So, I think we now have the main villain of the current story. His name is of course a reference to the famous shoe designer, Jimmy Choo (周仰杰) the Malaysian designer out of the UK, whose handmade designer shoes typically sell in a price range of $600 to $3600 a pair. I don’t want to put a sales link on here for fear of being banned for spam but you can find those shoes at and number of high-end retailers.
Given that a billion-dollar train is involved, I wouldn’t be surprised if the name isn’t also a reference to “choo-choo” the childish word for a train.
There lovely shoes (covered in crystal) sell for US$3150 a pair shipped to the US in US dollars. The prices I mentioned before included duty for shipping to Canada (where I am) and were in Canadian dollars. Of course, this is just an interesting side note, I’m sure Mr. Choo Shoos probably doesn’t have any connection to shoes besides the pun in his name.
The depiction of the train on the front cover of that newspaper is a very accurate rendering of today’s modern Diesel locomotives. It could be an SD70ACe – or at least a “generic” blending of several of today’s most used models. The point I’m making is, it’s quite a bit different than the locomotive that plowed into Sweatbox; that looked nothing like real locomotives, but was sort of a cross between Diesels and a steam engine of old. Since I am a “railfan”, this looks like it could be an especially fun story.Thanks to Neil Wick for the info on the real-life Jimmy Choo – I wouldn’t have known what Mike was driving at without your input, unless it had occurred to me to Google it, but I didn’t know there was somebody by that name in real life.
@Ken in Ohio: a good observation. I used to design and build model railroad layouts. N Scale only. Although I have HO and N trains and accessories. Since I now live in an apartment I don’t have space for a layout.
I’m really losing focus on this current story with so many open ended plot threads. I typically enjoy multiple plots, but I have no clue how these character appearances relate to one another. I’m assuming the package Blaze delivered to Notta is somehow connected to our new character, Jimmy Choo Shooz. We still don’t know where Johnny is. The appearance of Mr. Bigg seems to be the igniting match (see what I did there?) that establishes Blaze’s current position in the story. It’s more obvious where the Nitrates’ story ends than where the current story begins to me.
Jimmy Choo Shooz is a new character who may or may not have a connection with the Blackhearts. They do seem to have fingers in many pies. I’d guess that the “Billion Dollar Limited” is headed toward Tracytown. I was disappointed to see that Willy007’s fantastic post on Notta’s back story—featuring excellent examples of Gould’s art—disappeared yesterday. What a shame. An exceptionally thoughtful post.
Really like this new bad guy. Overweight, balding, glasses – he looks like a real person, and he’s built like a guy who worked his way up from flunky to management.
GoComics may have arbitrarily removed Willy’s wonderful post due to its vast length.-———————-I’m wondering if the moderator’s objection wasn’t the length, but all the art clips.
Willy’s post may have been removed for the subject matter. While off-strip we know of Blaze’s profession because of postings by Mike on other venues but this has never been explicitly stated in the strip. The same can be true concerning the present incarnation of Notta.
While I consider Dick Tracy to be an adult-oriented comic strip and I don’t think that there are any children on this board, There is a long-time public perception that comic strips are for kids. I mean what a horrible thing if children happened (after paging through all of the news stories concerning rape, terror, injustice, violence, murder, etc.) to see something in a crime strip that might suggest something controversial.
Personally, I found nothing offensive in Willy’s post and saw no comments suggesting that anyone was upset by his analysis. If the moderator who deleted the post had any gumption or honesty, he would post his reasons (personal?) for the deletion rather than attempting to restrict respectful and analytic discussion in a free society.
“When you have more good stuff like that, DEFINITELY !!! That was good work, Dude ! ”Thanks, Gweedo! I appreciate the support. I’m just going to assume it was the extreme length of the post, or else the too-large graphics. I’ll take care of both of those issues in the repost (multiple smaller posts) and we’ll go from there.
@Willy007: I too did not find anything objectionable in your post. It contained IMO important information regarding Notta. I’m glad that you are going to repost it. Additionally, maybe you could add it to Wikipedia, if it is not yet available there. Be well and prosperous my friend.
Last Saturday, Pequod77 posted an excellent summary of Notta’s history, and explained why he thinks she is an intriguing and in many ways sympathetic character. I agreed with his conclusion, and it got me to thinking, so I decided to put together my own thoughts on the subject. What started as a few paragraphs evolved into something much more detailed than originally planned, so I decided to wait and post everything later. And now finally, the finished project is found in the posts right after this one (revised, expanded, and updated).I realize we’ve been talking about Notta for a week now, but since she’s apparently going to be an important character going forward (not only this summer but even beyond that, from what I understand), and also since many fans aren’t too familiar with her back story, I figure if nothing else, the summary and analysis provided below (complete with a number of scenes from past strips) will cast light on Notta’s past, especially in view of her encounter last week with Blaze. I’ve included accompanying scenes from Notta’s original 1967 story, hopefully to show that my analysis is accurate, and that everything I say was as obvious and evident in 1967 as it is now. We’ve been talking about Blaze’s profession for a week as it relates to her encounter with Notta, and the following posts reviewing the Dick Tracy canon fit right in with that ongoing discussion. I wrote all this because the majority of the people who contribute here are devoted Tracy fans who generally love details about Tracy characters and seem to be responsible and respectful in their conversations. (It’s so much better here than it used to be!) My goal here is to advance our understanding of Notta’s history, which will hopefully whet our appetite for her future appearances and ultimately make them more enjoyable. That said, I’m a serious detail person, and when I start telling a story, I sometimes don’t know when to quit. :) So if the below posts annoy you in any way, just skip over them, and my apologies for wasting your bandwidth. For others, I am interested in hearing your feedback. If you agree with anything I’ve written, great, let’s talk about it. If you disagree with anything I’ve written, great, let’s talk about it. :) I’m always game for friendly discussion. :) Thanks.
This is a review of Notta Fallar’s history and analysis of her character, which I hope will be helpful to those of you who are unfamiliar with her back story. See my previous post for more information.Notta Fallar grew up in a rough family. Her father killed a judge and died in prison. Her mother died at Purdy’s birth, only a year after Notta was born. Her older brother was shot to death in a gang war. Notta was left to raise her brothers herself — which means in some ways she is more of a mother to Purdy than a sister.Given Notta’s upbringing and environment, with no one around to provide moral guidance, it’s not hard to understand why she got caught up in a life of crime. She committed petty thefts in her early years (shoplifting), and later got involved in stickups. She married George Chin Chillar at age 16 and was in her early 20’s when she and George stole a Space Coupe in June 1967. (Notta is in my judgment still a young woman in the Tracyverse reckoning of years, though obviously she has endured many hard experiences).
Notta’s weapons are seduction (bedazzled Piggy, which blinded him to her betrayal)……and treachery (got Bribery drunk to kill him). She definitely knows how to use sex to gain an advantage over people, which is why we probably shouldn’t draw any firm conclusions about her sexual preferences based on her conduct with Blaze.
