Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for March 06, 2015

Wow! It’s official!! Congratulations, Team Tracy, for throwing us one of the best curve balls in Dick Tracy history!

Revenge this morning was not meant to beI offered too much information My mistake far to lateTo seeI’ll never find, the joy this timeOf hurting Tracy, I was so blindTo think that others felt like meBut there’ll never be releaseThe rage inside Will never ceaseSomehow Somewhere SomedayDetective Tracy will have to payI guarantee I’ll find a way

.

Something different today.

Lena must be one fat puppy!Add Stiletta to the huge list of “Bad Guys” Tracy had nothing to do with stopping!

Stiletta “I’m not dead yet! ’Tis but a scratch!”

Take a deep breath Gweedo, you’ll be ok. Just put your head between your legs until the dizziness leaves!

Here’s what the coroner reported:“As coroner I must averI thoroughly examined herAnd she’s not only merely deadShe’s really most sincerely dead”I’ve been waiting to quote that song since Monday. The fact that Sam actually mentions the coroner, which is what really confirms her death, makes it all the better. :D

Awww, Stilletta’s dead! I’m disappointed! Her character had so much potential!

Wow, she really did get whacked! What a surprising turn of events this was.

What is going on with the long black hair & animal fur Tracy is talking about? Did something happen to Sprocket & Lena?

I dunno… It’s hard to believe even a 70-lb. weight could kill someone. Mrs. Flattop would have to be pretty doggone frail to be dead from that. I realize, of course, that this is just a comic, but still, there is only a certain amount of disbelief I can suspend for the sake of entertainment.

Well, I wonder how Blowtop will take the news?

Good morning Tracy fans.___________________@avenger09 and boboscar: great poetry.___________________Y’all have an exciting day my friends.

At least Blowtop is still alive (I hope).

A couple of days ago, he got out of intensive care, so his dying at this point would be a much bigger shock than Stiletta’s death.

2010, the same year that actor Dick Beals died.

According to numerous sources, including the New York Times, Dick Beals didn’t die till 2012.

Scratch one crazed killer out for vengeance from Tracy’s list of criminal opponents.

So… to recap, Mrs. Flattop is almost unrecognizable, the film can made a big mess of her, full film cans can weigh up to 100 lbs. (they’re getting heavier all the time in this strip). I figured that the Nitrates might have taken off to the next state to deliver the Vista Bill film to their customer, but they left it behind. I suppose that Stiletta’s blood on the can was too risky for them to be caught with.

By the way…..Stiletta wasn’t murdered….she was killed in self-defense…..

Animal fur? Did Lena have a Stiletta dinner?

Good morning fellow DT fans!*

I like the way Mike used today’s strip to move things along quickly. In one strip, Tracy and Sam confirmed Stiletta’s death, figure the death was self-defense, and have evidence tying it to the Nitrates. Now – on with the chase!

Shock follows Shock!

I’ll point out though that an unrecognizable corpse does still leave the door open for a last-minute body swap.

“Soap Opera Rules” and all that.

The one thing I did get right was our boys seeing the knife in the door and immediately working out who did what to who … or is it whom.

Oh, and somebody Wrist-Wizarding something to somebody.

Woo! Gosh! Kudos to Team Tracy for making the tough, grisly choices.

So what happens tomorrow?

The can also seems to have pretty sharp edges. Hit with force the wrong way to the head, and I see no problem with the idea that this could be fatal. Does anybody wish to experiment? :)

My Vista Bill film!

Say it ain’t so! It could be in the other two cans… that are in the car with the Nitrates and Lena. Couldn’t it?

How will Blowtop take this?

Badly enough to put Stiletta’s kidnapping scheme into effect himself?

Shades of “Norman’s Mother!”

Good grief! 53 comments already tonight. DT is going to give Luann a run for her money for number of comments.AnyFace: in response to your question yesterday- I got it at the local Flea Market. Sorry.

Is that “mess” as in blood and brains or “mess” as in smashed glass and metal?

I hope they don’t put Stiletta in me ‘n Rikki’s crypt. We don’t want company.

RIP Harve Bennett

With all the broken glass around it appears she and the film can broke the window. That would account for some of the messiness of the body.

