Rip Kirby hit the newspapers’ comic pages as a completely new concept for the private detective medium. He was thoughtful, wore glasses and smoked a pipe. He had his share of fisticuffs and gun battles, but preferred to think his way through a mystery. Rip Kirby was aided in his sleuthing by a reformed burglar named Desmond and Rip’s long time girlfriend, the lovely Honey Dorian. The Rip Kirby comic strip was the brainchild of Alex Raymond (creator of Flash Gordon and Secret Agent X-9) and Editor Ward Greene. The strip debuted on March 4, 1946 and would continue for over fifty years. Alex Raymond was given the prestigious Reuben award in 1949 for his work. The interior artwork in these stories are all Alex Raymond's brilliant pencils and inks. The covers were crafted by James E. McConnell. The Rip Kirby comic strip was an amazing combination of beautifully crafted artwork and taught writing and is still considered to be a classic to this day. This book was compiled with the best images currently available. That stated, these comics are nearly seventy years old. The best efforts have been made to make the pages as enjoyable as possible but not every panel is perfect and some allowances for the age of the books need to be considered when judging the overall contents.