Dick Tracy (comic strip): Difference between revisions
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However, the strip [[Dork Age|went awry]] starting the 1960s with Tracy getting a spaceship called the Space Coupe and eventually going to the moon to meet the Moon People. When the series returned to Earth, with futuristic Moon people technology like ray guns and air cars that look like flying trash cans, Gould struggled to adapt the strip to modern times. Concessions included introducing a hippie sidekick for Tracy and briefly having Tracy grow a moustache; the former stuck around for nearly a decade before being killed off, the latter was forcibly shaven off within several months of it being grown. But most notably, the strip became bitter and cynical, as Gould used Tracy to condemn Supreme Court rulings that expanded the rights of the accused, which Gould (via Tracy) condemned as handcuffing police officers from beating the shit out of criminals and suspected criminals in order to force them to confess.
Finally, Gould retired in 1977 and mystery writer Max Allan Collins took over writing and did his best to restore the best of the strip's past. Silly characters like Moon Maid and the above mentioned hippie sidekick were [[Killed Off for Real]], legacy versions of popular (and deceased) villains were introduced (and in the cases of some, like Pruneface, flashback stories were written to bring them back) and the gadgets were scaled back to a more reasonable level. In addition, he also had Tracy get his complaints about reforms to due process out of his system when he temporarily resigned from the force to become a private detective. Sadly, Collins [[Executive Meddling|was forced off the strip]] in the 1990s, leading to the series descending to being [[So Okay It's Average]] under succeeding writer Mike Kilian, and then going ''[[Snark Bait|completely and totally insane]]'' when Kilian died and longtime artist Dick Locher took over the writing duties, as [http://joshreads.com/?cat=54 some have observed].
In 2011 Locher retired and a new team headed by writer Mike Curtis and DC/Marvel artist Joe Staton took over the strip. The restart already has fans talking of a [[Growing the Beard|renaissance]], and it's hard to dispute that. Staton & Curtis have [[Continuity Creep|placed a strong emphasis on continuity]] and [[Character Development]], and tied all ages of the strip into the main canon --- [[Rescued From the Scrappy Heap|even the Moon Age]] -- during a recent storyline arc. In addition, ''Dick Tracy'' has crossed over with multiple comic strips, most notably ''[[Little Orphan Annie]]'', thus opening up an [[Expanded Universe]]. Toss in the artwork (not a surprise, given Staton's pedigree) and it could be argued that Staton & Curtis have done to ''Dick Tracy'' what [[Russell T. Davies]] and [[Steven Moffat]] have done to ''[[Doctor Who]]''.
The strip has been depicted with numerous media adaptations: movie serials, the 1961/1962 TV series, [[The Dick Tracy Show]], cartoons, and a full-length 1990 [[Dick Tracy (film)|theatrical film]] starring Warren Beatty, whose specific tropes are discussed here.
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* [[Heel Face Turn]] - Vitamin Flintheart, B.O. Plenty, and Gravel Gertie.
* [[American Accents|Hillbilly Accent]] - B.O. Plenty.
* [[Hippie Chick]] - The ''always barefoot'' Sprocket Nitrate, who insists on not wanting to "upset Mother Earth..." even when she's standing on a lineolium floor in a train station.
* [[Hitman with a Heart]] - The Iceman, who falls for Sparkle Plenty. He dies a [[Karmic Death]], but does a minor [[Heel Face Turn]] at the last minute, for her sake.
* [[Hobos]] - Steve the Tramp was a murderous hobo.
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