I dunno… with everybody else in the Jones family gone, Stilletta is much too good/crazy a character to throw away like that; I’m thinking a switch has been made.

Stilletta Jones-seductive, insidious queen of crime; killed by a hippie with a film canister.

Morning, Tracyville!

Boy, did I call that one wrong! Okay, I don’t mind eating a little crow now and then!

Good Morning, Avenger, and welcome back! We missed you yesterday!

Stilettas plans were in her headbut when she spoke them, she was dead fish deadthe bloody mess left on the floorthe trhowing knife lodged in the doorfor mrs jones they shed no tearsshe had this coming for several yearsbaby Trey— now safe and soundSprocket and lena’s hairs are foundtracy knows this type of cluesam calls for clean up of the goowhere did the nitrates go to hide?they took off in Junior’s wondrous rideBut, alas… to hawaii I must gounable to watch the unfolding showPerhaps I shall peep from time to timeto enjoy the “Nitrate’s Wild Ride”

@Neil Wick: you were fortunate indeed.________________________________EVERYONE: don’t forget to set your clocks ahead one hour tonight. If you are switching to Daylight Saving Time.

He is the last remaining Jones family member (at least, the CRIME family that is) Gweedo.. I dont think theyd off him.

HOWEVER.. i COULD possibly see him recovering and deciding to take revenge on Tracy for offing his entire family, siezing control of Stiletta’s band of hoodlums, and making waves of his own

OOPS! I mean Saturday night.

I expect a full apology from TSull—Knowing Full well I won’t get one

Timmy’s set to fly, we all say “Bye Bye Bye”And can’t help wonder why, Timmy thinks he’s a Hawaiian type of guyWe’ll miss him on the boardWho else can bring discord?As the islands you’re flying towardWe hope your pilot’s not Harrison Ford

I was not confident that Stiletta was dead. But when you consider the canister was around 70lbs, with Mrs. Flattop’s inertia trying to stop her from moving. I can easly see several major organs being damanged beyond repair. Brain alone, thrashed around from the impact alone would bring about at least a concussion. Then of course she hitting the floor — concrete most probably — just the brain injury alone would probably be fatal.

I’m not regreating her passing, just the concept of life well abused, and thrown away.

She’s dead, Jim.

We’re right on top of Mike & Joe’s Fourth Anniversary on Tracy, aren’t we?

And still surprising us.

@JPuzzleWhiz:If you are interested, I left an answer for you very late yesterday on the subject of rhyming lyrics, because I am a fan of 60s music and find good lyrics fun. Peace.

wow…she is dead!…just like that….wow!

I’m way late to the party. I’m also kinda surprised to see a villain get whacked so completely that the likelyhood of a return engagement is nil. Tracy villain gets “offed”—- no body = no actual death—- villain will be back.

Over 100 comments for Seven Days In A Row …

She Daid Mr. Dillon…

@Ray TolerHi-Top, Sharptop, and Auntie Flattop are still alive.

One more chance for Tracy to get the blame on another ‘Top’ family member’s demise._________________________

Flattop’s brother, Sharptop was supposedly an “honest” college professor before being “possessed” by the ghost of Flattop. Apparently he was not charged with anything criminal due to not being in his right mind because of the “possession.” Also apparently, he returned to his previous profession.

Auntie Flattop was a minor character who raised Hi-Top and was shown as law-abiding.

Hi-Top is apparently still in prison (at least the strip has never mentioned his release that I know of).

I might also mention another member of the family, Flattop’s father Pop-Top. Although I would imagine that he would be too old to mount any action of revenge considering that Hi-Top would be his great-grandson. In addition, Pop-Top considered the criminal activities of his children and grandchildren to be disgraceful to the family.

Interestingly, in many cases where these members of the Flattop family are shown or interviewed in their homes, portraits appear on the wall depicting other unnamed ancestors or members of the family (all with the distinctive flat head).

