How the 'good guy with a gun' became a deadly American fantasy
2019 Jul 19
A drawing of Philip Marlowe, an icon of hard-boiled detective fiction created by author Raymond Chandler. CHRISTO DRUMMKOPF/flickr, CC BY
The archetype can be traced back to 1920s detective fiction, when gruff, gun-toting, cigarette-smoking mavericks became heroic figures.