Maze Agency
Encyclopedia
The Maze Agency is an American mystery
comic book series created by Mike W. Barr
and first published in 1988
. It revolves around a pair of detectives (Jennifer Mays and Gabriel Webb) and their adventures solving puzzling murders. The Maze Agency was a 1989
nominee for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards for Best New Series.
for 7 issues in 1988-1989, and shortly before that company ceased operations, it moved to Innovation Comics for another 16 issues (8-23), plus an annual and a special continuing the numbering and running to 1991
. Alpha Productions released a single Maze Agency story in the anthology comic, The Detectives #1 in 1993, as well as a prose story in Noir #1 in 1994. Caliber Comics
brought it back in the late 90s as a three-issue miniseries. IDW Publishing
printed a three issue miniseries in 2005/2006. They also reprinted #1-5 of the original series in trade paperback. A second prose story appeared in the anthology, "Sex, Lies and Private Eyes," published by Moonstone in 2009.
were giving an interview, and one said "Ellery Queen is always fair to the reader," to which the other replied, "Ellery Queen is always fair to the reader if the reader is a genius." As Mike W. Barr is a fan of the series of Ellery Queen mysteries, the comic has much the same feel, sharing qualities such as the occasional "challenge to the reader" to solve the mystery, and an incorrect solution being offered by a character before the real answer is revealed. Barr even used Ellery as a guest star in Maze Agency #9.
Gabriel Webb is a true-crime writer who longs to create more cerebral stories than his sensationalist editors like. He's a little scatterbrained and easily distracted, but has a first-rate deductive mind. Although, he's romantically involved with May and helps her with many of her cases, he feels that the relationship makes accepting her repeated offer to join her business professionally inappropriate.
Detective Roberta Bliss is an NYPD homicide detective of Puerto Rican descent whom Webb and Mays often deal with in solving cases. She is sometimes annoyed by their tendency to complicate cases, but knows that they have the ability to crack murders that she'd have a hard time solving alone.
Ashley Swift is the head of the rival Swift Detective Agency, and Jennifer's former boss. She's a good detective, though not as good as Jen and Gabe, but her arrogance has a habit of rubbing her ex-employee the wrong way.
Mystery fiction
Mystery fiction is a loosely-defined term.1.It is often used as a synonym for detective fiction or crime fiction— in other words a novel or short story in which a detective investigates and solves a crime mystery. Sometimes mystery books are nonfiction...
comic book series created by Mike W. Barr
Mike W. Barr
Mike W. Barr is an American writer of comic books, and mystery, and science fiction novels.-Biography:Barr's debut as a comics professional came in DC Comics' Detective Comics #444 , for which he wrote an 8-page back-up mystery feature starring the Elongated Man...
and first published in 1988
1988 in comics
-Events and publications:* Jack Binder, creator of the original Daredevil, dies at c. age 86.* Tarpé Mills, creator Miss Fury, dies at c. age 73....
. It revolves around a pair of detectives (Jennifer Mays and Gabriel Webb) and their adventures solving puzzling murders. The Maze Agency was a 1989
1989 in comics
-Year overall:* "Inferno" company-wide Marvel Comics crossover continues, involving the mutant titles The Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor, The New Mutants, and Excalibur, as well as the X-Terminators limited series and various other Marvel titles...
nominee for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards for Best New Series.
Publication history
The Maze Agency was first published by Comico ComicsComico Comics
Comico: The Comic Company was an American comic book publisher, headquartered in Norristown, Pennsylvania. Its best-known comics include the Robotech adaptations, the Jonny Quest continuation written by co-creator Doug Wildey, and Matt Wagner's Mage: The Hero Discovered and Grendel...
for 7 issues in 1988-1989, and shortly before that company ceased operations, it moved to Innovation Comics for another 16 issues (8-23), plus an annual and a special continuing the numbering and running to 1991
1991 in comics
-January:* Checkmate is canceled by DC Comics with issue #33.* El Diablo vol. 2 is canceled by DC with issue #16.* Count Duckula is canceled by the Marvel Comics imprint Star Comics with issue #15....
. Alpha Productions released a single Maze Agency story in the anthology comic, The Detectives #1 in 1993, as well as a prose story in Noir #1 in 1994. Caliber Comics
Caliber Comics
Caliber Comics or Caliber Press was an American comic book publisher founded in 1989 by Gary Reed. Featuring primarily creator-owned comics, in the next decade Caliber published over 1300 comics and ranked as one of the America's leading independent publishers...
brought it back in the late 90s as a three-issue miniseries. IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...
printed a three issue miniseries in 2005/2006. They also reprinted #1-5 of the original series in trade paperback. A second prose story appeared in the anthology, "Sex, Lies and Private Eyes," published by Moonstone in 2009.
Fair-Play Whodunits
The Maze Agency is notable for being one of the few mystery comic books to "play fair" with the reader — i.e. giving out sufficient clues for the reader to solve the mystery. However, in a February 2004 interview, creator and writer Mike W. Barr admitted that "Some of the Maze stories, frankly, are not fair-play whodunits to the reader, in that the story is possibly too complex for the reader to solve." He cited as comparison an anecdote wherein the two creators of Ellery QueenEllery Queen
Ellery Queen is both a fictional character and a pseudonym used by two American cousins from Brooklyn, New York: Daniel Nathan, alias Frederic Dannay and Manford Lepofsky, alias Manfred Bennington Lee , to write, edit, and anthologize detective fiction.The fictional Ellery Queen created by...
were giving an interview, and one said "Ellery Queen is always fair to the reader," to which the other replied, "Ellery Queen is always fair to the reader if the reader is a genius." As Mike W. Barr is a fan of the series of Ellery Queen mysteries, the comic has much the same feel, sharing qualities such as the occasional "challenge to the reader" to solve the mystery, and an incorrect solution being offered by a character before the real answer is revealed. Barr even used Ellery as a guest star in Maze Agency #9.
Characters
Jennifer Mays is a smart, tough, and sexy ex-CIA agent who runs the private detective agency for which the comic is named. Gabriel Webb is one of the few people to see her softer, tender side.Gabriel Webb is a true-crime writer who longs to create more cerebral stories than his sensationalist editors like. He's a little scatterbrained and easily distracted, but has a first-rate deductive mind. Although, he's romantically involved with May and helps her with many of her cases, he feels that the relationship makes accepting her repeated offer to join her business professionally inappropriate.
Detective Roberta Bliss is an NYPD homicide detective of Puerto Rican descent whom Webb and Mays often deal with in solving cases. She is sometimes annoyed by their tendency to complicate cases, but knows that they have the ability to crack murders that she'd have a hard time solving alone.
Ashley Swift is the head of the rival Swift Detective Agency, and Jennifer's former boss. She's a good detective, though not as good as Jen and Gabe, but her arrogance has a habit of rubbing her ex-employee the wrong way.