Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for March 14, 2015

Four years ago this very day, Dick Tracy resurrectedRejuvenated and renewed, vast differences detected.Thrill to see comic history, a classic back in styleLost track of Tracy years ago, Woo Gosh! It’d been a while.Now in the land of Tracyville, stories captivatingFlaky Biscuits made some dough; Mr. Crime oscillating.Shared his deep dark secret with Hot Rize’s sister, BlazeTeam Tracy so impressive, sets high the bar they raise..Kadaver such a ghoulish fiend, his side-kick the hot RikkiBlackjack such a Tracy fan, thus to harm him proves most tricky.Phishface such a sushi fan, well known to feed his faceSweatbox plain despicable, earned death for his disgrace.The Jumbler had a little dog, Crypto the loyal ScottieVenus, Queen of Blackhearts, a voluptuous, gorgeous hottie.Thunderchild, a wrestler wild, yet no match for the MoleLittle Princess, lost and found, Daddy Warbucks’ life now whole..Gruesome, he took to the stage, his debut brought down the houseApollo’s back from Europe, coiffed and tanned, yet still a louse.Méliès deadly and debonair. Cross him, tremble and cowerAngus such a violent foe, ‘til shot dead from the tower.The Nitrates love the movies, they make films to scam old foolsStiletta lived for her revenge, guided by misguided rules..Ghote and Sail did not prevail nor know what they had wrought Experiments with DNA, the consequences fraught.Few would have seen it coming: inexorable genetic driftMysta’s rebirth ongoing, a supremely miraculous gift.Honeymoon, her closest friend, dreams of fighting crimeLizz deduces and kicks tail, her beauty so sublime..Gravel Gertie and B.O. increase the Plenty broodUntamable this offspring: demonic Attitude.To read J. Straightedge Trustworthy I would sail the seven seasMy favorite tells of one bad pooch: infamous 88 Fleas.Look to see Flintheart in love, whistling a happy tuneFeet just barely touch the ground, for Kandi he doth swoon..Sam and Tracy on the case, fighting crime provides rewardsTeam Tracy honored by their peers with two Harvey Awards.My hat’s off to Team Tracy, for all these things and moreWe loyal fans now clap our hands, voice approval with a roar..

Exciting!

Good morning fellow DT fans!

This has to be the best three panels ever!

Sam, make haste!There isn’t time to waste! We know the very place!The Nitrates call thier space!

Dick don’t ever sayI let logic rule the dayThough we’re five whole blocks awayIn two panels guess who’ll pay?

Strength don’t fail, my time of needHelp me get my valiant steedaway from both these human weedsWho reek of death and filthy greed!

Sister time to split and how!Lift the door I’ll end this nowYou are my blood my friend my palI fear were in the O.K. Corral!

I’d noticed Kandi had shifted position relative to Vitamin yesterday, but hadn’t realized it was so that she could drag him out of harm’s way.

Thought Balloons!

And multiple “Real-Time” scene cuts Within The Same Strip!

Is this an episode of “24”?

“Open the Pod Bay Doors, Ha – err – I mean, Sprocket!”

Jim Ameche, younger brother of Don Ameche (younger fans may recognize Don from “Cocoon” and “Harry & the Hendersons” movies.

Calling Dick Tracy!

Look what I found!

From Wikipedia …

“Jim Ameche portrayed Tracy in a two-record set recorded by Mercury Records in 1947.”

(Jim was the brother of actor Don Ameche, by the way.)The Case of The Midnight Marauder

Year Five Begins! Happy Anniversary!

conveinent coincidence

I’d actually been searching separately for a “Vitamin Flintheart” pic and some obscure 45 RPM Story Records from 1966 which featured Spider-Man, Captain America and The Mighty Thor (The “Thor” one recently sold for Over $160 on eBay, it’s arguably the rarest of the lot!) when I came across information on that Mercury Records “Dick Tracy” 2-Record Set.

Having now listened to the audio on YouTube I can add that …

Jim Ameche was a delight in the Tracy role, though my favorite in the ensemble was whoever voiced Pat Patton.

Flattop didn’t sound quite as I’d imagined him, but the actor still turned in a respectable performance.

Solid production values and lots of fun, from the era when Radio was King, and there was more than just Music on Vinyl.

Everybody Cosplay Up and Sing Along as we celebrate the 4th Anniversary of The Staton/Curtis Era …

Outstanding poetry today, Pequod77, avenger09, et al.

Wow, Kandi’s really coming through in the clinch here. Good for her.

Morning, Tracyville!

