Kurt Kolka



The latest rumors in the newspaper strip world are that the 77 year-old comic strip, Dick Tracy, may have finally met his match! According to the Web site www.rcharvey.com, Dick Locher, writer-artist for the long-running strip, will be retiring at the end of this year and Tribune Media Services (TMS), owners of the comic, may end the comic’s run.

So far, TMS has made no offical announcement. However, fans such as the Dick Tracy Yahoo group are running wild with rumors about what’s happening. Some are saying it’s simply the end. Others have heard it may continue on in graphic novel form.

Locher is the fourth writer to handle the famed detective of the newspaper pages. The strip was created by writer-artist Chester Gould in 1931, then handed down to Max Allen Collins in the late 1970s and then to Michael Killian in the ‘90s. Locher had been an assistant to Gould before taking over as artist during Collins’ tenure as artist. Locher took over as writer after Killian’s passing a few years ago.

It seems ironic, however, that at a point where crime scene investigation TV programs are so popular, a comic strip about a crimefighter cannot make it in newspapers. Does the famed crimefighter really need to be retired along with his writer-artist, or does he simply need a tranfusion of new creative blood to bring back his vitality as a feature?

“Calling Dick Tracy! Calling Dick Tracy! Are you still out there?”

Stay tuned!

Note: Readers interested in voicing their opinion may contact TMS at:

mfioritto@tribune.com

or write

Mike Fioritto

Director of Operations

Tribune Media Services

435 N Michigan Ave Ste. 1500

Chicago, IL 60611

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