Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for March 05, 2015

Is that film canister still lying on Stiletta? I really didn’t think she’d be taken out so quickly. I guess (hope) tomorrow will tell.

“Corpus Delicti?”

Looks like someone fixed the spelling on that “Concessions” sign.

Good Morning,DT fans!I don’t think Sam would call Tracy’s attention on a film canister…I think Stiletta’s stiff is still there! Or maybe Stiletta’s unconscious body, who knows?

Who was it that predicted Stiletta might end up sharing a hospital room with Blowtop?

Or maybe the Nitrates left a noteHi, Tracy, Stiletta wanted to kidnap your nephew, so we made of her hyena chow. Have a nice day!

Could this sequence be mirroring the portion of the original Flattop story where Dick Tracy helps to save his life?

Psst, hey guys check out the popcorn machine!

This one, I call Still of The Night …____________________

A Study in SilenceA Drive-In at Rest

The Nitrates have fledBut left what in their nest?

Is Stiletta unconsciousOr in some “Other Place?”

Please Tune in Tomorrow

And follow this space

Here’s a thought …

The Nitrates certainly seemed to believe that Stiletta is actively engaged in Daisy-Pushing.

They’ll flee all the harder from a murder rap.

Wonder how long Team Tracy will keep Stiletta’s fate ambiguous?

On soaps, the dead have been known to interrupt their own funerals.

Couldn’t find a shorter clip, skip ahead to 15:05 if you want to cut to the meat-and-potatoes …

So, the Nitrates took off in the Wonder Car. As I said yesterday, the description that it was “spotted” indicated that it was no longer in the location where it was seen. It turns out that the location where it was seen was the drive-in.

As for the last panel, it certainly seems that Stiletta — or her remains — can still be seen on the premises, while the Nitrates left in a big hurry.

Do we cut to Sunny Dell Acres next, or will we confirm Stiletta’s fate? I wonder.

Hey, AnyFace- thanks for that post yesterday of the intro to Wacky Racers! Would you believe I recently found a necktie with Dastardly and Muttley on it?

An additional connection …

The role of Dr. Joe Martin, seen briefly tending to Maria Santos-Grey when she (… not surprisingly) passes out from shock, is portrayed by actor Ray MacDonnell – who some of you might recognize as the title character in William Dozier’s 1960’s pilot, DICK TRACY …

More About Ray MacDonnell

Sam certainly got it right. Those Nitrates were in a big, big hurry. For several reasons…

I hope Stiletta is hogtied.

Do we cut to Sunny Dell Acres next, or will we confirm Stiletta’s fate? I wonder.____________________

Dick Tracy, 3/6/15

PANEL ONE:INTERIOR, NIGHT.B.O. Plenty and Gravel Gertie look out through their front window, staged so that we can’t see what they’re looking at.

CAPTION: “Sunny Del Acres.”

B.O.: “Whut’s that comin’ up th’ driveway, Gertie?”

GERTIE: "Dunno. T’ain’t never seen nuthin’ quite like it.

PANEL TWO:INTERIOR OF THE WONDERCAR, NIGHT.Sprocket looks worried. Silver looks pleased.

SPROCKET: “Maybe we should get out of town, Silver.”

SILVER: “Relax, Sprocket. This will only take a minute.”

PANEL THREE:EXTERIOR, SUNNY DEL ACRES, NIGHT.Characters are show IN SILHOUETTE.Silver is talking to Gertie and B.O. at the front door, both SILVER and GERTIE are seen in profile.

SILVER: “Excuse me, I was told I might find A.A. Stone here.”

GERTIE: “You mean Aggie?"

B.O. (THOUGHT BALLOON): “Thet profile shore looks f’miliar …”

Mind you, I’m pretty sure that Mike actually does thumbnail sketches of each day’s strip, this was written in TV/Movie script style.

Guess Stilletta didn’t become hyena chow after all.

That was kinda fun, so I scripted Saturday’s strip as well …____________________

Dick Tracy, 3/7/15


PANEL ONE:
SUNNY DEL ACRES, NIGHT.
Gravel Gertie is speaking to Silver Nitrate as B.O. Plenty looks on.

GERTIE: “Aggie don’t live here, Mister …?”

SILVER: “Call me Silver.”

B.O (THOUGHT BALLOON).: “Now where’ve ah seen thet profile b’fore?”


PANEL TWO:
INTERIOR OF THE WONDERCAR, NIGHT.
Sprocket is listening to the car’s built-in POLICE SCANNER and is distressed by what she hears.

POLICE SCANNER: “Be on the lookout for Flattop Jr.’s Wonder Car, last sited in the vicinity of …”

SPROCKET: “Uh-oh.”

PANEL THREE:EXTERIOR, NIGHT.Sprocket shouts to Silver from the Wonder-Car, drawing the attention of both Silver and Gravel Gertie as Gertie passes Silver a PIECE OF PAPER.