At least we know now that Tracy 3.0 is safe, at least until his first play date with Lil’ Attitude…

Stiletta Flattop is well and truly dead, from a crushing blow to the chest and/or head by 70-pound film canister. And the corpse is a mess, according to hardened detective Sam Catchem.But wait!Some of our astute Board have suggested a fast body-switch, leaving Mrs. Flattop still among the living. Is this possible? Well, let us speculate…. Suppose that in the mysterious back office so often visited by Silver there had been a corpse on ice (maybe literally!) that had been nibbled on by Lena Hyena. If (and it’s a really big if) the badly injured Stiletta had regained consciousness, somehow found the mutilated body, and also done a quick change of clothes, then maybe she could have stumbled off before the cops showed up to discover the unrecognizable body.That’s a lot of if-ing speculation. It is, I suppose, barely possible, but it does not seem very likely. So, if Team Tracy want to bring back Stiletta, they could. But I don’t think they will. I think Mrs. Flattop is really, really, permanently dead. And while I shall miss her as a colorful character, I do not mourn the passing of her evilness. I am instead happy for Trey Tracy!

Stiletta is now confirmed dead….unless Tracy and Sam change their tune really fast. I am quite surprised by the plot twist like most everybody else. I shows that this team can and will kill off great villains and we can’t be sure of what their ideas are. I like it!Now…if Stiletta returns from the dead….I’ll lose faith in the writers which has already waned thanks to the Nitrates previous story, Mumbles and Doubleup being shot multiple times (and taken into custody only to be back on the streets) and Kadaver’s nondeath in the concrete.Will I quit reading? No. But I won’t take the events in the story seriously anymore, either.

A whirlwind of action! Gotta love this!Stilletta was quicker on the draw, but missed, with fatal consequences.Heavy film can meeting small flesh-and-bones—like many had posted, it’s the sudden impact that kills, like a moving car vs. a concrete pillar: pillar wins.

I’m rather new to the strip, and I found Stilletta to be quite a compelling villian, and surprised that she met her demise…or did she? Many of us thought Abner Kadaver met his fate with his last run-in with Tracy, yet he reappears in the Nitrates arc. Sydney Phillips posited about Mumbles’ many “lives,” so there is always that possibility. Creative license, I suppose.

Thank you to all 3 of you who liked my poem today! LOL!!!

Jpuzz.. junior said when he introduced Tracy to his grandson, that th elil tyke’s name is DICK TRACYIII but they will call him Trey.

which makes me wonder.. why not name him trey to begin with?!?!

@Tarry PlaguerThanks for the news on Harve Bennett. I probably wouldn’t have seen it otherwise. I was aware of The Mod Squad but it was too mature to hold my interest at the time. I did however regularly watch The Six Million Dollar Man and I’ve seen all the Star Trek movies that he produced.

Tracy says, “That’s Mrs. Flattop!” Her life, it appears, is at a stop.A film can brought on her demise,At least, that’s what Sam does surmise.The cans are made of heavy steel,Their damage toll can be quite real.A knife embedded in the door,Stiletta missed, but will no more.Tracy spots some animal furThe confrontation caused a stir.Stiletta’s gone, there is no doubt.Sam will call the coroner out.

Avenger, I liked it! Can we all say “four” now?

Or Frank Oz?

Thanks for not telling me to put my head between your legs, avengerGood line, Gweedo!

The coroner is the one person people are just dying to go to!Wish I’d said that, JPuzz!

WOW! 167 comments! Have we broken the all time record?

Coroner’s verdict: Mrs. Flattop is living up to her name.

Stilldamatt’s gonna take a shower! He’ll be more likable!

Oh, yeah – there’s one more thing…Silver and Sprocket can be romantically involved without problems if Silver was adopted by the Nitrates.That explains why he doesn’t look like Sprocket, and his resemblance to Gertie and Aggie (who might be his birth mother). A brilliant idea on my part! And obviously wrong!

Counting this post, we’ve had 179 today. Wow!

and. ew

Now if the can was empty it explained why Sprocket could move it so fast.____________________

Even full, it’s been established that Sprocket can swing these around, no problem.

Factor a life-and-death jolt of adrenaline into the mix, and …

Going back through the Sunday strips …

As someone noted, Dick hasn’t appeared in his own strip on Sunday since 1/11/15 …

… And is that Barnabas Collins in the limo?