Four years! Man, time just flies by! It doesn’t seem that long! Congratulations to Team Tracy! Mike and Joe, you have given us great entertainment in this fine comic strip over the past four wonderful years, THANK YOU!

Happy Anniversary DT fans and creators!!

This past week’s series of cliffhangers takes me back to when I was a youngster (early 1960s) and I’d eagerly watch for the paper delivery so I could see what was happening to Dick Tracy, Alley Oop, Captain Easy, Mandrake, and others. Thanks Team Tracy for rekindling that memory and for great story telling and art.

Excellent job yet again PQ77. Well done!

Thanks, Team Tracy! And an extra thanks to PQ for an extra special commemoration! Not only is Team Tracy treating us to the better-than-best, so is PQ!

Excellent poems and comments today. Thanks for posting everyone._____________A friend’s grandson was found dead yesterday morning. The cause of death is not known at this time. He was 1 year old. Prayers will be greatly appreciated. God bless all of you. _____________Be happy and well everyone.

Can’t wait to see what happens tomorrow!The lead will fly, and who will die?(Yikes! I’ve got to stop reading those poems!)--Happy fourth anniversary to Mike, Joe, Shelley, Shane and Jim!

Nice set-up for the Sunday panel!

@Anyface

In the panel you posted, I notice that Vitamin is bleeding from the head. From which arc is this panel taken?

Love your verse, NG!

Thanks to Team Tracy for four years of fun and adventure. It has been a great ride and I look forward to more of the good stuff. This is an especially fine Saturday strip. Sam and Tracy frame the works in the car and at the warehouse. The tension mounts. Kandi proves her mettle, as Silver and Sprocket are seen in silhouette. She is no shrinking violet, our little filmmaker. I like Kandi’s spirit as she pulls Flintheart to safety. You go, girl!

The picture of Vitamin posted by AnyFace is from 1944:.“Vitamin first met Dick Tracy when Vitamin became an unwitting accomplice of Flattop. At the time, Vitamin was living in a cheap hotel, aged 50, and was considering a Hollywood comeback. Flattop, fleeing police, ducked into Vitamin’s unlocked room to hide, and Flintheart introduced himself. When Flattop saw that Vitamin had a makeup case, he knocked the actor unconscious and disguised himself. .Tracy and Pat Patton were searching the hotel and found the injured Vitamin. Tracy tracked Flattop to a movie theater, where Vitamin incorrectly identified a young man wearing the wig Flattop had stolen, which nearly got the young man shot by police” (Dick Tracy Wiki)..Thanks to cpalmeresq, AnyFace (no, I knew them), Neil Wick, Gweedo, Night-Gaunt49, coldsooner, VistaBill, ave09 (good one!), Morrow, Ray Toler (cheers!), the too late song, JPuzzleWhiz and Chris Sherlock for the kind words. Very much appreciated!.Don Ameche was wonderful in Things Change (1988). The film, written by David Mamet and Shel Silverstein, was partly filmed here in Chicago.

To Team Tracy…

Sunday shootout apparently on the way! Looks like we’re about to see an end to the Nitrates.

I hope that TEAM TRACY especially Misters Staton / Curtis will acknowledge what Pequod77 has done. I am sure his poems have helped with the large number of good comments. This story and art are so good and today’s segment is an exciting cliffhanger!

Best ever, fans….Let’s Go Tracy..

Re avenger09

Leaving those Sour perspectives - under the Bridge, behind . . .Our Critic takes an approach, one that’s cultured, more refinedNo observations of textual grime, or finger pointing at any artistic ‘Slime’Just a “liberated” new Avenger09, enraptured, enriching COMMENT, and all in pleasing healthy Rhyme !

It’s been a long, long time . . . ‘a coming’ Matt . . .But whatever it ever was, I’m glad you’re ‘freed’ from That !

Happy PI Day, guys!

HAPPY PI DAY!!! - BBBBIIIIIIGGGGG BLOWOUT TOMORROW!!!

Captain Easy was earlier called Wash Tubbs.

Bully, Pequod77! Good show!

Prayers, Starman1948. There are no words adequate….

And, as for the symmetrically beautiful Tracy today, just this: Sunday, Bloody Sunday!

Many of the connections between Sherlock Holmes and Dick Tracy that you mentioned are included in the opening essay written by Ellery Queen for the book Celebrated Cases of Dick Tracy which was published in the early 70s. I learned a lot from that introduction.

In retrospect, looking at the timing, it seems Mike and Joe were thinking, “Hey, we’re coming up on our anniversary, let’s do something special, like kill off a villain and have a bunch of different plots collide!”

