Dick Tracy #145 for Sale - First Appearance of Gravel Gertie - Where to Buy

Identification plate

Series: Dick Tracy (Harvey, 1950 series)
Issue: #145
Publication date: April 1961
Key date: 1961-04-00
On-sale date: 1960-12-28
Indicia publisher: Harvey Publications Inc.
Price: $0.25
Pages: 84
Rating: Approved by the Comics Code Authority

Match the book in your hand against this plate before paying an edition-specific price.

Why this issue matters

First appearance of Gravel Gertie - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

The evidence

Claims here come from the story records for this issue, listed under Sources at the bottom of the file. Character hubs with full evidence tables are coming to this site.

Seq	Story	Type	Pages	Credits	Characters
0	The Mad Camera Bomber	cover	1	pencils: Chester Gould; inks: Chester Gould	Sparkle Plenty, Dick Tracy
2	The Case of the Fiendish Photographers! Part One	comic story	22	script: Chester Gould; pencils: Chester Gould; inks: Chester Gould	Sam Catchem, Dick Tracy, Dick Tracy Jr., Tess Trueheart
3	Calling All Sleuths	activity	1
4	-	comic story	2		Boris Gehrhart; Eloise; Inspector Kelly
5	-	comic story	1		Gravel Gertie First, B.O. Plenty, Sparkle Plenty
6	The Case of the Fiendish Photographers Part Two	comic story	8	script: Chester Gould; pencils: Chester Gould; inks: Chester Gould; letters: Chester Gould	Sam Catchem, Dick Tracy
7	Death of a Dog-Lover	text story	0.8	letters: typeset
8	Hi, Kids! Look for me in every Harvey Comic in every top left corner!	promo (ad from the publisher)	0.2
9	-	comic story	1
10	Murder at the Bar X-Y!	text story	0.75	letters: typeset
11	-	statement of ownership	0.25	script: Robert B. Harvey
12	-	comic story	1		The Count; Inspector Kelly
13	The Case of the Left-Handed Coat	comic story	2	script: Bob Powell; pencils: Bob Powell; inks: Bob Powell
14	Ears Screws Fingerprints	comic story	1	script: Chester Gould; pencils: Chester Gould; inks: Chester Gould
15	[The Case of the Fiendish Photographers!] Part Two: The King's Story	comic story	22	script: Chester Gould; pencils: Chester Gould; inks: Chester Gould; letters: Chester Gould	Sam Catchem, Dick Tracy
16	Horseplay	comic story	1		B.O. Plenty, Sparkle Plenty
17	The Case of the Broken Hedera Helix	comic story	2	pencils: Bob Powell; inks: Bob Powell
18	-	comic story	1		Dick Tracy
19	The King's Story Part Two	comic story	9	script: Chester Gould; pencils: Chester Gould; inks: Chester Gould; letters: Chester Gould	Sam Catchem, Dick Tracy
20	The Bearded Stranger	text story	1	letters: typeset	Peter Carne
21	A Matter of Time	text story	0.75	letters: typeset
22	-	promo (ad from the publisher)	0.25		Blondie Bumstead, Dagwood Bumstead
23	Dick Tracy and the Case of the Camera Killers	comic story	11	script: Chester Gould; pencils: Chester Gould; inks: Chester Gould; letters: Chester Gould	Sam Catchem, Dick Tracy, Dick Tracy Jr.
24	School Bus Safety	public service announcement	1		Casper
25	1961 Calendar	promo (ad from the publisher)	1		the entire cast of Harvey characters
26	-	promo (ad from the publisher)	0.5		Hot Stuff, Stumbo
28	Harvey Comics	promo (ad from the publisher)	1		Baby Huey, Blondie Bumstead, Casper, Dagwood Bumstead, Felix the Cat, Hot Stuff, Jeff, Little Audrey, Little Dot, Little Lotta, Little Max, Mutt, Joe Palooka, Richie Rich

Plus 7.5 pages of advertisements and other matter across 11 sequences, as published.

Printings and variants

Edition	How to tell
Canadian	price 0.35 CAD

Where to read it

Collection	Year
Dick Tracy #46	1951	On eBay ›

Reading the story costs a fraction of owning the issue. Both routes are on every file.

Before you buy

Check spine ticks and cover gloss in the photos; silver-age Marvels chip at the edges easily.
Look for tanning at the page edges and transfer stains on the inside covers.
Confirm the cover price against the plate; higher prices can mean a later or foreign printing.

Series context

‹ #144121 of 121

Sources

Grand Comics Database, issue record (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Found an error in this file? corrections@comicrecord.com