Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for July 17, 2013

Poor Mysta!

The truth about her circumstances are finally starting to sink in. Maybe she also has regrets about what she did to Sparkle?

But the moon people are gone…

Yes, but she doesn’t know that.

No clone could have memories like this…Mysta’s the real deal.

Is that the ruins of the granary?

this is slop from yesterdai It’s about time I send one here !

For the squad room

Mikeyj said, about 1 pinched cheek ago

@fredville-….of course, were the roles reversed, and Sam (even if he were single) hitting on her instead, wouldn’t everyone be disgusted and shouting “sexual harassment”, lol?^^You know, you’re right… double standard

Fer sher !!!  … Like my remark to margueritem one day. Had she said that to me people would likely have thought it was cute. She and I have talked on and off the site since the fall of 2008. In fact, she would sometimes send me links to racy material. Nothing too heavy, but humor of an adult nature. -I am enjoying Pequod’s poems and what Willy, Ray, Tarry, Flight Suit and even “Li’l Timmy” and a few others who escape me at the moment, have to say about the latest developments. -Many saved up Good Mornings to Vista Bill !  I see you’re not on much but good to see that you are still around.-I agree that a good buildup that switches tracks tends to deflate the story a bit, but real life is many things going on simultaneously… and besides, I am depending on Mike to keep track of the different tracks so that we get resolutions, even if they’re incomplete but with some indication that they will be picked up later on, unlike Alley Oop, where story lines hit a wall and then disappear.-Good Day, Tracy Villians !-Signed,Gweedo MurrayThe Ghost with the Mhost

Mysta’s traveled a difficult path; she pulls off of the roadBeleaguered by her burdens, she carries a heavy load.Recovery at last complete, yet all else has gone wrongNo husband, daughter nor sojourn home, sad is her heart’s song.A tarp covers the purloined car, Mysta weeps in solitudeTrials behind, troubles ahead, now a peaceful interludeTo contemplate the heavy cost of the hateful bomber’s violenceResisting comfort in self-pity even in the silenceOf this rural countryside, thinking back on what she’s readBackpacks set down in happy crowds, innocents left maimed and dead.Mysta counts her blessings, cherishing every breathPuts her suffering in perspective, having cheated certain death.Mysta lives, her health restored, tomorrow’s another daySweet memories of joyous times none can take away.

Mysta is so sad! And so lovely, too — Staton’s art is great today. As many tears as she’s shedding, how many more would there be if she knew the moon people were gone?

I STILL say this isn’t the real MM, but, I guess we will know the truth when the story ends in the fall

Clone-Moon Maid reacts to present circumstance without the slightest inkling of her status. Now that’s a set-up for real tragedy. A few tears here just lubricate the emotions of those who believe she survived a car bomb of devastating strength and was nurtured back to full health over a period of years by Ghote and Sail. We shall see.

Oh, poor Mysta! I don’t care whether she’s the real deal or not. Either way, she’s just so sad. The art is fantastic, especially the last panel. It seems like the last panel is usually the punch line of this strip.

For those who doubted, I told you we’d get back to Mysta. I had faith. I don’t think she’ll be a character who pops up from time to time either. I think she will feature importantly in whatever is to come in the next few weeks, I just don’t know how until I see it. Also, she did intend to take her husband and daughter back to the moon with her, but now she realizes that they are someone else’s husband and daughter now. It’s so sad.

Oh, Dearie My.Good morning, VB and All!

If she’s the real thing, I’m curious how she survived the car bomb.

Poor Mysta.

Good morning fellow DT fans…

I still don’t think it’s the real Moon Maid. It’s another moon person with false, implanted memories.

I find it hard to have sympathy for this creature

tsull2121: You also seem to want to refer to her as an “it,” a “creature.” Yes, I know, your logo, Sparkle and Junior’s wedding, says a lot.

Still, if Mike and Joe can stick to this aspect of the story, it’s the story I was wanting to read: What of the spouse who was mistakenly declared dead?

Her watery eyes remind me of my experience yesterday when my eyes were almost drowned with various drops before a laser procedure was performed to remove or dissipate haze from in back of the lens capsule.By the way, if your cataract surgery seemed not to work, inquire about the possibility of haze like mine. Praise God! My eyesight seems to be where it was right after my surgery. I will know for sure next week when I have the follow up eye exam. I hope my vision will be at least 20/25!

Memories could have been implanted, I suppose.

Actually this is a nice way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the creation of Moon Maid which began late in 1963.

Oh I am enjoying this story! I didnt realize it’s been 50 years since Moon Maid first appeared lol! I am dating myself here when I say I loved her when I was a girl!! Poor Mysta, she has a lot of sorrows but I hope things turn around for her soon.

