Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for April 04, 2014

An aptly-titled role for sure!

And it’s all starting to tie together!

Good morning everyone!

Alldid, Angus, Moon Maid… ah, the pieces are starting to fit into place!

It’s Moon Madness!Just out of curiosity, isn’t Burrough’s books in the public domain yet?

….and among the things falling into place: Moon Maid Mark II is now capable of crime fighting with her developing powers. Better watch out, baddies!

I posted this late yesterday, so there’s a chance most of you didn’t see it. I’m posting it again because it’s a an assumption of Gould’s Tracy that I’ve seen more than once that simply isn’t true.Yesterday, Ray Toler said, “it wouldn’t be unusual for Tracy to slug a villain or beat a confession out of him (Tracy has done this before during those days).”I have every single volume of IDW’s Dick Tracy series, from the strip’s start in 1931 all the way to mid-1956, and I can’t recall a SINGLE instance of Tracy “beating a confession” out of a criminal. The only thing that even faintly resembled that was one instance in 1932, where he made Dan Mucelli sit in a chair for hours on end with heated lamps aimed at Mucelli until he cracked and confessed. And that’s the only time he did that. His usual methods for getting confessions was to trick one out of a crook, or point out to a crook how much Tracy already knew. He also liked to use lie detectors a lot (inadmissible today because it turned out they’re not reliable). He would occasionally slug a prisoner who got lippy with him (and by “lippy” I mean, “make death threats at Tracy and/or his loved ones”). But he never beat a confession out of a prisoner. That’s one line, Tracy never crossed.^As to today’s strip, yes it is coming all together. Now we know the return of Mysta we saw March 20 really is the start of this adventure. Maybe Curtis will attempt to “Pair the Spares” by bringing her together with Vera Alldid. They can both grouse with each other on being shortchanged by Max Allan Collins. ;)

Burroughs founded Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. in 1923 and they aggressively defend copyrights on his works, even ones that ought to be in the public domain. They are trying to claim rights on some works using trademark law. According to the Erbville web page The Moon Maid was still copyrighted as of 2003.

I tentatively predicted late yesterday that Mysta would probably reappear soon, so I’m happy to see that it’s true, and now I see how it fits into the current story.

I love the art of Mr. Angus. He looks very intense — I would say “fierce.” I don’t think I’d ever want him angry at me.

One more thing. I’ve been reading the story of Mr. Kolossal from the 1935 Little Orphan Annie. If you want to know what he looked like then, check for the picture I put in yesterday’s comments. He definitely took unfair advantage of Annie, leading her to think she was about to become a movie star while employing her to do life-threatening stunts as a double for the uncooperative child star billed as the lead in his movie.

Tune in tomorrow when we’ll here Mr. Angus say, “Kolossal, this film had better be Scottish, because if it isn’t Scottish, it’s CRAP!!!” (Please let me not be the only one who remembers this line…)

Further evidence that the strip is set in a Dick Tracy universe, not quasi-real world. Doubtful any studio would back another Rice Burroughs “sci-fi” film after Disney’s JOHN CARTER dud!

Now we’re talking! Glad to see My Favorite Moonwomaninthemaking again. Starring in the perfect role for her, no less. Wonder if “The Moon Governor” will make a cameo appearance in this tale? ;)

angus has cat like eyes.. and God save us all we’re gonna have to endure another few weeks of frankenmindy

My head is spinning..With the questionable Annie character, Kolossal, and now, Mysta, what next?.Is the promised up and coming Annie crossover, in fact, a continuation of last year’s Moon Maid saga?.Not that I’m complaining, mind you..It’s just that my head is spinning..Other notes: Yes, I still believe the real Moon Maid is still alive. But I concede that the current Moon Maid isn’t she..It remains my hope that perhaps Franken-Mindy may be the one who leads Honeymoon to the real Mysta Tracy!

Moon Maid has a Lesbian hairdresser.

tsull, I need to retract the comment I made yesterday. A 3" loose leaf binder is too small for keeping score. That is, unless we catalog it by numbering the volumes. We also need to get a palletload of paper, fine-ruled.

JPW, try not to poison the guests!!! LOL!!

Have a great time tonight!

Mr. Angus is a red head with green eyes. In my experiences that can mean a real bad temper …… or …………… an over the top philanthropic Mr. nice guy. Just have to wait-n-see.

yum yum, now that looks real good ……………………….seriously !!

I have to apologize to you, SDM.You do not complain (as I said several days ago) so much that you could be my mother using an alias.Tsull, on the other hand… (Ma – is that you?)

Goodness gracious! The threads are beginning to come together. I don’t know how Kolossal got the idea that Mysta was an actress, but maybe she has natural talent for the cinema. I’d hate to be in Kolossal’s shoes if the film flops and Angus comes after him….

“The Moon Maid,” eh? As long as we’re going forward into the past (a little Firesign Theatre lingo there), why not have a séance and bring Vaughn Monroe back from the beyond to sing the title tune for the soundtrack?

And the Burroughs catalog IS in the public domain these days. I’ve downloaded about a half-dozen of his books to my Kindle from Gutenberg.org, the greatest free books website in this world and the next one.

