In this gallery:

A-1 Comics #22 Star Parade Presents Dick Powell - Adventurer!

“Five Fingers of Satan” written by unknown and illustrated by Paul Parker

Notes: The cover is a mixture of pencil and ink art with a photo cover. While I don’t know who provided the art or took the photograph, based upon the gun that Powell is holding I believe that this image is an altered press photo for the 1945 film Cornered, directed by Edward Dmytryk.

Eagle-eyed readers may notice the similarity with which Powell is knocked out on page six to the way that Powell’s Marlowe is rendered unconscious in Murder, My Sweet.

As an added bonus, you’ll also see in this gallery:

Dick Powell as “Heartthrob of the Month” for November of 1949, featured in issue #8 of the romance comic Life Story.

Comic book style Camel Cigarettes advertisement featuring Dick Powell (Camel Cigarettes was a sponsor of Powell’s radio detective series “Richard Diamond”)

“Radio’s Golden Years” Advertisement featuring Dick Powell as his radio detective character Richard Diamond, by Frank Bresee and Bobb Lynes

Illustrated advertisement for the Anthony Mann film The Tall Target that mentions Powell’s hardboiled pedigree, illustrated by Wiley Padan

In this gallery:

“Mike Lancer and the Syndicate of Death” written by Mickey Spillane, illustrated by Harry Sahle, and originally published in Green Hornet #10

“Meet Mike Danger” written by Mickey Spillane, illustrated by Sam Burlockoff, and originally published in Crime Detector #3

Crime Detector #4 cover art by Mort Drucker

“Murder at the Burlesque” written by Mickey Spillane, possibly illustrated by Sam Burlockoff, and originally published in Crime Detector #4

As an added bonus, two short detective stories:

“Trouble… Come and Get It!” written by Mickey Spillane and originally published in 4Most #2

“No Prisoners” written by Mickey Spillane and originally published in Target Comics #4

And finally…

“Undersea Champion” written by Mickey Spillane and originally published in Target Comics #6

NOTE: “Undersea Champion” is an oddity in this gallery, but I think Ian Fleming would approve; he always did love a good cephalopod story. For further reading by Fleming check out Dr. No, Octopussy, and My Friend the Octopus.

In this gallery:

Feature Book #48 - The Maltese Falcon illustrated by Rodlow Willard and published by David McKay Co.

Although these mini-comics are glorified advertisements for the radio program The Adventures of Sam Spade and its sponsor, and they bear little relation to Hammett’s “blond satan” Sam Spade, I enjoy them nonetheless. What I especially enjoy is the variety of situations and economy of storytelling, and many of them featuring art by Golden Age great Lou Fine doesn’t hurt either.

I know that there are other mini-comics out there, so if anyone has additional adventures to share then I’d love to hear from you!

In this gallery:

“The Case of the Vanishing Buildings”

“Trouble in the Bull Ring”

“The Case of the Little Lead Box”

Untitled strip

“The Case of the Tell-Tale Comb”

“The Man with the Purple Hand”

“The Web-Footed Burglar”

“The Case of the Box Car Bandit”

“The Case of the Poisoned Bat”

“The Case of the Killer Cat!”

“Sabotage on TV”

“Same Takes Himself For a Ride”

“The Case of the Kidnapped Heiress”

“Sabotage, Sweet Sabotage”

“The Dummy in the Wax Museum!”

“Murder on the Movie Set”

“The Case of the Flying Saucer”

“Death on the Speedway”

“Fake Fiddler Foiled”

“The Case of the Pink Mitten Murder”

“The Unhappy Hockey Hero”

“The Case of the Smug Smuggler”

“Case of the Misspelled Word”