I'm On My Way!

...and you should be, too! I received an e-mail in the wee hours of this morning from Jim Doherty informing me that a new tribute site to the great Dick Tracy, Plainclothes, has just been launched. In his words:

It includes a Tracy comic book story, "Fireworks," written by Max Allan Collins and illustrated by Joe Staton.  Originally intended for DISNEY ADVENTURES but never actually printed, it was intended to cash in on the then-hot DICK TRACY movie.  Collins, of course, was then the writer of the Tracy strip, and was also the creator of such comics sleuths as MS. TREE, a Chicago private eye who took over her husband's P.I. agency after his murder, MIKE MIST, another Chicago shamus who starred in a series of "solve-them-yourself" whodunits, as well as the writer of ROAD TO PERDITION, the first graphic novel ever to make it to the New York TIMES best-seller list.

It also includes two prose stories about Tracy.  "The Treasure of Captain Cannonsmoke," by the aptly-named Tracy Kazaleh, is set in the world of the UPA animated TRACY cartoons, and features more humorous takes on Tracy's famous Rogues' Gallery, together on a cruise ship in search of hidden treasure.

"Murder Is My Hobby," by Jim Doherty, pits Tracy against a serial killer.

The centerpiece of the site is a new comics story in newspaper strip format, "Major Crimes Squad," illustrated by Staton and written by Mike Curtis, publisher of Shandafa Comics.  It features the return of that long-ago villain Willie "The Fifth" Millyun and his odious lawyer Flyface, and answers the question that has baffled Tracy fans for decades:

"Whatever happened to the Space Coupe?"

Dick Tracy, Joe Staton, Max Allan Collins, previously-unpublished stories... yeah, I'm definitely on my way. See you there!