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Toward a Dick Tracy museum in Naperville, Illinois

Chicago, USA/PRNewswire/ — Dick Locher, gifted cartoonist, storyteller and longtime guardian for the Tribune Media Services‘ (TMS) Dick Tracy comic strip, will pass on his yellow fedora and trench coat to the new creative team of artist Joe Staton and writer Mike Curtis after 32 years. The new story arc from the Staton/Curtis team will begin appearing in newspapers the week of March 14, 2011.

In conjunction with Dick Tracy’s 80th anniversary this year, Locher also is working on plans for the opening of a Dick Tracy museum in Naperville, Illinois. In April of 2010, the City of Naperville worked with Locher (a 40-year resident) to install a nine-foot, one-ton bronze likeness of Tracy on its famed riverwalk.

Locher assisted Dick Tracy’s original creator, Chester Gould, from 1957 to 1961. He returned to the strip as artist when Gould’s successor, Rick Fletcher, died in 1983. The feature has been under his stewardship ever since (most recently with assistant Jim Brozman), establishing the square-jawed detective as a symbol for justice and an indelible part of American culture. Locher will continue to act as a consultant on the strip.

Locher, 81, is also a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist—a job Gould recommended him for on the Chicago Tribune’s staff when he began doing editorial cartoons in 1972. Today Locher produces his editorial cartoons for TMS and he will continue to create these for national syndication.

“For a long and wondrous 32 years I’ve been in the right-hand seat of Tracy’s squad car,” said Dick Locher. “I can only hope that in this time I’ve entertained my readers and lived up to the lofty expectations of Chester Gould‘s glow. It’s been an incredible ride, but this is where I step off.”

The creative responsibilities for the iconic 80-year-old feature will pass to comic art veterans and longtime Dick Tracy admirers Joe Staton and Mike Curtis. They have more than 60 years combined in the comics industry working on titles that include: Scooby Doo, The Green Lantern, Richie Rich and Casper The Friendly Ghost.
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Judith Rubin
Judith Rubin
Judith Rubin ([email protected]) is a leading journalist, content marketing specialist and connector in the international attractions industry. She reports on design and technical design, production and project management, industry trends and company culture. From 2005-2020 she ran communications and publications for the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA). In 2013, she was honored with the TEA Service Award. She was development director of IMERSA and publicist for the Large Format Cinema Association, and has contributed to the publications of PLASA, IAAPA and the International Planetarium Society. Judith joined World’s Fair magazine in 1987, which introduced her to the attractions industry. She joined InPark in 2010. Judith earned a BFA from Pratt Institute. She has lived in Detroit, New York, Oakland, and now Saint Louis, where she is active in the local arts community.

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