The Collins Casefiles

This book is reprinting the stories from when Max Allan Collins took over the strip in 1978, and this collection contains some strips from 1978-1979 and three stories. Angeltop's Last Stand, where the children of a couple of Tracy's enemies come back. The Return of Haf-and-Haf, where the two faced guy gets some plastic surgery. The longest story is Big Boy's revenge, which is about half the book. Tracy's old enemy gets out of jail, and puts a million dollar open contract on the detective.

He wanted these for christmas last year..I finally decided to get it and he is already done with the book and waiting for the second one!!

I was never much of a Dick Tracy fan, but this collection has made me take notice of the classic comic strip detective. Collecting January through December of 1978, this is the first full year written by Max Alan Collins (Road to Perdition) and drawn by creator Chester Gould's assistant Rick Fletcher. It brings Dick Tracy into the "modern era", but it doesn't give him or his cast a makeover. Tracy is up against multiple antagonists: an old foe who is losing his influence, the vengeful descendants of other old foes, and the nosy reporter who portrays him as a relic of a more violent time. Collins' plotting and storytelling will keep you on your toes, and Fletcher's artwork, while extremely faithful to Gould's quirky renderings, is very stylized and clean. The best part is how Collins and Fletcher work together to present a masterful example of pacing. This collection is an excellent example of the narrative style of the serialized comic strip.

I am not a fan of much of Max Allan Collins' work, but this book is a great exception. The reprints of the first three storylines that Collins wrote are very entertaining and make for an enjoyable read. The first storyline features Angeltop, the popular Flattop's daughter, and the son of the Brow. The next storyline revolves around the Two-Face type villain Haf-and-Haf. Both of these stories were already reprinted in other Dick Tracy books. The final storyline (and most interesting) has to do with an aged and dying Big Boy offering an open contract to kill Dick Tracy. Collins tips his hat to favorite Chester Gould villains and other characters and cleans up a few of Gould's (I hate to say it) mistakes like Moon Maid. Good story, well-paced, great artwork.I look forward to the future volumes of this series. I am disappointed by the Dick Locher cover--a Fletcher cover would have seemed more appropriate.