This upcoming Halloween season, Mad Cave Studios invites readers to slip into the shadows of The City for a moody new 40-page noir thriller with The Dick Tracy Halloween Special. Regular series writers Alex Segura and Michael Moreci are joined by crime editor and consultant Chantelle Aimée Osman, with art by Craig Cermak. It’s a major stepping stone for the character, as it makes the first time in the characters history that Dick Tracy is being written by a woman.
We at The Beat sat down with Osman to discuss the character’s appeal and her experience writing the legendary pulp hero.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
JARED BIRD: Dick Tracy Halloween Special #1 launches October 29th, 2025, from Mad Cave Studios. To those unfamiliar, how would you explain the character of Dick Tracy and his appeal?
CHANTELLE AIMEE OSMAN: I think Dick Tracy’s long-lasting appeal is a combination of universal themes shared with other Golden Age heroes, such as justice, the gritty treatment of crime–add to that his iconic style (does anyone not recognize the yellow trench coat?), and all of Tracy’s cool tech gadgets (he could talk to his watch before it was cool), and it makes for an unforgettable character.
BIRD: What led you to getting involved with the project?
OSMAN: This has been a passion project for Alex Segura and Michael Moreci for a long time. Alex and I have been friends and collaborated on a bunch of different projects for a decade, so when we learned that the rights were available, it seemed natural to jump at the chance to work together on this, too!
BIRD: What was it like working with Mad Cave Studios on the project?
OSMAN: Mad Cave has been a wonderful home for Dick Tracy, both appreciating and upholding the traditional qualities of the series, while embracing the new vision that Alex and Michael bring to the reboot.
BIRD: Much of your previous experience has been in prose and editing novels. What’s it been like adjusting to work in the comics industry?
OSMAN: My screenwriting background definitely came in handy, for sure. Writing a graphic novel is the best combination of a screenplay and a novel. You get to write all the dialogue, but also, in a sense, get to tell the director what to do by setting the scene and providing notes for the artists to bring to life. It’s far more collaborative than prose, and I love seeing how different hands make their mark–quite literally–and create a final product that is so much more than the sum of its parts.
BIRD: As far as I’m aware, you are the first woman to ever write the Dick Tracy character. How did it feel to be the one making that achievement?
OSMAN: It’s beyond an honor to contribute in even a small way to a character that has been part of the American experience for nearly a century. I’m following in the footsteps of many women who have contributed to this legendary series: Lee Allred and Shelley Pleger, to name just two. But to be the first woman to have sole writing credit on an issue is humbling. To be doing it alongside a cast of such talented female creatives is a dream. I hope it’s just the start.
BIRD: You’ve been working as a creative consultant on the mainline Dick Tracy series as well. What do you find most compelling about the character?
OSMAN: It’s been exciting to watch Alex and Michael bring their unique sensibilities–particularly Alex’s background as a crime writer–into play while at the same time staying totally true to Chester Gould’s vision. It’s fun to push the envelope, but at the same time, very important to keep Dick Tracy’s ethos.
BIRD: What do you think causes people to still come back to classic, pulp-era noir fiction even nearly a century after it first became popular?
OSMAN: A combination of familiarity and evergreen themes. I think each generation really had its own Dick Tracy, whether it was the original comics in the newspaper, the 1990 film (mine), or any of the fabulous iterations since. It’s like visiting an old friend and making a new one at the same time.
BIRD: What other works of yours would you recommend to readers who enjoy the Dick Tracy Halloween Special?
OSMAN: I’d recommend The Rejects, which was co-written by me and Alex Segura, and The Awakened, also written by Alex Segura and Michael Moreci, where I served as creative consultant as well.
A preview of the book can be seen below, with The Dick Tracy Halloween Special coming to comic shops on October 29th, 2025.
