Chester Gould
Chester Gould (born November 20, 1900 in Pawnee , † May 11, 1985 ) was an American comic artist . He became known for the realistically drawn crime series around police inspector Dick Tracy , which he drew from 1931 to 1977.
Career
Chester Gould grew up in Pawnee, graduated from high school and attended Oklahoma State University . He moved to Northwestern University and finished his studies there in 1923.
He got his first job as a sports draftsman for daily newspapers. From 1923 he drew for the Chicago American , which belonged to the William Randolph Hearsts company . There he published his first comics Radio Lanes and Fillum Fables in 1924 .
Gould offered Joseph Medill Patterson , the owner of the Chicago Tribune , the comic strip Plainclothes Tracy in 1931 , which was published under the title Dick Tracy from October of the same year.
style
Chester Gould's drawings are characterized by harsh contrasts, as Gould largely avoided hatching and gray tones. The fight against crime is brutal with Gould, not only are the criminals shot, injured by acid or toppled from skyscrapers, the hero himself does not remain unscathed during his adventures and has to take gunshot wounds and broken bones. The criminals have ugly facial features or names that, when read from behind, reveal their true meaning (Junky Doolb, Professor Emric). Gould tried to portray Dick Tracy's work as realistically as possible by reading police reports and findings from the police laboratory, while at the same time providing his heroes with aids such as a radio on a wristwatch, which shifted the stories into a fictional environment with their own rules. Gould tried again and again to litter the comics with surreal elements, which was not always accepted. An episode in which he wanted Dick Tracy to erase a wall with an eraser was not approved by Patterson for publication.
Awards
Gould received the Reuben Award for his work in 1959 and 1977 .
swell
- Andreas C. Knigge: Everything about comics . Europa Verlag, Hamburg 2004, ISBN 3-203-79115-3 .
- Gerhard Habarta (ed.): Comic worlds . Edition Comic Forum, Vienna 1992, ISBN 3-900390-62-2 .
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Gould, Chester |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American comic book writer and illustrator |
DATE OF BIRTH | 20th November 1900 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Pawnee |
DATE OF DEATH | May 11, 1985 |