Garyn G. Roberts – författare

In October 1931, Dick Tracy made his debut on the pages of the Detroit Mirror. Since then America's most famous crime fighter has tangled with a variety of protagonists from locations as diverse as the inner city and outer space, all the time maintaining the moral high ground while reflecting American popular culture.Through extensive research and interviews with Chester Gould (the creator of "Dick Tracy"), his assistants, Dick Locher (the current artist), Max Allan Collins (who scripted the stories for more than 15 years) and many others associated with the strip, Dick Tracy as a cultural icon emerges. The strips use of both innovative and established police methods and the true-to-life portrayals of Tracy's family and fellow cops are detailed. The artists behind the strip are fully revealed and Dick Tracy paraphernalia and the 1990 movie Dick Tracy are discussed. Dick Tracy's appearances in other media--books, comics, radio, movie serials, "B" movies, television dramas, and animated cartoons--are fully covered.

Born into poverty with an abusive home life, Dean Koontz found a respite in books. As he began a writing career in the late 1960s, Koontz began injecting the dark experiences of his own life into his literature, and autobiography became a central thematic element of his thrillers, science fiction and horror stories. Even Koontz's earliest pieces, like Star Quest and Demon Seed, are tapestries of raw, varied and energetic storylines equally as worthy of examination as his later popular novels.This compilation of essays examines the fiction of Dean Koontz, from his earliest literary efforts in the 1960s and '70s to his emergence as a bestselling author of suspense. Written by some of the top experts in popular culture studies, these essays will appeal to the many fans of Dean Koontz's work, as well as to general readers of popular thrillers. It is the first study to approach the evolution of major themes and intricacies in Koontz's early career as a bestselling author.