Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for July 12, 2015

Welcome to headquarters of the shadowy BlackheartsVice, mayhem and plunder. Here’s where the mischief starts.Down below a high-gloss show: Gallery 52Way up top a penthouse suite accessed by chosen few.Look to see Apollo with his newest deadly gunAppearing in the first Act, there’s bound to follow fun.Méliès makes an entrance to discuss matters most pressingWith enterprise wise BB-Eyes has left Méliès distressingOver the new pecking order, which leaves power diminishedBigg blames these three, as all can see. One slip and they’ll be finished.With will and way Méliès doth say, “We’ll regain privileged placeSnatch up Smith and the Moon Maid. Kidnap leaving no trace.”Venus needs no coaxing, most amenable to abductionTo secure the win and save her skin with violence or seduction.“Let us set this plan in motion. Admiration we shall earn”Méliès smiles and nods his globe, “The wheels already turn.”

Uh-oh, a dual kidnapping already underway! They are trying to out-crime the BB-Eyes group, rather than fight against them directly.

Venus: “What do you mean, Méliès?” I guess she’s not as smart as him, either. There are advantages to having a big head, I guess.

“I already have, my dear.Quite a Mr. Bribery move!

I agree, excellent work, Pequod77! Thanks for sharing your creative skills with us once again.

Think I see how the Honeymoon/Annie/Mysta subplot intersects with the Blackhearts story.

And there may be civil war of sorts.

Venus: "We can’t wait until he . . . " What exactly is it that she and the others fear Mr. Bigg will do them? Being bumped off? Or something else?

Who suggested that Venus and Apollo’s hairstyles might be hiding the ‘Bribery’ brand?

So, Méliès has brashly set his plan into motion already, without prior approval from Mr. Bigg? This is unlikely to end well for the dispossessed trio here. But there may be interim unpleasantness for Diet, Mysta, and Honeymoon and Annie. The whole Tracy Clan will be up in arms if anything happens to their young! Apollo’s “Hand Cannon” is not going to save his sorry backside, though it may take out one or more of Team BB-Eyes before the MCU can stop him….Action ahead!

Problem is, what would you do with Moon Maid if you did capture her? You definitely wouldn’t want to get her mad….

Good morning guys!-Looks as though there is a war a-brewin’! Méliès vs Mr. Bigg!-Excellent poetry Pequod77!

Usually when underlings in a crime organization take initiative and try to pull off anything big on their own, their boss is not pleased. If they are trying to get back into Mr. Bigg’s good favor, this hare-brained plot will probably backfire on them. It will draw all kinds of unwanted police attention, and Mr. Bigg will be more upset with them than he is now!

A blest Sunday to all.-——-Whoever suggested this last week is right on target.-——Pequod77: Are you telepathic ? Great poem.

Messing with Moon Maid really did not work so Mr Bribery. It does show evidence towards Mr Bigg being Mr Bribery though, as why would doing this violence get them in his graces, unless he has serious 1960s issues with Diet & MM?

If it is Bribery, I hope we get to see him and a whacky trait (rose, smoking cat, blackmail, pick pocketing, coked-up assassin, branding, shrunken heads) and not just as a figurehead to be knocked off when this gang messes up.

"Messing with Moon Maid really did not work so Mr Bribery. It does show evidence towards Mr Bigg being Mr Bribery though, as why would doing this violence get them in his graces, unless he has serious 1960s issues with Diet & MM?I don’t think Bribery had anything personal against Diet, but he did have reason to hate Moon Maid, who foiled Bribery’s scheme to kidnap Honeymoon (she paralyzed him and Ugly Christine and left them sitting on a snow-covered park bench) and also messed with Matty Square, one of Bribery’s men.

So far the over-arching goal of the Blackhearts has been to secure a Space Coupe. Perhaps Melies believes that if he kidnaps Diet Smith and Moon Maid he will be able to torture them into giving him the secrets of the Moon Technology or even a working Space Coupe. For some reason the Blackhearts have a desire to get to the Moon. Little do they know that society has been abandoned.

Since the Blackhearts made their appearance, it has never been quite certain what their plot is exactly other than their desire to get to the Moon. It was a desire strong enough that they were willing to spend millions turning Mindy into Mysta. Moon gold is awfully alluring but I tend to think that it is more than just gold fever.

“Well, Moon Maid has been kidnapped before. The Governor might not be around to save her this time.”I remember when Moon Maid was trapped inside a vault by Matty Square. Is that what you’re referring to?

Melies, Venus and Apollo are working with outdated information.They don’t know Mysta’s electrical powers are real, and that she has developed telepathic powers as well.I expect her link with Honeymoon will play a role in this.

