Review: ‘Dick Tracy’ #16 Continues The Surprise Reveals
by Benjamin Hall
Summary
More violence is coming to the streets police officer Dick Tracy is trying to protect. One source of the violence is criminal Big Boy Caprice. While another is crime boss Lips Manlis who is coming back to town to get back at Caprice. Can Tracy win-out?
Overall
7.9/10Co-writers Alex Segura and Michael Moreci create a mostly solid script. However, editors Christina Harrington and Sarah Brunstad miss two typos in it, and this weakens the effect of the dialogue a bit. Still, it is not something that should be overly jarring for most readers. As for the plot, the two writers do a good job rewarding both long-term readers and impulse buyers. This is because they are seemingly leading up to some final confrontations with certain major villains and plot threads. Lastly, there are some details that should shock and mystify any type of reader in a way that creates eagerness for the next issue.
Artist Geraldo Borges and colorist Mark Englert create some high-quality visuals with the combination of their talents. When it comes to the more shadowy parts of the narrative, it is arguably Englert’s selection of hues that balance them out. Borges’s art would probably still remain exemplary without the colors, but there would be a noticeable change in quality. Speaking of the art, Borges uses some uncommon page layouts to suggest time occurring. Also, there are some panels that play a bit with perspective in a successful experimental manner.
Creative consultant Chantelle Aimée Osman is a part of the team because of giving advice on certain story and art elements to Segura, Moreci, and Borges. Yet, this position means that Osman’s help on the narrative’s conception is an obscure matter to this reviewer, and it is therefore not able to clearly see reviewing.
Letterer Patrick Brosseau does a great job making the text stand out just enough while also assisting with the narrative’s overall flow. Brosseau also does a fine job of positioning the text on the pages with dutch angle layouts so as to not disorient the reader
There are two covers for this issue. Cover A is the creation of Borges and Englert. It features a lot of characters and action. The distribution of the hues is nice, but it feels, to this review, like there is something off about the palette. Arguably, the greatest part of the art is the giant looming Dick Tracy looking mournful over his home city. Cover B is the work of artist Mahmud Asrar, who does a good homage to the poster of the movie Scarface (1983). Though one might mistake it for a homage to the movie Dick Tracy (1990) because of the aesthetics and this comic’s titular character.
Dick Tracy #16 sees release from Madcave Studios on April 8th.
