Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for September 15, 2013

It’s only been 2 weeks since the Vitamin Flintheart’s introduction to the “3rd Act, but all this has happened:Dr. Ghote’s revelation to Diet Smith (though still unknown to us);Tracy’s plan for a sting at the Wheaton Farm;MM/Mysta’s (still prefer VB’s description of her) phone call from Dr. Sail;Melies’ meeting with the Munro Brothers (and the revelation of a device recording that meeting);The incoming (latest) Storm of the Century;BB Eyes, Mumbles, & DoubleUp’s arrival at the farm;MM/Mysta & Sparkles latest meeting (somewhat ominous);Diet Smith’s reaction to Ghote’s revelation & vow to “make things right”;And the newest flight of the Space Coupe…No one who reads this strip can say that this hasn’t been an exciting 2 weeks!

Take to shelter while ye may, storm warnings in effectTracy’s back on Wheaton’s farm, foul play he does detect.In bursts Pressure in disarray, soaked through to the skinCarries the certified payment, he seeks the deed to winApproval of the Apparatus, the payout he has earnedAgain he threatens Nellie, some scoundrels never learn.Tracy emerges from shadow, his badge reflects the lightAt last it dawns on Pressure this job won’t go down right.Outside the storm is raging on like one in a hundred yearsCry a while in such rain, for none will see the tears.

And now this! Love the old radio!

Good morning all…

Are the ‘actors’ going to wander in one by one? It wouldn’t surprise me to see Dr. Mordred appear, drenching wet, dragging his chains behind!

Anybody know how to write in bold?

I haven’t been able to do that.

I use two asterisks before and after the word(s) I want to make boldface.

You’d think Pressure would have heard of Dick Tracy, but, it sounds like he has no idea.

Mornin’ all! Couldn’t go to bed without checking out the Sunday strip!Love it, from top to bottom – A great Hall of Fame entry, fantastic art (as always), and great dialogue (“Friend of yours?”).Can’t wait for tomorrow’s installment!(Is Doubleup in position? Is he waiting to see what happens, and watching B-B Eyes for instructions…?)

Hey – if something does happen to Diet Smith – would Smith Industries be taken over by Oliver Warbucks?

It’s 2:10 in the AM and I just HAD to take a peek to see if the next day’s strip came up and — AYUP — here it tis! That was quick & easy…stay tuned!

Hy Pressure doesn’t seem to approve of Wheaton’s friends.

Haha, Willie. I guess they’re just not his kind. I love the 1970s vintage shirt that Pressure is wearing. It really seems to suit his character.

Thank you, Mikeyj!

Hy Pressure should give it up before worse things happen than he can imagine. There are still plenty of participants in this Showdown who are yet to play out their bits. And this storm is the perfect background for some scenes of Comic Strip Noir….

Happy Sunday to all! Not too happy for me, i’m waiting for bypass coronary surgery at the hospital and don’t know when and if I’ ll exit safe and sound.Anyway, I’m glad that rat Pressure met the Law! As for Mista, as I see it, or she is the original Moon Maid (which I doubt) or she is a duplicate (call it clone, Moon Maid II, replicant, organic android, bionic construct, whatever). If she is the original, Sparkle’s marriage is invalid; if she is a duplicate, obviously not.

Whose radio is it? Cool!

As to Sal Vizzinni, the war on drugs has been ongoing for so long, that a better solution needs to be found.

Yay! Hy Pressure is Out Pressured!

I have no idea who Mysta is. I’m just glad she’s back.

I love the look of despair in Pressure’s eyes when he asks, “Friend of yours?”

I love this art work every time I see Mr. Staton’s strips. Crisp, sharp detail. Fantastic!

New guy here! Found this site awhile back and have been enjoying all the comments and theories! (Never knew about the asterisks to bold things! Thank you!) Just jumping in with a thought about who/what the new MoonMaid is… Since the DNA indicates she is related, she might be the original MM’s younger sister/cousin, hence the “corrective surgery” to her face needed to make her look like the original. Dr. Ghote said she is not a clone. Maybe he can transfer/implant a person’s memories or ideas into a new body. Mysta says the last thing she remembers is starting the car, but the perspective shown in the panel, is one from an onlooker’s viewpoint! Wouldn’t one see just the steering wheel and dashboard of the car, or what is just in front of them at the time?I have loved reading Dick Tracy since the 60’s! Thanks for continuing the legion!Theo

Best of luck, Ashmael!

Good luck, Ash! I never took much to guys who wore a mullet, Ted Kennedy glasses, and sported a toothpick. Like I said yesterday, there needs to be a large parking lot with all the uninvited guests coming to the party.

Ted Kennedy Glasses?

Funny that Tracy told sparkle that she and moon maid lite would have to portray “Gertie” and “Mindy” so as not to arouse suspicions at the wheaton farm, but the ONLY confrontation/use of the two after saying that was the chilly exchange between them.

Everything appears to h\be headed for an old fashioned Mexican Standoff. This id gonna get really interesting really fast… then…..vvv BOOM!

