Pruneface
Pruneface | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Publisher | Tribune Content Agency |
First appearance | September 4, 1942 |
Created by | Chester Gould |
In-story information | |
Partnerships | Mrs. Ana Pruneface(Wife), The Brow |
Supporting character of | Dick Tracy |
Notable aliases | Boche |
Abilities | High Intelligence |
Pruneface is a fictional character in the long-running comic strip Dick Tracy, drawn by cartoonist Chester Gould. He is one of the series' main villains and notable for his wrinkly face despite being a young man.[1]
Fictional character biography
Pruneface's surname is Boche, a typically
Pruneface first appeared (and apparently died) in 1942, having nearly frozen to death due to exposure during a shootout with the police. The character was revived in 1983. The 1983 story explains that he had been used in an early
A later
Pruneface and Freezdrei would resurface and terrorized Dick Tracy's hometown with a product-tampering scheme that rendered Tracy's wife Tess blind; along with large portions of the town. Nazi sympathizers working in supermarket warehouses co-operated in poisoning instant coffee ;which was sold widely. Freezdrei had invented the concoction, and only he knew the antidote. A masked man named "Captain Cure" would break into local TV programming and demand huge ransom money to prevent further outbreaks.
Tracy and the FBI traced the broadcasts to an underground hideout, where Freezdrei was crushed underneath heavy machinery. Pruneface was tricked into thinking he had been dosed with the deadly formula and he revealed the antidote.
Pruneface made one final reappearance in 1999, being held in a Mossad prison. He was the target of a liberation attempt by his granddaughter Prunella and great-granddaughter Prune Hilda, but the plan failed at the last second, and Pruneface was sent plunging to his death from a mountain gondola. His final words were "Sieg Heil".
In other media
Pruneface is a featured villain in The Dick Tracy Show, a syndicated animated children's program which aired in the 1960s. He is voiced by either Mel Blanc or Paul Frees, and his vocal characterization is modeled after that of Boris Karloff. His complexion is lavender, lending him the color and wrinkled look of an actual prune. He is nearly always partnered with Itchy Oliver.
As The Dick Tracy Show was produced by
The character also makes a brief appearance in the 1990 film adaptation of
In Kyle Baker's graphic novels that served as prequels to the movie, Pruneface's real name is given as Lorenzo Prunesti.
In the 1943 Looney Tunes cartoon short Porky Pig's Feat by Frank Tashlin, Daffy Duck confronts the manager of the Broken Arms Hotel, pretending to be intimidated by something he said. Daffy moves closer to his face so intensely that it is pushed inward, making it resemble a prune. Daffy, noticing this, says to the audience, "Hey, look! A Dick Tracy character: Pruneface!" Another Looney Tunes short, 1946's The Great Piggy Bank Robbery by Bob Clampett, has Daffy (as "Duck Twacy") encountering a pack of Dick Tracy-style villains, including an obvious Pruneface parody called "Pickle Puss".
Pruneface appears in Jason Yungbluth's 2002 graphic novel
Pruneface, alongside the Brow, is one of the antagonists in Dick Tracy Forever.
References
- ^ "Chester Gould".
- ^ Dick Tracy's Fiendish Foes! A 60th Anniversary Celebration - 1991, St. Martins Press, page 272.