Having skin cancer surgery on Tuesday and just blew out my left knee. Pain unbearable. Will have to get to get it looked at tomorrow. Not optimistic. Why do I suddenly wish I was going to Hawaii with timmy? :-(

We’re just 10 posts away from reaching 200! (Well, 9 posts now).Let’s see if we can get to 200 WITHOUT anymore posts just to make 200. ;)

The Unofficial GoComics Staton/Curtis Death ListAs compiled by* boboscar* and Tarry PlaguerNOTE: Names with an + were found dead or killed prior to the story start.+ Wormy & Thistledew (Reported dead in armory fire) 03/21/11Flyface 04/22/11The Fifth & Eddie Garcia (at the same time) 04/25/11Earl (Flaky and Hot Rize’s innocent co-worker) 05/12/11Hot Rize 05/28/11Emma Parks (A.K.A. Ponytail Mk I) 06/14/11The 2 terrorists who tried to hire and double cross Morning Gloria 08/13/11Big Frost 10/20/11Apparatus Member (Killed by DoubleUp) 10/25/11 & fed to Tonsils 10/27/11Flaky Biscuits (never confirmed, but implied) 10/29/11+ Sizzler Sitzes (Hired by Kadaver to kill Charles Adams A.K.A. Baron Clovis in a hit and run. Was then shot and killed by Kadaver to keep him quiet) 10/31/11 identified 11/09/11Cueball 01/31/12 Mr. Levitz (Doubleup’s main henchman in his first story; later killed by Kadaver to get Doubleup off) 03/13/12+ Vincent Vinyl 05/05/12 confirmed 05/11/12The 3 supporting members of the Mumbles Quartet 05/20/12Lt. Teevo 07/06/12 confirmed 07/18/12Panda 07/15/12 confirmed 07/23/12Davey Mylar (A.K.A. Mr. Crime Mk II) 07/13/12 tombstone 09/30/12+ Arthur Curry (aquarium director) 08/22/12Bookie (Measles’ partner) 10/14/12Measles 11/10/12+ Stephen Baux’s fiancée 02/08/13 identified 02/27/13Simon Baux A.K.A. Sweat Box 02/24/13 Diet Smith Industries Guard (supposedly killed by Bardoll) 06/25/13 (uncertain; shown lying on the ground and called a “casualty” on 6/29/13, but unconfirmed)Bardoll 07/07/13 confirmed 07/16/13Hy Pressure 09/28/13 confirmed 10/08/13Drs. Sail, Ghote, and Flash Munroe? (still alive last we saw them, and ambiguous that they’re dead, but it often sounds like Curtis thinks of them as dead) 10/18/13Bill “Shortcake” Mitchell (apparatus member) (never confirmed, but implied) 10/31/13Miles Mycroft 01/26/14Mr. Kolossal 04/30/14Ed Rosato (never confirmed, but implied) 05/14/14Tabby Angus 05/28/14The Butcher of the Balkans A.K.A. Henrik Wilemse 07/27/14Axel 10/05/14Otis 12/05/14Mrs. Flattop 03/01/15 confirmed 03/06/15

Aaaaaannnddd we’ve made it past 200 posts today, with still over an hour to go! :D

@AnyFace

I’ve just spent hours today proofreading a thesis, looking for missing “the” and “a” everywhere, so I can say that you don’t say “I was the sister” unless the person you’re speaking to knows there was a sister. So, there may be other siblings but that panel isn’t solid proof.

(Had to fix my double posted last comment. It’s slow when there are so many.)

Who’s to say how many Contingency Plans Stiletta had set in motion, just in case.

Here’s but one example of such …

12:45AM where I am…215 comments today! Is that a record?

Just a thought…There was a lot of commentary about how Mrs. Flattop didn’t seem like herself telling her plan to Sprocket (why would she need to provoke Sprocket to kill her…she could just gone ahead & killed her if she wanted to anyway). Secondly, have we known Stiletta to miss her target before? She purposely missed Mumbles with great precision. All I’m saying is that maybe our corpse is not Mrs. Flattop but someone hired to pose as her. Once again, just a thought.

Arguably the definitive example of Super-Villain Contingency Plans in action …

what is the coroner