The papers of Max Allan Collins document his career and to a lesser extent his personal life. The general subject files in series one include a wide variety of materials from biographical sketches and correspondence to essays and short stories. The next category concentrates on Collins' comic strip works. There are folders of artwork, correspondence, drafts of comic strips with their respective scripts, and promotional material. Some of the comics include Ms. Tree and Batman. The Dick Tracy material relates to both the comic strip and the novels written by Collins, with artwork, pre-comic narratives, final versions, publicity, etc. The next fourteen boxes detail Collins' creative process when writing his novels. These manuscript materials range from correspondence and research, through various drafts, to galley proofs and advertising. The fifth series is made up of screenplays by Max Allan Collins and others. The final grouping relates to Mickey Spillane, with drafts of reviews and essays. The majority of this section consists of mystery story submissions by other authors for a collection titled Murder Is My Business.
