Rip Kirby is an intelligent gentleman and private detective or, as he prefers to be called; a criminologist. Some cases are solved through physical strength but most of them he solves thanks to his sharp intellect.

He likes to read, play chess, piano, golf etc.  Rip never turns down a glass of cognac and he is a devoted pipe smoker.

The strip was created by Alex Raymond as early as 1946, a time when the style of the adventure comics started to change from the very patriotic to more of a realistic one.  The strip quickly became one of the most popular detective strips.