Dick Locher

Dick Locher, born Richard Earl Locher on June 4, 1929, in the United States, was a syndicated cartoonist best known for his long tenure on the classic newspaper strip *Dick Tracy*. He passed away on August 6, 2017. Locher’s path into comics began after studying at the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Iowa, where he earned a degree in fine arts. He first worked as an assistant to *Dick Tracy* creator Chester Gould in the 1950s, inking and lettering the strip before moving into editorial cartooning. His signature style combined bold, expressive linework with a sharp, satirical edge, evident in his political cartoons for the *Chicago Tribune*, which earned him a Pulitzer Prize in 1983. Locher returned to *Dick Tracy* in the 1990s, taking over as writer and artist after Gould’s retirement. He collaborated with writer Mike Kilian on the strip, and his work on the character appeared in collections such as *The Dick Tracy Casebook* and *Dick Tracy: Tracy’s Wartime Memories*. Locher’s legacy lies in his seamless blend of crime drama and social commentary, keeping the detective relevant for new generations. His contributions to American cartooning were recognized with the National Cartoonists Society’s Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year.