Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for May 07, 2013

Will their lives soon be shaken up by the Mysta clone?

Montana Jones and The Sounds of Plenty?

Good morning, margueritem. I was scratching my head about today’s strip until I saw your comment. This must tie in to the Mysta story.

The GoComics colorist sure makes strange selections sometimes.

I can’t imagine gluten-free bread being very good.

Brown hair! Now Sparkle and Jewel have brown hair? I wish the colorist here at gocomics would do his homework. Just went over to an online newspaper, and they colored Sparkle and Jewel’s hair blonde. I know it sounds petty, but it really does throw the artwork off kilter when the colorist isn’t taking the time to stick with the characteristics of each person.

I mentioned this last week, but for those who may have missed it, Mike Curtis recently posted in the Yahoo group regarding cutaways to different characters during the Moon Maid story (see link below). Good info to know IMO, and it explains the general reason for today’s scene shift without giving anything away about the plot.http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DickTracy/message/16773

Great spoof (but I can’t quite place the target of the spoof)….

These “Sounds O’ Plenty” are really cute here.

Good morning all…

It’s great seeing these older Tracy characters making appearances throughout storylines…glad to see that continuity has returned to Dick Tracy!

remember the post that either wil;ly or ray toler put up the other day from teh yahoo tracy group… mike curtis said that everyone you see in this story will be involved in it. OBVIOUSLY sparkle will, but notice who is absent from the strip at the moment.. theres no HONEYMOON! which, to me, means that… speculation here of course.. junior is working and honeymoon is… where exactly?!?!?! home chatting up her crimestoppers club for clues? alone by herself in the house… the same house where i beleive moon maid will show her bandaged face… and tracy is “on the other side of town” or wherever that bearded chick lives which would take him more than a few minutes to get back to junior’s for a confrontation with moon maid?? how far exactly IS police hq from junior’s? and for that matter, how far is that bearded lady as well? could it possibly be that honeymoon will be the FIRST tracy family member to FINALLY get a glimpse of moon maid?!?!? and will the wrist wizard be able to capture an IMAGE for her to show her father and pop-pop as proof/evidence?!?! will honeymoon be smart enough, when faced with her long thought dead mother… to BROADCAST the confrontation over the wrist wizards so the others can hear?!? or will moon maid’s electromagnetic powers render the wrist wizard useless and will she have her “one-on-one time” with her daughter after all these years?!?!?

btw, sparkle and jewel’s hair doesnt look brown to me at all here.. i see more of a “goldenrod” sort of color… a little darker than her almost platinum, true.. but still in the blond category. (i guess to be more “up to date” instead of referring to it as “goldenrod” i guess you could say it looks like it has gotten “caramel shade lowlights” to it, making it a little darker than normal.)

I’ve come up with another Mysta theory: she’s not the real thing but she thinks she is – not because of brainwashing (an earlier speculation) but just because she’s delusional. Perhaps during early recuperation she learned of Moon Maid and somehow came to believe that she and Moon Maid are one in the same. Her handlers go along with the delusion to pacify her.

Thinking of yesterday’s strip…who else knows how to fly the Space Coupe?

Mysta is NOT a clone of Moon Maid! Mysta remembers too much of Moon Maid’s past. A clone would have no such memory. A clone has, by definition, a blank slate mind like a new born baby. There could not be ANY cloning process that included memory transfer.

Yet another “cut-away” to Montana Joe.

Makes me think that, while the Moon Maid story officially began 26 April, that the other short scenes just prior to this story were “cut-aways” from the Moon Maid story, as well.

And yes, I would include the EJs sequence. I still believe the old Ghote is a fraud, that he hasn’t cloned a toenail but is still seeking funding, which translates to defrauding someone, somewhere. And while the “good” doctor may not be motivated by revenge, his good buddy, Mumbles is – and Stilleta appears to have put out yet another contract on Tracy in Mumbles’ presence – well, those are dots that connect fairly easily. (Not that I expect to see BB Eyes, Doubleup, or Blackjack getting involved, but I could be wrong!)

