Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for August 09, 2015

Bigg has the bonanza, a billion stacked and gleamingKnows there’s treachery afoot, yet never ceases scheming.T-Bolt now is in the know, ordered to make preparationsMust move the loot. ‘Tis time to scoot. An end to deprivations.First a little story of the Moon Maid’s re-creationTested new defenses much to Mr. Bigg’s elation.To pillage and to plunger the vast riches of Moon ValleyLooters best come armed for war, not a knife fight in the alley.Mysta tossed her lightning bolts. Space suit absorbed it allRetaliation doomed to fail. Lunarians primed to fall.Blackhearts never knowing that Moon Valley’s now desertedGhote and Sail they did not fail, with infamy they flirted.Left Mysta with a fresh blank slate, her essence thus pristineSail not knowing what he’d wrought, dim images now seenBy Mysta in her Dreamtime with Moon Maid’s DNAChimera’s fate elusive. She’s changing more each day.Bigg prefers a Space Coupe now. Mysta’s played her partNah Tay’s brother soon arrives to practice his dark art.Bribery, as we can see, delighted with himselfShould he fail to get his way Smith’s head goes on the shelf.

REALLY doubt that Diet’s cooperation will make a difference with his fate as far as Bribery is concerned! Nah Tay’s brother…Now, THAT’S an interesting addition!

“Nah Tay” Two!

Good morning guys!

Is that the significant new character?

Happy Sunday, fellows!Ha ha, nice trick, love the decidedly unsmiling face of Mr B!Nah Tay’s brother? He must be eager to work for Mr B, since Mr B had his sibling jettisoned in space!

The Space Coupe technology is too valuable to humanity and should NEVER have been destroyed. If it takes Bribery’s prodding for Smith to reconstruct it – well, it’s the right thing being done for the wrong reasons.

No, really, next we learn Ugly Christine had a twin. Come on!

@cpalmeresq Hope Mr B’s head get shrunk…with the rose between teeth!

Bribery is “disappointed”? That’s all he is? I never did think that Diet had kept any Space Coupes and I still don’t.

So, it’s interesting that those shrunken heads in the case are apparently Mr. B’s original ones. I’m not sure we will ever get to meet Nah Tay’s brother, but I think that Diet is in trouble if we do, because I sincerely don’t think he can produce a Space Coupe or a way to get one.

I vaguely remember the “Land o’ Plenty” theme park (never seen it written with an “of” before). Whatever happened to that.

I’ve been mulling over all the details to this long story (and it’s HARD to keep track)…..but I’m thinking Diet Smith knows a lot more than he’s let on- not only to the present crowd, but to Tracy as well. What did he know about Dr. Sail, Dr. Ghote, et al that he sent off his coupe knowing there were stowaways? Did he know more about Moon Valley than he let on before taking Tracy there? And where are the real Moon people who visited Mysta Tracy’s grave site?

Seems to answer my questions from yesterday (except specifics..which rivals?). While a tad trite (second set of heads, do we get to see Nah Tay II?), how awesome is it that one of the best secondary characters gets threatened with head shrinking?

This team rocks. I like Diet but he has more value to the story as a shrunken head. It would make Vitamin’s “halftime soliloquy” more meaningful and grotesque.

Hi Night-Gaunt49…Dick Tracy was always morbid morality SciFi to me. When Lispy died from her blood pressure being too high, that is SciFi. To me the strip was about out-technologying the bad guys.

Mr Bribery as a shrunken head needs to happen, the Gouldian Irony. Mr Bribery is most certainly going to have a terrible end, what will it be?

I am 60 years old. When I was a kid, I read DICK TRACY religiously. Of all of Gould’s gallery of grotesques whom I encountered back in the day, none traumatized me more than Mr. Bribery. (He even branded his sister on the forehead! Euw!) Now Bribery’s back, and I’m a traumatized kid again, and I couldn’t be happier. Who says you can’t go home again?

As we were talking about his a bit yesterday …

Well, I broke and rented Tom & Jerry: Spy Quest.

