Dick Tracy: Tracy's Wartime Memories #[nn]
In this gripping 1986 installment of *Dick Tracy: Tracy's Wartime Memories*, written by Max Allan Collins and illustrated by Dick Locher, the detective revisits a chilling chapter from the past: the Nazi espionage plot that led to the kidnapping of scientist Roloc Bard and the desperate race to stop a deadly Xylon bomb scheme. With the story’s emotional weight anchored in a haunting reunion decades later, Tracy, Trailer, and Wichel track down Frieda Smith—still guarding the final bomb in Washington, D.C.—only to face a revelation that leaves her heartbroken. The issue’s cover, by Dick Locher, captures the tension perfectly, while the narrative unfolds with the quiet dread and moral complexity that define the series.
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Tracy relates how Nazi spies kidnapped Roloc Bard for his Xylon bomb formula. By threatening Frieda Smith (actually Pruneface's confederate), Pruneface forces Bard to make five bombs. Junior Tracy frees Bard and four of the bombs are found and defused. Decades later Pruneface, long presumed dead, is awakened from cryogenic freezing. Tracy, Trailer, and Wichel find Frieda still tending the last bomb in Washington, D.C., defuse it, and lead her away in tears, heartbroken that Pruneface had never issued her the final order to blow up the capital. In the now-empty house, the telephone rings.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).