Full Description
In October 1931, Dick Tracy made his debut on the pages of the Detroit Mirror. Since then America's most famous crime fighter has tangled with a variety of protagonists from locations as diverse as the inner city and outer space, all the time maintaining the moral high ground while reflecting American popular culture.
Through extensive research and interviews with Chester Gould (the creator of "Dick Tracy"), his assistants, Dick Locher (the current artist), Max Allan Collins (who scripted the stories for more than 15 years) and many others associated with the strip, Dick Tracy as a cultural icon emerges. The strips use of both innovative and established police methods and the true-to-life portrayals of Tracy's family and fellow cops are detailed. The artists behind the strip are fully revealed and Dick Tracy paraphernalia and the 1990 movie Dick Tracy are discussed. Dick Tracy's appearances in other media--books, comics, radio, movie serials, "B" movies, television dramas, and animated cartoons--are fully covered.
Contents
Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
FOREWORDS
Some Context for a Serious Study
Max Allan Collins
Dick Tracy's Sister Remembers
Jean Gould O'Connell xiii
The Enduring Qualities of Dick Tracy
Dick Locher
PREFACE: A PIECE TO THE PUZZLE xvii
1. The Dick Tracy Comic Strip: An American Culture Phenomenon
2. Chronicling a Culture: A History of the Development of the American Comic Strip
3. Of Blue Knights and Social Injustices: The Police Procedural Detective Story and Dick Tracy
4. From Historical Fact to Historical Fantasy: The Dick Tracy Comic-Strip from 1931 to the Present
The Thirties
The Forties
The Fifties
The Sixties
The Seventies
The Eighties
The Nineties
5. Builders of a Legend: The People Behind Dick Tracy
Chester Gould
Max Allan Collins
Richard E. Fletcher
Dick Locher
John Locher
Richard Arnold "Dick" Moores
Russell Stamm
Jack Ryan
Coleman Anderson
Ray Gould
Ray Shlemon and Susan Anderson
An Overview of the Contributors to Tracy
6. A Proliferation of Moral Storytelling: Dick Tracy in Media Other Than the Comic Strip
Big Little Books
Feature Books
Comic Books
Radio Drama
Movie Serials
"B" Movies
Television Drama
Animated Cartoons
Television Pilot
7. Premiums, Paraphernalia, and Material Culture: The Dick Tracy Toys
8. The 1990 Blockbuster Movie
9. The Second Most Famous Detective
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
