COLLECTOR’S NOTES:

This is the first Dan Dunn BLB. It debuted as a daily and Sunday strip in September of 1933. An unusual feature of the Dan Dunn BLBs is the frontispiece in each book. The frontispiece shows a picture of Dan inside his Secret Operator's shield and a crime prevention motto signed by Dan.

Dan Dunn was the first detective strip to be blatantly modeled after Dick Tracy. Both had square, outward jutting jaws. Both wore a suit and tie. Both wore a snappy-brimmed hat. But the strip never matched the popularity of the Dick Tracy strip. His radio program was short-lived.