'Dick Tracy'.
Dick Locher was an American comic artist, best-known for his editorial cartoons for the Chicago Tribune, and his long association with Chester Gould's detective comic 'Dick Tracy', which he continued between 1983 and 2011. For almost 30 years, Locher combined his political cartoons with this comic strip, despite the different graphic styles and content. In 1983, he received the Pulitzer Prize for "Editorial Cartooning". Earlier in his career, Locher also assisted on the science fiction comic 'Buck Rogers in the 25th Century' and in the early 1980s, he and Jeff MacNelly made a topical newspaper comic, titled 'Clout St.'
Early life and career
Richard Earl Locher was born in 1929 in Dubuque, Iowa. Locher received his artistic education from the University of Iowa, the Art Center of Los Angeles and the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. In 1954 and 1955, he assisted Rick Yager on the daily strips of the space opera newspaper comic 'Buck Rogers' for the John F. Dille Company. He left Yager to enlist as a test pilot in the Air Force, and was on active duty for two years. During this period, he also worked as a freelancer for the military magazine Stars & Stripes. Locher then spent another 18 years in the Air Force Reserve.
Dick Tracy (1)
Between 1957 and 1961, while in Chicago, Locher worked for Chester Gould as an assistant on the hardboiled detective comic 'Dick Tracy' for the Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate. He was mainly a character inker and Sunday page colorist. An aeronautics enthusiast, Locher suggested the ending of the 1958 storyline involving the villain Miss Egghead and the Granite Island death trap, in which law enforcement officials (in this case Tracy) are dropped on an inhospitable deserted island near Cuba. In 1961, Locher left 'Dick Tracy' for 22 years, moving on to other projects.
Political cartoon for The Chicago Tribune, depicting U.S. President Ronald Reagan's failed attempt to continue diplomatic ties with Central America in the mid-1980s, referencing the U.S. military support of the Contra rebels in overthrowing the democratically elected Sandinista government in Nicaragua in 1984.
Advertising work
In 1961, Locher worked at the head of the Novamark art studio in Oak Brook, through which he did advertising work. Among his notable commissions were character designs for the fastfood chain McDonalds and additional promotional illustrations for Standard Oil, Allis Chalmers and Cessna Aircraft.
Political cartoons
In 1973, Joe Parrish, house editorial cartoonist of the Chicago Tribune, retired. Through a recommendation by Chester Gould, Locher succeeded Parish and established a reputation as one of the nation's leading editorial cartoonists. He eventually sold his commercial art studio to his partner and remained with the Tribune until his retirement on 1 May 2013. During his 40-year career with the paper, he produced over 10,000 drawings. His cartoons additionally appeared in magazines like Life, Time, Newsweek, Forbes, Hugh Hefner's Playboy and hundreds of newspapers around the world.
Not every reader appreciated his sharp graphic commentary. Locher's cartoons often sparked angry reader's letters and phone calls, two of which being direct death threats. But Locher saw it as a badge of honor: "You're not a political cartoonist if you don't get any death threats (...) If you go down the middle of the road, you get hit by cars on both sides. Being an editorial cartoonist is like the blind javelin thrower at the Olympics: we don't win a lot of awards, but we keep the crowd alert."
Locher's ability to capture the absurdities of life and sharp messages in elegant, funny and highly detailed artwork did not go unrecognized. He won numerous awards, including the 1983 Pulitzer Prize, which he won with work that weighed in on President Ronald Reagan, home computers and the Middle East. Despite his mockery of Reagan, he was once invited to the White House, where he had dinner with him.
Political cartoon depicting U.S. President Reagan and U.S. Democratic Party politician Ted Kennedy, Chicago Tribune, 1987.
Clout St.
In the early 1980s, Locher collaborated with fellow editorial cartoonist Jeff MacNelly on the topical newspaper comic 'Clout St.', written by James Squires and Richard Ciccone. Starting on 21 February 1983 as a local daily feature in The Chicago Tribune, Locher left the strip shortly after its start, when he received the chance to work on 'Dick Tracy' again. MacNelly and the two writers continued the feature until 14 April 1985.
Dick Tracy (2)
In 1983, then-current 'Dick Tracy' artist Rick Fletcher passed away and Locher stepped in as his successor. His first strip appeared in the newspapers on 9 May 1983. The artist worked on new storylines with Chester Gould's plainclothes investigator for nearly three decades, all while combining the daily comic with his daily editorial cartoons. He would usually draw his editorial cartoon in the morning, and his 'Dick Tracy' comic in the afternoon. Influences from Locher's editorial work appeared in the 1987 storyline with the criminal Putty Puss, who could assume the appearance of famous people. During his run on the comic, Locher also received assistance. His scriptwriters were Max Allan Collins (1983-1993) and Tribune staff writer Mike Kilian (1993-2005), before assuming writing duties himself in 2005. Between 1983 and 1986, Locher's son John Locher assisted on the artwork. Unfortunately, he tragically died of heart failure at the tender age of 25. As an everlasting tribute, Dick Locher subsequently drew the character of Junior Tracy with facial features resembling his late son. The Locher family also established the John Locher Memorial Award in support of college cartoonists. Throughout the rest of the 1980s, Ray Shlemon assisted Dick Locher on 'Dick Tracy'. Jim Brozman took over the artwork on 16 March 2009, while Dick Locher continued to write the strip until 13 March 2011. The 'Dick Tracy' comic was then continued by writer Mike Curtis and artist Joe Staton.
Marriage problems for Tracy and Tess Trueheart in 1994.
With four years doing assistance work and then 28 years as lead artist, Dick Locher was the author with the longest involvement in the 'Dick Tracy' comic, only behind series creator Chester Gould, who produced the feature for 46 years. He is generally praised for his consistency and dedication, but also criticized for lacking the artistic dynamism of his predecessors. Over the years, Locher's longtime hometown of Naperville became closely associated with the 'Dick Tracy' strip. The city's police station placed large displays of both the cartoon and the 1990 film with Warren Beatty in its lobby. In 2010, a large statue of the famous crime fighter was placed on the Riverwalk in Naperville, for which Locher created an 11-inch model.
The most talked about storyline in 'Dick Tracy' during Locher's run took off on 7 February 1994, when the detective's wife Tess Trueheart filed for divorce. Locher and his colleagues felt that this would be a reflection of reality, as many police officers go through divorces because of their careers. Many readers and long-time fans were outraged over this plot. USA Today even ran it as a cover story. Suddenly, Locher found himself within a media storm and was invited to several interviews. The Tracy-Trueheart couple eventually reconciled.
Recognition
Locher won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for "Best Editorial Cartoonist". In 2006, he was inducted in the Oklahoma Cartoonists Hall of Fame.
Final years and death
Dick Locher designed the Land of Lincoln Trophy, which is awarded annually to the winner of the Illinois-Northwestern college football game. Locher also designed a sculpture of Naperville founder Joseph Naper, which stands at the site of Naper's homestead. Locher has also made several small bronze sculptures of presidential candidates. He was additionally active as a painter. In May 2013, Lochter retired. The artist passed away in 2017 in his hometown Naperville from complications from Parkinson's disease. He was 88 years old.
'Dick Tracy'.