Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer #1 | 2018 | Mickey Spillane | Buy |
| 2 | Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer #2 | 2018 | Mickey Spillane | N/A |
The Mike Hammer graphic novels bring Spillane’s hard-boiled detective into comic book format. Published in 2018, the two volumes give visual form to one of crime fiction’s most recognizable characters.
Mike Hammer first appeared in I, the Jury (1947) and went on to star in over a dozen novels by Spillane, plus additional entries completed by Max Allan Collins after Spillane’s death in 2006. The graphic novel adaptations translate Hammer’s blunt violence and noir atmosphere into a visual medium, a fitting move for a character who had already been adapted into films and a television series.
The two 2018 volumes are short reads compared to Spillane’s novels, but they capture the essentials of Hammer’s character: the private eye who solves problems with his fists as often as his wits. For longtime Hammer fans, the graphic novels offer a different way to revisit the character. For newcomers, they provide a quick introduction before diving into the prose originals.