Detectives Inc.

Detectives Inc.
Detectives Inc.: A Terror of Dying Dreams (1985). Cover art by Gene Colan
Publication information
Publisher	Eclipse Enterprises
Formats	Original material for the series has been published as a set of graphic novels.
Publication date	1980: Detectives Inc.: A Remembrance of Threatening Green 1985: Detectives Inc.: A Terror Of Dying Dreams
Main character(s)	Ted Denning, Bob Rainier
Creative team
Writer(s)	Don McGregor
Artist(s)	Marshall Rogers, Gene Colan
Letterer(s)	Tom Orzechowski, Mindy Eisman
Editor(s)	Dean Mullaney

Detectives Inc. is a series of two original graphic novels written by Don McGregor and published by Eclipse Enterprises in 1980 and 1985. The first, Detectives Inc.: A Remembrance of Threatening Green, featured black-and-white art by penciler-inker Marshall Rogers. The second, Detectives Inc.: A Terror Of Dying Dreams, was drawn by Gene Colan, and printed directly from his detailed pencils; a later comic-book reprinting added a sepia-tone wash in place of inking.

These two early graphic novels were not superhero or science fiction/fantasy stories, and A Remembrance of Threatening Green (1980) was the first naturalistic graphic novel to follow Will Eisner's influential A Contract with God. The Gay League's "LBGT Comics Timeline" cites the book as "featuring the first lesbian characters in mass-market comics".

The books' genesis, author Don McGregor recalled, had gone back several years. "I had created Detectives Inc. as early as 1969, as roles for Alex Simmons and myself to play in Super8 millimeter movies I was making". In the early 1970s, the two produced a crude Detectives Inc. comic book, self-published via .

In 1980, Eclipse Enterprises published Detectives Inc.: A Remembrance of Threatening Green, the first of what would become two graphic novels in this series, both written by McGregor. This initial book featured black-and-white art by penciler-inker Marshall Rogers. The second book, Detectives Inc.: A Terror Of Dying Dreams, followed in 1985, drawn by Gene Colan, and printed directly from his detailed pencils; a later comic-book reprinting added a sepia-tone wash in place of inking. In the American comics market, these two graphic novels were among the first not featuring superhero or science fiction/fantasy stories, and A Remembrance of Threatening Green (1980) was the first naturalistic graphic novel to follow Will Eisner's influential A Contract with God. The Gay League's "LBGT Comics Timeline" cites the book as "featuring the first lesbian characters in mass-market comics".