A truly bizarre experience.

There’ve been a bunch of weird Tom & Jerry direct-to-video movies – including one where the cat and mouse team are drawn into a fairly straightforward Wizard of Oz remake – so Warners utilizing its own library of characters here isn’t that much of a surprise.

Still …

It begins as what seems to be a typical “Tom & Jerry” short, then morphs into a team-up adventure.

The tone from this point on most resembles an episode of directors Spike Brandt & Tony Cervone’s ‘Duck Dodgers’ series, with a thin yet almost serious plot undercut by jokes which try just a little too hard …

The cast is quite good, given the nudge-nudge-wink-wink self-awareness of the material – For example, the backstory of Dr. Zin, voiced by veteran actor James Hong, is lightly reimagined with elements of both Lex Luthor and Victor Von Doom’s origins …

… while General Hospital’s Tia Carrere – As Jezebel Jade – Performs an original song with Droopy Poodle.

You read that right.

Droopy Poodle.

It’s obvious the creators are fans, as they trot out a lot of signature pieces, including nods to ‘The Robot Spy," that two-man hovercraft we’d discussed yesterday, the Quest-1 aircraft, and those personal jetpacks …

Original Jonny Quest voice actor Tim Matheson has a cute cameo role as well, which I won’t spoil here.

Can I recommend it, though?

Probably not, unless you’re a Quest completist, and/or have a high tolerance for Tom & Jerry.

The opening and end credits are worth a look though.

For a second opinion on the production, check out the blog of this guy, who seems at least as confused as I am about all of this.

Oh, and veteran comic book artist Steve Rude had his hand in the pie as well.

I’m probably being a bit rough on this – Actually, I liked it well enough for what it is, and it’s downright astonishing to be getting any ‘Quest’ material at all nowadays – Still, I can’t imagine “serious” Jonny Quest fans not having issues with it.

Funny that Jonny Quest never teamed up with Batman on Batman: The Brave & The Bold.

Space Ghost did.

Just to round things out …

Here’s Dr. Quest and Race Bannon’s cameo on Scooby-Doo, Mystery, Inc.

Thanks AnyFace for the recommendation. I’m an old Jonny Quest fan (as well as a Steve Rude fan from his work on “Nexus”) and the film looks fun.

A peaceful Sunday to everyone especially Gweedo ‘the Magician’.-——————-@AnyFace: Good cartoon info. Thanks for posting it.-——————-Be happy and healthy my friends.

I much prefer the “Munro Bros”, Venus, etc than the original cast from ’65. Mr. Bribery has it going on. Again.

Could the first shrunken head be that of Melies?Bribery knows of Melies’ plot against him, and it would certainly scare Venus, Apollo and the Munro brothers into obedience.

If you shrink Melies’ head, though …

… do you get a normal-sized head?

This morning it felt like DejA vu . . .As another faulty "*A* came slipping through . . .

So quickly yesterday, cpalmAresg nipped them in the budBefore “Picky Police” Brayed and chewed it in the Cud.

Had a look in the mirror, as I pondered, could it me ?But I’m a ‘spelling disaster’, so I’m off the hook - I’m free

So who might be reading here - all the day long . . .Just to catch someone spelling thing wrong ?

But better the question be not Who, but rather When ?Mike starts better controlling that ‘run away’ Pen.

Give us the “E”, for the Nah Tey, and drop that “A”And tell us why an ‘unscratched’ Adonis is down Florida way?

We worry, it’s 4 months later - and our Tracy’s got no planCould he now be on the same path - that Annie ran ? ;-)

The original shrunken heads, eh?Sure don’t look like them.

And I surely would like to know how Bribery was able to retrieve them from the police.

Speaking of Nexus …

If I’d known about this NEXUS project ten days ago, I would’ve helped out

Must have been VERY SMALL CHILDREN to fit into a replica that can sit on top of a desk…was it a midget ride?

All this and a collection of shrunken heads, too? Very eerie and very cool!

