Dick Tracy: The Thirties : Tommyguns and Hard Times

by Chester Gould

Comic strips, presented in light of the headlines of the day, chronicle the exploits of America's heroic detective and organized crime fighter during the era of the Great Depression

Genres: Crime, Comics, Graphic Novels

285 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Chester Gould was a U.S. cartoonist and the creator of the Dick Tracy comic strip, which he wrote and drew from 1931 to 1977. Gould was known for his use of colorful, often monstrous, villains.

Reviews

[Ulysse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm, seems like it took a while for Chester Gould to hit his stride in this iconic newspaper strip. At least it took me a while to get through the 300-page volume! These early dailies and Sundays from the gruesome thirties are hit-and-miss for me. Although I enjoyed seeing how Gould's drawing style improved on a day-to-day basis -- pen strokes becoming bolder and less haphazard, finding his own unique style -- I believe he still had a lot to learn in terms of character development and plot.
There's a lot of violence here. Definitely not for kids. Kids and women especially get beaten up a lot.
I still think Terry and the Pirates and Prince Valiant are the better strips of the period. But maybe that's just because I'm not a huge fan of crime fiction.

[Dan Blackley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good collection. It has some of the earlier adventures with Tracy.