Complete Chester Gould's Dick Tracy Volume 26: 1970-1972

In these early '70s adventures, the dauntless detective faces off against one of the strip's best lateera grotesque villains: Pouch, who uses a repulsive hidden flap in his neck to hide anything from stolen diamonds to automatic pistols to cash. The plot also features a rare return by an earlier villain, as the Mole is released from prison after serving nineteen years, only to learn his granddaughter, Molene, is part of Pouch's gang! Having returned to policing duty on Planet Earth, former Space Sheriff Tracy finds a world markedly changed from the one he had left. Feeling handcuffed by expanded legal protections afforded suspects and stricter guidelines of evidence, Tracy all but begs bad guys to shoot first, and he may get his wish, thanks to nemeses such as explosioncrazed Jonny Scorn, the handgrenade toting revolutionary called El Tigress, and the aptlynamed Dope King. This story features Tracy's most direct assault on drug traffickers, coinciding with Richard Nixon's "War on Drugs!" All this, plusTracy grows a mustache, Groovy seems to be falling for a certain longlegged policewoman, and Gravel Gertie tries to figure out the mysterious link between the world's oldest tattoo artist and a million dollars in missing gems. Meanwhile, an attempted burglary of rare metals from Diet Smith's plant introduces Peanutbutter, the smartest kid in the strip since Brilliant, the inventor of the TwoWay Wrist Radio. Volume 26 reprints all dailies and Sundays from December 24, 1970 to September 27, 1972.