June 21 was the launch date of PLAINCLOTHES, a website dedicated to the most famous and popular of all hard-boiled detectives.
His creator, sickened by the increase of crime decided, in 1931, to create a detective who could deal with gangdom via what he called "the hot lead route."
The detective's name was Dick Tracy.
The site includes feature articles on the history of the strip, media adaptations, etc.
Prose fiction featuring the square-jawed cop is also included.
"The Treasure of Captain Cannonsmoke," by animator Tracy Kazaleh, is set in the world of the UPA animated Tracy cartoons of the early '60's, and is marked by a somewhat more humorous take on Tracy's Rogues Gallery, all together on a cruise ship in search of pirate treasure.
"Murder Is My Hobby," by some guy named Doherty, puts Tracy on the trail of a serial killer.
There's also, "Fireworks," a never-before-published comic book story written by Max Allan Collins and illustrated by Joe Staton. Originally slated for publication in a magazine called Disney Adventures back when Beatty's Tracy movie was still hot, it was shelved for some unknown reason, but has been resurrected for this site.
The centerpiece of the site is "Major Crimes Squad," a comics story in "daily newspaper" format also illustrated by Staton and written by comic book publisher Mike Curtis.
You can find it here:
http://www.plainclothescomics.com
If you've been disappointed at the direction the strip has taken since Collins's departure in 1993, check out this site and see how good Dick Tracy can still be in the right hands.
JIM DOHERTY
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