Jim was a radio operator for station YVZ. He had short, dark hair and pointed nose. Jim worked in the mobile unit.
The Krome Encounter[]
One Jim's jobs was recording the Fluffy Suds question and answer program. One day while his partner was conducting person-on-the-street interviews, Jim’s radio van was entered by the criminal Krome. Krome had been shot in the arm by one of his co-horts and needed medical attention. As soon as he saw Krome’s gun, Jim surreptitiously turned on the recording equipment inside the van. He recorded his entire conversation with Krome, leaving a the clue for his partner to find. Krome forced Jim (at gunpoint) to drive to Smallville, a small town outside the city where Krome could see a doctor.
Taking Jim’s car, the two men got stuck in a blizzard. Jim had spare radio parts in his trunk and cobbled together a transmitter. He called the state police for help, but he said that Krome was with him, Krome knocked him out and fled on foot.
Recovery[]
Jim was saved from freezing to death when Dick Tracy and Pat Patton, who were pursuing Krome, found Jim’s car. They took the radio operator to the nearby home of Doc Codd, which Krome had just left. As the doctor treated Jim’s frostbite, Tracy found evidence of Krome’s presence and arrested the doctor.
After Tracy summoned the local Sheriff to hold Codd in custody at his home, he departed for the city with Pat and Jim. They quickly came upon the snowplow that Krome was riding in. Krome panicked and had the snowplow driver take the vehicle over a frozen river in an attempt to make better time back to the city. The snowplow crashed through the ice and Jim aided in rescuing the driver.
At the end of the affair, Tracy praised Jim for his bravery and resourcefulness, saying that he would make a good plainclothesman.
Notes[]
- Early in the storyline, Jim’s on-air partner seems to address him as “Ed”.