Dick Tracy Monthly #16

This April 1949 Dell issue puts Dick Tracy front and center in a wonderfully tense cover scene: a sharp-jawed man scrutinizes a realistic face mask in a mirror, a make-up box open beside him — someone is clearly preparing a disguise, and the square-chinned Tracy portrait in the masthead watches it all with his trademark no-nonsense scowl. The atmosphere of deception and undercover intrigue practically leaps off the page, making this a fine snapshot of the crime-fighting drama Chester Gould brought to life each month. Whether the disguise belongs to Tracy or a cunning adversary, the setup for "Tracy in Homeville" promises exactly the kind of cat-and-mouse tension fans of the series savored in 1949.