3. Dick Tracy
What sets him above the rest is that Dick Tracy didn't just work with the cops, he was a cop. A hard nosed, shoot first, ask questions later kind of detective. And like any good hero of the funny pages he was not without an excellent rogues gallery filled with wild and wacky villains like Flattop, Mumbles, Prune Face, Shaky, and the Brow. Over the years Tracy has seen several adaptations and reincarnations but always remained most popular in his comic strip, which was written and drawn by its creator Chester Gould from its birth in 1931 until his passing in 1977. What Dick Tracy helped do for young readers, unlike any other pulp hero, was encourage them to work with law enforcement. Although Tracy's tactics might not have always been by the book, giving readers a police Detective in which to root for was a fun way to challenge the increase in admiration for vigilantism. Warren Beatty's 1990 film was a success but a sequel was never made. Beatty has recently bought the rights to the character and expressed his interest in a sequel but has remained tight lipped on the project. With the success of films like Batman Begins, a new origin story to Dick Tracy could be worth exploring. Though considering 2011 was the last time Beatty said anything about it means we've got a long wait until we see Tracy on the big screen again.