick Tracy: graph: Dick Tracy: pb/]
- Dick Tracy: The Collins Casefiles, Volume 3 (New York: Checker Book Publishing Group, 2005) [coll of strips from Dick Tracy: graph: Dick Tracy: pb/]
Dark Angel
Ties to the television series Dark Angel (2000-2002).
- Dark Angel: Before the Dawn (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey, 2002) [tie: pb/]
- Dark Angel: Skin Game (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey, 2003) [tie: pb/Redseal]
- Dark Angel: After the Dark (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey, 2003) [tie: pb/Redseal]
individual titles
- Waterworld (New York: Berkley Boulevard, 1995) [tie: novelizing the film Waterworld: pb/]
- The Mummy (New York: Berkley Boulevard, 1999) [tie: novelizing the film: The Mummy: pb/]
- Regeneration (New York: Leisure Books, 1999) with Barbara Collins [pb/]
- The Mummy Returns (New York: Berkley Boulevard, 2001) [tie: novelizing the film: The Mummy: pb/]
- The Scorpion King (New York: Berkley Boulevard, 2002) [tie: novelizing the film: pb/]
- Batman: Child of Dreams (New York: DC Comics, 2003) [coll of Batman strips: graph: pb/]
- The War of the Worlds Murder (New York: Berkley Books, 2005) [Orson Welles; War of the Worlds: pb/Ben Perini]
- The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (New York: Berkley Books, 2009) [pb/Dick Locher]
works as editor
Dick Tracy
- The Dick Tracy Casebook: Favorite Adventures, 1931-1990 (New York: St Martin's Press, 1990) with Dick Locher [anth of strips from Dick Tracy: graph: Dick Tracy: pb/]
- Dick Tracy: The Secret Files (New York: St Martin's Press, 1990) with Dick Locher [anth of strips from Dick Tracy: graph: Dick Tracy: pb/Dick Locher]
- Dick Tracy's Fiendish Foes: A Sixtieth Anniversary Celebration (New York: St Martin's Press, 1991) with Dick Locher [anth of strips from Dick Tracy: graph: Dick Tracy: pb/]
links
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