Dick Tracy

[Larry Kart]

Continuing to enjoy all the vintage Tracy strips I can get my hands on, volumes handsomely produced and not that expensive used. The sheer drive and often grotesque/borderline sadistic inventiveness of Chester Gould is what tickles me, plus the fact that a strip that was so frequently grotesque and violent (all in the name of the law, of course) could have been of so immensely popular in an America that professed to be decent and relatively buttoned up. I think of other related items on my vintage popular culture list — all of them very popular in their times, all of  them arguably as quirky and inventive as hell — Segar’s “Thimble Theater” (i..e Popeye), probably “Little Orphan Annie” (though I don’t know it that well), vintage "Barney Google," the radio show “Vic and Sade,” etc.  “Krazy Kat” probably doesn’t count because it wasn’t that popular, likewise “The Bungle Family.” Other terrific and very popular strips like “Captain Easy” don’t give me the same feeling, fine as they are, because they aren’t particularly weird. BTW, my reactions here don’t have anything to do with nostalgia, because I never paid much attention to any of the above in childhood. Perhaps a comparison could be made between Chester Gould and Dickens — in a seemingly straightened age, mass popularity of material that often was as grotesque, even savage, as could be.

[JohnS]

I  bought this remaindered years ago.   But it's only recently that I've managed to get into it.

[Big Beat Steve]

On 3.1.2018 at 10:51 PM, Larry Kart said:

 I think of other related items on my vintage popular culture list — all of them very popular in their times, all of  them arguably as quirky and inventive as hell — Segar’s “Thimble Theater” (i..e Popeye), probably “Little Orphan Annie” (though I don’t know it that well), vintage "Barney Google," the radio show “Vic and Sade,” etc.  “Krazy Kat” probably doesn’t count because it wasn’t that popular, likewise “The Bungle Family.”

Not wanting to derail the topic at this early stage but since you mentioned others outside Dick Tracy and curious about your opinion:

What do you think of "The Toonerville Trolley" by Fontaine Fox?

I perused a collection of these cartoons (republished in 1972 by Scribner's)  in my school days in the 70s at our local Amerika Haus library and found it very, very funny for its mixture of odd and original (quirky, in fact) characters, sly humor and caricature of backwoodsiness (that wasn't all that backwoodsy if you read closely) - and the intentionally "peculiar" use of the English language no doubt added to its interest at a time when you still attended English classes at school (that obviously were rather stiff by comparison).
The Amerika Haus closed long ago but in fact the memory remained and some 12 years ago I finally picked up a copy of that very book on eBay.

 

Edited January 5, 2018 by Big Beat Steve

[Larry Kart]

What do you think of "The Toonerville Trolley" by Fontaine Fox?

Maybe in the wash a little too rural to inspire deep attachment for me, but definitely a winner.

In its heyday Billy DeBeck's "Barney Google" was superb IMO. When Snuffy Smith joined the cast in 1934 and soon took over, I lost all interest.

What do you think of "The Toonerville Trolley" by Fontaine Fox?

Maybe in the wash a little too rural to inspire deep attachment for me, but definitely a winner.

[Larry Kart]

Pardon the racist image in strip three above. And pardon the duplicate images below, can't seem to delete them.