Melies is hoping that Moon technology has a cure for his terrible case of acne which has caused pits all over his head.

Nice, PQ77, there is now division among the Blackhearts…Kidnapping is a federal offence..

Brad Meltzer’s latest Culper Ring novel “The President’s Shadow” has an underling try to take the initiative like this – needless to say it doesn’t end well for him.

Smith may be a pushover, as a good Diet is nothing without exercise. Mysta will be a handful, no doubt. Could it be that she will have trained Honeymoon in just the nick of time? Could her own developing telepathic abilities reach out to the Governor? (My guess is that he already suspects something is up. Thus, the visit to Wildwood.) Exciting prospects for desperate Blackhearts wishing to reassert their status as a force with which to be reckoned. Apollo’s new gun won’t remain idle, I’d wager. Not “befuddled,” Sydney. Most likely I am wrong. Still, will toss out my theory on T-Bolt’s identity, as speculation is fun. The question of T-Bolt being what she appears, as opposed to something else (Lee Ebony undercover, for example), grows out of Johnny Adonis’ rather astonishing appearance on the beach in Florida, within eye-ball distance of Mumbles. If this is really JA, how did he go from hospitalized to vigorous health, showing no signs of the beat-down T-Bolt put on his skull? We had just seen Ms. Steffinhawk remark that she was going to visit JA in the hospital. To then see him on the beach without bruise or bandage begs the question, was Johnny really injured? If the answer is yes, than the man on the beach may well be an imposter. Johnny is still in the hospital. The beach-comber may even be an alien changing, as Willy suggests in his audacious but captivating theory (the Lunarians need not be the only alien race). If the answer is no, and the “beating” was staged to reinforce T-Bolt’s cover, than it makes sense to posit that Lee Ebony is (again) in disguise and working undercover. Why not a single panel of Johnny in the hospital or comment from Tess as to his injuries? Clearly there is more to the “beating” than meets the eye. What we know with certainty is that Lee Ebony has worked deep undercover in the past with notable success.

A hearty thanks to Ray Toler and Willy007 for the great history and panels of the 52s, Piggy zapped and Intro vaporized. Always good to see some ‘60s strips. Thanks to Neil Wick, Night-Gaunt49, Willy007, Gweedo, Vista Bill, Ray Toler, Chris Sherlock and abdullahbaba999 for the kind words. Very much appreciated!

Happily, the days have come round again to RHYMEPequad’’s, Magnum’s loaded - verbal ‘bullets’ so SUBLIMEWith a Right-wing ‘moderator’, Avenger’s coming later, for him it’s FLEXITIME ?All these Guys each week - “Top of The LINE” . . .For me it’s just a Dime . . .

So here’s some cogent ‘observations’ coming ‘off’ - the CuffSome questions needing answers on recent Tracy Stuff ….

Today, some Staton “overreach”, it’s Apollo’s ‘new’ hairline fully hanging forward, down his Cheek . . .An impediment to breathing? And perhaps, a need to clear it, to get a better peek . . .Reminders of last week, Adonis in Swim trunks, far south - on a Florida beach ?Looked at another way . . .Morrow enjoyed that Adonis Florida beach finesseParticularly, the ‘prickly’ test, of safely hiding Tess ?

In panel 4,Méliés’ twist of eye. . . easily tells him (and us) why …It’s that Space Coupe he really LostNow taking, some ‘Kick A**’ from the Boss !

The MCU, the FBI, hold vague suspicions, but look, their Case Files ALL are BlankHe got some Clues he did not Use. It’s Dick Tracy there to Thank !First to get the Lake side ‘Tip’, then to note the David Axelrod ‘Slip’, all ‘leads’ left there on the floor ! RESULT : equally ‘uninformed’ as before !

From Lake Pratchett, Tellum - as ‘requested’, travelled miles to the City, for Questioning *. . .The Press was there, and Witchell’s Ear, but NO “indication” to suggest, that the MCU was ever “listening” ?

Tracy started work on this case, including Government, and FBI resources from April 13, (3 months ago) , , ,

April 13th, 2015

His next STEP ? Like just “waiting” ? ?

It’s worth ‘noting’, that (comic strip time) Bribery has had “possession” of the Gold since 6th June !

June 6th, 2015

That MORE than Month and a Week Now !

And getting a ‘sense’ in all this of where Tracy is AT …Panel 3, his most recent thinking and “utterance” . . .

July1st, 2015

Venus somehow reminds me of Brenda Starr.

Why on earth would they kidnap THOSE two……and ensure Tracy will be breathing down their throats? Not a wise move if you’re trying to operate under the radar. And with a billion in gold stashed, Mr. Big hardly needs the cash, either…..too bad our trio are unaware of it. Funny how Double up was changed from sort of a dummy into a shrewd criminal, and now Venus from a smart leader type into a lazy, wide eyed bimbo. And finally, Bribery will have his hands full trying to turn MELIES into a shrunken head, ha ha.

