The Moon Period (also referred to as "The Moon Era") was a period of the Dick Tracy comic strip that involved characters traveling to and from the Moon using Space Coupes. Several Moon-themed characters were introduced, most notably Moon Maid, a female from Moon Valley on the Moon.
The Moon Period lasted from late 1963 until Tracy's final Moon story in 1969 (which featured the official introduction of the Apparatus). Many of the plots during that time centered around Moon-based (or Moon-related) crimes, though Dick Tracy and the Major Crimes Unit also continued to face Earth-bound criminals and plots with no fantastical elements.
Characters and elements from the Moon Period (such at the magnetic Air Car) continued to appear in the strip until the death of Moon Maid in 1978. Following that, the only remaining evidence of the Moon Period to be depicted for some time was the appearance of Honeymoon Tracy.
The later creative team of Mike Curtis and Joe Staton re-inserted some elements of the Moon Period into the strip, resulting in the long-running mystery of the "new" Moon Maid, the return of Mr. Bribery and the Air Car, and the revelation that the Moon people had left Moon Valley and settled on Earth.
Notes[]
- The Moon Period and its trappings diminished in the strip partly due to NASA's actual landing on the Moon, revealing it to be desolate and lifeless. Public interest in the Moon-based stories waned.
- Creator Chester Gould reportedly drew inspiration for some of the Moon Period technology from the animated television series The Jetsons.
- The Moon Period is controversial among fans of the strip. Many fans consider it an unwelcome departure from the more traditional cops-and-robbers/procedural nature of the strip (as related in Dick Tracy: The Official Biography), while others praise the Moon Period for its creativity and artistic boldness.