Comics Bulletin logo
Search
  • Columns
    Random
    • Basil Wolverton and "Creeping Death from Neptune"

      Jason Sacks
      February 6, 2015
      Classic Comics Cavalcade, Columns
    Recent
    • The Full Run: Final Crisis #4

      Daniel Gehen, Jason Jeffords Jr.
      December 11, 2019
    • What Looks Good for the Week of December 11, 2019

      Daniel Gehen, Jason Jeffords Jr.
      December 9, 2019
    • What Looks Good For the Week of December 4, 2019

      Daniel Gehen
      December 2, 2019
    • What Looks Good
    • Comics Bulletin Soapbox
    • The Full Run
    • Leading Question
    • Top 10
    • The Long-Form
    • Jumping On
    • Comics in Color
    • Slouches Towards Comics
  • Big Two
    Random
    • Exclusive Marvel Preview: "Kanan" #9

      Jason Sacks
      December 10, 2015
      Marvel Comics, Previews
    Recent
    • The Full Run: Final Crisis #4

      Daniel Gehen, Jason Jeffords Jr.
      December 11, 2019
    • Collecting Profile: Orm (Ocean Master)

      nguyen ly
      December 7, 2019
    • Collecting Profile: DC Stargirl

      nguyen ly
      November 30, 2019
    • DC Comics
    • Big Two Reviews
    • Marvel Comics
  • Indie
    Random
    • Donny Cates Sinks His Teeth Into 'Redneck'

      Jason Sacks
      April 17, 2017
      Image, Indie, Interviews
    Recent
    • Review: Transformers Galaxies #3 and the problem with Constructicons

      Stephen Cook
      December 3, 2019
    • AHOY Comics Announces A Wave of Titles for 2020

      Daniel Gehen
      November 12, 2019
    • What Looks Good for the Week of November 13th, 2019

      Daniel Gehen
      November 11, 2019
    • Reviews
    • Archie Comics
    • Boom! Studios
    • Dark Horse
    • IDW
    • Image
    • Oni Press
  • Reviews
    Random
    • 140 Character Reviews 11/26/14 "Somebody described TF vs. GI Joe as being like "what if Jack Kirby did Saturday morning cartoons. But it's more like "what if he did them on acid for an underground zine." ~ James Kaplan

      Jason Sacks
      November 27, 2014
      140 Character Reviews, Reviews
    Recent
    • 2.0

      Review: Roku #1 Fails to Deliver

      Jason Jeffords Jr.
      November 11, 2019
    • 3.5

      Review: AMAZING MARY JANE #1 Starts Strong But Plays it Safe With Messaging

      Daniel Gehen
      October 29, 2019
    • 4.0

      Review: Count Crowley – Reluctant Midnight Monster Hunter #1

      Mike Nickells
      October 22, 2019
    • Singles Going Steady
    • Slugfest
    • Manga
      • Reviews
    • Small Press
      • Reviews
      • ICYMI
      • Tiny Pages Made of Ashes
  • Interviews
    Random
    • Risk and the Terrible Abyss: David Hine and Alberto Ponticelli discuss Second Sight

      Jason Sacks
      January 20, 2016
      Interviews
    Recent
    • Interview: V.E. Schwab on revisiting Red London in The Steel Prince

      Stephen Cook
      March 13, 2019
    • Interview: David Foster Wallace and Hellblazer, words on Wyrd with writer Curt Pires

      Stephen Cook
      February 27, 2019
    • “The Night Has Teeth” An Interview with Sarah deLaine, Artist of Image Comics’ “Little Girls”

      Jason Sacks
      February 26, 2019
    • Audio Interview
    • Video Interview
  • Classic Comics
    Random
    • Small Press Super-Heroes of the '80s: Miracleman

      Jason Sacks
      October 31, 2014
      Classic Comics Cavalcade, Columns
    Recent
    • Countdown to the King: Marvel’s Godzilla

      Daniel Gehen
      May 29, 2019
    • Honoring A Legend: Fantagraphics To Resurrect Tomi Ungerer Classics

      Daniel Gehen
      February 15, 2019
    • Reliving the Craziest Decade in Comics History: An interview with Jason Sacks

      Mark Stack
      January 2, 2019
    • Classic Comics Cavalcade
    • Classic Interviews
  • News
    Random
    • Walking Dead Producer Sets Her Sights on Alien-centric WWII Sci-fi Drama

      Jason Sacks
      December 7, 2012
      News
    Recent
    • AHOY Comics Announces A Wave of Titles for 2020

      Daniel Gehen
      November 12, 2019
    • Valiant’s BLOODSHOT Trailer is Finally Here

      Daniel Gehen
      October 21, 2019
    • The Rafaels Team-Up for “HIDDEN SOCIETY”

      Daniel Gehen
      October 3, 2019
    • Titan to Release Phantom of the Opera GN

      Daniel Gehen
      October 1, 2019
    • GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS Title Awarded to Todd McFarlane for SPAWN

      Daniel Gehen
      September 30, 2019
    • Jim Shooter Brings SLOW CITY BLUES to IMAGE

      Daniel Gehen
      September 24, 2019
  • Books
    Random
    • 'Will Eisner: Champion of the Graphic Novel' is a Great Tribute to the Master Cartoonist

