Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for December 08, 2013

Ray’s dogs have not been watered, chickens roam home on the rangeTracy gets the low down on things ominous and strange.Bonnie has gone missing, she slept not in her bedTess has not the slightest clue, now Tracy’s seeing red.He starts to sleuth, gathers facts, focused on investigationLizz detects a vital clue: The Queen’s Pub invitation.Bonnie’s been abducted, vanished sans a tracePatton takes the prudent step, orders Tracy off the case.Elsewhere Tracy gets a note proposing a grim tradePracticed at placing family first, his decision’s swiftly made.

This is GOOD! And I like the picture of BB Eyes in the background!

And knowing Tracy he won’t say a word about the note.

How could Uncle Ray and Bonnie not have recognized the death coach for what it was?

So, they did get video of the death coach, Sam calls it a “funeral rig” so the police seem to know what it is. Uncle Ray does seem somewhat naive. After all, he didn’t seem suspicious when he found out that he had won a contest that he never entered. As we have already anticipated, Tracy has been taken off the case, so it’s up to Lizz, Lee and Sam I guess.

We also already figured that there was going to be a “come alone” note, so I think we’re all ready for the wheels to be set in motion.

Excellent job on the poem again, Pequod77.

Same here, Gweedo.

I’m not referring to the “Coiste Bodhar” thing, I’m referring to the rather grim carriage, resembling very much an hearse!

Howe ironic that Pat Patton takes Tracy off the case out of concern for his well-being, only to have thus freed him up to go along with the ominous “your life for theirs” swap. The one potentially saving grace is that Abner seems to have chosen exactly the same rendezvous as before; maybe it’s under police surveillance now….

“I know !!! Let’s ask Mikey !!”Now, THAT’S funny!

Gweedo, I hope that you also received your copy of the Daily News from SDM. One of many interesting things I noticed was that the term “Black Friday” (in this case November 22, 1963) mentioned in the paper had a whole different meaning than it does today,

The sight of Livery Horses with a Coach - do tend to bring back ’ memories ’ of a lost hat - and it’s owner, a certain former malevolent Dick Tracy character (?) In fact - Posie, is the father of Mindy, who’s host body is currently occupied by Moon Maid DNA, likely, struggling with clarity of thought on who and what she really is (?) And the MIND challenged with this confusion and uncertainty is that of - Mindy Ermine.

And while today, our immediate CONCERN is Tracy, about to ‘face up’ to yet another Death Trap or survival challenge, beyond are welfare thoughts for the Moon Maid/Mindy Ermine combo that will surface again, and the realization her father Posie Ermine - is very much ALIVE, and quite possibly, about to be released from prison ?

Ii’s not difficult to recall, the strong ’ emotional ’ ties that existed between them. (e.g. He shot dead, the owners of the Sunny Wheat Co for failing to give her 1st place in that ‘Look-Alike’ Moon Maid contest)

The last time we saw her (11-20-13) - new Father Figure Diet, told Tracy she was “adapting”, but -. could some of her private thoughts run ’ biological ‘, creating visions of Daddy Posie ? Like a sort of peeping through the mists of that imposed DNA ?For as we’ve often heard, Blood is thicker - than ’ piped in ’ Water ! (?)

Now the Authors may choose to ignore these possibilities, and we may never see Posie again,(if need be, say he died in prison – trumping the possibilities). otherwise - he’s ALIVE, likely still ‘thinks’ of his daughter, out there somewhere, (and like Littleface and B-B Eyes) quite possibly free ?

Crazy thought. Tracy gives himself up, the hostages are freed, Tracy is taken to Blackheart HQ, B.B. Eyes double crosses Kadaver, and Tracy is saved by Blackjack. That’s when Sam and company arrive to mop things up. Yeah, crazy, but sometimes it’s fun to live outside the box. And Pequod77, wow, I wish I could think that fast. Nice.