SPROCKET: “Silver! We need to hurry up!”

GERTIE: “Who’s that?”

SILVER: “My chauffeur.”

SILVER: “Thanks for the address Mrs. Plenty.”

One of the things I’d noticed about the Nitrates is that, by and large, they tend to be remarkably civil in most of their dealings, hurled film canisters, hyena feedings and car-chase road rage rampages being more the exception than the rule.

Good morning guys!

Is that the can with my Vista Bill film in the rubble?

Is that the can with my Vista Bill film in the rubble?____________________

All 70 pounds of it, VistaBill.

And likely ’bout 100 pounds of Stiletta Jones just beneath it.

Though that hasn’t been confirmed yet.

Are we suffering form amnesia? The nitrates were assumed drowned in the ‘wonder car’ in the bottom of a lake?

On another note …

I’ve been looking into the fates of the SPACE COUPE hijackers, this seems to be their last known location …

Jupiter’s moon, Europa, has been cited as more likely to support life than Mars by NASA, certainly more hospitable than Earth’s moon.

Maybe one day everything will tie into the dire predictions of Diet Smith’s PROJECT BLUE IMAGE and the Lunarians will return to make certain no further Terran SPACE COUPES are ever built.

But, who knows …

Morning, Tracyville!

I still say she’s alive. If she were dead, the Nitrates would’ve fed her to Lena.

Up graded lightbar on the squad car

@AnyFaceYou beat me to it right off the bat! Looks like they hung around long enough to fix the spelling on the sign…… wonder if the paint is dry?

Mike and Joe have done a great job of keeping Stiletta’s fate a mystery, and I’d be surprised if it were revealed before Sunday.But, hey, they always surprise me.-I still think she’d been squashed like a bug – and maybe shish kebobed by her own knives.

This one’s just for laughs …____________________

Dick Tracy, 3/6/15

PANEL ONE:INTERIOR, DRIVE-IN, NIGHT.Tracy looks over Sam Catchem’s shoulder, as Sam looks down at something out of shot.

TRACY: “What did you find, Sam?”SAM: “You aren’t going to believe this …”

PANEL TWO:INTERIOR, DRIVE-IN, NIGHT.CLOSE-UP on SAM’S HANDS as lifts up a 70 POUND FILM CANNISTER labelled “HORSEMEN OF THE VIOLET THYME”

SAM: “It’s a print of that lost Vista Bill Movie!"

PANEL THREE: INTERIOR, DRIVE-IN, NIGHT.Tracy adjusts his hat, looks chagrined as Sam, on his knees, looks past the FILM CANNISTER he’s holding in both hands.

TRACY: “Well, Vitamin should be amused.”

SAM: “Wait …”

SAM: “There’s something here beneath it …”

Silver: “Your 70-lb. film can vs. Mrs. Flattop was a short bout. Well, you know what to do.”.Sprocket: “Yeah, you pack and I’ll load up Lena.”.Stiletta was dealt a lethal blow. The morbid question we’re left to ponder is whether she was dying or dead when Lena was “loaded up.” Did Lena have a snack for the road? The potential for grisly off-panel events is very Gouldian. Sam is not looking at someone in need of medical attention. Rather, he tells Tracy to “Come take a look!” What a mess he seems to have found. The rest is left to our imagination. More of the good stuff from Team Tracy..Very nice work yesterday, Chis Sherlock.

Classic shot of Tracy and Sam in panel 1 today. And (panel 3) as Sam enters, gun drawn [cheap pun], he sees something that is propping up that heavy film canister at an awkward angle. That must be Stiletta’s body: but is it still warm, or has it assumed room temperature?

And, just to finish up …____________________

Dick Tracy, 3/7/15

PANEL ONE:INTERIOR, DRIVE-IN, NIGHT.CLOSE-UP of SAM’S HAND as it touches the rubble that had been beneath the FILM CANNISTER

SAM: “Blood.”

PANEL TWO:INTERIOR, DRIVE-IN, NIGHT.MEDIUM SHOT of TRACY eyeing STILETTA’S KNIFE, which remains lodged in the DOOR TO THE BACK ROOM.

TRACY: “Seems the Nitrates weren’t alone here tonight.”

PANEL THREE:INTERIOR, DRIVE-IN, NIGHT.Dramatic silhouette of DICK TRACY speaking into his WRIST WIZARD as he contacts the M.C.U.

TRACY: “It’s Tracy, Chief!”

TRACY: “Put out an APB on Stiletta Jones!”

If the boys don’t resolve Stiletta’s fate tomorrow, might script Sunday strips to follow up the ones I popped off today.

Sunday strips are a hassle though.

Actually, the four strips I tossed off aren’t mutually exclusive, two of ’em would need to be moved to Monday/Tuesday, and a Sunday strip written to bridge ’em.