What makes Notta especially interesting and complex are the glimpses we’ve been given of her better side, such as when she unselfishly raised her brothers, helped Tracy foil Piggy, and later expressed admiration and thankfulness to Moon Maid for rescuing her. Granted, it was pure desperation that led Notta to turn to the police, but after she and her husband made that commitment, the readers had further reason to sympathize with the couple, since for the last month of the story they played the role of “the good guys.”
The way Piggy abused Notta gained her a lot of sympathy with the readers, too. Granted she had done bad things herself, but that aside, how could we not feel sorry for a woman being tortured by a gang of cruel and violent men, especially after she pleaded with her husband not to land on Piggy’s farm? Notta was often shown weeping after suffering abuse from her captors, which had a way of deepening reader sympathy. (Who doesn’t feel sorry for a crying woman?) The affectionate nicknames assigned to Notta — doll, baby, love, housemother — also softened the reader’s attitude toward her, encouraging additional sympathy.
Notta’s sexy costume and curves made her a believable seductress, and deepened the emotional connection with the fans. It’s no wonder she became so popular. Indeed, the episode at Piggy’s farm was a very “adult” story. It’s hard to imagine Gould writing a more sophisticated tale, or at least one that would be suitable for the funny pages.That Piggy and Notta were role-playing — he as dominator and she as submissive — was quite evident, though it was handled discreetly. It was 1967, after all! Piggy nearly always wore a hat (even while in bed) and was seen reading violent magazines. His relationship with Notta started with aggressive flirtations, which were vigorously reciprocated by Notta. Piggy soon “promoted” her, and afterward she began to spend more time working in the house serving her new master than in the stables with her husband. Increasingly, Piggy began to obsess over Notta, and invented excuses for her to spend her evenings with him as well.
Piggy was alternately abusive and tender with Notta, who as time passed was referred to less and less as Chin Chillar’s wife, and more and more as Piggy’s “little housemother” (the fantasy title and role he had assigned to her). Piggy and his men almost constantly pointed guns (usually suggestively) at Notta whenever she was seen, and over the months she was seen being held against her will, tied up, and forcibly shaved. Piggy would often toy with his housemother, promising her freedom from the stables (where she and her husband were forced to sleep), only to later shove a pitchfork in her face and demand that she return to the stables. Obviously, I am in no way whatsoever advocating such cruel treatment of women. What Piggy and his men did to Notta was unspeakably horrible. I’m only drawing attention to what is evident in Notta’s back story, to establish her history and help us understand why she is the way she is.As the story began to reach its climax, Notta was seen doffing her costume and dancing naked (albeit in silhouette), which had a powerful visceral effect on the readers. A pointed reminder that Gould was using Notta to seduce the fans as much as Piggy!
In Piggy’s fantasy world, Notta belonged to him, and was there to be physically dominated by him. She played along, always addressing her master as “Sir” and “Mr. Piggy,” and submitting to his desires (e.g., late night bedroom encounters; being suspended by the waist and hung from the ceiling to serve him meals). The one time she resisted Piggy was when he wanted to shave off her beard, but he laughed her off and ordered his men to proceed. However, when she cried out, he stopped them because he didn’t want to hurt his housemother – only to laugh again at her because of the botched shave! (More evidence of Piggy flipping back and forth between tenderness and abusiveness – he was a seriously bipolar dude.) Bottom line, it seems no coincidence that Notta has now been introduced to Blaze the dominatrix. Indeed, it is entirely in keeping with Notta’s history to get mixed up in that type of activity.
Piggy was so caught up in his fantasy with Notta, that he became blind to her treachery until it was too late – this despite his transistor radio’s frequent warnings that “Love (aka Notta) is a Trojan Horse!” (Piggy’s transistor was used by Gould as an extremely clever storytelling device. The words coming out of the radio sometimes signaled Piggy’s subconscious thoughts toward Notta, and at other times served as his conscience, warning Piggy of the serious danger Notta posed to his criminal operation.) Even after Piggy discovered that “his housemother” had betrayed him to the police, he seemed to have trouble waking up from his fantasy and understanding what had happened. His henchman had to go to some trouble to bring him out of his fog, and even afterward, Piggy bounced back and forth between playfulness with Notta and the hard reality that she had been helping the police spy out his operation.
Toward the end of Piggy’s story, shortly before the police invaded his farm, the gangster was shown on two different occasions lying at Notta’s feet, prostrate before her. It seems Gould intended these as ironic visual signals, ways of communicating to the readers that even though Piggy saw himself as master, the reality was that Notta had mastered him. After weeks of intense, late-night encounters, the little housemother had so captivated Piggy’s mind and heart that he was no long able eat or sleep, and was completely oblivious to her treachery – even while the transistor radio continued to implore Piggy that she was a “Trojan horse.” Piggy’s burgeoning obsession with Notta had made him careless and distracted, and this is what brought down his empire.
It seems Notta now works with (or for) the Blackhearts, while simultaneously serving as the primary caretaker for Purdy. This is right in keeping with Notta’s history. We understand she is a criminal, but seeing her softer side makes her a person fans can like and admire, at least on some level. Great stroke. This is one of the reasons Walter White of “Breaking Bad” was such a huge success — seeing how he cared for his family, and how he became a father figure for Jesse (though granted, for his own selfish purposes). The best villains are the ones that are complex, emotionally compelling, sympathetic, and not two dimensional, and in this respect Notta stands out as a truly complicated and exciting character. It doesn’t hurt, either, that she has the potential to be visually exciting as well.I’ve read comments this past week mocking Notta as twisted, sleazy, creepy, and all that. To the degree she is those things, I hope this history lesson demonstrates that there are reasons why she is that way. Notta is an abused woman. In her relatively brief life, she has been repeatedly traumatized in ways the average person can only imagine. She was criminally neglected as a child, got married to a murderous thug at age 16, saw that thug get shot and killed in front of her eyes, was horribly mistreated and abused by Piggy and his men over a period of months, was sent to jail, and mourned terribly when she discovered her only surviving relative, Purdy, had been killed, only to find out later that Purdy is alive after all, but in a vegetative state, and that she was thereafter responsible to be his primary caretaker, a calling she has obviously embraced.
Notta is of course responsible for her crimes, and she’s different in many ways, no doubt. But we understand now that she has lived a horribly sad and lonely life, has lost her family and everyone else she has ever loved, and has suffered terribly at the hands of cruel and angry men. She uses her body to get what she wants, but we also understand that there is some good in her, as evident when she raised her brothers, when she helped the police, and has now dedicated herself to caring for her brother (tons of hard, unpleasant, and humiliating work involved in that process, for people who are unaware – it is not an easy life). It’s fine if people want to hate Notta, and I can understand that. But putting ourselves in her shoes, it’s hard not to feel some pity for her, and even to root for her to someday redeem herself – like we rooted for Walter White. That redemption may never come, or maybe it will, who knows. She has turned to the police for help before, and perhaps in the end, in her desperation, we will see her do that again. She helped bring down Piggy’s criminal empire, and who knows? Perhaps she will somehow do the same to the Blackhearts’ organization. I’m glad Mike Curtis has recognized Notta as a character worth bringing back. Gould kept her before his readers for 13 months (June 1967 through July 1968), developing a complex back story as he took her through an emotional roller coaster, with Tracy fans along for the ride. Mike has now reintroduced her to us and has begun building on Gould’s foundation, signaling to us very early in Notta’s story that he intends to explore all sides of this sexy, complicated, fascinating, and yes, sympathetic person. I can’t wait to see where he takes us.Like Pequod77 often says, it’s a great time to be a Tracy fan!