Of course, if Staton and Curtis read any of our comments, they can change it up just to make sure that none of us got it exactly right!

Right now, I’m trying to decide whether this Montana Joe development is a bright spot or a dark one. I have already expressed the opinion that, if Mysta is real, then we have presented Junior with a rather difficult domestic life. A soft landing for this plot is for Sparkle to find a new life, which it is starting to look like already.

From what I’ve seen in many, many comments, a cloned Mysta seems less and less likely to appease fans than ever. I will go out on a limb and say that, if Mysta is any kind of a fake – and a clone seems to fit into the present definition of fake – Mike and Joe may lose at least some of the fans who are now tuned in for the Moon Maid.

On the other hand, is one comic strip big enough for both Dick Tracy and Mysta?

Retroactive contininuity (retcon): More than once it has been said that only six_ years have passed since Mysta’s (alleged) murder. But Jumbler was broadcasting to Dick Tracy on You Tube. And today, we see an advertisement for gluten-free bread!

Now, I’m sure there was gluten-free bread decades ago. But it’s today that people other than those with allergies now demand gluten-free wheat bread!

Hmm. That seems like a punchline in itself – or a contradiction in terms: Gluten-free wheat bread…

Bottom line: If it’s only been six years since Mysta “died,” then the explosion must have taken place in 2007!

Last and certainly least: For all the problems with the daily colorist, why doesn’t GoComics just publish them in good old, glorious black and white?

Also a take-off on the Light Crust Doughboys who were big time during the 30s and 40s. They were sponsored by the Burris Flour Mill of Fort Worth, Texas.

I had forgotten, The Sunny Wheat Company also ran the recent Vitamin Flintheart lookalike contest that was won by Walt Wallet.

It may not show, but my tongue was firmly in cheek when I said the explosion happened in 2007. And you’re right, trains and cars get a little confusing, as well: In 1959, Gould seemed to stay on top of things, current model Fords as well as F3 diesels; yet, recently, the locomotive that took out Sweatbox looked like a steamer.

And it did escape me that Sunny Wheat was a running gag in Tracy for, well, decades.

But the irony is not lost on me that Sparkle won a look-alike contest of the woman she would later “replace.”

Which is why, to me, a story line in which Mysta “replaces” Sparkle would be little more than “what goes around, comes around”…

But I still have a strong feeling that, if this Mysta turns out to be any kind of a fraud, to include a “clone,” many of us, myself included, will have to shake our heads and ask, “What was the point?”

…AND THE CHARACTERS FACIAL FEATURES ARE SO DISTORTED AND EXAGGERATED THAT THEY BARELY RESEMBLE ANTHING LIKE HUMAN BEINGS!!!!!!!

Oh, you mean like Flattop, Pruneface, The Mole, etc.?

terek: Dick Tracy was always science fiction, from the beginning of the two-way wrist radio, introduced in the 1930s. As for the artwork, in a way, Staton and Curtis have returned to the days of Gould, where only the “good guys” looked like real people – nearly all of his “bad guys” were ugly to downright monstrous.

That said, yes, it was a lot of “silly science” to bring us Moon Maid in the first place; likely, it will be some even more “silly science” to bring her back from the grave, or at least to explain how she escaped the grave.

As others have been telling me, this is probably going to be a healthy dose of “suspension of disbelief”…

I don’t see why people are cranked about cut-aways to other characters or “Montana Joe’s Roundup.”Cut-aways are a storytelling standard in books, movies, and TV, so why should anyone here get confused or upset?And as far as the radio show — I listen to “A Prarie Home Companion” every Saturday night on Public Radio. It’s live music and comedy, usually from the Twin Cities. (It isn’t just country music, but that is included. Give a listen.)

And yeah – orange hair?The yellow Stetson is funny, though; kind of a cowboy version of Tracy’s yellow fedora.

