Idea & Design Works Complete Chester Gould's Dick Tracy Volume 21

Sesto volume del famoso detective di Chester Gould. La casa californiana IDW sta ristampando tutte ma proprio tutte le striscie dalle origini in poi. Tutti i volumi sono completati da aneddoti e curiosità varie legate all'epoca di cui tratta il volume in questione, la rilegatura è sontuosa ed è completata da un segnalibro in raso. Unico svantaggio per gli italiani è la lingua che è rigorosamente in originale, però con un piccolo sforzo si riescono a seguire le storie e a valutare la traduzione che fece la Milano Libri negli anni 60/70 quando pubblicò numerose storie del personaggio e lo fece conoscere qui da noi. For fans only.

This has the entrance of the Moon Maid on January 1, 1964. To introduce an alien and space travel in the strip with his iconic cop detective was very daring for Chester Gould, who was quite accustomed to taking chances, and had full confidence when doing so. His "tried and true" fans and followers were indignant. They wanted their Dick Tracy, who was at times an inhuman jerk. So Chester Gould, whose politics were - well, earlier in this volume without a qualm Tracy napalms a plateaued bluff, leaving the many on it to burn or jump to their dooms. That's the kind of material I think those who disliked Moon Maid had no problem with. But this pixieish, young woman, who did save a mother and baby from a blizzard, with powers like electric blasts from her tiny horns, was more than they could take. In fact, she signals that in 1963 Mr.Gould was on a new track, and as often previously, very prescient. Moon Maid's powers really do foreshadow the powers of super heroes coming in the decades of comics after this. We do have space travel, at least to the moon, introduced in 1962, with a mobster meeting Tracy's justice by being dumped to float in orbit forever. Also, this volume has some of Gould's freakiest stories, with Punky going to the zoo to talk with Stoolie, a cigarette-smoking crow. I don't think anyone else could get away with these kinds of situations and stories in the Sunday comics, which was still a mass medium during those years. As is well known, Moon Maid finds a soft spot in Junior's heart, the same Junior who tangled with a woman villain earlier in the volume and defeated her by tearing out her hair with his teeth. A major change is coming for Tracy as well in the next volume, all heralded by the 1964 visit from an alien - what fun.

I honestly think this one of Tracy's strongest years from the late fifties and sixties. Whereas in some storylines he seemed to be repeating concepts, here he comes up with some interesting stuff.By this time, Gould, though still talented, often seemed to go through the motions. These years though, things pick up and it feels a lot more like the Tracy of the 40s.The 52 Gang- 4 stars. As much as some disliked the space era, I felt the space coupe to be a fun concept. The space ship allows for some very creative murders. (Though, I'm not a big fan of how Gould slams NASA,) Tracy has a lot more agency here in this book than past years where he just seemed to be playing clean-up for the villains once their stories ran out. We get to see him infiltrate an isolated villain stronghold and there's a very violent climax.Thistle Dew and Uncle Punky- 3 stars. The most traditional story here, but it is a lot of fun and lacks some of the pacing problems Gould had at the time. Thistle Dew is one Gould's more interesting character designs. The ending is a bit abrupt, though.The Palette Brothers- 4 stars. Yeah, the chimp in this is too close to the monkey from the recent Brush storyline, but it is handled better. The Palette Brothers don't stand out, but Gould's criticism of modern art, their impressive mountain hideout, and the big action scene make this story work.Small-Mouth Bass and Olga- 4 stars. One of Gould's most unique stories predicting the heart transplant before it even happened with a solid conclusion.Moon Maid- 2 stars. I'm not anti-Moon Maid, I'm just not a big fan of non-crime stories that are humor-heavy. The story drags and Junior's relationship with Moon Maid is rushed and forced. (It does amuse me that conservative Gould had the moon people have the Bible in English.)

This book and all the books in the Chester Gould's Dick Tracy are a lot of fun. And, yes, like a lot of other reviewers have pointed in for the various books in the series, some of the volumes are better then others. My personal favorites are the very early ones. This volume is set in the early 60s (62-64) and has one of the strangest characters, Moon Maid. If you like Tracy, but don't want to purchase all of the volumes, this is a good one to get among the early volumes. The volumes right before this one are ok, but I think Gould starts to hit his stride again. I really enjoyed this volume. Lots of fun.

For my generation (born in the 60's), Dick Tracy stripes were like a passion every morning in the newspaper. I remember that I looked for the stripes in the houses of my friends and cousins. Then, I put them all in order in a page, forming a real book. I had them all till today. The emotion to purchase all the stripes in single volumes was extraordinary for me. The moments that I wast reading the stripes is like a return to my youthful. The volumes are very good and I expected to collect them all. Highly recommended.