One more thing: I figured out how to shrink the accompanying graphics of Notta so they would fit in the columns of the above posts. If you want to see/save the higher res versions of those graphics, do the following:1. Right click on the pic and open in a new tab (this will open up the smaller version).2. In the new tab with the pic, you’ll need to change the web address.3. In the web address of the pic, look for the section of the address ending in q904. Delete all numbers and letters that appear before q90 in that section of the address. For example, if the section of the address reads as 350×903q90 , delete only the 350×903 and leave the q90. Leave everything else in the web address the same.5. Example:original address (the only section to be edited is in bold):https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/402×526q90/538/ahKcGC.jpgedited address (higher res version):https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/q90/538/ahKcGC.jpg6. Once you have edited the web address as above, hit Enter, or refresh the screen. This will open the larger version of the panels.
“As I told Pequod, it might have been removed without someone flagging it. What you might do, if you repost, is present it in daily installments.”Too late, I just reposted it all above! (Updated, revised, and expanded, no less.) I broke it down into shorters posts, as I had mentioned earlier. Hopefully I’ve made the changes needed for it to stay this time. :)
I see Piggy went on the table and have been wondering, since the original post, how they actually did him in. Looks like a hanging.____________________
You are not far from wrong. The Chin Chillars had planned to torture Piggy before killing him in retaliation for the torture they had received. They tied a rope to his neck and tried to use it to hoist him onto a table (Piggy was passed out drunk at the time). Tracy and Sam arrived just at that moment and a gunfight broke out. George Chin Chillar was killed by a gunshot fired through the door. It was later learned that Piggy had been strangled as George tried to pull his bloated body onto the table using the rope tied around his neck.
“I see Piggy went on the table and have been wondering, since the original post, how they actually did him in. Looks like a hanging. I just feel there is a missing strip or two in there.”Yeah, I guess didn’t tell enough of the story on that one.In a nutshell, George (Notta’s husband) swore revenge on Piggy while he and Notta were still on Piggy’s farm, due to the way Piggy had humilated Notta (especially because of the botched shave). After the police invaded Piggy’s farm, the Chin Chillars were taken into custody and later released on bail. Piggy was also released on bail as the police and prosecutors continued to build their case against him. Piggy’s plot for revenge against Moon Maid turned into a giant snafu, with Pollyanna, Piggy’s attorney, and Piggy’s last remaining henchman going up in flames due to a laser gun that accidentally went off. Piggy hit the skids after that, being penniless, and he began bumming around the city. The Chin Chillars, on the other hand, were searching for Piggy, intent on getting their revenge. They finally caught up with Piggy, when the latters was roaring drunk. With some effort, the Chin Chillars were able to drag him back to their apartment. Their plan was apparently to torture Piggy first, then kill him. George wanted Piggy on a table to begin his torture, but since Piggy was so heavy, the only way he could figure out how to hoist him up was by tying the rope around his neck and using it to pull him up on the table. Piggy died by accident in the process, because just as the couple got him up on the table (with the rope still tied tightly around his neck), Tracy and Sam showed up at their apartment. George panicked and started firing his gun through the door at Tracy and Sam. The latter fired back through the door, then kicked it in to find George mortally wounded, and Notta (uninjured) sobbing over him. Piggy had apparently suffocated in the meantime from the rope around his neck — but again, George’s original intent was to get him on the table to torture him, not to hang him or strangle him (or at least not right away). Notta was then taken into custody. She got her revenge against Piggy, but lost her husband and her freedom in the process.
The Piggy story was long and in two parts. The first part included the torture of the Chin Chillars. This section of the story was ended by a covert raid on Piggy’s farm by Tracy, Junior, and Moon Maid (who zapped Piggy while he slept). Piggy and the Chin Chillars (who by this time had been secretly working with Tracy) were all apprehended but quickly received bail.
The second part of the arc involved Piggy’s attempt to get revenge on Moon Maid by hiring the model and MM lookalike Pollyanna to impersonate her.
Pollyanna was to kill MM using a Moon laser weapon but tripped while getting into a cab and the weapon detonated killing her, several other people, and leaving a crater in the streets of Tracy’s city.
Following this setback, Piggy went totally on the skids, laying drunk every night and passing out in the street. This is where George and Notta found him (after a search) and brought him back to their apartment for torture and death. The rest has been explained.
“On the right click I am not getting the “Open In a New Tab” option that I usually get. I’m guessing something is missing in the coding. I can open it directly but then it does so right on this page.”Gweedo, what browser are you using?The instructions I provided above are for Chrome — if you right click on the image, it should give you the option to open that image in a new tab. If that’s not working for some reason, right click and try the Copy image URL option. You can then paste that link in a new tab, open it (which will be the lower res version), then follow the instructions I gave above.If you’re using Firefox, right click on the image and select Copy Image Location. Open a new tab and paste the link in there, open it up (the lower res version), then continue following my above instructions.In IE, right click, select copy, then open in a new browser, copy the link, and continue with the instructions.Hopefully you have one of those browsers?
Alright! A new bad guy for Dick Tracy. I wonder what new traits will have. I thought Sprocket Nitrate was one of unique ones around. What does Ms. Sprocket do when she needs to go outside in weather that’s snowing and freezing rain?
Jimmy Choo Shooz knew the dealA billion dollars his to stealDriven by a need to proveThat little Jimmy found his groveForever haunted by his pastShort, stubby and blind as a batA promise made to prove them wrongHow dare they say he’d never belongRespect is his he earned it wellHis lips are zipped he’ll never tellThe method used to stay aheadJust find a chump who’s almost deadIn desperation secrets spillA sacrifice to pay the billJimmys climb to top of the heapAccomplished through those dug in too deep.
.Since we’ll never get a background story on JCS I went ahead and made up my own.
Jimmy Choo Shooz knew the dealA billion dollars his to stealDriven by a need to proveThat little Jimmy found his grooveForever haunted by his pastShort, stubby and blind as a batA promise made to prove them wrongHow dare they say he’d never belongRespect is his he earned it wellHis lips are zipped he’ll never tellThe method used to stay aheadJust find a chump who’s almost deadIn desperation secrets spillA sacrifice to pay the billJimmys climb to top of the heapAccomplished through those dug in too deep.
.Since we’ll never get a background story on JCS I went ahead and made up my own.
I realized after posting the Notta Chronicles that I barely mentioned what is probably the most memorable and significant part of Notta’s story — the chase in space, the fate of the $100,000, and how the Chin Chillars found their way to Piggy’s farm. The following posts are intended to fill in that gap.
