Mickey Spillane was a the novelist, short story writer, and American icon. In 1947 he wrote the surprise hit novel I, The Jury and created its protagonist, private eye Mike Hammer. Spillane’s work wasn’t always well-received by critics, but he had a devoted fanbase.

While he didn’t invent the rapid fire, tough guy narrative he made famous, he did make it his own in that novel and the many that followed. After his service in World War II, Spillane emerged with an uncanny commitment to the art form that would be his craft for the rest of his life. Having spent the days leading up to the war as a comic book author, he ended the conflict keenly aware of the burgeoning market for paperback novels. He converted his unpublished pre-war comic book Mike Danger into the post-war paperback character Mike Hammer and began carving out his niche. The narrative voice of Mike Hammer was – and is – a clear shot, an insight into his creator in terms of patriotism and purpose.

Spillane was a solid promoter. He wrote fast and seemed to shoot straight in interviews. He never spent too much time on his novels, sometimes writing them in a matter of days, and this only added to his legend.

His style of writing experienced its first fade when Ian Fleming’s James Bond became the rage, but Hammer and Spillane’s other creations survived long after being pronounced dead. The author revisited them, particularly Hammer, a number of times over the years, sometimes after protracted periods of absence.

Spillane, with his longtime friend Max Allan Collins, finally brought Mike Danger to comic book life in the series Mickey Spillane's Mike Danger from TeknoComics in the ’90s. Only the cover of the original comic remained, the rest having been lost in a hurricane.

Mike Hammer has been the subject of a number of films and TV series, including one movie that starred Spillane himself.