No question, the present iteration of Montana Joe is a take-off of Garrison Kiellor. And while I thought to plug a similar show from Chicago, well, Montana Joe is closer to Prairie Home than the Midnight Special!

Aww, I was hoping we would find out the mysterious place where Mysta wanted Retik to take her. Maybe tomorrow!

I like the odd continuity that Mike & Joe have established, timeless yet linear and completely aware of all the history. If seeing Notta Chiller in the newspaper is fan service I am all for it. Perhaps my only issue with Gould was that revisiting characters happened too infrequently if you were not Mole or Mumble and some characters were too good for a single story,

When the strip rebooted I mentioned Notta would be my favorite reappearance. I never imagined it would really happen!! (awesome, thanks everyone!) What are the chances of getting a Peanutbutter update? I imagine him as an almost criminal, unhappy with the world with borderline ethics. The established timeline would allow him to be whatever age is most appropriate to drive the story. Maybe the Cinnamon Knight is able to provide guidance without his suit, or he is working some get rich scam with Vera?

For all my minor unvoiced complaints, this strip is fantastic. I don’t say that enough. This is the highest quality syndicated comic strip out there, perhaps since the Moon Era.

Continuity continues from our Ghost in Boulder, CO…...Good day, MCU’s little helpers for May 6..UncaJim said, about 7 snips ago

Dr. Klipoff… wasn’t he a moyel that had offices on 33rd street?

Dat’s toidy toid street t’ you, Bub !.I don’t see a gun in today’s strip although the cops got theirs and I’m Sure Notta has at least on kickin’ around somewhere. I don’t see Mysta as kidnapping her little girl but do wonder how she’ll react when she finds out Honeymoon has a new mommy. .The Al Rio renderings are very good, for what they are; I’m glad that Joe’s Mysta and Notta Chin Chillar aren’t way sex potty. I want the emphasis on adventure and the chicks do have every right to be presentable. But if it had to be…. the Playboy stories and articles are good too, after you’re all ogled out. .I like how Purdy’s face has a grotesque Gould touch

.((((( for you ))))), @cheapskate0. You’re a real sweetheart of a man, and you got great talk in here too..Pequod77, yesterday’s reading was top o’ the pops !

Where are they going with this storyline? Where’s Stileta and Mumbles?

Looks green to me.

Left over from yesterday:VVVMikeyj said, less than a minute ago

@cheapskate0

One thing amazing about Gould’s art were the “things” he drew. Great technical accuracy, almost like a mechanical drawing. ^^Not to take anything away from the great man, but, the technical art was more likely the work of his main assistant from the 50s to the 70s, Rick Fletcher, who took over the strip when Gould retired

Left over from Yesterday:VVAPersonOfInterest said, about 18 hours ago

@BillThompson

I also find that the whole pseudo-sciencefiction-fantasy thing distracts from what I really like about Dick Tracy.^^That makes 3 of us!

“Sunny” Wheat? Funny wheat, if it doesn’t have gluten.

The colorist shoudl pay attention to the hair color of the characters. Sparkle and Jewel should be blonde!!!

Gluten free is good for those with celiac disease. For everyone else it’s pretty much tasteless garbage.

WHAT’S WEIRD IS………so many people pre-occupied with the coloring of the strip……like, Dick Tracy is about stories, it’s not a coloring contest! And, as incredible as it may sound, women HAVE been known to dye their hair, anyways. As for all the discrepencies time-wise…..this is a COMIC STRIP …..not a court testimony! I’m betting the same people who have such trouble accepting things here have nooo trouble at all accepting mice talking, dogs driving cars, and zebras owning houses in other strips. Dick Tracy is an excellent comic, and if you can’t enjoy it for what it is, why bother reading it……there’s plenty of “real” news in the newspaper every day for you……

I know a gluten glutton when I hear one 8-)

Anyone else thing Montana Joe sounds like Andy Devine?