The Chin Chillars worked for Diet Smith on the moon, and Notta’s husband was an experienced Space Coupe pilot. From Earth, Mr. Bribery (who was incarcerated at a state prison) managed to contact the couple with a scheme to steal a Space Coupe, spring him from prison, and salvage $100,000 that was orbiting the Earth (the money was accidentally ejected from a Space Coupe the year before). Bribery had built a wire “bird cage” in the prison workshop, not ultimately to catch birds, but to attach to the stolen Space Coupe, which would then be used to retrieve the $100,000. Notta and her husband agreed to Bribery’s plan.
On the moon, the Chin Chillars stole a police Space Coupe and flew it to the state prison where Mr. Bribery was incarcerated. Bribery bribed the corrupt prison warden, who in turn allowed Bribery late-night access to the prison carpenter shop roof where the “bird cage” was stored. At midnight, Notta and her husband rendezvoused with Bribery, landing the stolen Space Coupe on the carpenter shop roof. The trio quickly attached the wire cage to the front of the Coupe.
With the wire “bird cage” now attached to the Space Coupe and Bribery on board, the trio of felons promptly took off from the carpenter shop roof and returned to the location of the orbiting money. After Notta’s husband carefully gathered all the loot (save one bill) into the wire bird cage, the cage snapped shut, and the $100,000 was theirs!
Intent on having the $100,000 all to themselves, Notta and her husband got Mr. Bribery very drunk with champagne they had brought from the moon. They maneuvered Bribery into the Space Coupe’s ejection tube and flew back to the state prison. After Notta’s husband positioned the Coupe high above the prison’s carpenter shop, Notta opened the ejection tube, sending Mr. Bribery hurtling to his death. Bribery crashed through the carpenter shop roof and was not found until the next morning. Having ridded themselves of Mr. Bribery, the couple quickly escaped in the Space Coupe. The $100,000 was now all theirs.
The Chin Chillars were exhilarated by their success. As they gloated, they revealed that they dressed as they did as part of an escapist fantasy, a wish that they had been born in the “good old days,” aka the “gay 90’s,” when women wore corsets like Notta’s. Fantasy was Notta’s reality, in fact, because she was “convinced” that to dress in a corset and high heel boots was “conformity,” and to shave and wear dresses was to be “different.” The couple talked about flying to Normandy and shaving off their beards, because “with money, who needs a beard?” These were heady times for the Chin Chillars, or rather heady moments, because Dick Tracy was about to crash their party.
Tracy and Diet had secured another Space Coupe and were searching for the stolen machine. They stumbled upon the Chin Chillars shortly after the couple returned Mr. Bribery to the state prison. Notta looked up in the scope and saw they were being pursued!Notta and her husband were displeased that Tracy and Diet were now following them, but they initially saw it only as an annoyance since Tracy had no official jurisdiction in space.Notta increasingly took the spotlight at this point in the story. Her husband was often in view, though usually in the background, while she tended to dominate most scenes. Her sexy appearance undoubtedly had much to do with this. Gould said later that he originally planned to end the Chin Chillars’ story after the chase in space — after about six weeks of the strip — but once positive fan feedback began rolling in, he extended their adventure to five months and beyond (in Notta’s case, to thirteen months).This also marked the point in the story when Notta’s husband began calling her “doll” and “baby” (usually “doll,” but he used both). Notta reciprocated by calling her husband “baby.” The use of these affectionate nicknames gradually increased, which tended to soften the reader’s attitude toward the Chin Chillars on a subconscious level. Especially toward Notta, for Gould realized many fans were already sweet on her, and the use of sweet nicknames fueled such thoughts even more.
The problem for the Chin Chillars was that Tracy and Diet had a large supply of food and water on their Space Coupe, while the bearded couple had only a thermos half full of water on theirs. Notta and her husband tried various methods to escape their pursuers — trying to outrun them, hiding inside storm clouds, and even attempting to crash the Coupes — to no avail. As the days passed and the water eventually ran out, Notta became increasingly agitated because of her hunger and Tracy’s taunting. She began to slink about the Space Coupe, puffing on her cigarettes, spreading her legs wide, lifting one leg high over her head, whipping out the knife she kept tucked in her bustier, and wishing Tracy was dead.
Coming back to this much later….I recently put together a compilation of scenes from Notta’s story, 120+ panels that are presented sequentially and do a pretty good job of tracking the main events in the story. I thought I would post the compilation here for posterity, given all the other Notta stuff already posted on this page.The compilation is so large that I decided to break it into two parts:Mrs Chin Chillar Pt. 1Mrs Chin Chillar Pt. 2 Open each link in a separate tab or window. After they load, you’ll probably need to click on the image to expand it to full size. Hope you enjoy these scenes.
willy007 over 9 years ago
New story!
cpalmeresq over 9 years ago
Jimmy Choo Shooz…Alright, a new villain! I love the old ones, but Curtis & Staton are great at creating unique characters
cripplious over 9 years ago
I think Mr Bigg is normal jones
Neil Wick over 9 years ago
So, I think we now have the main villain of the current story. His name is of course a reference to the famous shoe designer, Jimmy Choo (周仰杰) the Malaysian designer out of the UK, whose handmade designer shoes typically sell in a price range of $600 to $3600 a pair. I don’t want to put a sales link on here for fear of being banned for spam but you can find those shoes at and number of high-end retailers.
Given that a billion-dollar train is involved, I wouldn’t be surprised if the name isn’t also a reference to “choo-choo” the childish word for a train.
Neil Wick over 9 years ago
There lovely shoes (covered in crystal) sell for US$3150 a pair shipped to the US in US dollars. The prices I mentioned before included duty for shipping to Canada (where I am) and were in Canadian dollars. Of course, this is just an interesting side note, I’m sure Mr. Choo Shoos probably doesn’t have any connection to shoes besides the pun in his name.
Starman1948 over 9 years ago
Good morning Tracy fans. Excellent comments everyone. A new brainy villain! Have a bountiful day my friends. Off to bed shortly.
Ken in Ohio over 9 years ago
The depiction of the train on the front cover of that newspaper is a very accurate rendering of today’s modern Diesel locomotives. It could be an SD70ACe – or at least a “generic” blending of several of today’s most used models. The point I’m making is, it’s quite a bit different than the locomotive that plowed into Sweatbox; that looked nothing like real locomotives, but was sort of a cross between Diesels and a steam engine of old. Since I am a “railfan”, this looks like it could be an especially fun story.Thanks to Neil Wick for the info on the real-life Jimmy Choo – I wouldn’t have known what Mike was driving at without your input, unless it had occurred to me to Google it, but I didn’t know there was somebody by that name in real life.
atomicdog over 9 years ago
“Billion Dollar Limited”… Can’t wait for Superman to show up!
Starman1948 over 9 years ago
@Ken in Ohio: a good observation. I used to design and build model railroad layouts. N Scale only. Although I have HO and N trains and accessories. Since I now live in an apartment I don’t have space for a layout.
Neil Wick over 9 years ago
Those shoes gotta be murder !
