Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for March 16, 2014

Well, that’s a relief…I was afraid that we were going to have a surprise interlude with Honeymoon & Mysta Chimera while the Nitrate’s car remained suspended over the lake! But looks like this is the end!

First casualty Mr. Scarecrow, he guards the fields no moreNext was Sprocket’s dignity, Silver a violent boor.Sister Sprocket told the truth, her reward a blackened eyeBeaten up wears one down, Silver now must die.More than one way they tend to say when no more you can takePolice now right behind them, Sprocket rockets toward the lake.Covered in ice, she doesn’t think twice, flips the nitrous oxideAirborne Junior’s Wonder Car, a desperate suicide.Break on through the layer of ice, settle to the lake bedEluding jail and justice, soon the siblings shall be dead.Bubble, bubble, the end of trouble. What hath Sprocket wrought?She’s been struck for the last time, the dead can abuse naught.

Looks like murder/suicide/pet abuse. This’ll save the state a trial, at least. (On the other hand, Tracy might get an earful from the mayor on the high death rate of suspects.)

This may seem like I’ve said it before, Pequod77, but THIS is your best ever!

As I suspected, dropping a ton of car at high speed onto ice is a bad move. Sprocket might survive but I’m thinking it’s an ice cold watery grave for Silver Nitrate and his pet….

Good morning all, and good night!

Is Sam going too fast to avoid the lake?

Wow – really exceptional art today! That first panel – with Sprocket’s bruised face and the determined, hard edge to her eyes! Through to the last panel – with Silver’s look of panic and the bubbles so nicely detailed!Joe, Shelly and Shane have really outdone themselves today!Really great storytelling!

Now – will either of them survive? Will they want to?

Good morning everyone!

The power approach again!

If none of the windows have broken. They will have a few minutes of air.

Unless the Nitrates saw “Cannonball Run 2” and got the idea of making their car turn into a submarine with one of their switches, they’re fish food.

The tricked-out car is down, down below the icy waters. But let us not be too quick to write off all the car-folk. Sprocket knew what she was doing; my guess is that she has a plan to escape that will succeed. On the other hand, Silver, the woman-beating, murdering, grifting, whiner may have been done in: fratricide! And Lena? I’m not sure….

I can’t believe I’m caring for the villains safety! Now I’m just as worried for them as I am for Abner Kadaver…

…..sort of hard to believe bright people who got this far would do something that dumb….but….

The car looks to be mostly intact. It’s hard to say at this point if there is still air inside or if they have already drowned, if they are conscious or not.

Tracy and Sam are fine, I’m sure, but there’s no way they can rescue the occupants of the car.

I love the way Tracy is bracing himself in the “Slow down, Sam!” frame.

Excellent poem, Pequod — a good summary of the past few days and today.

I only feel bad for the Hyena, the only innocent in the car.

The way Sprocket continues to hold onto the wheel suggests to me she plans to continue driving somewhere, somehow. I’m feeling no remorse for Silver though, looking pretty panicky. Finally, RIP David Brenner, a true comedian. He was 78.

I thought I had seen all of this story; how did Sprocket get the black eye?

The panel with the car under water is beautiful. Excellent job on the colors,

The Sunday LimerickSprocket floors it, attempting to flee.But this car ain’t the General Lee.She finds out, as they breakthrough the ice on the lake,just how “Hazzardous” winter can be.

I’m going with the submarine story. Periscope on Monday.

From “Dukes Of Hazzard” to “Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea”! Calling Admiral Nelson!

Pequod, you continue to break your records! I’m thinking you intimidated the other “poets” sufficiently that they gave you the entire stage and orchestra pit! You made an exciting Sunday installment even better! Congrats! Treat yourself to some hot chocolate!

cavedave, M. Mitchell Marmel, and DaJellyBelly: And I am going to confess to having been fooled – that day the “slap” occurred, off camera, I had thought it was Sprocket who slapped Silver!.Was I the only one fooled?

Love the use of the clear blue in the last two panels. You can almost feel the water. whew what a rush!

Not to be redundant, but Pequod, you’ve given us another great poem today! The artwork today is amazing, especially the last panel, with Sprocket having a look of determination on her face and Silver’s expression suggesting sheer panic over the realization of his impending fate.

Great art work and all, but I miss the long story lines of the 50s and 60s, I was just re-reading the Crewy Lou story from 51 and it was six months long, with lots of twists and turns and suspense, especially after Bonnie Braids (just a baby then) is inadvertently kidnapped by Crewy Lou and then abandoned in the getaway car and it takes weeks for her to be found. Every day is a gem.

More Sunday goodness from Team Tracy. Sprocket’s blackened eye, the airborne wonder car, the crash through the ice and the car settling to the lake-bed, all set up the final panel that takes us inside the car. Sprocket is determined; Silver terrified. The Sam and Tracy panel is pure gold. Their chase ends with the criminals defeated. Sprocket’s suicidal plunge has kept her from capture, but at the highest cost. I’m guessing they have no wet suits nor scuba gear. Besides, they wouldn’t leave Lena behind.Today’s strip recalls the Summer Sisters’ deadly plunge into the lagoon. The Brow forced their taxi off a bridge, leading to the sisters’ drowning. The Summer Sisters were bad girls, yet they sometimes provided comic relief, so their deaths were shocking. Gould took us inside the submerged taxi to witness their demise.Nice limerick, Jonathan K. Thanks to cpalmeresq, Gweedo, Neil Wick, cdeinesj, morrow, JPuzzleWhiz and Chris Sherlock for the kind words. Very much appreciated!

Maybe I am confusing Silver’s inability to drive, but the first thing I thought of was that he couldn’t swim, but that Sprocket could, and that she was not trying to clear the lake, but to drown her brother and escape herself. Sorry for the run-on sentence. And thanks, Pequod77 for your latest versification.

The car had “new special features” if I recall. Could on of those allow the car to travel underwater?

I suspect at least one of them will survive somehow to trouble Dick Tracy again someday.

I want Lena to survive.

To my eye, the air bubbles in the last panel seem to be passing in front of the glass, so perhaps they are indeed enclosed in a water tight chamber.

“Dick Tracy calling Clutch Cargo, Dick Tracy calling Clutch Cargo”

Folks, I enjoyed the poetry. Thanks.

Any other gadgets available on the car to get them out of this?

mzkdad, I think you nailed it! When Silver hit her, she decided to drown him. Hopefully, she’ll swim out. And for a man-eating hyena, tough luck! Animal Control would have destroyed it, anyway.

“Does Dick even know Clutch Cargo?”He knows Popeye and Olive Oyl, so anything’s possible.

I’m sure he knows Clutch Cargo. Dick Tracy knows everyone as we found out with Daddy Warbucks and a few others recently.

First casualty Mr. Scarecrow, he guards the fields no more

Next was Sprocket’s dignity, Silver a violent boor.

Sister Sprocket told the truth, her reward a blackened eye

Beaten up wears one down, Silver now must die.

More than one way they tend to say when no more you can take

Police now right behind them, Sprocket rockets toward the lake.

Covered in ice, she doesn’t think twice, flips the nitrous oxide

Airborne Junior’s Wonder Car, a desperate suicide.

Break on through the layer of ice, settle to the lake bed

Eluding jail and justice, soon the siblings shall be dead.

Bubble, bubble, the end of trouble. What hath Sprocket wrought?

She’s been struck for the last time, the dead can abuse naught.