1994- Detective Conan, by manga author/artist Gosho Aoyama, is published.

Gosho Aoyama, an avid fan of detective stories, created a manga about a young teenage detective named Kudo Shinichi (Jimmy Kudo). He is a skilled soccer ace with an obsession with detectives (especially Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes) and works with the police solving crimes they cannot seem to solve. Unlike Holmes, Kudo has a love interest. Her name is Mouri Ran (Rachel Moore), and she is Shinichi's best friend. Both feel the same way about each-other but are too scared to tell the other.

One day at an amusement park, after solving a murder case, Shinichi witnesses a criminal payoff and is smacked in the back of the head by a man in black. The man decides to test his organizations new secret poison on the young detective, and it has unexpected results.

The drug shrinks Shinichi to the size of an eight year old.

Taking the alias "Conan Edogawa" (after Conan Doyle and Edogawa Rampo) , Conan ends up living with Ran and her father Mouri Kogoro (Richard Moore). With special gadgets from his wacky scientist neighbor Dr. Agasa, Conan solves crimes as a child while trying to find out how to reverse the shrink and find the men in black.

Detective Conan has taken elements from many of the above detectives and put them in one manga/anime. Let's look at some examples. Conan himself is a child detective, like many before him, except Conan usually gives the credit to someone else. He also uses a wide variety of gadgets, many of which seem like gadgets you would see in a Bond flick. Let us not forget that Mouri Kogoro is obviously named after Akechi Kogoro, though Richard Moore is mad out to be the foolish detective/police that our genius detective has to put up with.

Then we must also consider characters like Meguire (whose outfit is similar to Dick Tracey's), who portray the competent police officer. The name Meguire is meant to be Irish, as stereotypically most police officers are Irish. Read an old comic book some time and you'll probably find officer "O' Leary" or something similar. Then we have The Detective Boys (The Junior Detective League), which is obviously reminiscent of both the Baker Street Irregulars and the Boy Detective Club. However, Aoyama has some originality and places his main character in the club, as opposed to having an adult main character detective get assistance from them.

Then we get into the area of rivals. The Detective of the West, Hattori Heiji (Harley Hartwell), is Conan's equal in the detective game. The two have an interesting bit of competition between the two of them, and they also have a nice friendship. But then we have the rival of the other side of the coin. The Moriarty of the story, Kaito Kid. A gentlemen thief, like Lupin (even has the tophat and monacle), he is an international thief who has a strong rivalry with Conan. Kaito is like Robin Hood, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, and he always informs the police before he steals anything, as he loves a good challenge. Kaito and Conan have a mutual respect for each-other.

Then we have one more major character in the Conan universe that we must mention, and this character is totally original and may bring in a new fad for detective literature. That is one who understands the detective. Miyano Shiho was only 18 years old, but a brilliant scientist. She was working for the Black Organization and developed the drug that shrunk Conan. After her sister is killed she betrays the Black Organization and takes the drug herself, and flees. She becomed adopted by Dr. Agasa, and she become someone who can relate with Conan. They were about the same age, and they are both shrunken. They both live under alias' (her's is Haibara Ai) , and they were both young geniuses.

The characters in Detective Conan have traits of many characters from many famous detective stories, but they have enough originality that allows them to shine in their own light. The characters are timeless classics like their predecessors, and will someday have people taking traits from their stories and put them in their own, along with their own originality.

While Detective Conan can get very serious at times, it is also quite full of humor. The tradition of humor in detective stories that Agatha Christie started has remained in Conan, as there can be humor even when solving a murder case. The cast of characters are naturally funny, and each in their own way.

Another original trait about Detective Conan is the cases. While they include the same traits as the previous ones by other authors (unexpected endings, red herrings, suspects and clues), this series sometimes has the case as a side-story, with conflicts between the main characters becoming a central issue. Not too common in detective literature.

The legacy that began with Poe's Dupin is now on the shoulders of Aoyama's Conan. Unlike most detective stories, which took traits from one or two authors, Detective Conan is a gigantic mix of the many detective stories that came before it. It could have been a horrible mess, but it ended up being one of best mystery sagas of all time. Gosho Aoyama put together all the elements seamlessly, and is continuing that legacy that Poe began all those years ago. The legacy of the detective story is still burning brightly, and it will keep on burning as long as authors like Christie, Edogawa, Doyle, and Aoyama are around.

A new detective icon will come. It always has, and it always will. We will see new characteristics, new traits, new elements, and true originality along with it. But, that does not mean that the others will be any less great. Poe will still be remembered as a genius, Holmes will still be the greatest detective, Encyclopedia Brown will still be annoying, and Conan will still be a classic. But now, we are lucky enough to see a classic for our time. Conan is our generation's classic detective. That will always leave a special place in our hearts.

Dupin is the respected beginning, Holmes is the perfection of the genre, but Conan will always be our generation's detective. That will leave Conan in a special place in our hearts. While it is possible that Conan will not be remembered as well as Holmes or Dupin, I believe that he is worthy of standing alongside them as one of the greatest fictional detectives of all time. And with that said, I believe he will be remembered.

Conan is special, just like the others. But the special thing about Conan is that it is both original and a giant mix of the previous geniuses. It will be remembered as the ultimate mix of detective stories, and will be remembered as having such a large number of excellent cases. And while I am interested in seeing what detective will take the torch next, I'd rather not see that detective. I like where the torch is now, and hope it stays there for a long time.