Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for May 03, 2013

The return of Mrs. Chin Chillar!

Good morning fellow DT fans…

Good Morning everyone! Good to see Notta Fallar again!

Notta’s back! I had heard she was returning at some point. This story just gets better and better!

She’s going to knock herself out with those earrings!

Good morning VB, ETAL!

For those unfamiliar with Notta Fallar (Chin Chillar), here’s a complete history (she has crossed paths with Moon Maid). Second link is an article about her deceased husband George, pictured behind her.http://dicktracy.wikia.com/wiki/Notta_Chin_Chillarhttp://dicktracy.wikia.com/wiki/Chin_Chillar@margueritem, ha! Looks like the identical earrings she wore in her original story.

Also, for those wondering about the sudden change of scenes, read the announcement below that Mike Curtis posted last week regarding cutaways to other characters during the Moon Maid story. It’s not a spoiler, but on the off chance someone doesn’t want to know anything about scene shifts, I’m linking the announcement rather than posting it. Good info to know IMO.http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DickTracy/message/16773

hurmmm…so much for the idea the Notta was playing Moon Maid. I’m still not convinced she a clone or the real Mysta yet…

You don’t think Mista’s mask is covering a BEARD do you?

well, there goes ONE theory that mysta is whatshernamewiththebeard. anyone else wanna take a swing at it now? lol :)

btw, who here DOESNT believe that tracy got to the bearded ladys door THAT quickly and that its someone ELSE knocking at the door?

Reading wiki…hm, Notta has experience flying the Space Coupe – without Diet Smith’s permission…

Tracy is on the job. Knowing Notta is one of the few who can fly the Coupe, he’s found her nest. It is great to see Notta after all these years. She was an important and popular part of a fantastic series of story arcs that meshed: Mr. Bribery, Chin Chillars, Piggy Butcher and Purdy Fallar. Once again, nice use of details: Mysta on the computer screen and the picture of the late George Chin Chillar. A compelling story gets additional layers and I’m loving it.

Is it just me, or are there times that Dick Tracy looks like Superman? (Panel 2) I’ve seen this several times before, especially in the Sweatbox story…

Thank God we have Finally put to rest the notion Notta was Moon Maid. Never thought that for a second. Just sayin’ is all.

Hey yeah…whats up with Notta’s Epcot space ship earth ear rings.

Chris Robinson (and anybody else, for that matter): My speculation is that this is the real Mysta, if only for a couple of pieces of circumstantial evidence.

One, I will give Fletcher credit for recognizing that, perhaps, the “sci-fi” element of Dick Tracy was getting “out of hand.” Problem is, and I think there might be consensus here, that he went too far in killing off Mysta.

Two, as Staton and Curtis are re-introducing the Moon Maid, first by giving her the name, Mysta, note that they are also charting a very measured course. Moon Maid, yes, moon people, no! (Christmas 2012 panels)

Cloning remains a questionable science, at best, and current results seem to show, with sheep and mice, that cloned creatures are far less identical that human identical twins. And even with identical DNA, as well as growing up with the same parents and environment, twins still don’t end up being the same person!

Hence, I really doubt that Staton and Curtis want to inject that kind of sci-fi silliness which led to Mysta’s unfortunate demise the first time around.

Now, until MIke and Joe resurrect Will Carver, perhaps the only person (also a criminal) capable of putting “horns” on a human, I will continue to refuse to believe that Mysta is an imposter!

In the end, or at least until I’m proven wrong, all we need to know is where she was and why she didn’t contact anyone during her hiatus.

And a good dose of Hollywood “amnesia” would probably cover that, too!

Someone’s knocking at the doorSomebody’s ringing the bell

I remember the original story (I was in my teens), it was part of the greatness of the original Dick Tracy that stories went on for a long time and you really got to know the characters. I hope this moon Maid story will go on for months and month, the longer the better, with lots of twists and turns, as in the old days.

As for the “sci-fi” element in DT, that pretty much died-off after the moon landing — all through the early 1970’s, MM was reduced to a occassional background character, as was Honeymoon. The 1960’s-era magnetic air cars (flying trash cans) were retired in favor of a similar Diet Smith invention, which given how “Tracy Tech” worked when some of us were growing-up, sounded more plausible.

With that said, I believe Collins/Fletcher wanted to do a complete reset of DT and return the strip to its’ urban crime roots, which they did, and created some really memorable stories in the process…

By Great Gweedo’s Ghost! There were 143 comments yesterday. Felt like reading War and Peace.

If memory serves, the last we saw of Tracy and the MCU was Jumbler’s arrest. Now they have a hit on “our suspect”. What are they investigating, I wonder? Perhaps Tracy is taking some time to look into the Moon Maid sightings, and he remembered Notta’s involvement in flying a Space Coupe?

