Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for January 26, 2014

Bad actor of dubious ethics, Mycroft could not resistWhen Silver offered a new role he knew he should desist.It struck him as a cruel con to flim-flam an old hamYet Miles had some bills to pay, so agreed to the scam.He’d play Flintheart in his youth, cowering in fearRare recovered Captain Video a costly souvenir.The scene came off without a hitch, he felt an actor’s prideWeeks later sans his payment, it seemed Silver had lied.Arriving at the Lyric to secure pay without delayThere’d be no more excuses, he’d settle scores this day.Silver has another job: a “Lost Film” he will fakeMiles not persuaded, it’s his money he shall take.Silver has his own surprise, a noose pulled fiercely tightUnable now to draw a breath, Miles fights with all his might.As he loses consciousness, victim of murder most crudeIt suddenly occurs to him he’ll soon be hyena food.

“I’d never poison you…It would make my hyena sick!” First time I’ve heard that!

Interesting “Crimestoppers Textbook” Makes me want to know more. And, of course, another great Pequod77 offering!

Ruthless murder by a small time criminal, Gouldian DT at it’s finest! I love that they created a new villain, instead of recycling an old one (Gould nearly always killed of his villains, to keep DT fresh!)

Happy Sunday, you all!Alas, poor Miles…

I wonder who is going to clean up the popcorn spill?

…and another bit player baddie bites the dust!

Good morning all…

Miles wasn’t in the strip very long!

Clever, Team Tracy: you had me fooled (and, I think, some others as well); expecting poisoned popcorn, we see Silver explicitly reject that means (and for a jolly good reason) and turn to the trusty garrotte instead. —Something completely unexpected yet perfectly logical.

So, he’s done a whole series of “lost film” frauds. Interesting. If the victims went to the police, the police might see a pattern, but they don’t want to admit they got taken. That is very common in fraud cases. I think that where Silver made a mistake was hitting one of Dick Tracy’s friends. Vitamin has already told Dick about his excitement of seeing the film. It could easily come up in conversation soon, even if Vitamin doesn’t bring it up himself.

By the way, it also didn’t occur to me until now that poisoning Miles would poison the hyena. Miles is a special guest cameo appearance of a character (or at least a name) from another strip, so he was not likely to last long anyway.

The hyena will be well fed. And it will leave little behind.

Miles seems rather strong and more massively built than Silver. Maybe he’ll manage to react and overwhelm that sneaky bastard!

What a poor host, serving tale popcorn! Johnny Scorn’s popcorn was fresh and crisp!

I was so interested by your teaser in the “Crimestoppers Textbook” concerning “Last Seen Wearing” I researched it on Wikipedia and then went on Amazon.com to order a copy. It sounds like one of the best crime books since “In Cold Blood”. Let’s hope it is. Best, Nick

“I may be a con man and a murderer, but I refuse to be cruel to animals!”

Like I said a few days ago – Miles is going from leading man to bit parts.

What a great strip today – the pacing, the art, and especially the dialogue (“It would make my heyena sick!” – is a line worthy of the Joker).And another great Crimestoppers!Thanks, Team Tracy!

Somebody – I don’t remember who – called this one days ago. The hyena will be getting fresh meat.

@sjsczurekSeveral of us suggested smiling Miles was rehearsing for the bit part, Nightshade09 is talking about.This killing is reminiscent of the way Red offed Newton, the final link to his kidnaping on the Blacklist two weeks ago.

WHOA!! Gettin’ it like Carlo did in The Godfather!! Hello, Miles……..JEEEEEEEEEEEERKKK! ACK!! GUG!!!!! At least there’s no glass windshield in front of him to kick all to pieces!! Snark! SNARK!!

Whiz, there’s a third character you missed. The guy is three-dimensional. And, if I know him, he’ll obfuscate into a fourth name. But his love for Locher always floats to the top, and once again, the Emperor hath no clothes.

GoComics slammed him for something; I haven’t a clue. Probably those stupid giant size gifs that he used for personal attacks on other posters. That’d be my guess.

Murdering Miles and feeding him to the hyena is no laughing matter. Great job team Tracy; build up the suspense.