I’m sure they are but the fashionable types wear them anyway.AnyFace over 9 years ago
I’m liking this already.
SKJAM! Premium Member over 9 years ago
We can expect to see a railroad detective at some point in the near future!
nighthawk1 over 9 years ago
I’m really losing focus on this current story with so many open ended plot threads. I typically enjoy multiple plots, but I have no clue how these character appearances relate to one another. I’m assuming the package Blaze delivered to Notta is somehow connected to our new character, Jimmy Choo Shooz. We still don’t know where Johnny is. The appearance of Mr. Bigg seems to be the igniting match (see what I did there?) that establishes Blaze’s current position in the story. It’s more obvious where the Nitrates’ story ends than where the current story begins to me.
Patience, grasshopper. Patience…..
Pequod over 9 years ago
Jimmy Choo Shooz is a new character who may or may not have a connection with the Blackhearts. They do seem to have fingers in many pies. I’d guess that the “Billion Dollar Limited” is headed toward Tracytown. I was disappointed to see that Willy007’s fantastic post on Notta’s back story—featuring excellent examples of Gould’s art—disappeared yesterday. What a shame. An exceptionally thoughtful post.
the too late song over 9 years ago
Looks like Staton and Curtis are going with a more conventional locomotive than the hybrid that smacked Sweatbox.
davidf42 over 9 years ago
Morning, Tracyville!
Could Jimmy Choo Shooz be Mr. Bigg?
richsolano over 9 years ago
You know Sprocket would not be a fan of Mr. “Shooz!”
Ray Toler over 9 years ago
What happened to Willy’s post from yesterday?
tsull2121 over 9 years ago
Oh goodie! A “Cho-Choo Story”…PLUS Toad, Mole, and Mrs Specer too.. maybe we’ll get to see Simon Baux!!
johnrussco over 9 years ago
Another homely villain with a not so cool name.
johnrussco over 9 years ago
Cannot wait until our banker gets a hold of this one!
Kip W over 9 years ago
Let’s see his feet.
Can't Sleep over 9 years ago
Really like this new bad guy. Overweight, balding, glasses – he looks like a real person, and he’s built like a guy who worked his way up from flunky to management.
Can't Sleep over 9 years ago
GoComics may have arbitrarily removed Willy’s wonderful post due to its vast length.-———————-I’m wondering if the moderator’s objection wasn’t the length, but all the art clips.
Ray Toler over 9 years ago
Willy’s post may have been removed for the subject matter. While off-strip we know of Blaze’s profession because of postings by Mike on other venues but this has never been explicitly stated in the strip. The same can be true concerning the present incarnation of Notta.
While I consider Dick Tracy to be an adult-oriented comic strip and I don’t think that there are any children on this board, There is a long-time public perception that comic strips are for kids. I mean what a horrible thing if children happened (after paging through all of the news stories concerning rape, terror, injustice, violence, murder, etc.) to see something in a crime strip that might suggest something controversial.
Personally, I found nothing offensive in Willy’s post and saw no comments suggesting that anyone was upset by his analysis. If the moderator who deleted the post had any gumption or honesty, he would post his reasons (personal?) for the deletion rather than attempting to restrict respectful and analytic discussion in a free society.
avenger09 over 9 years ago
Jimmy’s Daddy??? LOL!!!
Vista Bill Raley and Comet™ over 9 years ago
Whew! Late start on a new story with so many comments to read!
Good afternoon guys!
willy007 over 9 years ago
“When you have more good stuff like that, DEFINITELY !!! That was good work, Dude ! ”Thanks, Gweedo! I appreciate the support. I’m just going to assume it was the extreme length of the post, or else the too-large graphics. I’ll take care of both of those issues in the repost (multiple smaller posts) and we’ll go from there.
willy007 over 9 years ago
Good afternoon, VistaBill!
avenger09 over 9 years ago
Got an email awhile ago….“I’m gone!”
.
Got the same email. Not right!
nighthawk1 over 9 years ago
It’s great that Dick Tracy has so many devoted fans. I think this strip gets more comments than any other strip does.
Starman1948 over 9 years ago
@Willy007: I too did not find anything objectionable in your post. It contained IMO important information regarding Notta. I’m glad that you are going to repost it. Additionally, maybe you could add it to Wikipedia, if it is not yet available there. Be well and prosperous my friend.
AnyFace over 9 years ago
I agree with Starman1948, adding the information to Wikipedia is a great idea!
Starman1948 over 9 years ago
@AnyFace: thanks for posting my friend. Be well and prosperous.
phinnmam over 9 years ago
Pardon me boys, is this the Jimmy Choo Shooz?
willy007 over 9 years ago
Last Saturday, Pequod77 posted an excellent summary of Notta’s history, and explained why he thinks she is an intriguing and in many ways sympathetic character. I agreed with his conclusion, and it got me to thinking, so I decided to put together my own thoughts on the subject. What started as a few paragraphs evolved into something much more detailed than originally planned, so I decided to wait and post everything later. And now finally, the finished project is found in the posts right after this one (revised, expanded, and updated).I realize we’ve been talking about Notta for a week now, but since she’s apparently going to be an important character going forward (not only this summer but even beyond that, from what I understand), and also since many fans aren’t too familiar with her back story, I figure if nothing else, the summary and analysis provided below (complete with a number of scenes from past strips) will cast light on Notta’s past, especially in view of her encounter last week with Blaze. I’ve included accompanying scenes from Notta’s original 1967 story, hopefully to show that my analysis is accurate, and that everything I say was as obvious and evident in 1967 as it is now. We’ve been talking about Blaze’s profession for a week as it relates to her encounter with Notta, and the following posts reviewing the Dick Tracy canon fit right in with that ongoing discussion. I wrote all this because the majority of the people who contribute here are devoted Tracy fans who generally love details about Tracy characters and seem to be responsible and respectful in their conversations. (It’s so much better here than it used to be!) My goal here is to advance our understanding of Notta’s history, which will hopefully whet our appetite for her future appearances and ultimately make them more enjoyable. That said, I’m a serious detail person, and when I start telling a story, I sometimes don’t know when to quit. :) So if the below posts annoy you in any way, just skip over them, and my apologies for wasting your bandwidth. For others, I am interested in hearing your feedback. If you agree with anything I’ve written, great, let’s talk about it. If you disagree with anything I’ve written, great, let’s talk about it. :) I’m always game for friendly discussion. :) Thanks.
willy007 over 9 years ago
This is a review of Notta Fallar’s history and analysis of her character, which I hope will be helpful to those of you who are unfamiliar with her back story. See my previous post for more information.Notta Fallar grew up in a rough family. Her father killed a judge and died in prison. Her mother died at Purdy’s birth, only a year after Notta was born. Her older brother was shot to death in a gang war. Notta was left to raise her brothers herself — which means in some ways she is more of a mother to Purdy than a sister.Given Notta’s upbringing and environment, with no one around to provide moral guidance, it’s not hard to understand why she got caught up in a life of crime. She committed petty thefts in her early years (shoplifting), and later got involved in stickups. She married George Chin Chillar at age 16 and was in her early 20’s when she and George stole a Space Coupe in June 1967. (Notta is in my judgment still a young woman in the Tracyverse reckoning of years, though obviously she has endured many hard experiences).
