Lemme tell ya: this was a surprise, and I couldn't be more enthused.
I wasn't aware of the teaser art you see above, so I stumbled into this with no advance warning. The daily Dick Tracy is one of my current favorite comic strips. This past Tuesday's installment thrilled me to the depths of my nerdy soul:
YES...!
Plainclothes Tracy is no stranger to characters from other media properties. Tracy recently worked a case alongside the legendary Will Eisner's hero The Spirit (a case which also brought them into contact with The Dragon Lady from Terry And The Pirates), and he's encountered characters from Little Orphan Annie on several occasions. A previous dream sequence even depicted Tracy alongside his doppelganger (and Li'l Abner's "ideel") Fearless Fosdick. These were all officially licensed crossovers. In addition, there have been winking references to characters like Superman's girlfriend Lois Lane and The Shadow's companion Margo Lane, and appearances by a Mr. Walker, who is clearly (if unofficially) The Ghost Who Walks, The Phantom.
The Chicago Tribune, which owns Dick Tracy, hasn't always been so open to crossovers with other companies. Some time in the '80s or '90s, the Tribune nixed a proposed comic book bringing Tracy together with Batman, a project which would have been written by acclaimed mystery novelist Max Allan Collins (who was already writing the Dick Tracy strip at the time) and illustrated by comics veteran Joe Staton, who now does the current Tracy strip with Mike Curtis.
But The Green Hornet...! The 1966 Green Hornet TV series with Van Williams and Bruce Lee is a prevailing and beloved reference point for me. I've written previously of how the TV show introduced me to the character, and I've written a tease of The Beat And The Sting, a Green Hornet '66 rock 'n' roll adventure story I'd love to write, inspired by the murder of Bobby Fuller and the mob-run record company described by Tommy James in his autobiography, Me, The Mob, And The Music. Suffice it to say I love The Green Hornet, particularly the '66 version. That would seem to be the version we'll be seeing in this Dick Tracy adventure, and I can't wait to see it all unfold each day. Another case for Dick Tracy. Another challenge for The Green Hornet.
If your local newspaper doesn't carry Dick Tracy, don't despair! Dick Tracy is one of many fine comic strips you can still follow for free at Go Comics. Go! COMICS!
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