Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for October 07, 2012

Measles?!

Good Morning Detectives!Congratulations to yesterday’s winners Chris Robinson, Day-Day2001 and Willy007!Is that a female Measles? Perhaps she’s the one responsible behind the Moon Maid sightings recently?

Measles first appeared January 21, 1945

Dick Tracy Comics Monthly #33 November 1, 1950

Measles the Teen-Age Dope Smuggler story.

Who…? What…?ARRRRR! After the build up all this week…!Nooooooooooooooooooooooo! Ahem. Pardon me. Good morning, all.

Not a female…That’s Measles! Thank You, Team Tracy’ for another great memory! Loving every day of this strip.

three bills? can’t you read that sign there?

Thanks Gweedo! Forgot to give you that shout out I promised for your assistance on finalizing my avatar. Adding Mjölnir did the trick, it seems!

Another old-time baddie reappears! And JerryH helps explain how this turn might fit into the storyline. —There are so many of these bad guys running around loose! The MCU is certainly not short of business!

Thanks for Mooning us, guys !LOL!

A) Cappare is the source for Cop that I learned.

B) Maybe Steve the Tramp will come along to help solve this trauma for Junior. I have always liked the reformed Fruit Selling Steve, even if he did have problems in his own background.

Good morning all…

I wasn’t expecting this!

I commend the Sunday colorist again. Bleak palette for a bleak setting.

In slightly related “news”—Picked up Charlton Comics MONSTER HUNTERS #13 in buck bin in Salem, MA comic store yesterday. Some very atmospheric artwork by a Mr. Joe Staton was discovered therein!

That half will come in handy when my Moon Maid withdrawals kick in. Wait, they’re already here…

First the Moon Maid mystery, now Measles?!?! This is twisting my melon, man.

Whoa! Measles is a new chapter—Here I thought we’d be focusing on Mysta, but maybe a drug war too? And thank you all for your support…

when i glimpsed over the strip while scrolling down, i thought it was junior doing some legwork of his own, then i thought it was blaze rize with a new haircut, then they say it’s MEASLES??!?! of course i’ve HEARD of measles but i’ve never SEEN him.. but i’m sorry, this IS a female isnt it? i mean, i scrolled down to the posts from tarry and stagger, and the person in the strip TODAY looks NOTHING like the person they both posted pics of.. so whats the deal? i’m confused,and its ONLY 7:30am eastern time, lol!

Measles Enog (1945) – Trademark is red spots on face. Head of a dope smuggling racket. Escaping from Dick Tracy after a train wreck, Measles boarded a train compartment and tried to take Vitamin Flintheart and his wife hostage, until Vitamin knocked him out with a liquor bottle. Escaping again from the train onto a flooded plain Measles tries to flee from Tracy using a stolen boat and a swimming horse but is captured. In comic relief At the jail Measles tries to escape with smuggled tear gas capsules but only ends up tear gassed and locked in a cell by Chief Brandon.

Source—-Wikipedia

The matrone died accidentally trying to kill Gertie.Tthis is not Measles, is the son of Measles and Popsie, fiancee of Headache. Measles never suffered from headaches.

To add to the Measles back-story, one also has to add his failed armored car heist w/ Wormy & Dewdrop during Tracy’s 50th anniversary story back in late 1981.

This is why I wished the strip had done clean re-boot when the new team took over. It’s imploding under its own mythology & while long-time, older readers are rewarded via nostalgia…this methodology goes a long way deterring new fans. And if this strip is to survive beyond the Curtis/Staton 2-3 year contract…it will need a new generation of fans.

I’m not a fan of all the new DC reboot titles at all…but I can see why the company went that route. Another great example is the current Dr. Who series. Again, not a fan of everything Russell T. Davies (series 1-4+ Producer/Writer) did…but he got the show back to accessible basics. Then slowly/steadily re-introduced show mythology elements WITH a modern & unique bent to them.

Measles? Is the sister??

It is the eyelashes that seem to give Mumbles a feminine look. It appears that he is wearing mascara. His features drawn by Staton are also much softer than the Gould drawing posted by Tarry.

i was told i am no longer allowed to keep track of where i am each day gweedo ;) lol

Right, so you can get a life…

Welcome, welcome one and all…..Everybody loves to me FIRST..Me, too..So, here it is. My well wishes to the ‘Old Gal,’ as she fades into obscurity. The days of the daily “adventure” strip have always been numbered and with more and more GREAT STRIPS like ‘Cul de Sac” gone away, I’d like to be the FIRST to wish her well..The New Tracy-ophants have done their best. Sometimes hitting it out of the park, sometimes striking out, but they always tried their best. When it’s been good, it’s been fun, but eh…. A good effort put in by all. Good job, Tracy-holics!.But how long could it last…. With only a couple of dozen newspapers running the strip, (Two dozen at the most), we all saw this coming. None of us liked ANNIE going away, (just look at her last day’s comments). Even the steadfast BRENDA STARR had to go kicking and screaming into the void..So off you go old gal, we had fun. Now don’t look back. We had it all but we lost it. It’s not original, but……. I’d like to be the FIRST to say, “See you in the Funny Pages!!!”...