willy007 over 9 years ago
Notta and George eventually graduated to more serious crimes like grand theft (bank robberies and stealing the Space Coupe).
willy007 over 9 years ago
Notta also helped her husband kill Mr. Bribery……and later, Piggy Butcher.
willy007 over 9 years ago
Notta’s weapons are seduction (bedazzled Piggy, which blinded him to her betrayal)……and treachery (got Bribery drunk to kill him). She definitely knows how to use sex to gain an advantage over people, which is why we probably shouldn’t draw any firm conclusions about her sexual preferences based on her conduct with Blaze.
willy007 over 9 years ago
What makes Notta especially interesting and complex are the glimpses we’ve been given of her better side, such as when she unselfishly raised her brothers, helped Tracy foil Piggy, and later expressed admiration and thankfulness to Moon Maid for rescuing her. Granted, it was pure desperation that led Notta to turn to the police, but after she and her husband made that commitment, the readers had further reason to sympathize with the couple, since for the last month of the story they played the role of “the good guys.”
willy007 over 9 years ago
The way Piggy abused Notta gained her a lot of sympathy with the readers, too. Granted she had done bad things herself, but that aside, how could we not feel sorry for a woman being tortured by a gang of cruel and violent men, especially after she pleaded with her husband not to land on Piggy’s farm? Notta was often shown weeping after suffering abuse from her captors, which had a way of deepening reader sympathy. (Who doesn’t feel sorry for a crying woman?) The affectionate nicknames assigned to Notta — doll, baby, love, housemother — also softened the reader’s attitude toward her, encouraging additional sympathy.
willy007 over 9 years ago
Notta’s sexy costume and curves made her a believable seductress, and deepened the emotional connection with the fans. It’s no wonder she became so popular. Indeed, the episode at Piggy’s farm was a very “adult” story. It’s hard to imagine Gould writing a more sophisticated tale, or at least one that would be suitable for the funny pages.That Piggy and Notta were role-playing — he as dominator and she as submissive — was quite evident, though it was handled discreetly. It was 1967, after all! Piggy nearly always wore a hat (even while in bed) and was seen reading violent magazines. His relationship with Notta started with aggressive flirtations, which were vigorously reciprocated by Notta. Piggy soon “promoted” her, and afterward she began to spend more time working in the house serving her new master than in the stables with her husband. Increasingly, Piggy began to obsess over Notta, and invented excuses for her to spend her evenings with him as well.
willy007 over 9 years ago
Piggy was alternately abusive and tender with Notta, who as time passed was referred to less and less as Chin Chillar’s wife, and more and more as Piggy’s “little housemother” (the fantasy title and role he had assigned to her). Piggy and his men almost constantly pointed guns (usually suggestively) at Notta whenever she was seen, and over the months she was seen being held against her will, tied up, and forcibly shaved. Piggy would often toy with his housemother, promising her freedom from the stables (where she and her husband were forced to sleep), only to later shove a pitchfork in her face and demand that she return to the stables. Obviously, I am in no way whatsoever advocating such cruel treatment of women. What Piggy and his men did to Notta was unspeakably horrible. I’m only drawing attention to what is evident in Notta’s back story, to establish her history and help us understand why she is the way she is.As the story began to reach its climax, Notta was seen doffing her costume and dancing naked (albeit in silhouette), which had a powerful visceral effect on the readers. A pointed reminder that Gould was using Notta to seduce the fans as much as Piggy!
willy007 over 9 years ago
In Piggy’s fantasy world, Notta belonged to him, and was there to be physically dominated by him. She played along, always addressing her master as “Sir” and “Mr. Piggy,” and submitting to his desires (e.g., late night bedroom encounters; being suspended by the waist and hung from the ceiling to serve him meals). The one time she resisted Piggy was when he wanted to shave off her beard, but he laughed her off and ordered his men to proceed. However, when she cried out, he stopped them because he didn’t want to hurt his housemother – only to laugh again at her because of the botched shave! (More evidence of Piggy flipping back and forth between tenderness and abusiveness – he was a seriously bipolar dude.) Bottom line, it seems no coincidence that Notta has now been introduced to Blaze the dominatrix. Indeed, it is entirely in keeping with Notta’s history to get mixed up in that type of activity.
willy007 over 9 years ago
Piggy was so caught up in his fantasy with Notta, that he became blind to her treachery until it was too late – this despite his transistor radio’s frequent warnings that “Love (aka Notta) is a Trojan Horse!” (Piggy’s transistor was used by Gould as an extremely clever storytelling device. The words coming out of the radio sometimes signaled Piggy’s subconscious thoughts toward Notta, and at other times served as his conscience, warning Piggy of the serious danger Notta posed to his criminal operation.) Even after Piggy discovered that “his housemother” had betrayed him to the police, he seemed to have trouble waking up from his fantasy and understanding what had happened. His henchman had to go to some trouble to bring him out of his fog, and even afterward, Piggy bounced back and forth between playfulness with Notta and the hard reality that she had been helping the police spy out his operation.
willy007 over 9 years ago
Toward the end of Piggy’s story, shortly before the police invaded his farm, the gangster was shown on two different occasions lying at Notta’s feet, prostrate before her. It seems Gould intended these as ironic visual signals, ways of communicating to the readers that even though Piggy saw himself as master, the reality was that Notta had mastered him. After weeks of intense, late-night encounters, the little housemother had so captivated Piggy’s mind and heart that he was no long able eat or sleep, and was completely oblivious to her treachery – even while the transistor radio continued to implore Piggy that she was a “Trojan horse.” Piggy’s burgeoning obsession with Notta had made him careless and distracted, and this is what brought down his empire.
willy007 over 9 years ago
It seems Notta now works with (or for) the Blackhearts, while simultaneously serving as the primary caretaker for Purdy. This is right in keeping with Notta’s history. We understand she is a criminal, but seeing her softer side makes her a person fans can like and admire, at least on some level. Great stroke. This is one of the reasons Walter White of “Breaking Bad” was such a huge success — seeing how he cared for his family, and how he became a father figure for Jesse (though granted, for his own selfish purposes). The best villains are the ones that are complex, emotionally compelling, sympathetic, and not two dimensional, and in this respect Notta stands out as a truly complicated and exciting character. It doesn’t hurt, either, that she has the potential to be visually exciting as well.I’ve read comments this past week mocking Notta as twisted, sleazy, creepy, and all that. To the degree she is those things, I hope this history lesson demonstrates that there are reasons why she is that way. Notta is an abused woman. In her relatively brief life, she has been repeatedly traumatized in ways the average person can only imagine. She was criminally neglected as a child, got married to a murderous thug at age 16, saw that thug get shot and killed in front of her eyes, was horribly mistreated and abused by Piggy and his men over a period of months, was sent to jail, and mourned terribly when she discovered her only surviving relative, Purdy, had been killed, only to find out later that Purdy is alive after all, but in a vegetative state, and that she was thereafter responsible to be his primary caretaker, a calling she has obviously embraced.