I wonder if they could produce a feature-length movie where T and J meet up with Pixie, Dixie and Mr. Jinks?____________________

Legally, they could – And I’d sorta want to see it.

Maybe you should pitch the idea to Warners. :)

So anyone want to guess what Dick Tracy-typical name they will give to the brother of Nah Tay? :)

So anyone want to guess what Dick Tracy-typical name they will give to the brother of Nah Tay?____________________

Something in Ig-Latin-Pay?

This Bribery goober really creeps me out. Smith needs to go all Tony Stark on him. Go along with the gag, while building himself some sort of suit made of ferrous material.

Or possibly Nahmas Tay.

[… assuming ‘Tay’ is the surname.]

He could modify the suit from one of those Anti-Lunarian protecive ones.

Diet Smith should be very careful making light of Bribery’s desire for a Space Coupe. I wouldn’t want him to meet Nah Tay’s brother and receive a new hat size. Bribery was playing a long game, using Mysta to test her powers on the space suit. Alas, there are no Lunarians in Moon Valley to fight. If he’d had a Space Coupe he could have scouted it out. But therein lies the catch-22. As others have wondered, just how much does Nah Tay’s brother know of events surrounding Nat Tay’s death? Nah Tay lost his enthusiasm for Bribery’s schemes as time wore on.

Thanks to GweedO, JPuzzleWhiz, Night-Gaunt49, Willy007 and Chris Sherlock for the kind words. Much appreciated!Yes, I meant “plunder.” My professional side can’t let that typo slide. The corrected version, fwiw:Bigg has the bonanza, a billion stacked and gleamingKnows there’s treachery afoot, yet never ceases scheming.T-Bolt now is in the know, ordered to make preparationsMust move the loot. ‘Tis time to scoot. An end to deprivations.First a little story of the Moon Maid’s re-creationTested new defenses much to Mr. Bigg’s elation.To pillage and to plunder the vast riches of Moon ValleyLooters best come armed for war, not a knife fight in the alley.Mysta tossed her lightning bolts. Space suit absorbed it allRetaliation doomed to fail. Lunarians primed to fall.Blackhearts never knowing that Moon Valley’s now desertedGhote and Sail they did not fail, with infamy they flirted.Left Mysta with a fresh blank slate, her essence thus pristineSail not knowing what he’d wrought, dim images now seenBy Mysta in her Dreamtime with Moon Maid’s DNAChimera’s fate elusive. She’s changing more each day.Bigg prefers a Space Coupe now. Mysta’s played her partNah Tay’s brother soon arrives to practice his dark art.Bribery, as we can see, delighted with himselfShould he fail to get his way Smith’s head goes on the shelf.

Honeymoon outgrew her Space Coupe crib years ago. I don’t think Bribery would have cared for that one, either. I like that we glimpsed a bit more of Mysta’s back-story. Mysta may well have had more than one memory wipe. Memory is identity. Mysta’s clean slate and the ongoing changes wrought by the DNA make for an especially fascinating character. Her changeling nature is very exciting. She knew Honeymoon was in distress and came running. The changes Honeymoon is experiencing make for an even more captivating strip. I agree with Sydney that the Lunarians will eventually step to center stage “…and readers will go Wild.” I know I will.

Tracy? Who’s that? OH! Dick Tracy……that guy we last saw in silhouette on July 4th (not actually part of a story…..just a little flag-waving). Hopefully, he’ll appear again in the strip named after him before 2015 is over.

There is that one Space Coupe flying through space. If Diet could turn it around?

Folks have taken note of certain ‘Mis-Spellings,’ of late, but I wonder if Mike is trying to make things ‘His Own’ by way of them, the revision of the punctuation of ‘BB-Eyes’ and the contraction of “Woo! Gosh!” into “Woo Gosh!” coming to mind.

Have a great weekend All…

Tom and Jerry meeting those three mice? That could work. How about a CGI of Rough and Ready?____________________

Even “Ruff & Reddy” had a ‘Space Era’

Has anyone other than me felt that the shrunken head looks very much like Abner Kadaver’s hair???

