Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for January 22, 2014

Good morning all…

So! The movie is a fake made on recycled silver nitrate film!

Something fishy is going on!

Now we know – SIlver’s working a phony film con. And Miles is going to get a payoff that includes a dinner date with Lena.Hmmm… wonder what book Sprocket is reading…

And Vitamin thought it was for real! What a fake!

Leapin’ Lizards! The chemicals in the film processing ate holes in Sprocket’s jeans!

I don’t think the characters should be smoking in this comic strip, it might send off a negative message.

Silver has just one more job for Miles, feeding the Hyena!

Silver will do business with Miles at the end ofa gun barrel.

Are you worried at all that the characters have guns and kill other characters just might send off a negative message?

So Miles Mycroft’s performance was so good that Vitamin thought it was him? Mycroft just might be a better actor than Mr. Flintheart.

Oh Vitamin, helping to prove P.T. Barnum was right…

Now we see the scam! Too bad that after five viewings the old thespian, Vitamin, didn’t even realize that he was not looking at himself! Maybe his eyesight is failing. Or his memory. Or both.Miles Mycroft calls to mind Mycroft Holmes, but I suppose that isn’t intentional. And to all those who have already suggested Miles is fated to become Lena Hyena chow: I concur, although Miles looks fairly robust and could give Silver a tussle that his sister would have to win for him (if she isn’t too focussed on her chakras).

Since it’s a comic strip, nothing that happens in it really worries me

Aha…so the caper starts to unfold. Fraud and extortion! Yep, sounds like a job for Dick Tracy!

At some point, Silver or Miles would have had to have seen the real film, so they would know how to set up the stage, what props to use, what the “monster” looked like, etc. etc. If the real film no longer exists, how did they know how to make a fake that would fool Vitamin? Of course, they were counting on Vitamin’s own ego to help their scam succeed. As I understand it, that is often the case – counting on the ego or greed of the “mark” is essential to most scams. Still, I wonder how they were able to know what the original film was supposed to look like???

Miles Mycroft: Is this a play on words for Microsoft?.Can’t wait to see the applesauce fly!

And if Still Da Man! wants to chime in on how long it is taking this plot to develop, I’ll second that motion, in advance!

I like the pacing of this story. We’ve moved from Kadaver’s death traps to a “rare film” scam, from a creepy Halloween season tale to a con game transpiring at a shuttered old movie theatre. Again, we’re treated to multiple settings: the Patterson Playhouse, MCU headquarters, the Lyric Theatre and a side trip to Junior’s house to whet the appetite for a future storyline. We’ve seen more depth and development in all aspects of story and character development since the six week limit was lifted. I don’t think we’ve seen that last of Lena. What fun!

Since DICK LOCHER RETIRED, DICK tracey is USELESS

Just finished reading todays strip, now I just gotta have a smoke break. Koff, Koff

Nobody ever complained about smoking in the 30’s & 40’s. It was a world we were born into. Dick & Mary never complain about it……Hey….its the funny pages….they’re back..Maybe Joe Camel will make an appearance…

Well, I was wondering if he had the rest of the film (and suspected he did), but it didn’t occur to me that he might not have any of the film. After all, you know what they say: “Seeing is believing.” (Not true, and this is just an example of why.)

Ah ha….the plan to defraud Flintheart is now coming to light.

Ya know, at the risk of using the “L” word, I really don’t savor people who try to push their self-made rules of life on others (like me). If I want to go out and socialize with my goats, I don’t need anyone to tell me not to. Besides, one of them is better lookin’ than Beyoncé!

Sarcasm Whiz, Sarcasm.

No problem. It was just my twisted sense of humor.

“Miles Mycroft, Psychic Detective” was the hero of several strips by undergrounder Kim Deitch (son of animator Gene Deitch). I don’t know if Mike and Joe are shouting out to him or not, but I expect they know about him.