Dick Tracy.” MAX ALLAN COLLINS —Scoop the DICK COMPLETE DICK ® TRACY TRACY
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$39.99 “The period covered in this volume is arguably one of the strongest in the Gould/Tracy canon, (Different in Canada) and undeniably the cartoonist’s best work since 1952's Crewy Lou continuity. “One of the best things to happen to the Brutality by both the good and bad guys is as strong and disturbing as ever…” comic market in the last few years was IDW’s decision to publish The Complete from the Introduction by Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy.” MAX ALLAN COLLINS —Scoop THE DICK COMPLETE DICK ® TRACY TRACY NEARLY 550 SEQUENTIAL COMICS OCTOBER 1954 In Volume Sixteen—reprinting strips from October 25, 1954 THROUGH through May 13, 1956—Chester Gould presents an amazing MAY 1956 Chester Gould (1900–1985) was born in Pawnee, Oklahoma. number of memorable characters: grotesques such as the He attended Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State murderous Rughead and a 467-lb. killer named Oodles, University) before transferring to Northwestern University in health faddist George Ozone and his wild boys named Neki Chicago, from which he was graduated in 1923. He produced and Hokey, the despicable "Nothing" Yonson, and the amoral the minor comic strips Fillum Fables and The Radio Catts teenager Joe Period. He then introduces nightclub photog- before striking it big with Dick Tracy in 1931. Originally titled Plainclothes Tracy, the rechristened strip became one of turned policewoman Lizz, at a time when women on the the most successful and lauded comic strips of all time, as well force were still a rarity. Plus for the first time Gould brings as a media and merchandising sensation. He was twice back an old villain: Mumbles, who was thought drowned in accorded the “Cartoonist of the Year” Reuben Award by his 1947. Finally, he delivers what may be his most mature story peers. Gould continued to write and illustrate Dick Tracy until his retirement in 1977. of the 1950s—starring none other than Flattop Jr.! LibraryofAmericanComics.com • idwpublishing.com DICK TRACY VOLUME 16 • 1954–1956 IDW PUBLISHING • SAN DIEGO DICK TRACY VOLUME 16: 1954–1956 OTHER BOOKS IN THE LIBRARY OF AMERICAN COMICS STORIES AND ART BY CHESTER GOULD ARCHIE BY BOB MONTANA THE LIBRARY OF AMERICAN COMICS BATMAN BY ELLSWORTH, MOLDOFF, EDITED AND DESIGNED BY Dean Mullaney INFANTINO, AND GIELLA ASSOCIATE EDITOR Bruce Canwell • ART DIRECTOR Lorraine Turner BLONDIE BY CHIC YOUNG INTRODUCTION BY Max Allan Collins CONSULTING EDITOR BLOOM COUNTY BY BERKELEY BREATHED HISTORICAL ESSAY BY Jeffrey Kersten CONTRIBUTING EDITOR BRINGING UP FATHER BY GEORGE MCMANUS MARKETING DIRECTOR Beau Smith • ORIGINATING DICK TRACY SERIES EDITOR Ted Adams CANIFF: A VISUAL BIOGRAPHY Special thanks to Jackson Glassey, Joseph Ketels, Jay Maeder, the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum CARTOON MONARCH: at the Ohio State University, Stephen Tippie, Justin Eisinger, Alonzo Simon, and Don McGregor. OTTO SOGLOW AND THE LITTLE KING ISBN: 978-1-61377-864-7 First Printing, March 2014 CHUCK JONES: THE DREAM THAT NEVER WAS LibraryofAmericanComics.com THE FAMILY CIRCUS BY BIL KEANE FLASH GORDON AND JUNGLE JIM BY ALEX RAYMOND GASOLINE ALLEY BY KING AND MOORES GENIUS, ISOLATED: THE LIFE AND ART OF ALEX TOTH BY DEAN MULLANEY & BRUCE CANWELL KING AROO BY JACK KENT LI’L ABNER BY AL CAPP LITTLE ORPHAN ANNIE BY HAROLD GRAY LOAC ESSENTIALS: BARON BEAN 1916 BY GEORGE HERRIMAN Dick Tracy ® and © 2014 TMS News and Features, LLC. THE GUMPS 1929 BY SIDNEY SMITH All rights reserved. The Library of American Comics is a trademark of Library of American Comics, LLC. All rights POLLY AND HER PALS 1933 BY CLIFF STERRETT reserved. “Meet You at the Morgue!” © 2014 Max Allan ALLEY OOP 1939 BY V. T. HAMLIN Collins. “So Immense” © 2014 Jeff Kersten. With the MISS FURY BY TARPÉ MILLS exception of artwork used for review purposes, none of the comic strips in this publication may be reprinted without the POLLY AND HER PALS BY CLIFF STERRETT permission of TMS News and Features, LLC. No part of this Published by: book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, IDW Publishing RIP KIRBY BY ALEX RAYMOND AND JOHN PRENTICE electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, a Division of Idea and Design Works, LLC SCORCHY SMITH AND recording, or by any information and retrieval system, 5080 Santa Fe Street without permission in writing from TMS News and THE ART OF NOEL SICKLES San Diego, CA 92109 Features, LLC. Printed in Korea. www.idwpublishing.com SECRET AGENT CORRIGAN BY AL WILLIAMSON & ARCHIE GOODWIN IDW Publishing Ted Adams, Chief Executive Officer/Publisher SKIPPY BY PERCY CROSBY Greg Goldstein, Chief Operating Officer/President STEVE CANYON BY MILTON CANIFF Robbie Robbins, EVP/Sr. Graphic Artist Chris Ryall, Chief Creative Officer/Editor-in-Chief SUPERMAN BY SIEGEL, SHUSTER, BORING, ET AL. Matthew Ruzicka, CPA, Chief