I must admit its getting better all the time..

I think AnyFace’s “what if?” projections are priceless. I could sit and read them all day!

I don’t think I’ve ever heard “load up” an animal to mean they were feeding the animal. Normally “load up” means putting it into the car. Figures of speech normally arise because they’re shorter and more succinct to say than the full definition. In this case, “I’ll load up Lena,” isn’t shorter to say than “I’ll feed Lena.” Saying, “I’ll load up Lena,” is shorter than saying, “I’ll put Lena into the car.”

Tracy and Sam make the scenethe nitrates, gone cleantracy wonderssam blundersupon the siblings leftoversCatchem discoversthe still unconscious villainlying still and ‘just chillin’tracy come seeand verify for meif this chick is still breathingshe took a good beatingand left here to lieto live or to dieneither willing to sayeither way

That 70-pound film can could very easily have snapped Stiletta’s neck when Sprocket threw it, or caused a basal skull fracture. Tom Mix was killed by a metal suitcase which became a high-speed projectile when he ran his Cord 810 into a ditch in 1940, and I’ll bet it was lighter than that film can.

I most surly will watch this spaceTo see if a lady of sharp deathDidn’t survive her acquaintanceWith the spry Sprocket strong in willShe threw a 70lb can at StilettaCrushing Stiletta’s hopes to steal a babeLeaving her for dead as the siblings leftExited stage right with their spotted hyena-———Well I couldn’t make it all rhyme.____________________

“Free Verse” counts as poetry, doesn’t it?

I like it.

And what anime is your avatar from?____________________

Let’s see if Tarry can answer that, he recognized the last one.(I do intend to swap out avatars a lot, don’t call me AnyFace for nothing!)

I just had a thought, what if Diet Smith had visitors and a long talk and that convinced him to end the EM powered projects?____________________

Anything’s possible.

Difficult to imagine anyone giving up advanced technology without a fight.

Or at least without tense negotiations taking place.

I just hafta add my two cents worth of imagination:Sam: “Tracy! Come quick! Lookit this”Tracy: “Yeah, Sam……. Quick like a bunny! Get some of that popcorn butter!”Sam: “Huh?”Tracy: “You idiot! How else are we gonna get those rings off?”

Well I couldn’t make it all rhyme.

I’m not sure that any of it rhymes, but that’s not a problem. It’s still poetry.

Tracy and Sam are on the case,To the old drive-in they race.The Wonder Car was last seen there,Possibly the Nitrates lair.Tracy thinks it odd to seeThe Nitrates would use it to flee.No matter what direction they take,The Wonder Car is a unique make.And so, therefore, they can’t long hide,MCU will end their ride.Sam thinks the siblings had to hurry,Because they had another worry.They’ve left Stiletta on the floor,Tomorrow, we’ll see what’s in store.

Maybe Stiletta didn’t get eaten, only gnawed on a bit.

Dick Tracy, 3/8/15 (Sunday)Wow! That was good, AnyFace! If Mike ever decides to retire, you should definitely check into becoming the “Dick Tracy” writer!

@AnyFace, still and NG: you have really outdone yourselves today! What a combination of pix and poetry!Will we learn of Stilleta’s condition tomorrow or will the storyline change? Have a joyful day my friends.

Think I’ll quit while I’m ahead though.

Nevertheless, it was an interesting scenario and it was well plotted out. I doubt it will happen anything like that but it’s a good parallel universe.

I thought the last Tracy and Sam saw of the Nitrate’s was when it crashed through the ice and sank to the bottom of a lake. I don’t recall there being any result from the presumed search of the bottom of the lake. Also as I recall, the Nitrates were presumed to have drowned.

Thanks, Gweedo!

Is anyone keeping track of the number of consecutive days we’ve hit 100 or more posts here? We’ve done it again today!

Bottom line though is if Stilletta can’t even dispatch Sprocket, then she’s waaaay overmatched going after Tracy. And another clue she’s still alive is if they had actually killed her, what reason would they HAVE to hurry that much?

What you quoted was one of the two choruses – I said the verses have words that don’t rhyme, eg;We’d like to know a little bit about you for our files,We’d like to help you learn to help yourself,Look around you all you see are sympathetic smiles,Stroll around the grounds until you feel at home.Hide it in a hiding place where no one ever goes,Put it in the pantry with your cupcakes,It’s a little secret, just the Robinson’s affairMost of all you’ve got to hide it from the kids.Very lyrical words telling a story -word pictures, if you will, but they do not rhyme in the traditional sense,

sprocket couldn’t understandwhy he was a greedy mandidn’t they have enoughcash to buy things and stuffshe’s to blame this Kan Dee Kanesickening sweet she’s such a painif she tries to be a flirtI’ll cause her grief she’ll always hurt

why will they leave in a hurry