Dick Tracy

Dick Tracy returns in this bold graphic noir from writers Segura (Secret Identity) and Moreci (the Barbaric series) with stylish art by Borges (the Nightwing series) and colorist Mark Englert. In 1947, the decorated WWII vet turned detective patrols the City. Following a gangland execution carried out by vicious hit man Flattop, he joins forces with spitfire reporter Tess Trueheart, daughter of murdered alderman Emil Trueheart, to dig up the truth. Their investigation leads them into criminal conspiracy, betrayal, and the line of fire. All the trademarks established by creator Chester Gould are on display, from Tracy’s yellow fedora and trench coat to his square jaw, no-nonsense approach to law enforcement, and state-of-the-art watch radio. But shifting Tracy’s timeline to postwar America brings surprising depth and poignancy to the character’s backstory—haunted by his battlefield experiences, he suffers from “shell shock,” decades before the term PTSD was coined. Borges and Englert’s cinematic art is more evocative of Chinatown than the 1990s film adaptation, resulting in a gritty reimagining that may surprise fans of that slick hit. This does Gould’s creation justice by bringing Tracy back to his pulp fiction roots. (Dec.)