Nick Carter is a fictional character who began as a dime novel private detective in 1886 and has appeared in a variety of formats over more than a century. The character was first conceived by Ormond G. Smith and created by John R. Coryell. Carter headlined his own magazine for years, and was then part of a long-running series of novels from 1964 to 1990. Movies were created based on Carter in France, Czechoslovakia, and the United States. Nick Carter has also featured in many comic books and in radio programs.
Literary history
Nick Carter first appeared in the story paper New York Weekly (Vol. 41 No. 46, September 18, 1886) in a 13-week serial, "The Old Detective's Pupil; or, The Mysterious Crime of Madison Square"; the character was conceived by Ormond G. Smith, the son of one of the founders of Street & Smith, and realized by John R. Coryell. Coryell retired from writing Nick Carter novels and the series was taken over by Frederick Van Rensselaer Dey, who wrote 1,076 novels and stories from 1890 until his suicide in 1922."Creator of 'Nick Carter' Kills Himslf; Penniless After Writing 40,000,000 Words", The New York Times, April 27, 1922, p. 1 The character proved popular enough to headline its own magazine, Nick Carter Weekly. The serialized stories in Nick Carter Weekly were also reprinted as stand-alone titles with the imprint of New Magnet Library.Bedore, Pamela. Dime Novels and the Roots of American Detective Fiction. Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. By 1915, Nick Carter Weekly had ceased publication and Street & Smith had replaced it with Detective Story Magazine, which had a more varied cast of characters. There was a brief attempt at reviving Carter in 1924–27 in Detective Story Magazine, but it was not successful.
During the 1930s, due to the success of The Shadow and Doc Savage, Street & Smith revived Nick Carter in a pulp magazine (named Nick Carter Detective Magazine) that was published from 1933 to 1936. Since the Doc Savage character had basically been given Nick's background, Nick Carter was now given new characteristics. Novels featuring Carter continued to be published through the 1950s, by which time there was also a popular radio show, Nick Carter, Master Detective, which was broadcast by the Mutual Broadcasting System network from 1943 to 1955.
Killmaster revival
Due to the success of the James Bond series during the 1960s, the character was updated for a long-running series of novels featuring the adventures of secret agent Nick Carter, aka the Killmaster. The first book, Run Spy Run, was published in 1964 and more than 260 Nick Carter adventures were published until the series ended in 1990.
The 100th Killmaster novel — Nick Carter 100 — was accompanied by an essay concerning the 1890s version, and a short story featuring the character; that marked one of the few times the Killmaster series acknowledged its historical roots.
None of these Nick Carter series of books had author credits, although it is known that several of the earliest volumes were written by Michael Avallone, and that Valerie Moolman and New York Times bestselling author Gayle Lynds wrote others, making this the first series of its kind to be written in significant part by women. Bill Crider is another author identified with Nick Carter.
The Nick Carter name was treated as if it were a pseudonym, and many of the volumes were written in the first person.
Authors The works were published using the house pseudonyms "Nicholas Carter" and "Sergeant Ryan". Authors known to have contributed include the following: John R. Coryell (1848–1924) Frederick W. Davis (1858–1933), who wrote eight Nick Carter stories for The New Nick Carter Weekly in 1910 and 1912, as well as writing extensively under the pen name "Scott Campbell" Frederick Van Rensselaer Dey (1861–1922), who took his own life Thomas C. Harbaugh (1849–1924), who died penniless in the Miami County Home in OhioTime magazine; Thomas Harbaugh, 75, one of the authors of the Nick Carter Detective Stories and other dime novels; penniless in the Miami County Home, Ohio. He wrote from 300 to 600 thrillers, at the rate of one a week, with pen; later, in the days of the typewriter, he sometimes bettered his speed. George C. Jenks (1850-1929) Eugene T. Sawyer (1847–1924)Time magazine; Eugene T. Sawyer, 77, one of the authors of the Diamond Dick, the Nick Carter Detective Stories; in San Jose, California Charles Westerbrook Richard Edward Wormser (1908–1977), who claimed to have written 17 Carter magazine stories published in 1932–33p.139 Wild Cat Books The Pulp Hero: Deluxe Edition 2008 Lulu
Stories are also credited to Harrison Keith, the joint pseudonym of John A. L. Chambliss and Philip Clark, who both wrote for the franchise.
Books New Magnet Library