Chester Gould

In 1931, the Chicago Tribune introduced the public to an exciting new comic strip destined to become a classic: Dick Tracy. Tracy's creator, Chester Gould, would spend the next 46 years of his life developing the dynamic, crime-fighting character, and his work on the strip won him the Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year in both 1959 and 1977. A revolutionary in the comics industry, Gould invented both a genre and an icon. The personal story of this pioneer cartoonist is now presented in a biography written by Gould's only child. Beginning with his young life in a three-room house in Pawnee, Oklahoma, this book traces all the steps Gould took to eventually achieve remarkable distinction at the top of his field. The early pages relate his ancestors' part in the Oklahoma land rush, drawing on the unpublished memoir of his father, Gilbert Gould. Chester Gould's story is then augmented by his own personal commentary, taken directly from recorded conversations with his daughter. Throughout these conversations, Gould recollects the evolution of his career, from painting advertisements on barn roofs at age 17 to documenting the violent crime life of Chicago, from which he drew inspiration for his Dick Tracy strip. Discussion of his ambitions, disappointments, popular accomplishments, and family moments comprise a thorough account of Chester Gould's fascinating life. Appendices include commentary from his two grandchildren and a comprehensive list of his awards and distinctions, which included formal recognition from three American presidents.

Clover Press and The Library of American Comics prove that size does matter as we fulfill fans' long-standing requests to produce new editions of the first six volumes of Chester Gould's The Complete Dick Tracy. This is no simple reprinting - these volumes have been reformatted to be the same larger size as Volumes 7 through 29. In this premiere offering, we return again to those hardscrabble days of 1931, when tragedy in the Trueheart family puts young Dick Tracy on the police force and pits him against mobster "Big Boy," Larceny Lu, the counterfeiter Alec Penn, the nefarious "Stooge" Viller, and Steve the Tramp! As an added bonus, the first thirty-four Tracy Sunday pages, with stories separate from the daily continuity, have been rescanned to make them sharper and cleaner than their original reprinting. There's never been a better time than now to get reacquainted with Chester Gould's crime-busting plainclothesman, with the publication of the new bigger edition of The Complete Dick Tracy Volume 1!

Experience the adventures of the world's most famous comic strip detective just as they appeared when originally published.

"Dick Tracy introduced violence -- blunt, ironic, and retributional violence -- to the comics page. The quintissential Dick Tracy line about his crimefighting tactics? "I'm going to shoot first and investigate later!" The strip is also notable for its introduction of scientific detection to comics, a theme that Gould continued to exploit well into the 1960s. And now, more than 80 years after the first Tracy strips, Gould's massive body of work is being collected in its entirety." -- Publisher's website

"Dick Tracy introduced violence -- blunt, ironic, and retributional violence -- to the comics page. The quintissential Dick Tracy line about his crimefighting tactics? "I'm going to shoot first and investigate later!" The strip is also notable for its introduction of scientific detection to comics, a theme that Gould continued to exploit well into the 1960s. And now, more than 80 years after the first Tracy strips, Gould's massive body of work is being collected in its entirety." -- Publisher's website

"Dick Tracy introduced violence -- blunt, ironic, and retributional violence -- to the comics page. The quintissential Dick Tracy line about his crimefighting tactics? "I'm going to shoot first and investigate later!" The strip is also notable for its introduction of scientific detection to comics, a theme that Gould continued to exploit well into the 1960s. And now, more than 80 years after the first Tracy strips, Gould's massive body of work is being collected in its entirety." -- Publisher's website

"This volume introduces Mumbles--one of Dick Tracy's greatest villains--and sees Tracy form the Crime Stoppers Club, teaching young boys and girls crime detection techniques. The fascinating (and sometimes grotesque) parade of characters continues, including Coffyhead, Hypo, Bronko, Kiss Andtell, Acres O'Riley, Heels Beals, and Autumn Hews. Plus, everyone dreads seeing what the baby born to B.O. Plenty and Gravel Gertie will look like!"--Amazon.com.

"This volume introduces Mumbles--one of Dick Tracy's greatest villains--and sees Tracy form the Crime Stoppers Club, teaching young boys and girls crime detection techniques. The fascinating (and sometimes grotesque) parade of characters continues, including Coffyhead, Hypo, Bronko, Kiss Andtell, Acres O'Riley, Heels Beals, and Autumn Hews. Plus, everyone dreads seeing what the baby born to B.O. Plenty and Gravel Gertie will look like!"--Amazon.com.