BOOK REVIEW - THE COMPLETE DICK TRACY VOL. 4 (1936-1938) BY CHESTER GOULD

 

I've been aware of Dick Tracy most of my life, but I didn't have a lot of time reading the strip. I only saw two or three days worth when Chester Gould was still doing the strip when on vacation. I got to know a few villains via MAD Magazine and my dad mentioning them (e.g. Flattop, Pruneface, and Oodles). For a few years, I saw the strip occasionally in the '80's and 00's, the 40's movie "Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome" co-starring Boris Karloff, Warren Beatty's 1990 film, and read a book which included a few series including the introduction of Sam Ketchem and Gould's final story.

I had previously seen the third volume of this collection. The final story (featuring Lips Manlis who was in the '90 movie) was at a stopping point. But it wasn't finished - it too another 10 weeks worth to conclude it. There were three other stories in this volume, and stories 3 and 4 flowed together, as the final story let you know that it would be finished in Vol. 5.

Besides Lips, the only villain I was familiar with in this volume was The Blank, who had a key role in the '90 movie (a much bigger role than Manlis). However, Beatty's dealing with the villains differed from the original comic strip. 

I enjoyed reading these books, and recommend them.

BOOK REVIEW - THE COMPLETE DICK TRACY VOL. 3 (1935-1936) BY CHESTER GOULD

My interaction with Dick Tracy has been sporadic. I saw some parodies from Mad Magazine (such as "What if Gilbert and Sullivan wrote Dick Tracy?"), had a few times when I was able to follow the strip ('81-'84, '86-88, and some in the 2000's), saw a few books reprinting a story, and seeing the old movie "Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome" (co-starring Boris Karloff) and the 1990 feature starring Warren Beatty. So it was fun reading some of the old strips.

I have a hunch that volume 2 ends with Dick Tracy and friends arresting Boris Arson. (I've only read volumes 3 and 4 at this point, and don't expect to read most of them). This collection starts off with Boris escaping with the help of his sister Zora, followed by three other stories (I was surprised that the stories lasted 5 months; I'm more used to 3 month stories in comic serials). 

I only recognized one of the villains: Lips Manlis, who was in the 1990 movie, played by the late Paul Sorvino. Besides large lips, the only thing in common between the movie version and the original comic character was they started out as a gangster. In the film version, he was bumped off early. In the comics, Dick Tracy offered him a chance to go straight with a new name ("Bob Honor"). I loved seeing the development of the character. He rescued some of his former gang members to keep them from dying in a fire. This volume ends with Bob recovering and one member at large. How long to get that lone wolf into custody? You'll have to read volume 4 for that answer.

P.S. You'll find it amusing that when I was writing in "former gang members" in the above paragraph, I almost typed "former band members." Yep, you'd expect that from a music lover!