Mickey Spillane Does the Wars of the Roses

When you’ve been reading the Mickey Spillane obits, and you’ve been researching the Wars of the Roses, and it’s late at night, and you haven’t updated your blog in a few days, this is what happens. Really.

The future Edward IV to Eleanor Talbot

"It isn't going to be easy getting through this engagement, kitten, but let's keep it cool until we do."

(—Black Alley)

Edward IV to George, Duke of Clarence

I said, "George, you've forgotten something. You've forgotten that I'm not a guy that takes any crap. Not from anybody. You've forgotten I've been king because I stayed alive longer than some guys who didn't want me that way. You've forgotten that I've had some punks tougher than you'll ever be on the end of a sword and I stabbed them just to watch their expressions change."

He was scared, but he tried to bluff it out anyway. He said, "Why don'tcha try it now, Eddie?"

(—Vengeance Is Mine)

Buckingham to the future Richard III

“You can figure things out as quickly as I can, but you haven't got the ways and means of doing the dirty work. That's where I come in. You'll be right behind me every inch of the way, but when the pinch comes I'll get shoved aside and you slap the crown on."

(—I, the Jury)

Richard III before the Battle of Bosworth

I used to be able to look at myself and grin without giving a damn about how ugly it made me look. Now I was looking at myself the same way those people did back there. I was looking at a hunchbacked guy with an ugly reputation, a guy who had no earthly reason for existing in a decent, normal society. That's what the chroniclers had said. . . .

I was a killer. I was a murderer, legalized. I had no reason for living.

(—One Lonely Night)

(For the excerpts on which these are based, see The Unofficial Mickey Spillane Mike Hammer Site by David Seong. Tell him Suzie sent you.)

(On a totally unrelated subject, it was a pleasure to see this today.)