      Jason Sacks
      May 23, 2017
      Books, Classic Comics, Classic Comics Cavalcade
    Recent
    • Collecting Profile: Disney Frozen

      nguyen ly
      November 22, 2019
    • Collecting Profile: NFL Superpro

      nguyen ly
      August 31, 2019
    • “THE BEST OF WITZEND” is a Wonderful Celebration of Artistic Freedom

      Daniel Gehen
      September 15, 2018
    • Review: ‘Machete Squad’ is a Disappointing Afghan Memoir

      Jason Sacks
      July 31, 2018
    • Review: ‘Out of Nothing’ is the Antidote to Our Sick Times

      Jason Sacks
      July 23, 2018
    • Review: ‘Bizarre Romance’ Shows Rough Edges in the Early Days of a New Marriage

      Jason Sacks
      July 10, 2018
What's New
  • The Full Run: Final Crisis #4
  • What Looks Good for the Week of December 11, 2019
  • Collecting Profile: Orm (Ocean Master)
  • Review: Transformers Galaxies #3 and the problem with Constructicons
  • What Looks Good For the Week of December 4, 2019
  • Collecting Profile: DC Stargirl
  • RSS Feed
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Contact Us
  • Write for us!
  • Visit Video Game Break!
Home
Classic Comics
Classic Comics Cavalcade

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Volume One

Jason Sacks
June 10, 2011
Classic Comics Cavalcade, Columns

5 stars

Writer: Chester Gould – Edited by Dean Mullaney
Artist: Chester Gould
Publisher: The Library of American Comics/IDW

Collecting all the dailies and Sundays from 1942 to 1944, The Complete Dick Tracy: Volume 8 takes readers through two exciting years where they are introduced to two of the most famous Tracy villains, Pruneface and Flattop. This volume has action, danger, heroics, and dastardly deeds all rolled together in one amazing book.

Dick Tracy, the greatest detective comic of all time? Most people would say yes. It’s a staple of pop culture; it holds a place in the hearts of many who grew up reading the comic strip. Now, for those of us who only got to watch the cartoon in reruns, and for those of us who have never seen anything but the Warren Beatty movie, the comics in their entirety are published in hardbound books that are worthy of any bookcase.

One must read this book cover to cover.

Most of the time, I skip past all that intro stuff at the front of collections; a lot of the time those things yammer on and are pretty self-congratulatory. The one for Dick Tracy, however, caught my interest–probably because it contained more history and less pats on the back. It has actual facts–hard, honest facts about American history that happens to relate to Dick Tracy.

Don’t get me wrong, there are historic bits of interest about the character and Chester Gould–but since this collection ranges from1942 to 1944, it’s dead smack in the middle of World War II, which, of course would influence the goings on in the comic. When America went to war, so did it’s comic book heroes–even Little Orphan Annie began collecting scrap metals with the Junior Commandos AND she blew up a Nazi submarine.

Dick Tracy, on the other hand, stuck to a battleground he was familiar with–the corrupt streets of his city, which is how one of Chester Gould’s (and Tracy’s) most infamous and hideous villains came to life: Pruneface, a Nazi spy and mastermind behind a nerve gas plot. The character was truly one of the most disgusting villains, both physically and morally.

Like most of Gould’s bad guys, Pruneface’s ugliness wasn’t just on the inside; his face was deformed–giving him his trademark prunish appearance. We would expect nothing less from a man who mixed together batches of zyklon B AND choked puppies.

One of the most fascinating facts offered up in the introduction was that Pruneface’s appearance was inspired by a burn victim Gould came in contact with. Interesting, right?

Pure gold from cover to cover, this volume captures all that is Dick Tracy (the real heart of the series) just as the character began to evolve into what most of us remember him to be. H–owever, he did not yet have the watch radio (that came in 1946).

The period covered in this volume was the heyday of comic strips and radio shows, back when villains died in the Sunday funnies and racism ran rampant. The hero was a gruff cop who wanted justice, and he looked damn good in a yellow trench coat. The Complete Dick Tracy: Volume 8 is a collected volume worth its weight, and trust me this thing is heavy.


Classic Comics CavalcadeJason Sacks

Share On:
Tweet
Heroes for Hire #8
Zombies Christmas Carol #1

About The Author

<a href="http://comicsbulletin.com/byline/jason-sacks/" rel="tag">Jason Sacks</a>
Jason Sacks
Publisher Emeritus
Google+

Jason Sacks has been obsessed with pop culture for longer than he'd like to remember. Jason has been writing for Comics Bulletin for nearly a decade, producing over a million words of content about comics, films and other media. He has also been published in a number of publications, including the late, lamented Amazing Heroes, The Flash Companion and The American Comic Book Chronicles: the 1970s,1980s and 1990s. Find him on Facebook and Twitter. Jason is the Publisher Emeritus of Comics Bulletin.

Related Posts

  • Reliving the Craziest Decade in Comics History: An interview with Jason Sacks

    Mark Stack
    January 2, 2019
  • Top 10 Thoughts About Jack Kirby

    Jason Sacks
    August 28, 2017
RSSTwitterFacebookgoogleplusinstagramtumblr

Comics Bulletin is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for website owners to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, audible.com, and any other website that may be affiliated with Amazon Service LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate, Comics Bulletin earns from qualifying purchases.

All content on this site (c) 2018 The Respective Copyright Holders