Dick Tracy Depot

The Depot is extremely excited and congratulates Joe Staton, Mike Curtis and their fantastic team for winning a third straight “Best Syndicated Strip or Panel” Harvey Award!  The win was announced at the Baltimore Comic-Con‘s award ceremony where Mike and Joe were on hand to receive the award.  Taking home the comic strip honors over the likes of Dilbert, Foxtrot, Get Fuzzy and Mutts is an amazing achievement.

Here’s a full list of the 2015 Harvey Winners:

• Best Letterer: Jack Morelli for Afterlife with Archie, Archie Comic Publications
• Best Colorist: Dave Steward, HELLBOY IN HELL, Dark Horse Comics
• Best Syndicated Strip: Joe Staton and Mike Curtis for Dick Tracy, Tribune Media Services
• Best Online Comics Work: The Private Eye by Brian K Vaughan, Marcos Martin and Muntsa Vicente
• Best American Edition of Foreign Material: Blacksad: Amarillo, Dark Horse
• Best Inker: Danny Miki, Batman, DC Comics
• Best New Series: Southern Bastards, Jason Aaron and Jason Latour, Image Comics
• Best New Talent: Chad Lambert for “Kill Me” from Dark Horse Presents, Dark Horse Comics
• Special Award for Humor in Comics: Chip Zdarksy for Sex Criminals, Image Comics
• Best Original Graphic Publication for Younger Readers: Lumberjanes, BOOM! Box
• Best Graphic Album Previously Published: Mouse Guard: Baldwin the Brave and Other Tales, Boom! Studios/Archaia
• Special Award for Excellence in Presentation: Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream, Andrew Carl, Josh O’Neill, Chris Stevens, Locus Moon Press
• Dick Giordano Humanitarian Award: Prsented by Nelli Kurtzman, this award presented to Denis Kitchen.
• Best Anthology: Dark Horse Presents, Dark Horse Comics
• Best Domestic Reprint Project: Steranko Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD Artist’s Edition, IDW
• Best Cover Artist: Fiona Staples, SAGA, Image Comics
• Best Biographical, Historical, or Journalistic  Presentation: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Ultimate Visual History, Andrew Farago, Insight Editions
• Best Graphic Album, Original: Jim Henson’s The Musical Monsters of Turkey Hollow, Archaia/Boom! Studios
• Best Continuing or Limited Series: SAGA, Brian K Vaughan, Fiona Staples, Image Comics
• Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hero Initiative: This award was given Russ Heath who is most well known for his DC Comics War Stories and Playboy’s Little Annie Fanny.
• Best Writer: Mark Waid, Daredevil, Marvel Comics
• Best Artist: Fiona Staples, SAGA, Image Comics
• Best Cartoonist: Terry Moore, Rachel Rising, Abstract Studios
• Best Single Issue or Story: “Breaking Out”, DARK HORSE PRESENTS #35, Dark Horse Comics

In addition to the above award winners, the second and third Harvey Kurtzman Hall of Fame Awards were presented to Jules Feiffer and Will Eisner, early American cartoonists.  Will and Jules created The Spirit (1940-1952) which was noted for its experiments with content and form that proved to be a springboard for later comics.

Magnetic Air Cars fly again today, unfortunately under the control of an escaping Mr. Bribery.  While I usually resist a day to day discussion of the comic strip (I have a day job), the return of Air Cars, like the Space Coupe before them is far too tempting!  A younger reader might be wondering what the heck is that flying thimble!  That’s excuse enough for me to talk Air Cars.

The Air Car first appeared August 30th, 1964 and four were presented to the police department as a way for the Moon Governor to apologize for his horrid behavior towards Diet, Dick Tracy and Junior after he misguidedly tried to protect Moon Maid from harm by forcing her return to the Moon.  Like the Space Coupe, Air Cars were magnetic powered, meaning they were fast, handled like a breeze and flew whisper quiet.  Tracy happily accepted the Air Cars and immediately put them to use in the Chet Jade case and they saw use time and time again throughout the space period.

Mr. Bribery himself has had first hand experienced of the Air Car’s usefulness.  Hiding out from police and those he had blackmailed, Bribery was finally captured when Tracy drove his air car through an apartment window and landed on top of the eccentric villain.  This method of capture was a Gould favorite as Sam captured Posie Ermine (Mysta Chimera’s dad) in much the same way.  It seems fitting that Bribery is now bursting out of a window, attempting to make his escape.

According to Diet Smith, all Moon tech was destroyed or returned to the Moon years ago after the Governor cut ties with Earth.  As the Air Car shown was clearly labelled as a car belonging to the police force it will be interesting to see how Bribery has managed to procure it for his own personal use.

P.S. – I’d like to give props to Mr. Curtis for including Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let Die” lyrics in today’s strip.  Live and Let Die was the title song of the 1973 James Bond movie of the same name, which, no surprise featured a villain by the named of Mr. Big (Bribery’s alias in 2015).

For those of you who are interested, Oklahoma Magazine has a nice “Life and Times of Chester Gould” article for your reading pleasure, including comments by Mike Curtis.  I’ve always found the below story about Tess and Tracy’s marriage interesting.

Perhaps the reason Gould’s characters seemed so real to so many was that their creator viewed them in much the same way.

“Around Christmas of 1949,” says Curtis, “an interview with Gould came out in The Saturday Evening Post, and one of the questions the reporter asked him was, ‘Is Tracy ever going to get married?’ Gould said, ‘No, he doesn’t have time for it. He doesn’t have time to get married. So he never will.’

“Because of the prep time on articles, by the time it came out in the Post, Tracy had eloped with Tess Truehart. So the magazine contacted him again, asking him, ‘What about this?’ And Gould just shook his head, smiled, and said, ‘Tracy never tells me anything.’”

Source: The Life & Times of Chester Gould – Oklahoma Magazine

Hey Joe Staton fans, you don’t want to miss out on the current issue of the COMIC BOOK CREATOR which includes a very, very, very lengthy interview with both Joe and his wife Hilarie covering all manner of topics from their family and early inspirations through Joe’s many works including Green Lantern, Scooby Doo, The Huntress and of course Dick Tracy.  This interview is not a page or two of questions and answers you might see elsewhere.  Joe and Hilarie really spend their time with CBC and we are graced with roughly 40 pages of discussion complemented by Staton pictures and a well chosen samples of his artwork.

COMIC BOOK CREATOR is wise enough to provide a shareable sample of their interview, which you can read below.  At the end you is a link to buy a copy of the full issue, in paper or digital (which is only $3.95).  Cheers all!

Time to tune the car and find a map Dick Tracy fans.  Mike Curtis dropped fantastic news today that he and Joe will be producing a comic book featuring the first story of Silver and Sprocket Nitrate which the pair plan to give away at their appearances.  The comic book will likely debut when Mike and Joe hit the stage at the Baltimore Comic-Con where we are hoping the duo will win their third Harvey Award.

According to Mr. Curtis’s remarks on the Dick Tracy Fan Club page,

“…Joe and I have wanted to have some of our TRACY work in print for years. Those of you who know me, know that Carole and I were comic book writers and publishers for 15 years.”

“It will have several pinups and new art, and a new poem by the noted Poet Laureate of Go Comics Tracy page, Pequod!”

The pinups sound interesting and I wonder if we might have a nice one that looks a bit like this.  The Depot is also super happy for Tracy poet Pequod getting recognized for his frequent skillful contributions on the Go Comics Tracy forum and here at the Depot as well.   Congratulations Pequod!  Now if some of you are like me and live nowhere near Baltimore, keep your eyes peeled for conventions closer to home so you can get a copy.