This strip keeps getting worse and worse….Unbelievable characters, convoluted plot lines, brief grasping at the Chester Gould past, punctuated by lame dialog… with nice art that could be great if not burdened by all the above.

I wonder who will be doing the actual kidnapping. Apparently, the Munro brothers are with BB-Eyes’ group rather than with Méliès and his bunch.

Willy007, Pequod77, SYDNEY PHILLIPS, and Neil Wick: Thanks for posting the refresher comics.-———Gweedo the ‘Well Grounded’: I worked for a local electric utility. I remember those grounding items. Sometimes they were needed for an upcoming project.

It’s highly unlikely, but those big hairstyles of Venus and Apollo could also hide horns.

Gweedo remarked,Are you and Rikki resorting now, and where ?-———————————————————————————-

Same place, Gweedo. We found it to be a down to earth location and we have dug in. Wild werewolves couldn’t drive us out!

Re: Johnny Adonis.We have no clues to suggest there are two of him.The one on the beach was paying attention to the young women, not Mumbles.Why would anyone bother to pose as him?We have no proof (not one panel) that Johnny is in the hospital. No scenes of anyone visiting him, consulting with doctors, etc. that would normally be there.So based on that, Johnny is not in the hospital..And if he wasn’t injured and in the hospital, the beating wasn’t real. And if it wasn’t real, the only reason is to make T-Bolt appear to be a very violent bad guy.Now why would someone do that, other than to get an undercover cop into the good graces of Mr. BIgg?Isn’t that how cops do undercover work?.Hope this clears up any befuddlement (or even Elmer Fuddlement) over what I was saying the other day.

wow-iv just started reading Tracy again-after years of loving Chester Gould-so now there’s a character call Melies-with a big moon head-a la George Melies’ Trip To The Moon??? this strip just keeps getting better and better-i dont know why iv stayed away so long

Sydney Phillips mentioned,Seems things are getting sticky with Rikki ?-———————————————————————————————-

Things are fine, Sydney. Time for a nap. See you guys at 1:11 am (edst).

Opps! Méliès woke up the werewolves. They mistook him for a full moon. Go back to sleep pups! Your day will arrive on the 31st.-I’d like to see the Méliès family. Like Saturn’s moons, I bet!

Apparently, Melies doesn’t realize that Diet Smith has no Space Coupe available because I can’t see any logical reason to kidnap him if it wasn’t as leverage to obtain a Space Coupe. I don’t know what their plans would be for Mysta Chimera since that was never exactly clear. Dr. Ghote and the Blackhearts weren’t exactly on the same page on that. Diet Smith may think he destroyed all the blueprints for space technology but I think there were more people who had access to the information that he realizes. He had a fleet of Space Coupes in the 60s and many of the engineers who worked on them may still remember how to build them. Finally, the Lunarians must have the plans for moon technology since they invented the air cars and got the Space Coupe plans so they could build their own. Since they left the moon obviously they still have them. But hardly anyone knows this or where they are so they are probably not a factor here.

Gweedo ‘The Electrified’ said about 3 power outages ago: Could you see your way clear to lianing those tools to the Blackhearts for their upcoming project?-———-Could be possible. They will also need a power station to supply enough ‘juice’ to melt the gold.

Mr ‘Moon Head’ will be killed by a pack of giant rats that think his head is made of cheese.

I’m sorry, but I had to say this. I really enjoyed reading the “Dick Tracy’s Hall of Fame” section! Dan Mahoney seems to be a great cop. And with his brother being a rock star, I guess Dan NEVER gave the bad guys, “Two Tickets to Paradise!”

Welcome to headquarters of the shadowy Blackhearts

Vice, mayhem and plunder. Here’s where the mischief starts.

Down below a high-gloss show: Gallery 52

Way up top a penthouse suite accessed by chosen few.

Look to see Apollo with his newest deadly gun

Appearing in the first Act, there’s bound to follow fun.

Méliès makes an entrance to discuss matters most pressing

With enterprise wise BB-Eyes has left Méliès distressing

Over the new pecking order, which leaves power diminished

Bigg blames these three, as all can see. One slip and they’ll be finished.

With will and way Méliès doth say, “We’ll regain privileged place

Snatch up Smith and the Moon Maid. Kidnap leaving no trace.”

Venus needs no coaxing, most amenable to abduction

To secure the win and save her skin with violence or seduction.

“Let us set this plan in motion. Admiration we shall earn

”Méliès smiles and nods his globe, “The wheels already turn.”