Nick and Nora Charles the bantering, romantically involved detective duo has become a well-used trope in literature, stage, screen, and television ever since. The characters first appear in Dashiell Hammett's best-selling last novel "The Thin Man" (1934). Nick is an alcoholic former private detective who retired when he married Nora, a wealthy Nob Hill heiress. Hammett reportedly modeled Nora on his longtime partner Lillian Hellman, and the characters' boozy, flippant dialogue on their relationship. (The novel also mentions that Nick was once a Pinkerton detective, as was Hammett.) The novel is considered one of the seminal texts of the hard-boiled subgenre of mystery novels,
Comic Book: The Movie Comic Book: The Movie Comic Book: The Movie is a 2004 direct-to-DVD mockumentary starring and directed by Mark Hamill. The story revolves around comic book fan Don Swan and his battle against a fictional film studio which is about to announce a film based on his favorite superhero, Commander Courage. Cameo appearances in the movie include Kevin Smith (filmmaker and comic book writer), Hugh Hefner (originator of "Playboy"), Stan Lee of Marvel Comics, Lloyd Kaufman (filmmaker and president of Troma Films), actor Bruce Campbell (star of the "Evil Dead" franchise), Peter David (comic book writer), Paul Dini (comic book and