Greg Clark Noir Art

  GREAT DETECTIVES & PEOPLE OF MYSTERY #68 VIRGIL TIBBS Created by John Ball, when Tibbs first appeared in detective fiction readers knew that this remarkable character would end up in the "great detective" category.  Born in the Deep South, where his mother still resides, Virgil is visiting in that part of the country when he becomes a murder suspect solely because of his color in "In the Heat of the Night".  He solves the case to preserve his own reputation as well as that of the white police chief who reluctantly works with him. For ten years, Tibbs, who is in his early thirties, has been with the Pasadena, California police department.  He is its expert on homicide cases, excellent at interpreting clues but equally qualified when physical force is needed.  He has studied karate under Nishiyama, who personally awarded him the black belt.  He also spent several years studying the highly advanced art of akido under the late master Isao Takashi.  He washed dishe

  GREAT DETECTIVES & PEOPLE OF MYSTERY #67 MODESTY BLAISE "Modesty Blaise" was a British comic strip created by author Peter O'Donnell and artist Jim Holdaway in 1963.  The backstory begins in 1945 when a nameless girl escapes from a displaced persons camp in Greece.  She remembers nothing of her past and wanders through the post-war Mediterranean, Middle East, and North Africa where she learns to survive.  She befriends another wandering refugee, a Jewish Hungarian scholar from Budapest who educates her and gives her a first name - Modesty.  Sometime later she chooses the last name of Blaise.  In 1953 she takes control of a criminal gang in Tangier and expands it into an international organization called the Network.  During this time period she meets Willie Garvin who becomes her right-hand man.  Theirs is a strictly platonic relationship based on mutual respect.  Willie always calls her "Princess".  Having made enough money, Modesty and Willie retire to E