Notta and George Chin Chillar in the stolen space coupe. This gives new meaning to the term “mile high club.”

It’s true! This story DOES keep getting better!

Here is an interesting link which tells Notta’s story:

Info on Notta Chin Chillar

Gweedo Says:.cpalmeresq said, about 4 welcome homes ago

And Gweedo, nice to have you back, such as it is…

Thanks, palmer. I never stopped watching. I have paid extra notice to Ray and Cheapskate lately. I was never this excited about Mysta back in the middle and late sixties as I am now. Must be my adolescence kicking in. ..Tarry Plaguer said, about 3 underlines ago

Hmmm… It appears that the underline won’t work on the forum.

A simple way to underline is to put the plus “+” sign on each side of a word or phrase + like this +, pressed up tight, of course. To strike a line through a minus “-” sign on each side of a word or phrase – like this – . Closing the gaps again will do the job...avenger09 said, many broadcasts ago

@cpalmeresq

And Gweedo, nice to have you back, such as it is…

Someone sure has a big ………..

Ok, so since no one’s too “gone” to resurrect…….BRING BACK MR. BRIBERY, yea!!!! (and the cigar smoking cat too, of course)

…..I shouldn’t say NO ONE’S too gone to bring back…….bet therer’s still da few they can’t, lol

As I said yesterday, it’s a good story. But the sad thing about a love trangle is that there’s no way to resolve it without some one being hurt. And sometimes they end in tragedy such as the love trangle in Elvis Presley’s first movie “Love Me Tender”. Let’s hope it don’t come to that.

Here’s an interesting twist to the idea i had yesterday about Vera Alldid and Sparkle getting back together

How about, INSTEAD of Vera and Sparkle mending fences and riding off into the sunset together hand in hand, why not have Vera and MOON MAID hook up? now THAT would be fun! lol :)

This is TOO much of a good thing! Moon Maid AND Notta Chin Chillar in the same story? I am in comic strip heaven! WAIT! There can’t be too much of these two female characters. My favorite characters in Dick Tracy history! Bring it on Team Tracy. I hope Moon Maid turns to Notta for help in getting to the Moon.

Excellent posts, Willie007, JB2K, and Ray Toler.

Question for Ray: Did you grow up in Chicago (or any of its ‘burbs)?

I grew up in Des Plaines, living there almost all my life until I joined the air force in 1972. I have a very different memory of the Chicago Tribune.

In my days, the “Trib” (as we used to call it) was the conservative paper in town. During those years, there were four papers at the time: Tribune, Daily News, Sun-Times, and the American.

Can’t tell you much about the American; we never got it. But I do know that the Daily News and Sun-Times were published by the same company; both papers were fairly identical in content, as well as political leaning. In addition, the Daily News had a quirk: It didn’t publish on Sunday, so its color funnies were on Saturday.

The Daily News and Sun-Times were known as the more liberal papers in town. I’m thinking the American was really, really liberal, but again, we didn’t get that paper. The Chicago Tribune was the paper on record as being the conservative voice in town.

How conservative was it? Two anecdotal stories.

One, when WFMT’s private owners were ready to retire and sell the station, WGN (acronym for World’s Greatest Newspaper and owned by Tribune) (as is KWGN in Denver) picked up the station. But WFMT’s rather left-leaning classical music clientele objected to the sale so much that, in the end, WFMT ended up owned by WTTW, Chicago’s PBS station.

Since its sale to Chicago’s public television station, WFMT operates as a “hybrid” station, still selling commercials but also having two or three membership/fund drives a year. (For what it’s worth, I have friends at WFMT whom I visit when I return to Chicago, Peter Van De Graaff and Rich Warren, hosting the overnight classical music program and the folk music program, the Midnight Special, respectively. Hey, night worker, day sleeper, guess what I listen to most of the time?)

The other anecdotal story may seem more consistent with your (Ray’s) observations.

When I got to my first assignment, Tyndall AFB, Panama City, Florida, I got homesick for my home town and got a free subscription to the Trib, something they did for displaced military members. (We’re talking 1973 to 1975; I highly doubt they do anything like that now)

The first thing I noted about the Trib, which I remembered as being the “conservative” paper in Chicago, was how “liberal” it appeared when compared to Panama City’s one and only paper, a Gannett publication, as are many small town newspapers.

Perhaps this is why you (Ray) may have thought that the Trib was a “liberal” paper!

Last, and certainly least, with the Daily News publishing color funnies on Saturday and the Trib’s color funnies on Sunday, I remember the following partial lineup:

Li’l Abner and Pogo in the Daily NewsDick Tracy, Peanuts, Moon Mullins, Gasoline Alley, and Smokey Stover in the Trib.

