Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for May 17, 2014

Good choice there, Clark!

I’m really hoping Venus didn’t send anybody to trail him. Good on you, Clark. Here’s hoping they bring that smug Tabby down.

IT"S NOT A HORSE !

Smart choice, Clark. By fingering Tabby, he puts him out on a limb that I’m guessing Venus will enjoy cutting off. Especially after what she said to him a couple weeks ago….

Good morning everyone…

Today is Armed Forces Day,

Told you Angus was in trouble. Angus has “dug his own grave” or will at least go to jail with Clark’s testimony. Clark had little other choice.

I was wrong! I didn’t think Clark had the stomach to roll over on Angus, but today I see him more courageous than I had expected, I do, however, think this move will ultimately not be good for his health, unless he’s put into federal Witness Protection. O, Fritz Ann, where are you? Sam needs to call in a favor….

Is JC trying to cut his loses or tryen to save his own neck, or is he wanting to turn good cop from bad cop or just plain freaked out ….. and just does not know what else to do? I want to think that he is going to tell his version, a made up story to cover his back side. This is going to be good.

Dumb question for some of the more experienced readers who have been reading Dick Tracy for decades. Was Sam always as, well, cool and competent, as the Mike and Joe have been portraying him?

Azamat and Blessings to All the Soldiers in the Armed Forces…the Nightmare will be conquered..

Yes, Sam has always been a cool customer. While sometimes used for a little comic relief, he was already respected and experienced when introduced on December 26, 1948..Pat: “I went to school with Sam Catchem. He’s done some fine police work in other cities, and I thought he’d be just the man to take a lot of details off your hands, Tracy.”.Tracy: “Good. I read of your fine work in solving that Freedly case on the coast, Sam.”.Sam: “Yeah? It was nothing.”.Tracy: “You had some police experience in Boston, too, didn’t you?”.Sam: “I was special investigator there for two years. Before that I was on the force in Brooklyn. I was with the Detective Bureau in Chicago, also.”.Sam goes on to remark that he is like olives, once you know him he grows on you. Tracy is impressed, saying that he has a hunch they are going a long way together. Tracy was right, of course..

“OK, Clark. Here’s the deal. Sam is going to spend the weekend with Fritz Ann in exchange for giving you immunity for turning States Evidence. You, in turn, will shave the beard, grow some hair, and quit making TV ads for that stupid insurance company. Your new relo will be Detroit.”

Agreed. But then again, who would be?

If memory serves, Clark Kent’s changing clothes in a phone booth was introduced in the Superman radio show back in the 40s.In those days, phone booths were made of wood, and pretty dark, as the only glass was in the door.

Is it my imagination, or is the “penalty box” getting crowded? We’re missing some interesting folks.

I don’t think Clark’s turning states evidence is a courageous move on his part. I think he is doing whatever he can to save his own ass.

It’s Preakness Day! Segue into “Fugue for Tinhorns”!

The Dick Tracy Wiki points out that, “Sam also said that he had once been a member of the Chicago Police (which would mean that his being hired as Tracy’s assistant indicated either that he was returning to a department for which he had previously worked, or that the City, notwithstanding the many clues to the contrary, was, in fact, not Chicago).” Sam moved around a lot before joining forces with Tracy, so he may well have been returning to Chicago. That he went to school with Pat may support this supposition..I’d say that it is clear that Tracyville is indeed an approximation of my home town, Chicago. I will be walking up State Street (that great street) soon, and will report on any sightings of familiar characters. Like Ken, Lonnie and others, I am a big fan of Sam Catchem. He is a great character who meshes well with Tracy. Mike and Joe do him proud, as demonstrated once again in the Angus case and today’s middle panel. The recent dumpster diving, chase and car crash are good examples of the two working together and sharing the considerable risks of the job.

As Neil and Peqoud pointed out, Tracy’s city is almost Chicago, much like the city referred to in my post above is almost New York. But Tracyville seems to move around the map a bit. It is close to mountains, vast open farming country, a salt water body of water that must be an ocean (but which one?) and deep forests. It definitely has four distinct seasons. That’s part of “mood” of Tracy stories, I think.

Thanks PQ77 for the great pic of Sam, he’s the best..

Avenger09

JPuzz,.Re your response to Night’s recollection of Clark Kent’s costume changes in the Fleischer cartoons:.“’IN the first cartoons, Superman would change in one of the other rooms. Usually storage.’.“True. But no phone booth, as I recall.”.In the very best of the Fleischer Superman cartoons, “Mechanical Monsters,” Clark changes in a phone booth..Not sure if the radio series preceded that or not. If it didn’t, that cartoon may have been the first phone booth change for Clark/Superman in any medium..The radio series DID precede the cartoon series, and, in fact, used the same voice actors. Just not sure if the phone booth changes on radio precede that particular cartoon.

Actually that is not true. Superman “changing-in-the-phone-booth” routine rarely happened but it was more than once because he first used it in 1942 in the Sunday comics (http://thenostalgialeague.com/cr/huh/huh15.html) and it was a popular cover motif (http://www.supermanhomepage.com/other/other.php?topic=phonebooth). The Sunday comics were collected in color in Superman: Sunday Classics in 1998 making them a comic book.