Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for April 22, 2015

“The Flying Hellfish!”

Okay, definitely not anyone I thought! But, an interesting group of characters, nonetheless!

Good morning guys!

If you google “Abe Ongo,” my comment from the other day rises perilously close to the top of the search list.

Remember, this took place 90 years ago, so it’s not likely to be anyone you know. The three on the left seem to match up with the silhouette we saw yesterday, but Duff the Goat didn’t appear yesterday unless he was the guy in the bowler hat. Maybe he was. It’s definitely an interesting group of characters. It’s a shame that I don’t see us seeing them all that much.

Yeah, it’s going to take a bit to explain the whole background story, but the problem is that there are so many of them that they can’t all be featured. Today’s single panel is fairly spectacular, though.

Thanks to all who commented on my animated picture of Police Headquarters yesterday. I will try to briefly explain how I did that later tonight. I don’t have time right now, but I appreciate everyone’s interest.

“Any gang that attracts Neil Young, Hercule Poirot, and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is a force to be reckoned with.” -The Comics Curmudgeon

Hee hee hee!

An interesting gang of early 20th century thugs of Tracytown, or “the City,” as it is sometimes called in the strip. Ethnically diverse, and also, of varying ages, though all male—and all “specialists,” presumably with skills relatable to train-robbery. The panoramic introduction is great. But I hope the telling of the 1924 story is not so protracted as to divert attention from the current (2015 in our time) case….

Morning, Tracyville!

I feel like Team Tracy has a reason for going into this much detail in a 1924 crime. Maybe one or more of these characters will become a part of the current story, perhaps as an old retired gangster in a rest home.

It’s nice to see thug names that aren’t puns of some sort for once. Those names get a bit ridiculous. I know it’s part of the strips history, but we need a break form it occasionally.

What a motley looking crew this is.

Well I guess we know now that it WASN’T a “Rize Ancestor”, Sue Reel, Broadway Bates or Oswald Cobblepot… and if ny of you are avid NCIS fans, then the guy on the left who is retelling the story… he looks an AWFUL LOT like Mike Franks (actor Muse Watson) or maybe its just me?

I was thinking the same thing Stilldamatt… it was moving at a nice clip and still being entertaining with the arrival of Mr Bigg and the (unfortunate) beat down of Johnny (THE MAN!!!) Adonis (where IS he anyway? lol) but the whole rail car caper has gone waaay off track in a heartbeat (a “ BLACK hearts beat”?)

Unfortunately this story has derailed! Waaaaaaay too much time with it’s setup which will lead to a rushed ending. Oh well, can’t hit a homerun every at bat!If this story is allowed to continue at it’s own pace until it is all told, then we are fine – there is nothing wrong with the current pacing, and it’s all good.But, I remember reading here somewhere that Mike let it be known that this story was approximately 2 months long.Why he would impose such an artificial deadline on himself I can’t guess, but if that proves to be true, then I’m with you – I really hope they don’t rush the ending, after this highly interesting and entertaining set-up.

Assuming they’re being identified from left to right, could Duke Cooney possibly be Flattop’s father?

Here, an ‘excerpt’, from an INTERVIEW by Alan Gardner with Dick Locher and wife Mary, posted on the Daily Cartoonist - June 24, 2010

It was revealed then, that Locher had been suffering with Parkinsons Disease . . .

The ‘working relationship’ with Jim Brozman (and which partner did what on the strip?) … …is ‘described’ by Dick Locher in the interview . . .

Alan: How long have you known, how long since you were…

Dick: Five years.

Alan: Oh really? And your still drawing though. Right?

Dick: It steadies when I get to the drawing board. It stops.

Alan: That’s amazing. Because everything still looks as it always has.

Dick: Well, I’m a lucky guy. Very lucky.

Alan: So you’ve already turned over the artwork of Dick Tracy to another artist?

Dick: No, no. I still do it.

Alan: No? I thought I reported that… Isn’t someone else was assisting you now?

Dick: I have an inker.

Alan: An inker. But you still do the pencil and still the writing.

Dick: Right.

Alan: Okay, because you’ve talked about retiring. What does that mean? Editorial cartoons, Dick Tracy, both?

Dick: Eventually it will be both, of course. But it won’t tell me, I’ll tell it.

Mary: He has no immediate plans to retire.

Dick: She does, I don’t yet.

Mary: It’s kind of like that saying, “The reports of my early demise are…”

Alan: Greatly exaggerated. Well that’s great. I was under the assumption that you were still writing, but someone else doing the drawing.

Mary: He has an assistant, but Dick still does all the pencil drawing.

Dick: Yeah, he’s working into it.

Alan: Is he the one who will eventually take over?

Dick: We don’t know.Mary:* It’s up to him and of course the syndicate as well.

Dick: It’s up to him, God and Warren Beaty.

Alan: (laughing) Warren Beaty. How many papers is Dick Tracy in?

Dick: Around a hundred.

Alan: Okay, so it’s still got a good size list.

Dick: For a strip that’s 79 years old, that’s not bad. Only one thing scares me. When I can’t go to the drawing board anymore. That’s scary. It’s like the cowboy. You can take anything away from the cowboy, except his domain.

Despite those work ‘descriptions’ above you’d think ‘long time readers’ would know the difference between his ‘pencil work’, and that of another ?

To my ‘eye’ very many strips appearing in the period were not Locher pencil Art !

Others are free to disagree /. . .*

Hi! I’ve been lurking since near the end of the Annie story last year and this is my first post :) Even though there is only four of them, this group reminds me of Doc Savage’s assistants http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Savage#Doc_Savage.27s_aidesAny thoughts?

Love the Single Panel strips….TBC..

I want to thank Team Tracy for the personal recognition of my grandfather, Duffy The Goat. (Sorry, Stilldamatt; I beat you to it!) He was a huge fan of the Numbers game. Just look at him studying his tickets!

I wonder if it’s significant that Ongo’s gang was made up of representatives of the city’s top gangs, with the gold to be split between them.Jimmy Choo Shooz pulled his robbery on his own.No doubt, the Blackhearts are going to want their share, which may be all of it. If Jimmy’s lucky, he’ll end up with no gold, but still be alive.

Numbers game, was he into mathematics by chance?-——————N-G, “mathematics by chance” is a good way of describing the old illegal lottery, “the numbers.” In my old neighborhood a hundred years ago, we had a guy running numbers from the back of his shop right on the main street, Route 1. (We were mostly like Mayberry, but had our share of Brooklyn, too.)

I like the retired gangster idea !

Time is very flexible in this strip, but I’m not really expecting any gangsters from 1924 to still be alive.

Duffy the Goat looks like he’s in between adventures in Middle Earth!

You don’t suppose that this cast of characters might have been Gould’s inspiration for the Dick Tracy Rogues’ Gallery, do you?

It may not be Gould’s Rogues’ Gallery, but today’s strip is certainly a Rogues’ Gallery, for sure.

Really a good PUN !

Good afternoon my friends. What a group of criminals in today’s panel. Be happy and healthy everyone.

Those are definitely portraits. All early 1900 Chicago criminals

I do like the fact they used real gangsters in this story. I had to look them up just to check, and these four are heavy hitters for their respective “organizations.” I especially like this bit of trivia: Terrible Tommy O’Connor was the inspiration for Earl Williams, the convict in the play The Front Page, which in itself is the basis for the great comedy film His Girl Friday.

wow they really want to steal a train.

this is cool