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Prior to reading this, I knew very little about Dick Tracy; I've never even seen the movie on which these comics were based. While I liked the old-school style, the artwork, and the story, I thought that the violence and profanity was a bit over the top. Then again, maybe that's to be expected from this franchise; I wouldn't know.
I really wanted to like this more than I did, because I love Kyle Baker. The first in this trilogy of stories has his signature art and coloring but the following two stories just get sloppy and muddled. I have a feeling he had to meet some strict deadline by the end, especially with the third story being the movie adaptation.
The story itself by John Moore is serviceable. I was really more excited for Baker’s art. A little disappointed but glad I found a copy. It also came with a 90s McDonald's Dick Tracy million dollar scratcher game ticket for a bookmark which might be my favorite part:
The writing is tight and the characters play it out marvelously. Ideally it would best digested in one sitting but I was back and forth for days on the 0045 because the cheapo edition is cumbersome-to_read, which makes it maddeningly delicate if you want to keep it from sheeting and dried-plaster-sleeting.
Kyle Baker's expressive art just doesn't please my eyes...Unless it does _expertly_ with panache...which is often and appreciated. But, even though I admit that he's at the summit of the detail-freestyle game, even though he's bona-fide leh-dzaun-drie in comedy- I'd rather have a detail-executioner rending true for drama stories. ->There is a real TREAT to the treatment though. The humor of his overal->artist's->palette often makes dark-polar and gritty action scenes unique and priceless.
MORE Editionitis...osis: but you don't get the "real picture" because 0045 is tablet sized. Unless you're fine with splitting a paperback, ruthlessly and shamelessly with palm-down mash-action, you only get @80% of the art. That color-muddied nook, that our eyes "complete" of course, shadows just as much of the panel composition priorities as the rest, it is not throw-away space in this no-space-wasted corpro-produced endeavor.
Kyle Baker’s excellent work-for-hire art ensures that the broader Beatty/Tracy-verse is a flawed masterpiece along the same lines as the strange, colorful, and (at least relative to the initial critical reception) underrated film. Why was Baker chosen for this? Why did we need a Matrix/Southland Tales-style prequel? I suppose I could find these answers with a few Google searches, but re-reading a collection I purchased for $2 at a discount book warehouse in Fredericksburg, VA is as far as I’m going with this.
Everything about the somewhat crude art and simple color palette is charming and refreshing, and the story includes two excellent prequels that flow directly into the third story, a literal movie adaptation.
Tomo recopilatorio de la miniserie de tres partes que explora el universo de Dick Tracy filmico de 1990. Contiene la precuela y la adaptacion del filme. Me gusto.