In defense of Uncle Ray, he and Bonnie saw what they expected to see: a fancy carriage. Ray should have recognized it as a hearse, but probably figured it was a fancy old hearse that had been repurposed.

Tracy’s family has been through a lot lately, and it occurs to me that maybe the reason why the Team has given us some filler bits these past few weeks (Tracy’s vacation and the TV show) was to give us a little decompression time before the next crisis (although not, of course, without some ominous foreshadowing…)

Tracy will come alone, but, he won’t be that easy to kill, Kadaver….YOU on the other hand, may finally be “pushing up daisies”, when this story is over! To me, this is what DT is supposed to be, gritty dark drama, without silly aliens

Pequod, your ability to write such amazing poetry , virtually as soon as there is a progression in a story, still astounds me!

Death Coach for Cutie

(Fellow out-of-touch readers know I’m referring to the song, not the group. Because I’m out of touch.)

Um, did someone forget to put words in Liz’s bubble?

JPW, my thoughts EXACTLY! When I read Ash’s post, I thunk “hey, isn’t that what we all looked up in Wiki?” I still wanna know who kept the horses groomed and fed while Abner was stamping out license plates?

C’mon Chief, it’s not like Abner is going to park his coach on the street in front of his house.

And also, who pays Rikki? I’m sure that she has enough “talent” to pull in a nice income given a string wardrobe and a brass pole…….

Love the shadow profile of Tracy….back to the origins…back to being Plainclothes Tracy….going underground…off the case…Meeting the Black Hearts on their own turf…!!

I have noticed that Team Tracy usually shows something on the monitors in the MCU that is relevant to whatever the crew is talking about. I wonder what the significance is of BB Eyes on the monitor today?

Another wonderful Sunday strip from Team Tracy. From MCU headquarters with B-B on the screen to Tracy home alone in silhouette, we again get a strong sense of place. The Chief and his eyebrows are strong in profile and close-up. Tracy acting on his own bodes well for tension and action. Kadaver is in beyond his depth, methinks.Sydney has some interesting notions where Posie is concerned. Posie was a bad fellow, pouring Sunny Wheat cereal on his murder victims, receiving a fiery dousing of perfume in his eyes, and struggling to keep his head above quicksand. Still, one could sympathize with a father getting out of prison, expecting to be greeted by his daughter, only to find that she has vanished. Mysta apparently has none of Mindy’s memories, yet additional changes seem inevitable. I’m rooting for the Lunarian DNA to work some moon-magic, of course. Still, Posie won’t take kindly to finding that he can’t find Mindy. Will Mysta need Tracy’s help…or the Governor’s? We have no reason to think that Posie is pushing up daisies, so anything is possible.Thanks so much VistaBill, cpalmeresq, Gweedo, Neil Wick, coldsooner, Mikeyj and Rene Tray. Much appreciated!

How about Tracy and YOUR life for theirs, Abner….. get real!

Fantastic art work throughout strip today boys. Shade & shadows excel. The story continues to thrill. Can’t wait for Christmas Day strip. Will it match Goulds holiday layout of yesteryear ? I hope so, those strips 50 60 & 70 years past always honored the Christmas Holy Day.

Why do you say that and why is missing overnight early? I think it went off just as planned myself.

Since it is illegal to deal with kidnappers, I am sure that DT will notify the FBI……..

How could Uncle Ray and Bonnie not know that was a death coach when everyone did?

Ray’s dogs have not been watered, chickens roam home on the range

Tracy gets the low down on things ominous and strange.

Bonnie has gone missing, she slept not in her bed

Tess has not the slightest clue, now Tracy’s seeing red.

He starts to sleuth, gathers facts, focused on investigation

Lizz detects a vital clue: The Queen’s Pub invitation.

Bonnie’s been abducted, vanished sans a trace

Patton takes the prudent step, orders Tracy off the case.

Elsewhere Tracy gets a note proposing a grim trade

Practiced at placing family first, his decision’s swiftly made.