That scene of him in jail, that looks like him!

It may explain the mask and Rikki impersonating him? ?

There used to be a character named Tracy in this strip, whatever happened to him?. Maybe you could bring his “twin” into the picture. Credibility is also rapidly disappearing.

Heads are not shrunk, just taxidermied. As in preserved. Head’s are all natural size on their skulls.-——————————————I always thought they removed the skull and then ‘mummified’ it, removing the moisture, and without the support of the bones, it shrunk.Shows what I know!

I’m guessing the misspellings we’ve seen recently are just that – simple typos. But there was one character where Mike changed the name because of changing times and word meanings. Spike Dyke became Spike Smith, based on the real life band leader Spike Jones.

Meet Nah Tay’s brother, Nas.

I like the “Nas Tay” suggestion.

Since Nah Tay was a play on “naughty”, Nas Tay would play off on “nasty”.

I used to point out people’s typos, until I realized that I was guilty of committing them myself.

I make lots of typos, especially in quick Internet comments and chats, but I try not to put any typos into stuff that’s being published.

The twin plot twist may have been set in motion by The Martha White Flour Co.’s disappointment over the use of their trade mark “Hot Rize” in a story arc where a large milling company run by a nice old lady is really a huge cocaine operation. Or maybe not. At any rate this strip is off the rails of reason.

Brother Shrink arrives next week? Isn’t Mr. Bigg planning to be bye-bye by then? With his billion bullion? If I were an enormously wealthy, ruthless, scientifically advanced industrialist like Diet Smith, I’d not worry about such a little thing as a shrunken head, not while I still had some value to the arch-looney, not for at least a few more days….

We need a shrunken head, and Mr. Bribery needs to last beyond this storyline, like Blaze. Would you rather see Mr. Bribery or DoubleUp or Melies? Someone is going to get headshrunk.

I never thought DT would make me so excited for a headshrinking. Doubleup.Do it!

The word is out the end might be nearMelies, Venus and Apollo should fearBut will the endangered trio play out thier handIn time to mess with Mr. Biggs planA sudden wrinkle the sound of a stumbleAn almost comprehensible sentence from MumblesAn interesting twist and unexpected tooIs T-bolt a rouge or part of Melies crewThis must be resolved as quietly as possibleToo much blood might involve the state hospitalWhich surely would call the police to make hasteAnd sort through the mess the carnage and waste.

The word is out the end might be nearMelies, Venus and Apollo should fearBut will the endangered trio play out thier handIn time to mess with Mr. Biggs planA sudden wrinkle the sound of a stumbleAn almost comprehensible sentence from MumblesAn interesting twist and unexpected tooIs T-bolt a rouge or part of Melies crewThis must be resolved as quietly as possibleToo much blood might involve the state hospitalWhich surely would call the police to make hasteAnd sort through the mess the carnage and waste.

Bigg has the bonanza, a billion stacked and gleaming

Knows there’s treachery afoot, yet never ceases scheming.

T-Bolt now is in the know, ordered to make preparations

Must move the loot. ‘Tis time to scoot. An end to deprivations.

First a little story of the Moon Maid’s re-creation

Tested new defenses much to Mr. Bigg’s elation.

To pillage and to plunger the vast riches of Moon Valley

Looters best come armed for war, not a knife fight in the alley.

Mysta tossed her lightning bolts. Space suit absorbed it all

Retaliation doomed to fail. Lunarians primed to fall.

Blackhearts never knowing that Moon Valley’s now deserted

Ghote and Sail they did not fail, with infamy they flirted.

Left Mysta with a fresh blank slate, her essence thus pristine

Sail not knowing what he’d wrought, dim images now seen

By Mysta in her Dreamtime with Moon Maid’s DNA

Chimera’s fate elusive. She’s changing more each day.

Bigg prefers a Space Coupe now. Mysta’s played her part

Nah Tay’s brother soon arrives to practice his dark art.

Bribery, as we can see, delighted with himself

Should he fail to get his way Smith’s head goes on the shelf.