Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for May 16, 2013

Good morning all…

The Cinnamon Knight and the Black Piranha are back!

Never would have guessed this is who Tracy wanted to meet with. Didn’t know they had a wrist geenee, either.

Now he has to ask Willa Scarlett, Super Villianess!

Does Willa have a wrist geenee, too? ;)

Mornin, VistaBill, Rod, 60s & Scott!This story is worth staying up late! Guest appearances by Tracy characters old and new! (And I’m one reader glad to see Cinnamon Knight and Black Pirhana!)Woo hoo!

Never expected that Tracy was talking to these guys, Cinnamon Knight and Black Piranha, But I am glad to see them on the vigilante job again….

Tracy needs to get a Cinnamon Signal! ;D

Likewise, did NOT see this one coming. Awesome little follow up to let us know they’re okay, and on the job too!

Ok WOW! I stand… or rather SIT… corrected. it WASNT diet but C. Knight and B.P. Nice twist… wonder if they’ll stick around.

As for whether or not C. Knight has a wrist wizard… it really wouldnt be much of a stretch.. both he and Black P helped apprehend Broadway, AND C, Knight expressed an interest in “crime fighting” (and did he say joining the police force or was that a comment made by a reader?)

Either way, due to their assistance and their “loose cannon” status, it would make sense for Tracy to give them wrist wizards to at LEAST keep track of what theyre up to.

Tracy’s “network” deepens! ;)

Aliens AND super-heroes in DT? Oboy. This year’s been like an extended Lone Gunmen-centric episode of “X-Files”. I recognize the “framework” but the tone & emphasis is just screwy. Only my plugged nickel’s worth of opinion BTW…& I’m obviously in the minority.

Presumably they’ve been getting some real training off-camera—and they have underworld contacts now!

I wonder why Dick is refering to himself in the third person?

I thought thost two gave that up.Do they both have to be hit by real bullets before they come to their senses?But then – - – this is a comic strip.

Mike’enJoe deliver.

tconstantine900: I may find myself in the minority, too.

My choice of “avatar” (wonder why they call it that?) should say that I am a Moon Maid and Space Era fan. Nevertheless, I think I understand how non-Space Era fans may feel on the subject.

The Space Era was probably the biggest stretch Gould ever introduced into the strip. Moon Maid, as originally drawn, wasn’t particularly attractive, I thought. Her strength was her character – assertive yet naïve at the same time; willing to sacrifice her life to save a human at a time that she didn’t even understand humans. (The intro story where she saved a baby’s life, even though she couldn’t save the mother)

It took “silly science” to create Moon Maid, let alone bring her to earth. But I liked her character, so I signed up for the ride.

I also recognized that it was going to take some more “silly science” to bring her back from the grave – even though, with each passing panel, it is likely that she was never in a grave.

Non-Space Era fans have aptly complained that Moon Maid, with her powers (1) make Dick Tracy and his police department “irrelevant” and (2) make the strip too much like Flash Gordon.

When I first saw Cinnamon Knight and Black Piranha, I was thinking the same thing: Are we changing the nature of the strip? Is Dick Tracy retiring with the advent of costumed crime fighters in Tracy land?

At this point, with CK and BP back in the strip, I’m starting to think the Moon Maid story really began last summer. All stories I have seen since November have been extremely short, a month or less, making me think that all of these stories, including Broadway Bates and Sweatbox, were “cut-aways” – though I don’t expect to see either BB or Sweatbox in this story line. (Watch Mike and Joe make me eat my words again!)

But I am waiting for another trip to Jumble Jeff to see whether Mysta has tried to sell any Sawdust gags!

(Hey! Mike and Joe! Why not bring back Sawdust! You could even give the credit to Mysta herself!)

In confusion – er, conclusion – lest anyone get me wrong: I want Moon Maid back. And I know that a lot of things are going to have to be stretched to get her back.

But are we stretching things a bit too far?

Count me as one who doesn’t believe Tracy would welcome help from costumed “heroes” and would do all he can to put them out of business. I also dislike this unbelievable moon stuff and look forward to getting back to stories about earth bound villains and crooks.

Quite a surprise, seeing these two. What else is in store now?

Moon Maid did save the mother as well as the baby (1964). The father had succumbed to the blizzard before Moon Maid arrived. While Moon Maid nearly died saving the mother and baby, all three would have died had Tracy and Smith not arrived in a Space Coupe in the nick of time: wolves were closing in.As far as “silly” goes, reasonable readers will have different takes on which brands of silly attract or annoy. Li’l Dropout, the artistic chimp? Now that’s what I call silly. The ghost of Flattop Jr’s murder victim clinging to his neck until his hair turns white and he goes mad? Silly. Peanut Butter (gag)? Silly.I’m pleased to see that CK and BP are still out there in Tracy Land. We don’t know what kind of training they’ve undertaken since Belle was gunned down before their eyes. Hard to say at this point whether they will be occasional costumed crime-fighters or simply make cameos a-la Pouch. They have potential, although things could easily go badly for either one.I’m thrilled that Mysta is back in a Tracy Land that is becoming more and more interesting. The high caliber work of the past two years bodes very well, indeed, for the future of the strip. Hitting it out of the park? Maybe not yet. Still, I see a lot of extra base hits, and the current at-bat has all the makings of a grand slam, imo.