Story’s been building to this since the introduction of Kandikane Lane towards the beginning of the Gruesome arc …

Which flowed through the reintroduction of Silver and Sprocket with their plot to swindle Agate Aggie, as well as the birth of Dick Tracy III …

Which pushed Mrs. Flattop over the edge as she turned on both Blowtop and The Nitrates, only to learn “Crime Does Not Pay” the Old-Fashioned 70-Pound Film Canister way …

Which led to a hasty retreat by Silver and Sprocket, whose scam looped back around to Kandi and Vitamin as the level of Gouldian violence escalated …

… with Sam and Dick Tracy hot on their Wonder Car’s trail, headed towards a “Bang-Up” Finale.

WHEW!

And to think, at one point we thought these story threads mightn’t tie together into a neat-and-tidy bow.

Shows how much we know.

And why Mike and Joe are THE BEST!

Sunday promises to be a blockbuster….. unless they cut to Barney Google again.

One of the things that Don Ameche did that is less well known is his work on “The Chase & Sanborn Hour,” more generally known as “The Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy Show.” He was the show’s announcer and acted in the ocmedy sketches, which meant that he – along with Bergen and orchestra leader Ray Noble – were the usual targets of Charlie’s barbs. When Don Ameche left the “Chase & Sanborn Hour” he was replaced by brother Jim as the show’s announcer. In another coincidence, Jim Ameche appeared as Alexander Graham Bell in the 1957 movie “The Story of Mankind,” 18 years after Don Ameche played Bell in “The Story of Alexander Graham Bell” (and yes, the casting was very deliberate).

@avenger09, Night-Gaunt49, Chris Sherlock, Gweedo and Vista Bill: thank you my friends. God Bless You All.

“What’s in a Name?”

Been thinking for awhile about the volatility of old Nitrate Film Stock …

Why shouldn’t Silver and Sprocket go out with a Bang?

Will Mike & Joe win a third Harvey Award in a row?

Someone a day or so back had listed the specific stories eligible for review, and while perhaps not the team’s strongest showing, the sheer audacity (… on multiple levels) of the Tracy/Annie Crossover Event just might put ’em over the top one more time.

Hardly the O.K. Corral when only one side has weapons.

Silver has a pistol in his hand, though that’s still one-sided because both the police probably have guns, though we can only see one.

Haapy Anniversary,Joe, Mike, Shelly, Shane, and Jim.. I hope you have an idea of how much we appreciate all that you do!

he is going to get shot.

Four years ago this very day, Dick Tracy resurrected

Rejuvenated and renewed, vast differences detected.

Thrill to see comic history, a classic back in style

Lost track of Tracy years ago, Woo Gosh! It’d been a while.

Now in the land of Tracyville, stories captivating

Flaky Biscuits made some dough; Mr. Crime oscillating.

Shared his deep dark secret with Hot Rize’s sister, Blaze

Team Tracy so impressive, sets high the bar they raise.

Kadaver such a ghoulish fiend, his side-kick the hot Rikki

Blackjack such a Tracy fan, thus to harm him proves most tricky.

Phishface such a sushi fan, well known to feed his face

Sweatbox plain despicable, earned death for his disgrace.

The Jumbler had a little dog, Crypto the loyal Scottie

Venus, Queen of Blackhearts, a voluptuous, gorgeous hottie.

Thunderchild, a wrestler wild, yet no match for the Mole

Little Princess, lost and found, Daddy Warbucks’ life now whole.

Gruesome, he took to the stage, his debut brought down the house

Apollo’s back from Europe, coiffed and tanned, yet still a louse.

Méliès deadly and debonair. Cross him, tremble and cower

Angus such a violent foe, ‘til shot dead from the tower.

The Nitrates love the movies, they make films to scam old fools

Stiletta lived for her revenge, guided by misguided rules.

Ghote and Sail did not prevail nor know what they had wrought

Experiments with DNA, the consequences fraught.

Few would have seen it coming: inexorable genetic drift

Mysta’s rebirth ongoing, a supremely miraculous gift.

Honeymoon, her closest friend, dreams of fighting crime

Lizz deduces and kicks tail, her beauty so sublime.

Gravel Gertie and B.O. increase the Plenty brood

Untamable this offspring: demonic Attitude.

To read J. Straightedge Trustworthy I would sail the seven seas

My favorite tells of one bad pooch: infamous 88 Fleas.

Look to see Flintheart in love, whistling a happy tune

Feet just barely touch the ground, for Kandi he doth swoon.

Sam and Tracy on the case, fighting crime provides rewards

Team Tracy honored by their peers with two Harvey Awards.

My hat’s off to Team Tracy, for all these things and more

We loyal fans now clap our hands, voice approval with a roar.