willy007 over 9 years ago
Notta is of course responsible for her crimes, and she’s different in many ways, no doubt. But we understand now that she has lived a horribly sad and lonely life, has lost her family and everyone else she has ever loved, and has suffered terribly at the hands of cruel and angry men. She uses her body to get what she wants, but we also understand that there is some good in her, as evident when she raised her brothers, when she helped the police, and has now dedicated herself to caring for her brother (tons of hard, unpleasant, and humiliating work involved in that process, for people who are unaware – it is not an easy life). It’s fine if people want to hate Notta, and I can understand that. But putting ourselves in her shoes, it’s hard not to feel some pity for her, and even to root for her to someday redeem herself – like we rooted for Walter White. That redemption may never come, or maybe it will, who knows. She has turned to the police for help before, and perhaps in the end, in her desperation, we will see her do that again. She helped bring down Piggy’s criminal empire, and who knows? Perhaps she will somehow do the same to the Blackhearts’ organization. I’m glad Mike Curtis has recognized Notta as a character worth bringing back. Gould kept her before his readers for 13 months (June 1967 through July 1968), developing a complex back story as he took her through an emotional roller coaster, with Tracy fans along for the ride. Mike has now reintroduced her to us and has begun building on Gould’s foundation, signaling to us very early in Notta’s story that he intends to explore all sides of this sexy, complicated, fascinating, and yes, sympathetic person. I can’t wait to see where he takes us.Like Pequod77 often says, it’s a great time to be a Tracy fan!
willy007 over 9 years ago
One more thing: I figured out how to shrink the accompanying graphics of Notta so they would fit in the columns of the above posts. If you want to see/save the higher res versions of those graphics, do the following:1. Right click on the pic and open in a new tab (this will open up the smaller version).2. In the new tab with the pic, you’ll need to change the web address.3. In the web address of the pic, look for the section of the address ending in q904. Delete all numbers and letters that appear before q90 in that section of the address. For example, if the section of the address reads as 350×903q90 , delete only the 350×903 and leave the q90. Leave everything else in the web address the same.5. Example:original address (the only section to be edited is in bold):https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/402×526q90/538/ahKcGC.jpgedited address (higher res version):https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/q90/538/ahKcGC.jpg6. Once you have edited the web address as above, hit Enter, or refresh the screen. This will open the larger version of the panels.
Starman1948 over 9 years ago
@Willy007: much thanks for reposting. I hope you have saved a copy for future reference. Have a blessed night my friend.
willy007 over 9 years ago
“As I told Pequod, it might have been removed without someone flagging it. What you might do, if you repost, is present it in daily installments.”Too late, I just reposted it all above! (Updated, revised, and expanded, no less.) I broke it down into shorters posts, as I had mentioned earlier. Hopefully I’ve made the changes needed for it to stay this time. :)
AnyFace over 9 years ago
Superb work, Willy! Thanks for reposting.
Ray Toler over 9 years ago
I see Piggy went on the table and have been wondering, since the original post, how they actually did him in. Looks like a hanging.____________________
You are not far from wrong. The Chin Chillars had planned to torture Piggy before killing him in retaliation for the torture they had received. They tied a rope to his neck and tried to use it to hoist him onto a table (Piggy was passed out drunk at the time). Tracy and Sam arrived just at that moment and a gunfight broke out. George Chin Chillar was killed by a gunshot fired through the door. It was later learned that Piggy had been strangled as George tried to pull his bloated body onto the table using the rope tied around his neck.
willy007 over 9 years ago
“I see Piggy went on the table and have been wondering, since the original post, how they actually did him in. Looks like a hanging. I just feel there is a missing strip or two in there.”Yeah, I guess didn’t tell enough of the story on that one.In a nutshell, George (Notta’s husband) swore revenge on Piggy while he and Notta were still on Piggy’s farm, due to the way Piggy had humilated Notta (especially because of the botched shave). After the police invaded Piggy’s farm, the Chin Chillars were taken into custody and later released on bail. Piggy was also released on bail as the police and prosecutors continued to build their case against him. Piggy’s plot for revenge against Moon Maid turned into a giant snafu, with Pollyanna, Piggy’s attorney, and Piggy’s last remaining henchman going up in flames due to a laser gun that accidentally went off. Piggy hit the skids after that, being penniless, and he began bumming around the city. The Chin Chillars, on the other hand, were searching for Piggy, intent on getting their revenge. They finally caught up with Piggy, when the latters was roaring drunk. With some effort, the Chin Chillars were able to drag him back to their apartment. Their plan was apparently to torture Piggy first, then kill him. George wanted Piggy on a table to begin his torture, but since Piggy was so heavy, the only way he could figure out how to hoist him up was by tying the rope around his neck and using it to pull him up on the table. Piggy died by accident in the process, because just as the couple got him up on the table (with the rope still tied tightly around his neck), Tracy and Sam showed up at their apartment. George panicked and started firing his gun through the door at Tracy and Sam. The latter fired back through the door, then kicked it in to find George mortally wounded, and Notta (uninjured) sobbing over him. Piggy had apparently suffocated in the meantime from the rope around his neck — but again, George’s original intent was to get him on the table to torture him, not to hang him or strangle him (or at least not right away). Notta was then taken into custody. She got her revenge against Piggy, but lost her husband and her freedom in the process.
Ray Toler over 9 years ago
The Piggy story was long and in two parts. The first part included the torture of the Chin Chillars. This section of the story was ended by a covert raid on Piggy’s farm by Tracy, Junior, and Moon Maid (who zapped Piggy while he slept). Piggy and the Chin Chillars (who by this time had been secretly working with Tracy) were all apprehended but quickly received bail.
The second part of the arc involved Piggy’s attempt to get revenge on Moon Maid by hiring the model and MM lookalike Pollyanna to impersonate her.
Pollyanna was to kill MM using a Moon laser weapon but tripped while getting into a cab and the weapon detonated killing her, several other people, and leaving a crater in the streets of Tracy’s city.
Following this setback, Piggy went totally on the skids, laying drunk every night and passing out in the street. This is where George and Notta found him (after a search) and brought him back to their apartment for torture and death. The rest has been explained.
willy007 over 9 years ago
“On the right click I am not getting the “Open In a New Tab” option that I usually get. I’m guessing something is missing in the coding. I can open it directly but then it does so right on this page.”Gweedo, what browser are you using?The instructions I provided above are for Chrome — if you right click on the image, it should give you the option to open that image in a new tab. If that’s not working for some reason, right click and try the Copy image URL option. You can then paste that link in a new tab, open it (which will be the lower res version), then follow the instructions I gave above.If you’re using Firefox, right click on the image and select Copy Image Location. Open a new tab and paste the link in there, open it up (the lower res version), then continue following my above instructions.In IE, right click, select copy, then open in a new browser, copy the link, and continue with the instructions.Hopefully you have one of those browsers?