Agreed, excellent story line.

I know others have complained, but I think this is one of Team Tracy’s best stories, and I really like today’s installment, emphasizing Mysta’s isolation and loneliness.Not only is she without Junior and Honeymoon, she can’t even contact her fiends Stellaluna and Retik.

Mysta Moon’s drama’s more better than Luann or Kim Possible. You have to feel sorry for her.

Eventually, science will be able to clone humans and implant memories. I saw an episode of Through the Wormhole that discussed this issue.

When and if that ever happens, tsull’s concern will be valid. Are clones “human” or are they “things?” I suppose it boils down to whether or not you believe clones have a soul.

This is a bit esoteric for a comic strip but I can see Timmy’s point.

I think that where compassion comes into play here is when we see Mysta crying. She obviously has emotions and is obviously self aware and sentient. So is she an “it” or does she deserve respect for the humanity that she obviously has?

This will also become a concern and a controversy in the future if science eventually produces a real human clone.

However, for purposes of a comic strip story I believe we can assume that the current Mysta deserves our compassion for the situation she finds herself in. Like our own births, this Mysta had no control over her creation or existence. I think Mike has done a good job of building sympathy for her despite who or what she turns out to be.

I haven’t much sympathy for new MM, she put herself into this situation, and has no one else to blame… on the other hand, calling her “it”, seems a bit harsh

WoW! These are powerful images. Just the thought of a woman crying makes me all weak inside. But to see it like this, coming from such a beautiful character? They have my emotional strings jangling for sure.

That does look like the granary. But I wonder if it could be on the same farm that Sparkle ended up on. MM would recognize Sparkle and maybe seeing MM would bring back Sparkle’s memory. Would they help each other?

I agree these are great scenes today. Poor Mysta. And why are people so sure she is a clone? Zy Ghote is a confidence man who has faked a clone before. Dr. Sail we don’t know as much about but it’s obvious he is a very bad man. People are just sure Mysta is a clone because of the word of those two guys? If she is a clone, why are her horns scarred? Everything I see and also the thoughts she is having today tells me she is the real Mysta.

(sorry, i clicked “submit” by mistake before i was finished)

in this character’s case, are the emotions and “feelings” that it is experienceing TRUTHFUL or merely implanted by either dr sail or ghote? does the fact that it is crying mean it feels emotional pain, or is it a pre-programmed response to specific stimuli?

in the case of cloning a human and implanting memories into that clone.. personally, i wouldnt accept it as being the person brought back, i would consider it a scientific project and nothing more. it wouldnt express the same emotions or connections to the memories that the real person would have, it would merely simulate them.

for example, let’s say you had a favorite pet and that pet dies. You bring the remains to a doctor who then clones the remains from dna, and “your pet” is back. is it the SAME pet? not in my eyes it wouldnt be.

everything, be it human, animal, plant etc.. has a finite lifespan. they were *NOT** meant to live on forever, nor should they.

think of a clone as a photocopied image. no matter how many times you copy it, the copies are always inferior to the original and they are always flawed.

this creature is not, in my view, mysta tracy at all. regardless of the saying “if it looks like a duck…” in this instance, the duck is a fake. a fake with some sort of pre-programmed features and implanted memories with specific “key elements” as to elicit the natural emotions and responses as the real mysta would have

i wanted to ask you, but forgot, what stages are there exactly? i am no expert on cloning, and the only thing that i know to have been successfully cloned is that sheep dolly.

A comment, and only one, to those arguing the possession of a soul is the basis for declaring something "human"or not. If you are Christian and arguing from a biblical point of view and philosophy please go back and reread the first reference to soul, in Genesis. I am not a member of your church and what I believe in is no ones business but mine, however even I took the time to really read what was written there.The verse says “became a living soul” not received a living soul. There’s a world of difference and meaning.

By biblical standards, a clone with the ability to think, free will and an ability to know and understand right from wrong is still human. And only god would have the right to say other wise.

Let me make my position clear: I believe that Mysta is the real Moon Maid; she either never really died or she has regenerated somehow by her Lunar physiology.

But I also believe that even if she DOES turn out to be a clone, that she has all the rights and responsibilities under the law that a born being has, and that the world of Dick Tracy MUST respect her rights as a sapient being.

A personal statement: someday, we WILL see human clones; it’s only a matter of time. If their rights are not respected, well, I think that society is not one that I would like to live in.

Gone, but whete and how?

I think this discussion just surpassed the fracking one (thank Goodness!)

Mysta is H-O-T!!