Early in the history of American comic-strips appeared stories with cops and robbers, with a strong "adventure" bias, heirs of the early century dime novels and feuilletons. Under the influence of the pulp magazines of the 20's and with a deep influence from the cinema on a later stage, the intricate action of detective work developed and evolved rapidly towards more realistic setups involving most of the ingredients of hard-boiled pieces.

During the Golden Age of comics (roughly: 1929-1942) and later during the Revival, that appeared after WWII until 1954, hard-boiled detective stories were well represented in the then booming industry of American comics.


In Europe - mainly in France, Belgium, Italy, and UK - the comics were developing as well, especially from the early 30's until the early 60's.
To be noted, that most of the comics in Europe until the mid-sixties, were intended for children and teen-agers, having their own magazines and publishing houses as supports. This explain why hard-boiled and tough crime stories were not to be found at a early stage in the Europe comics.
This genre was however present and developed after the sixties, when young adults publications were in favor.



We will not give here an encyclopedic view of the comic domain for hard-boiled crime stories. We will underline the important series and characters of both the American and European comics, this popular art being often despised or ignored.

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E.Borgers
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Most recent revision: 8 January, 1998}