Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for March 07, 2014

Re: My comment from yesterday praising Joe Staton – I take no credit away from Mike Curtis. This story has been interesting & has flowed in my opinion! In fact, their entire run has gotten better & better!

re: Today – Whoa!

Good morning all!Kudos to Staton and Curtis for making this strip better and better! Wonder who that dog faced mustachioed guy is? And why “dearie” looks far from enjoying the play? Another story in the making!

Now that guy has a SERIOUS mustache…..

Who are those discontented audience members?

I’m just hoping that the couple haven’t brought a load of over-ripe vegetables with them! LOL

Okay, Flintheart and Perkins I get but who the heck is that? Friends of Statler and Waldorf, I presume…

King Lear, no less! And nicely staged with Vitamin as Lear (such a choice rôle!) And Mary as Cordelia [Goneril and Regan are in the background, panel 1].But who (panel 2) is the Scottish muppet with the extravagant cookie-duster and the disaffected daughter (as I believe her to be, for now at least)? What new arc here begins?

So, we finally get to Vitamin and Mary’s play. I’m glad to see that they finally got to perform it and neither of them got turned into Hyena Chow before they could do so. The result certainly isn’t pleasing moustache man’s “dearie.” She’s already apparently bored and they’re not even halfway through Act 1, Scene 1.

The look of today’s strip caught me by surprise. At first glance, I thought maybe I’d wandered into the wrong strip. The play is a neat opportunity to explore a whole different world in the strip. I suspect that the audience members we’re seeing are on the wrong side of the law (or will be soon).

Before I read the text, I thought dick Tracy either turned into a strip of Prince Valient or a parody similar to Fearless Fosdick. The second panel clued me in.

That’s sepia tone, not B&W.

I think the sepia effect is to indicate that the audience are in very low light compared to the stage.Glad to see Mary hasn’t been “used up” as a guest yet. Vitamin looks like this part was written for him. Perhaps it was; he’s old enough. :-)

New story line, or a start to bring the entire gang back together? And yes, continued great artwork.

If that’s V.F. in costume & makeup I’m impressed!

I’m betting that M’Dearie is her name!

couldn t they have waited to wrap up ONE boring story before pummelling us with another?

This strip is so unpredictable….Love It…

I see Spots…and the return of a Gould scholar. We return to the Patterson Playhouse in another sweet two-panel strip. This time the first panel is prominent, as Vitamin and Mary take to the stage in King Lear. Having tipped off Tracy to the “lost films” scam, savvy Vitamin is back where he belongs. Mary, too, a welcome surprise in her successful crossover. Panel two indeed whets our appetite for what is down the road, even as Silver and Sprocket race down a dead end street.

“Are ye not happy seeing the play with your favorite Teddy Roosevelt imitator, M’dearie”? LOL!!!

I wonder if the Nitrates are gonna crash the play?

Foster’s artwork is exactly what came to mind with panel 1.

I’m really pleased to see Vitamin and Mary haven’t been forgotten, and that we’ve gotten to see their production is a real bonus. “King Lear,” no less! Quite a change from roaming the range as Vista Bill’s sidekick!It’s also a great way to introduce new characters – although, for some unexplained reason, I already dislike that guy. (I bet he barks a lot.)And, as always, great art – I love the contrast between the beautifully realistic Mary as Cordelia, and the cartoonish Yorkie in the box seat.Can’t wait to see what’s next!

The broad-headed Scotsman almost looks like a cat, with those eyes and that mustache.

Usually it’s the GUY who gets bored at plays. This is good stuff here. :)

That was an impressive first panel. Imagine, Vitamin playing Lear. I would love to see a DVD of this. Heck with DVD, give me front row seats!

The other panel. So this is the new character that Mr. Staton and Curtis was speaking of about being “The next villain showing up around April is the closest to a furry character we’ve done.”

I hope this new one will be a challenge for Tracy, and Catchem. But we know who will win, in the end don’t we folks?

Again, great coloring job!

So William Howard Taft is the new villain?

Great “walrus” ’stache! Fantastic artwork!. Just a reminder… The coloring is not Mike and Joe, It is GC. And as been noted, It is most likely a sepia tone.

Good morning Margueritem, Gweedo, and all the other DT lovers**

What a surprise today’s strip is!

Before we pummel on tsull2121, let’s not forget that it’s no fun getting pummeled, no matter how much others may feel that he deserves it!.I regularly get pummeled in Prickly City, and I happen to think my comments have value! (Private sort of for NightGaunt-49: Is Prickly City becoming a sort of bully zone?).As for tsull2121, perhaps it would be better to go back to the Moon Maid saga – and this time, make her the real deal, not Franken-Mindy! (Personally, I am still disappointed that Junior was not forced to have to choose between two wives…).Let’s try to have some fun here!

Don’t know (because no one tells me in advance) who these new characters are. They do look interesting. Their introduction may just be a segue and they may not have anything to do with the current Nitrate story. Gould was known for this (one example being the introduction of Shaky who just happened to be walking by after the Brow met his end impaled on a flagpole).

sorry. i forgot you cant have a differeing opinion here.. shame on me!;)

Apparently Vitamin isn’t the ham he used to be.

Slightly off-topic (because there’s no reference to Dick Tracy), here is a video with “27 amazing facts about comics”:

I have a hunch DT will get his villains in the main story. At first it was seemingly as if the chases never ended but did not have much suspense. However, having established bad guys in Apparatus and Black Hearts makes them much more scary than a bunch of faceless guys or a guy behind a wall. There is real menace in that all of them have faced Tracy and (mostly) survived.

I’m hoping the car continues to drive the chase and it is not wrapped up when we return. They do not seem to be sustainable master criminals on the level of Bribery & Ugly Christine, as Myles was running the show until he became hyena chow.

Anyhow, great work again, this has been an excellent month so far.

From his speech, it’s appears the gent may be Scots!

Catching up after a couple of days away. These new players in the audience are most intriguing. I heartily agree that the lassie in the balcony is likely the daughter of the mustachioed mystery man, and that her discontent echoes that of mistreated Cordelia onstage: A princess whose daddy, however tragic and sympathetic, is also barking mad. The plaid(?) suit, hint of a Scots burr in his speech balloon, and hairy face all suggest a terrier (remember Crypto?), but those cauliflower ears are pure boxer. Either way, I suspect he’ll be leaving his mark all over the Tracyverse before too long.