110 COLLINS, MAX ALLAN
COLLINS, MAX ALLAN (1948–). Prolifi c writer of mystery novels and media tie-ins,
Max Allan Collins is also an acclaimed writer of comic strips, comic books, and
graphic novels, most popularly known for the graphic novel Road to Perdition, which
was adapted to fi lm by director Sam Mendes, with Tom Hanks in the lead role. Col-
lins co-founded, with Lee Goldberg, the International Association of Media Tie-In
Writers, whose annual Scribe Awards are given out at Comic-Con International in
San Diego, California.
As a comics writer, Collins scripted the Dick Tracy newspaper comic strip start-
ing in 1977, following the retirement of the strip’s creator, Chester Gould. Although
Gould’s byline would continue on the strip for some time, Collins continued to work on
the strip until 1992. With artist Terry Beatty, Collins co-created the character Ms. Tree,
who was featured in books from various publishers including Eclipse Comics, Aardvark-
Vanaheim, and Renegade Press through the 1980s. Collins also wrote the scripts on DC
Comics’ Batman series from late 1986 through 1987, in the crucial year the series was
reestablishing its continuity after Crisis on Infi nite Earths. Collins’s work on Batman also
includes the 1996 Elseworlds story Batman: Scar of the Bat, which portrays historical
FBI crime-fi ghter Eliot Ness as Batman’s alter ego in a fi ght against legendary gangster
Al Capone. Road to Perdition was illustrated by Richard Piers Rayner and released by
Pocket Books in 1998. It is currently in print from Paradox Press, an imprint of DC
Comics. Further comics in the series have been issued by Paradox Press and are illus-
trated by José Luis García-López. In addition, Collins wrote the English adaptation of
the script to Batman: Child of Dreams (2003), drawn by manga artist Kia Asamiya.
Collins’s non-comics work include various novelizations of popular fi lms, a series
of books based on the television show CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, a series of novels
starring his original detective character Nathan Heller, and novel sequels to Road to
Perdition and Ms. Tree. Collins is the literary executor for noted hard-boiled mystery
author Mickey Spillane, and has assisted in the completion and publication of Spillane’s
posthumous work.
Robert O’Nale
COMICS CODE. First established in 1954, the Comics Code was an attempt at
self-censorship by the comics industry, spurred by controversies over the potential
negative eff ects of comics on America’s youth in the 1950s and following the example
of the fi lm industry’s 1930 Hollywood Production Code. Th e Comics Code had no
legal authority, and adherence to the code was offi cially voluntary, but in practice the
marketing opportunities for any comic book that did not receive the code’s stamp of
approval were seriously limited. Initially intended to protect young readers from lurid
and ultra-violent content in comics, but eventually extended to sometimes ridiculous
extremes (as when writer Marv Wolfman was initially denied a writing credit because
his real name might evoke images of werewolves), the code dominated the industry
until the 1970s, going beyond its original mission to eff ectively remove politically con-
troversial material from the comics, making it very diffi cult for comics to participate in
