Editing Max Allan Collins (section)

==Biography==
===Writing career===
Collins has written novels, screenplays, comic books, comic strips, trading cards, short stories, movie novelizations and [[historical fiction]]. He wrote the graphic novel ''[[Road to Perdition (comics)|Road to Perdition]]'' (which was developed into a [[Road to Perdition|film]] in 2002), created the comic book private eye ''[[Ms. Tree (comic book)|Ms. Tree]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.toonopedia.com/mstree.htm |title=Ms. Tree |first=Don |last=Markstein |date=2009 |publisher=[[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]] |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6cYMEIBat?url=http://www.toonopedia.com/mstree.htm |archive-date=October 25, 2015 |url-status=dead|df=mdy-all|quote=Collins teamed with artist Terry Beatty to introduce Ms. Tree in the first issue of ''Eclipse Magazine'' (May, 1981).}}</ref> and took over writing the ''[[Dick Tracy]]'' comic strip from creator [[Chester Gould]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Collins |first1=Max Allan |last2=Gould |first2=Chester |author-link2=Chester Gould |date=2003 |title=Dick Tracy: The Collins Casefiles, Volume 1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V84sHiS0tcoC |location=Miamisburg, Ohio |publisher=Checker Book Publishing Group |page=5 |isbn=0-9741664-2-1}}</ref> Collins briefly wrote the ''[[Batman (comic book)|Batman]]'' comic book in 1987 and crafted a new origin for the [[Jason Todd]] character.<ref>{{cite book|last1= Manning|first1= Matthew K.|last2=Dougall|first2=Alastair, ed.|chapter= 1980s|title= Batman: A Visual History|publisher= [[Dorling Kindersley]]|year= 2014|location= London, United Kingdom|page= 167|isbn= 978-1465424563|quote= Jason Todd's origin had been a virtual carbon copy of Dick Grayson's. However, with the clean slate offered by ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'', writer Max Allan Collins decided to make the characters more different.}}</ref> Collins and artist [[Terry Beatty]] created [[Wild Dog (comics)|Wild Dog]] at DC that same year in a self-titled limited series. The character later appeared as a feature in the ''[[Action Comics|Action Comics Weekly]]'' anthology.<ref>{{cite journal|last= Martin|first= Brian|title= Where the ''Action'' is...Weekly|journal= [[Back Issue!]]|issue= 98|page= 64|publisher= [[TwoMorrows Publishing]]|date= August 2017|location= Raleigh, North Carolina}}</ref> As of 2016, Wild Dog became a recurring character in the ''[[Arrow (TV series)|Arrow]]'' television series and is portrayed by actor [[Rick Gonzalez]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.cbr.com/arrow-black-canary-wild-dog-season-6-regulars/|title= ''Arrow'': Wild Dog & Black Canary Upped to Series Regulars for Season 6|first= Meagan|last= Damore|date= April 13, 2017|website= [[Comic Book Resources]]|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170611195759/http://www.cbr.com/arrow-black-canary-wild-dog-season-6-regulars/|archive-date= June 11, 2017|url-status= live|df= mdy-all|quote= Wild Dog was introduced at the beginning of ''Arrow'' Season 5.}}</ref>

Another Collins contribution to the Batman franchise was scripting the English-language translation of ''[[Batman: Child of Dreams]]'' in 2003.<ref>Manning "2000s" in Dougall, p. 266: "Translated into English by a voice familiar with chronicling Bruce Wayne's adventures, writer Max Allan Collins, this epic story followed a Japanese reporter...who traveled to Gotham City."</ref> He wrote books to expand on the ''[[Dark Angel (2000 TV series)|Dark Angel]]'' TV series. He has written [[CSI (novels)|books]] and [[CSI (comic book)|comics]] based on the TV series franchise ''[[CSI (franchise)|CSI]]''. In 2006 he wrote ''Buried Deep'' (also released as "Bones Buried Deep"), based on the TV series ''[[Bones (TV series)|Bones]]''.<ref name="FOMAC biography">{{cite web |url=http://www.maxallancollins.com/max/bio.php |title=Biography |website=The Official FOMAC Website |access-date=March 13, 2017}}</ref>