Neil Wick over 9 years ago
@Neil WickIt’s just that you do have to announce a wedding in advance.--I hope it doesn’t coincide with Rikki and Bill’s !
We may have to have a double wedding!Neil Wick over 9 years ago
I have noticed several glitches in the posting program. In some places the reply refuses to work.
It always happens if there’s some HTML like an image code right at the beginning of what you’re replying to, and sometimes in other cases.GasHouseGorilla over 9 years ago
Alright! A new bad guy for Dick Tracy. I wonder what new traits will have. I thought Sprocket Nitrate was one of unique ones around. What does Ms. Sprocket do when she needs to go outside in weather that’s snowing and freezing rain?
avenger09 over 9 years ago
Jimmy Choo Shooz knew the dealA billion dollars his to stealDriven by a need to proveThat little Jimmy found his groveForever haunted by his pastShort, stubby and blind as a batA promise made to prove them wrongHow dare they say he’d never belongRespect is his he earned it wellHis lips are zipped he’ll never tellThe method used to stay aheadJust find a chump who’s almost deadIn desperation secrets spillA sacrifice to pay the billJimmys climb to top of the heapAccomplished through those dug in too deep.
.Since we’ll never get a background story on JCS I went ahead and made up my own.
avenger09 over 9 years ago
Jimmy Choo Shooz knew the dealA billion dollars his to stealDriven by a need to proveThat little Jimmy found his grooveForever haunted by his pastShort, stubby and blind as a batA promise made to prove them wrongHow dare they say he’d never belongRespect is his he earned it wellHis lips are zipped he’ll never tellThe method used to stay aheadJust find a chump who’s almost deadIn desperation secrets spillA sacrifice to pay the billJimmys climb to top of the heapAccomplished through those dug in too deep.
.Since we’ll never get a background story on JCS I went ahead and made up my own.
willy007 over 9 years ago
I realized after posting the Notta Chronicles that I barely mentioned what is probably the most memorable and significant part of Notta’s story — the chase in space, the fate of the $100,000, and how the Chin Chillars found their way to Piggy’s farm. The following posts are intended to fill in that gap.
willy007 over 9 years ago
The Chin Chillars worked for Diet Smith on the moon, and Notta’s husband was an experienced Space Coupe pilot. From Earth, Mr. Bribery (who was incarcerated at a state prison) managed to contact the couple with a scheme to steal a Space Coupe, spring him from prison, and salvage $100,000 that was orbiting the Earth (the money was accidentally ejected from a Space Coupe the year before). Bribery had built a wire “bird cage” in the prison workshop, not ultimately to catch birds, but to attach to the stolen Space Coupe, which would then be used to retrieve the $100,000. Notta and her husband agreed to Bribery’s plan.
willy007 over 9 years ago
On the moon, the Chin Chillars stole a police Space Coupe and flew it to the state prison where Mr. Bribery was incarcerated. Bribery bribed the corrupt prison warden, who in turn allowed Bribery late-night access to the prison carpenter shop roof where the “bird cage” was stored. At midnight, Notta and her husband rendezvoused with Bribery, landing the stolen Space Coupe on the carpenter shop roof. The trio quickly attached the wire cage to the front of the Coupe.
willy007 over 9 years ago
With the wire “bird cage” now attached to the Space Coupe and Bribery on board, the trio of felons promptly took off from the carpenter shop roof and returned to the location of the orbiting money. After Notta’s husband carefully gathered all the loot (save one bill) into the wire bird cage, the cage snapped shut, and the $100,000 was theirs!
willy007 over 9 years ago
Intent on having the $100,000 all to themselves, Notta and her husband got Mr. Bribery very drunk with champagne they had brought from the moon. They maneuvered Bribery into the Space Coupe’s ejection tube and flew back to the state prison. After Notta’s husband positioned the Coupe high above the prison’s carpenter shop, Notta opened the ejection tube, sending Mr. Bribery hurtling to his death. Bribery crashed through the carpenter shop roof and was not found until the next morning. Having ridded themselves of Mr. Bribery, the couple quickly escaped in the Space Coupe. The $100,000 was now all theirs.
willy007 over 9 years ago
The Chin Chillars were exhilarated by their success. As they gloated, they revealed that they dressed as they did as part of an escapist fantasy, a wish that they had been born in the “good old days,” aka the “gay 90’s,” when women wore corsets like Notta’s. Fantasy was Notta’s reality, in fact, because she was “convinced” that to dress in a corset and high heel boots was “conformity,” and to shave and wear dresses was to be “different.” The couple talked about flying to Normandy and shaving off their beards, because “with money, who needs a beard?” These were heady times for the Chin Chillars, or rather heady moments, because Dick Tracy was about to crash their party.
willy007 over 9 years ago
Tracy and Diet had secured another Space Coupe and were searching for the stolen machine. They stumbled upon the Chin Chillars shortly after the couple returned Mr. Bribery to the state prison. Notta looked up in the scope and saw they were being pursued!Notta and her husband were displeased that Tracy and Diet were now following them, but they initially saw it only as an annoyance since Tracy had no official jurisdiction in space.Notta increasingly took the spotlight at this point in the story. Her husband was often in view, though usually in the background, while she tended to dominate most scenes. Her sexy appearance undoubtedly had much to do with this. Gould said later that he originally planned to end the Chin Chillars’ story after the chase in space — after about six weeks of the strip — but once positive fan feedback began rolling in, he extended their adventure to five months and beyond (in Notta’s case, to thirteen months).This also marked the point in the story when Notta’s husband began calling her “doll” and “baby” (usually “doll,” but he used both). Notta reciprocated by calling her husband “baby.” The use of these affectionate nicknames gradually increased, which tended to soften the reader’s attitude toward the Chin Chillars on a subconscious level. Especially toward Notta, for Gould realized many fans were already sweet on her, and the use of sweet nicknames fueled such thoughts even more.
willy007 over 9 years ago
The problem for the Chin Chillars was that Tracy and Diet had a large supply of food and water on their Space Coupe, while the bearded couple had only a thermos half full of water on theirs. Notta and her husband tried various methods to escape their pursuers — trying to outrun them, hiding inside storm clouds, and even attempting to crash the Coupes — to no avail. As the days passed and the water eventually ran out, Notta became increasingly agitated because of her hunger and Tracy’s taunting. She began to slink about the Space Coupe, puffing on her cigarettes, spreading her legs wide, lifting one leg high over her head, whipping out the knife she kept tucked in her bustier, and wishing Tracy was dead.
celeste0416 over 9 years ago
what does he means never leave a chance.
willy007 about 9 years ago
Coming back to this much later….I recently put together a compilation of scenes from Notta’s story, 120+ panels that are presented sequentially and do a pretty good job of tracking the main events in the story. I thought I would post the compilation here for posterity, given all the other Notta stuff already posted on this page.The compilation is so large that I decided to break it into two parts:Mrs Chin Chillar Pt. 1Mrs Chin Chillar Pt. 2 Open each link in a separate tab or window. After they load, you’ll probably need to click on the image to expand it to full size. Hope you enjoy these scenes.