Night,.Re your comment below:.“Just remember that Prohibition of Alcohol was wildly and widely supported. An also recall that unlike the rest of the some Drug War, it was an actual Constitutional amendment.”.“Wildly and widely supported” overstates the case to a major degree. What happened in the years leading up to the passage of the 18th Amendment was a “perfect storm” of circumstances, not the least of which was WW1, an event that marginalized Americans of German descent who were among the most outspoken opponents of Prohibition (for the simple reason that so many German-American livelihoods were dependent on the craft of brewing beer that they had brought with them from the Old Country), that made the adoption of Prohibition possible. .Because of this marginalization of German-Americans, and other factors, a majority in Congress, and in enough state legislatures to count, who happened to be dry were elected. But to say that they were elected because they were dry, rather than from anti-German sentiment in the wake of the Great War, and other factors, at the very least is an exaggeration..In any case, public opinion was widely in favor of total repeal, that’s total repeal, within a few years of Prohibition’s adoption..I don’t think that, if a national referendum were held, you’d find a majority of voters in favor of legalization of currently illegal drugs. Nor do I think that congressional candidates, or state legislative candidates, running on such a platform, would win nearly enough seats to carry such a plan through..I don’t say that a majority of people might not be in favor of modifying laws against certain substances, like marijuana, or of treating addicts rather than punishing them. But that’s a long way from saying that the majority would be in favor of flat-out legalization of hard drugs like heroin or coke or meth, as the clear majority in the ’20’s was in favor of legalizing wine, beer, and liquor..Which brings me back to my original point. That Prohibition was an unwise policy in no way vitiates the respect men like Ness, Hamer, Threepersons, Izzy & Moe, etc., earned in their careers. They stood four-square against evil in the form of men like Al Capone, Dutch Schultz, and others. That they used the Prohibition laws as a tool in their campaigns against evil in no way negates their work..And neither should one’s disagreement with current drug policy negate the respect earned by men like Vizzini, etc.

Speaking of drugs. This site has been going on and on about Sam smoking. As well as Diet and most of the villains. Some have said that maybe they should use e-cigs. Lately there has been stories in the news about the use of nicotine “juice” in e-cigs. Anyone think that nicotine may finally start to be observed as an addictive drug and not be allowed in a distilled form in the use of e-cigs, while still being allowed in actual cigarettes?Sometimes, I just don’t get it.

I would have more respect for Mr. Vizzini if we had actually passed a Prohibition amendment to make the Federal War on (some) Drugs legal. While I understand trying to address the problem of drug abuse through government (the motivation for the first Prohibition), doing so in blatant defiance of the law hardly gives one the moral high ground – and even more serious losses of freedom have been the result, like the loss of the 4th amendment when Civil Asset Forfeiture was introduced by Reagan in support of the Drug War.

A pony tail AND a Hawaiian shirt? Hy Pressure is 10 pounds of body fat away from being a member of Steely Dan.

tsull2121: You have a point once again – what was the purpose of having a Gertie and Mindy reprise – which appears to have not occurred at all? Other than a plot device to get both in the line of fire!.And curious – perhaps, even scary – that Sal Vizzini has garnered an even more heated exchange than the main Dick Tracy storyline!

It’s also curious that, of all the people who are assembling at the Wheaton corral, for the moment, Pressure appears to be the most likely to survive! (Having been removed before the main attractions have arrived)

Neil Wick (and others on “legally dead equals divorce”): I went to the website you mentioned and found what I have found elsewhere: The presumption that the person declared “legally dead” had made the deliberate decision to go into hiding..The question that has always bothered me immensely is the person mistakenly declared “legally dead.” Especially since there appears no “legal” difference between having been mistakenly declared dead and the person who deliberately went into hiding (for whatever reason)..These are great complications in and of themselves – not just the automatic presumption of divorce, but also the denial of property, inasmuch as death, “legally declared” or physical, launches that gosh-awful mess known as “probate” and distribution of the (allegedly) deceased’s estate..Perhaps I was a fool thinking that the current Mysta-ry would be a platform in which these horrible consequences could be examined and commented on. And I apologize to those who may think that I came on too strong on this subject in the past..Still, deep down in my gut, using Tom Hanks and Castaway as an example, having survived an unimaginable catastrophe, seemingly returning from the dead, I am horrified that such a person must become a victim once again, both having to prove to the world that he or she is not dead after all, and realizing that absolutely everything that person once had, from family to possessions, now belongs to someone else..But then again, who ever said that all of these things were going to be straightened out this side of the veil, anyway?

Take to shelter while ye may, storm warnings in effect

Tracy’s back on Wheaton’s farm, foul play he does detect.

In bursts Pressure in disarray, soaked through to the skin

Carries the certified payment, he seeks the deed to win

Approval of the Apparatus, the payout he has earned

Again he threatens Nellie, some scoundrels never learn.

Tracy emerges from shadow, his badge reflects the light

At last it dawns on Pressure this job won’t go down right.

Outside the storm is raging on like one in a hundred years

Cry a while in such rain, for none will see the tears.