Well some may agree the Go Comics colorist chalks up another 5 Star rating for his pleasing job on today’s strip ! ?

Guess the use of orange / red hair (a characteristic of Ireland and western England/Scotland) indirectly helped to boost the overall presentation. A color that even seemed to - (subconscious?) ‘catch’ the (Artistic) ‘eye’ of Avenger (aka MPH ?) as it seemed to leap out at readers, in his “Paprika” presentation !

Our Mr. Angus, like Sam, seems to show signs of a propensity for heavy nicotine use, via a pipe ? And I was half expecting someone to ‘leap out’ with a ‘roll of the drums’ smoke critique ! ? For there he goes, flagrantly ‘lighting up’ in the middle a production studio ? So by tomorrow (?) – perhaps the “complaints” will begin to filter in ? Already one can detect an element of an Angus ‘disregard’ for our (Annie eyed) Mr.Kolossal (there to protect his money!), and one might even envision a contemptuous blowing, of raw pipe smoke. into his face ?

Followed here, by more weighty ‘whimpering’ over his Head (and that of the Authors) for another poor example and disregard for healthy habits, than the Tons of water continuing to conceal the fate of Nitrates !

Thinking of the latter, I’ve defended the Authors (cavalier?) disregard, for closure on the Nitrates fate! It’s becoming noticeable now, Particularly, after 2 weeks passing through 3 mini segments. We recall one of MM regaining some of her natural powers, the Warbucks team arranging to visit to Tracy for help. And then ‘embarrassingly’, one of a physical Tracy visit on a ‘personal complaint’ to Vera Alldid about his likeness in a comic strip, seemed more weighty and important - than a simple “bubble” of information on the Nitrates fate ? Surely the car recovery should be complete by now, just one panel needed to say if bodies were found.

It’s 15 days later ? We’ll just have to leave this one on the ‘oversighted’ list !

Burroughs “Barsoom” series was almost as good as “Tarzan”. I believe that “The Moon Maid” was about a sister or friend of Princess Dejah Thoris (John Carter’s girlfriend/wife).

Good morning, avenger09. How much longer does your “buddy” have to stay in the penalty box? I assume Mattie is sitting right beside him, too.

Green eyes..Black Angus….Wow….I love you Mysta Moon Maid..

Mysta! Now you have my attention! :-)

“The Moon Maid”?? Like somebody said, now we’re talking!

What bothers me about Angus is his not-quite-human eyes. Of course, the rest of his face isn’t exactly Mr. Average, either.

Seeing Mysta as a movie star reminds me of the original Moon Maid’s first appearance. Everyone wanted her on film then, too, and she wasn’t shy about showing off in front of the camera — even though she kept messing with them! I take this (along with the name of Kolossal’s movie) as yet another hint from Mike Curtis hint that Mindy’s dead, and Mysta Chimera is fast-tracking her transformation into the original Moon Maid. Big thumbs up on that development!!

Edgar Rice Burroughs Bibliography.LIST

Ray Toler and boboscar: Fascinating depiction of Dick Tracy giving out a licking! But Richard’s appearance in that strip suggests it was from a very early date – his nose was not yet square. Is there a date on this strip?.Willy007 and Pequod77 (and others): Yes, you’re probably right and I’m probably wrong. But I hold out hope..This much I know from real life: Identical DNA and identical life experiences do not make identical people. Ask any identical twin. And Mindy is far from Mysta’s identical twin!.While I did not bring it up, you guys did bring something up, and that something is what has bothered me the most about what some of us call Franken-Mindy:.Mindy’s implied death..tsull2121 actually had a very valid point when he brought up a while back, since we are dealing with Mindy’s body, including her brain, (regardless of brainwashing, &c), does this absolve the new Mysta of Mindy’s past crimes?.At the time, I suggested a mental competence defense, especially given what she had been put through..It is the central problem I have with this arc: We are being asked to believe that Mindy is “dead” and Mysta is “coming back from the dead” – through Mindy..Last words for now: I think I went on record last year as saying that this Franken-Mindy resolution to the identity of Mysta the Moon Maid was, to me at least, the most uncomfortable possible outcome. Not really Mysta, no longer Mindy, what, then, is she?.Far better for her to have had a comic book back-from-the-dead story. Especially with her unexplored “Lunarian” powers..But I agree, even if grudgingly, that you guys are probably right and I am probably wrong..But I continue to hold out hope, anyway..The return of the original Moon Maid would resolve just about all of these issues, once and for all.

Thanks everyone for the info on the state of Burrough’s copyrights.

Yep, in the old days, Tracy used to give the villains what for! He was quite a tough guy.

Late in the day, don’t know if anyone will notice. May be better that way..Gweedo: I, too, am much happier with Mike and Joe’s rendition of Moon Maid than Gould’s. I’m only concerned about confused storylines – and this DNA “science” probably more improbable than – than a Maid from the Moon in the first place!.Granted, all of this is little more than a “plot device”: Mike needed a Moon Maid, and Franken-Mindy is the method he chose to get himself one..Pardon me if I remain a bit sad that it’s not the original Mysta.