Max Allen Collins was hailed in 2004 by Publisher's Weekly as “a new breed of writer.” A frequent Mystery Writers of America nominee in both fiction and non-fiction categories, he has earned an unprecedented eighteen Private Eye Writers of America nominations, winning for his Nathan Heller novels, True Detective (1983) and Stolen Away (1991).
 

Terry Beatty is the artist and co-creator (with Max Allan Collins) of the long-running private eye series, Ms. Tree. Collaborations with Collins also include Mike Mist, Mickey Spillane's Mike Danger and Johnny Dynamite.
Beatty has been the primary inker of DC Comics' "animated-style" Batman comics, including a four-year stint inking Chris Jones' pencils on The Batman Strikes!.
From 2012 to 2017, Beatty was the artist for the Sunday episodes of the King Features comic strip, The Phantom.