Financial Officer Alan Payne, VP of Sales • Dirk Wood, VP of Marketing TARZAN BY RUSS MANNING Lorelei Bunjes, VP of Digital Services TERRY AND THE PIRATES BY MILTON CANIFF Distributed by Diamond Book Distributors 1-410-560-7100 “Meet You at the Morgue!” by MAX ALLAN COLLINS [Spoiler Alert: Important story elements are revealed in this introduction. Readers may wish to read the strips before this essay.] hough it’s little commented upon these days, Batman was very much for the first time reconsidered his penchant for consigning his greatest creations conceived as Dick Tracy in costumed-hero drag. Just as Bruce Wayne’s to morgue slabs. Even a decade later, Flattop remained as famous as Tracy T ward was Dick Grayson, Dick Tracy’s adoptive son was Junior, and the himself. Fans wrote letters begging for the bad guy’s return. But Flattop had only real difference was the wardrobe. Those two square-jawed heroes, Dick Tracy been killed not only merely dead, but really most sincerely dead. and Batman, used both scientific investigative methods and outlandish inventions Much of what makes Dick Tracy unique is the conflict inherent in its as they fought grotesque villains in adventures depicted against the backdrop of a creator’s desires—Chester Gould, as previously noted in these introductions, geometric big city. The cartoony style of both features took some of the edge off was a frustrated humor cartoonist. In his decade-plus effort to land a major the sometimes shocking violence on display. syndicated strip he tried damn near everything—sports, editorial, even Ripley’s Where Tracy and Batman varied, however, was in the latter feature’s reliance Believe It Or Not knock-offs—but mostly he submitted samples for “big foot” on recurring villains. In the ’40s through the pre-Adam West ’60s, scores of stories humor strips. His Tracy proposal was just another in a long list of enthusiastic, featured a handful of popular bad guys—the Joker, the Penguin, the Catwoman. sometimes desperate attempts to attract the attention of the Chicago Tribune- In Chester Gould’s world, however, villains rarely returned. Certainly New York News Syndicate. Flattop, Shaky, and the Brow—just to mention Tracy’s 1944 adversaries—are He wound up creating the world’s most famous detective (after Sherlock villains on a par with the Bat-trio mentioned above. But Gould’s Old Testament Holmes, anyway) and becoming known for bringing a new level of violence to world view required that villainy meet its rough-justice reward. At the end of a the comic strip. This made for an ironic kind of success. Throughout his nearly Tracy continuity, the villain—however lovably eccentric he or she might be, no fifty years on Tracy, Gould introduced as many zany humor elements as possible, matter how vividly designed and drawn—would wind up in the morgue, “just a notably B.O. Plenty and Gravel Gertie, but also in special Sunday “topper” strips slab number with a tag on his toe,” as Tracy says considering the corpse of one of for Tracy featuring such wacky and largely forgotten strips as The Gravies and this volume’s villains. Chief Patton adds: “Some get there sooner than others, but Sawdust. (In the Tribune and some other Sunday sections, these “toppers” they all get here.” actually appeared below the main feature.) After stepping down from Tracy, In Dick Tracy they sure do, and variations on the scene referred to above Chester Gould worked feverishly on a humor strip called Check-Out Chickie appear several times in the pages ahead. Gould was unforgiving, not only of his (turned down by the Tribune Syndicate—back to square one!). well-conceived, deftly designed bad guys, but of his own creativity. He continually Gould was obviously successful with the hillbilly Plenty family and for many challenged himself to top the previous villain with an even better one. years Vitamin Flintheart provided solid comic relief, but attempts to use Tracy, Sam Nearing the quarter of a century mark of his famous strip’s existence, Gould Catchem, and others in the recurring cast almost always fell flat. Tracy was a great 5 Above: The original artwork of Gould’s Tracy and Rogues Gallery illustration detective, but not much of a comedian. These unsuccessful bragged about Tracy always picking up papers when Capp ran for Newsweek, 1956. attempts at squad-room humor were invariably accompanied by a Fosdick continuity (“You can’t understand the spoof without big open-jawed guffaws from the rest of the characters, cuing the seeing the original”). Privately, though, he hated it, and once Right: This February 1954 Chicago reader to laugh. Which the reader didn’t. called Capp on the phone and said, “Hey, enough’s enough.” Tribune photo captures the first-ever Where Gould’s penchant for humor truly blossomed— Gould knew that Fosdick was built on a faulty premise: broadcast of a police lineup tested by the New York Police Department only again, ironically—was in the creation of his villains.