Hmmmm… has it ever been explained how Cinnamon Twist and Black Fish-head can get to the top of police headquarters without being detected? I don’t believe they have any special powers or skills, do they? If it’s that easy to sneak in then I hope Sam’s life insurance premiums are paid up! Between his chain smoking & the criminals barging in he’s not long for Tracyville, that’s for sure!!

S.I.T.O.A.N.M.Y.

Disposable Wrist Wizards could be provided to ‘helpers’. Once the ‘helpers’ are no longer needed, the Wrist Genie would stop functioning. Perhaps Bill Gates could offer the require technology.

Pequod77: Thanks for reminding me – it was the father who died, not the mother (intro story where Moon Maid saves a baby). And as others have said, “classic” Tracy villains have been about as bizarre as anything out of the Space Era.

As for me, I was alarmed when CK and BP were first introduced; again, this seemed like a serious change to the strip, also far beyond anything out of the Space Era.

And I have to agree with Avenger09 who questions physical security of a building in which costumed characters can pop up on the roof as if they were Batman or Spidey. (Not to mention, still preserving their “secret identities”) I had hoped that CK and BP were an aberration, not an addition to Tracy land characters.

Overall, I welcome the return of Moon Maid. And I knew that bringing her back would be the mother of invention.

But with the return of CK and BP, frankly, I feel zapped.

Moving on, does anyone know the story or have a link to the “reformation” of Mole? While it was difficult to imagine the original Mole becoming “reformed,” nevertheless, a 1949 or so strip showed that Mole was one of the few villains Tracy actually “liked,” to include giving him a “care package” in prison on Christmas.

It was an episode that gave some “soul” to the strip.

Another episode was one from 1950 in which, after doctors have given up all hope, Tracy kneels at the bed of B.O. and prays.

Come to think of it, Mike and Joe came close last Christmas when Junior and Sparkle looked up in the sky, unable to see, but knowing that Diet, Tracy, and Honey were closing in on the moon.

Those are the moments I look for…

Need someone with underworld contacts? Let’s have a return visit to Bogart Da Roach! His 3-panel appearance in April of last year was memorable.

Am I the only person in the world who thought the whole moon business was dumb and uninteresting the first time around (and still is)?

This strip caused a bump in visitors to my blog, where I reviewed the current-day Dick Tracy comic strip some months back (during the Lake Freedom story.) Thanks, creative team!

cpalmeresq: “Silly science”: Actually, I got that from more than one of you other posters (though, probably non-Space Era fans).

“The old Ghote”: I just like puns, and the good doctor just seemed to beg for one.

yumpinyiminey: “Working both sides of the street”: Just an old, out of touch hippie who is trying to figure out where I might fit in…

Seriously, as in my post where I asked about Mole’s story, I’m looking for moments that “touch” us. And Mysta’s story is one that, handled correctly, ought to touch all of us, especially those who have lost loved ones, regardless of circumstances.

Drama when Sparkle and Mysta first meet? Probably, but not necessarily what many of us may be expecting. I, for one, am not betting on a “cat fight.”

Reunions are more often bittersweet than just sweet, and surely, this reunion will be more of the former than the latter. Remember, too, that from what I can tell, Sparkle really looked up to Mysta – among other things, why else enter a Moon Maid “look alike” contest – let alone winning it!

It was the look on Honey’s eyes last Christmas that hooked me on the return of Mysta to the strip. While I normally have big problems with adopted children seeking out their natural parents, for Mysta, I have fully adopted the concept of “temporary suspension of disbelief” because, among other things, Mysta didn’t abandon Honey (at least, as far as this story has been told). (And a Mysta who did deliberately abandon her family would be the only situation worse than a “clone” or otherwise “fake” Mysta)

tsull2121 has more than once reminded me, death can sure screw up our legal relationships with each other. Nevertheless, from personal experience, I can tell you that death does not end our love for each other.

The decision to bring Mysta back has been made. I don’t think there is much left to discuss here. What matters to me is how the return will be handled.

Hence, I was hoping for a “less is more,” yet somewhat plausible explanation as to how Mysta survived, as well as why she was unable to contact her family in the mean time.

As for the return, itself, I am still hoping for one of those “touching moments” when all of the family members are finally sitting in one room.

Given how slow Tracy time seems to run, there will be plenty of time to iron out the “legal” details.

In the meantime, Mysta deserves her fifteen minutes of fame.

I’m looking forward to an “out of this world” family reunion.

That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it!

cpalmeresq: As late as it is, don’t know if you are looking at today’s strip anymore. I was complemented by your opening remarks, but I did feel a bit self-conscious when you said that I may have been trying to “create a bit of self-glory.” As a result, I may have to change the way I refer to the old – oops! – Oh well.