Why I don’t remember more about the Daily News, I don’t know. But I do seem to remember the better lineup was in the Trib, even if our family preferred the more left-leaning Daily News for actual news.

Hope this brings back some memories for someone out there…

I note that the italics command didn’t work correctly in that previous post. One more experiment with underlining.JB2K brings up another point, a question I wanted to ask:

Do Mike and Joe look to these comments for suggestions or ideas?

This could be a very important point. As noted by JB2K, Mike was definitive about Moon Maid having died in the explosion and not going back to the moon. He also states that this post was two years ago, probably 2011. However, in 2012, Moon Maid gets a name and, over Christmas, Dick Tracy and Diet Smith, along with Honeymoon, go to the moon!

This, after a dozen or so Moon Maid sightings, which have since turned into “teasers” leading up to today’s storyline.

Such response to the readership may be why it has become difficult for some, who adhere strictly to Dick Tracy “canon,” as it were. After all, Dick Tracy is a “work in progress,” and Mike and Joe can do just about anything they want, I suppose, as long as it improves readership.

Still trying to figure out these italic and underline commands.

worked for me the other day!

Looking better! Can I get an under<?U>line?

Looking better! Can I get an underline?

Looking better! Can I get an <>under</>line?

Looking better! Can I get an +under+line? And strike-out-.

Argh. My apologies for the above. Just trying to get these highlighters to work. (Heaven knows, I hate to use caps lock for emphasis!)

Last try: , <+underline*>, and <-strikeout→.

Again. My apologies for the above. Just trying to get these highlighters to work. (Heaven knows, I hate to use caps lock for emphasis!)

Last try: , <+underline+>, and bold (gave up on strikeout).

@cheapskate0“Still trying to figure out these italic and underline commands.”I’m not sure there is a way to underline these comments. Or if there is, I haven’t found it yet. :)Like avenger09 said, you might want to delete your experimental posts. They don’t bother me but might get you called out by the censorious nitpickers who tend to get indignant about such things. :)

WOW! Here I was just saying yesterday how neat it would be to see Mrs. Chin Chillar and here she is! Okay I’m rooting now for the Girls Night Out to remember with Mysta! Will that now be tomorrow’s strip? haha!

I was hoping to see Mysta again today. But hey this is great too. Notta Chin Chillar back in action? Yes! Go steal that Space Coupe little house mother!

The 60s revival continues. Rock on!

So the rumors were true. This is the place to get information I can see. This should put an end for good to the rumor that Mysta is Notta Chin Chillar. No way Jose on that one.

For some reason, I can’t shake the idea that this may be the real Moon Maid. Her absence is explained by what happened to her. The lower half of her face is covered because that is the last part of her that needs repair. She may not have been strong enough to venture forth prior to now. Or even a medically induced coma to alleviate pain and promote healing (I know, long time for that). As she healed, her memories started coming back. Maybe remembering the early stuff first, then the present (to her). She may not be aware of how much time has passed. A clone would not have these kind of memories, unless these are only superficial, common knowledge memories implanted in her brain. But, we will know more as time passes.

The coloring job was pretty sloppy today (as it’s been all week), and I thought some here might appreciate the cleaned up version again:

I wonder how many more old characters are going to be revived?

If this has been posted here before, I apologize for the repeat. This is Max Allan Collins from “The Dick Tracy Casebook” page 161: On Chester Gould’s role after retirement: “Chet’s only role was that of informal consultant to the writer.” On the removal of the Moon People and the death of Moon Maid: “Rather than simply pretending the moon sequence had never happened, the Tracy continuity addressed it head on with the violent removal of a sympathetic character (a long-standing Gould tradition). The fan mail ran strongly in favor of the removal of this character, incidentally, although a vocal few continue to express their dissenting votes.” This was published in 1990. Having read some of Mr. Collins other works, I can assure you that this was not an isolated incident of the “violent removal of a sympathetic character” in his writing. He writes crime novels and comics. Good people are killed in his works, people we don’t want to die. This happened a number of times in Gould—anyone remember the Summer Sisters? Is there any ranting today about their horrible death? Or the violent death of Tess Truehart’s father that started the strip. Should Staton and Curtis bring them back? Or more to the point, how about Junior’s first love, Model Jones? Gould killed her off violently. Is that any different from what happened to Moon Maid? Dick Tracy, at its best, under whatever writer, is a roller coaster ride. Can we enjoy the latest twists and sudden shocks without all the venom directed at previous writers?

“I like how Curtis & Staton are doing it now.”I couldn’t agree more!