.Now don’t get your panties in an uproar—— Dick Tracy’s NOT gone away today. But the writings on the wall. Just count how many daily story comic strips are left. Not many. And with only a couple of dozen papers printing the Dick Tracy strip daily, it can’t be profitable for the Chicago Tribune any more. Not at all..And come on, We all love to be the FIRST poster on anything. So, you can call me ahead of my time. But I’m the FIRST. I’m the FIRST..Here’s my send off to the old gal, ……she had her day didn’t she.And if you care to re-read those Classic strips——- check out the truly Giant books published by WWW.IDW to see how Gould made his mark back in the day in the then thriving comic strip marketplace. There are at least six Big volumes, maybe more. With Fantastic introductions written by MaxAllen Colins. He describes eloquently how Gould successfully wrote and drew a profitable Dick Tracy comic strip, published in Hundreds of Thousands of newspapers Worldwide!.Gould truly was a visionary. He knew how to cook a strip, oh boy!And there even was an okay movie made by that awful Warren Beatty in the roaring 1990’s.So off you go Old Gal, we’ll remember you well. 10-7-2012 = FIRST Official Obit (the FIRST)..Good boy.Good boy. ruff, ruffYAY ME! I’m the FIRST to post. (The last days that is) ...…….first to post.

Now Let’s All Be Positive Now,No Negative Nellies Here...Let’s use this opportunity to have a kind-of-wake for the Dick Tracy while WE CAN!.Long time posters will remember when the ANNIE strip went away and we ONLY had one day of remembrance for that Classic comic strip, ‘Little Orphan Annie.’.Let’s All Have This Mark The First Day Of A Week Long, Official Fan’s Week Of Remembrance Of The Classic Comic Strip, Dick Tracy!.Over Eighty Years, Wow!!!.I’ll start it off……..Lots and lots of fond memories of the Classic Strip, but like everyone I remember most the FIRST stories by Gould that I read. The very first Rick Fletcher strips were my favorites!! .And my favorite image from the Dick Tracy was the Moustache-O Dick Tracy of the 1970’s! He had sideburns then. And even slightly longer-ish hair, too! But that Moustache put the look over the top..Before the End…..Bring back the Moustache-O Dick Tracy!!!And if I may be so BOLD, Please give it the BILL EARL TREATMENT for me!.…… What’s the BILL EARL TREATMENT, you say?……Well let me spell it out for you….. The full name is really the California Buena VISTA BILL Earl Treatment. This is when posters ID names are used in the actual comic strip!! Like just recently when Bill Earl’s ID name was in the strip!! And Vitamin Flintheart was his SIDEKICK (to boot), get it (to boot). LOL Come On, That’s the GREATEST!! -—-Well, for Bill Earl at least. So here’s a possible scenario…… Let’s have the NEW STRIP draw Dick Tracy with that Classic 1970’s Moustache-O look. And have Lizz walk up to Detective Dick Tracy at a crime scene and say to him, “WOW, TRACY WITH THAT NEW MOUSTACHE OF YOURS, YOU LOOK JUST LIKE A GUY I DATED BACK IN 2011 NAMED ANDREW!”.That would be GREAT, (for me!!). Well. It’s a thought. “Wow, my own BILL EARL TREATMENT!!! That would be GREAT!”...See, Now you add your own WELL-WISHES for a very deserving comic strip..And Remember- – - – LET’S KEEP THIS POSTIVE! – - – - No, No to NEGATIVE NELLIES! . . “You can go elsewhere with the negativity, PAL!” . .. Remember NOW . . . A week of POSITIVE POSTS!Let’s take the opportunity to do something the ANNIE-fans NEVER got the OPPORTUNITY to do….SAY SOMETHING POSITIVE ABOUT THEIR FAVORITE COMIC STRIP!- – – Be Cool, or be cast out! (QUOTING RUSH, that is)

I know I posted a thank you here earlier this morning. I didn’t want to be seen as an ingrate. So again..Thanks for your votes and for the contest…it was fun.

As to todays strip…How neat it is to build up a cliffhanger, then leave us hanging on that cliff. I like the twist this is taking.

I recently returned to regularly reading Dick Tracy after a while away, and this is my first time to comment here since returning. I have, for the most part, enjoyed the recent storylines, but there is one thing that is bothering me. Longtime fans are reveling in the return of old favorite characters (many of whom are brand new to me) but it does seem to me that the present writing team are in overkill mode, flooding us in large groups with villains that have not been seen for ages, rather than bringing them back one or two at a time. Also, one of the great things about the vast palette of DT villains was the inventiveness that brought them to the pages in the first place. How about coming up with some new characters to expand that palette?