Velda: Girl Detective is a multileveled parody of not only the more lurid of the 1950s crime comics but of comic collecting itself. The book is also more than a passing homage to the noir films and hard-boiled detective school of writing of the 1950s. Purporting to be an anthology of all the issues of a little-known golden age comic, it includes a history of the creation of the comic, an interview with its creator and an episode list of the "Girl Detective" TV show as well as special features including a Velda paper doll kit and the complete 1952 Velda pinup calendar. The comics also include vintage ads as well as featurettes such as "Hawkshaw Hawk, Bird Detective" and "Neolithica: Girl of the Pleistocene." Velda has also been featured in a series of radio plays broadcast by NPR ---as well as a full-length stage play that was produced a few years ago.