Another great Sunday strip from Team Tracy. We’re treated to a powerful payoff of the suspense that has been building. While the current team does not have the same leeway enjoyed by Gould to depict violence, the close up of Silver’s hand, followed by his attack on Miles delivers the goods. The airborne bucket of popcorn, kernels flying, conveys the violence of the attack, while leaving the gruesome particulars to our imagination. Several people anticipated the essence of today’s events. I can’t take any credit for being quick, as nearly everything in my rhyme was previously shown to us. All credit to Team Tracy for the inspiration. An especially good book recommendation makes for yet another successful addition to the “Crimestoppers Textbook.” Well done. Thanks to cpalmeresq, Gweedo, JPuzzleWhiz, mikeyj, Ray Toler and mzkdad for the kind words. Much appreciated!

Commenting about commenting is something I tend to avoid. Yet, I respectfully disagree, Gweedo. This is a space to discuss the Dick Tracy strip. Posting a giant clip of a baby sleeping to let others know that the strip bores you is not commentary, it is trolling. “If the gifs bug you so much make clever and funny comebacks.” Why? This only feeds the troll. To respond at all to a troll is to make the discussion about the troll, which is exactly what s/he wants. To starve a troll is always the best policy. What a few may find entertaining, many find tiresome and boorish. All are free to deal with trolls as they see fit, but when a troll is banned (again) it should not be free to return on a different account. This is all I care to share on the topic, as I now return to ignoring the troll and focusing on the excellent work of Team Tracy.

There are articles in Wikipedia under “Paula Jean Weldon”, “Vermont State Police”, and “Last Seen Wearing”.

Gnarly

While it is certainly true that Chester Gould was allowed to depict violence more explicitly than what is allowed today, some of his most effective panels, in my opinion, were when the deed was hinted at, not shown directly, very similar to what Team Tracy did today.

@Ken In OhioThat’s what made Hitchcock such a great director. One never saw the killing in Psycho, but we did imagine it in great detail, and in color!The reader’s / viewer’s imagination is the best canvas an artist can utilize. Mr. Gould was a master at this.

“JPW, my good friend SDM asked me to convey a message to you;LOL!!! Lighten up dude!”People, face facts…SDM NEVER posts on Sunday. Obviously, this avenger09 gentleman is a different person entirely! It must simply be out of the kindness of his heart that SDM allowed a09 to borrow his avartar for the time being.

“There are truly nasty people on the site that are more deserving of scorn and derision. The guy is just having a little fun.”Well said.

THE GARROTE….always an effective weapon for a murderer.

I appreciate your wit, Gweedo. I also liked the 3 Stooges as a kid. Captain Jinks and Salty Sam used to introduce them on their fun-filled show, along with fabulous cartoons and the superior Laurel and Hardy. I met Frank Zappa back in 1980 and enjoyed much of his wit as well. I am well aware that there is a wide spectrum of trolling behavior. We can agree to disagree on this, keeping in mind that the Harvey Award winning work of Team Tracy (and the late, great Chester Gould) and related topics are usually best for this section of gocomics.

I think this is the first time I’ve seen somebody use a set of iPod earbuds as a murder weapon (isn’t that what they are? The next-to-last panel sure looks like it!)

" My good friend SDM said to tell you that you are one of the few enlightened ones! He greatly appreciates your wisdom & fairness."Please tell SDM I said “thank you”.

“A mind that thinks, with latitude, is a breath of fresh air.”I appreciate that as well, Gweedo.

Bad actor of dubious ethics, Mycroft could not resist

When Silver offered a new role he knew he should desist.

It struck him as a cruel con to flim-flam an old ham

Yet Miles had some bills to pay, so agreed to the scam.

He’d play Flintheart in his youth, cowering in fear

Rare recovered Captain Video a costly souvenir.

The scene came off without a hitch, he felt an actor’s pride

Weeks later sans his payment, it seemed Silver had lied.

Arriving at the Lyric to secure pay without delay

There’d be no more excuses, he’d settle scores this day.

ilver has another job: a “Lost Film” he will fake

Miles not persuaded, it’s his money he shall take.

Silver has his own surprise, a noose pulled fiercely tight

Unable now to draw a breath, Miles fights with all his might.

As he loses consciousness, victim of murder most crude

It suddenly occurs to him he’ll soon be hyena food.