He has written two sequel novels to ''Road to Perdition'': ''Road to Purgatory'' and ''Road to Paradise''. He wrote three more graphic novels starring the characters from ''Road to Perdition''. These graphic novels, called collectively ''On the Road to Perdition'', form the basis of the film.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2011/10/max-allan-collins-says-road-to-perdition-sequel-still-happening-talks-beattys-dick-tracy-doc-115785/ |title=Max Allan Collins Says 'Road To Perdition' Sequel Still Happening; Talks Beatty's 'Dick Tracy' Doc |last=Jagernauth |first=Kevin |date=October 14, 2011 |website=[[IndieWire]] |access-date=March 13, 2017}}</ref>

He co-founded the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers with [[Lee Goldberg]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://iamtw.org/|title= International Association of Media Tie-in Writers|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150906062943/http://iamtw.org/|archive-date=September 6, 2015 |url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> The IAMTW is an organization for writers of tie-ins and novelizations.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://iamtw.org/about-the-iamtw/ |title=About the IAMTW |website=International Association of Media Tie-In Writers |access-date=March 13, 2017}}</ref>

Collins studied in the [[Iowa Writers' Workshop]] at the [[University of Iowa]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://writersworkshop.uiowa.edu/resources/news/max-allan-collins-2017-grand-master-mystery-writing |title=Max Allan Collins a 2017 Grand Master of Mystery Writing |date=March 13, 2017 |website=[[Iowa Writers' Workshop]] |access-date=March 13, 2017}}</ref>

Collins is a fan of the mystery writer [[Mickey Spillane]] from childhood and later became close friends with him.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}} The two collaborated on a comic book series in the 1990s called ''Mike Danger''. {{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}Upon Spillane's death in 2006, Collins was entrusted to finish various uncompleted works by Spillane including ''Dead Street'', ''The Big Showdown'', and an ongoing series of [[Mike_Hammer_(character)|Mike Hammer]] novel completions, beginning with ''The Goliath Bone'' in 2008. To date, Collins has completed fifteen Spillane Hammer novels, with the most recent being ''Baby, It's Murder (2025) - The Final Mike Hammer Novel'', published in 2025.

In 2021, he and Canadian actor/writer [[Dave Thomas (actor)|Dave Thomas]] teamed to write the sci-fi mystery novel ''The Many Lives of Jimmy Leighton''. <ref> {{cite web| url=https://edmontonjournal.com/entertainment/books/dave-thomas-and-max-allan-collins-take-mystery-to-the-multiverse | title= Dave Thomas and Max Allan Collins take mystery to the multiverse |access-date=November 30, 2021}}</ref>

===Movies and music===
In addition to his work as a writer, Collins has written and directed four movies: ''Mommy'', ''Mommy 2: Mommy's Day'', ''Real Time: Siege at Lucas Street Market'', and ''Eliot Ness: An Untouchable Life'' (based on his Edgar Award–nominated play).<ref name="FOMAC biography" /> All four were produced independently on location in Collins' hometown of [[Muscatine, Iowa]]. The first three are available on DVD—separately or in the ''Black Box'' set—from [[Troma Entertainment|Troma]] Team Video, and the Ness film is distributed by VCI Entertainment. The DVD release of ''Real Time: Siege at Lucas Street Market'' being notable for being one of the first films to take advantage of the multi-angle feature on DVD players, thus giving viewers the opportunity to watch the story unfold from different viewpoints.

Collins has written and performed music with his rock band, Crusin'.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://iowafreepress.com/2015/11/19/psychedelic-siren-crusin-with-max-allan-collins-and-the-daybreakers/|title= ''Psychedelic Siren'': Crusin' with Max Allan Collins and The Daybreakers|first= Mike|last= Kuhlenbeck|date= November 19, 2015|publisher= Iowa Free Press|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170226044902/http://iowafreepress.com/2015/11/19/psychedelic-siren-crusin-with-max-allan-collins-and-the-daybreakers/|archive-date= February 26, 2017|url-status= usurped|df= mdy-all|quote= Crusin’s lead singer and keyboardist Max Allan Collins is better known to fans as a prolific author of novels, short stories and comic books.}}</ref>