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

Now, THAT was unexpected! This must be the highlight of Bribery’s life: “zapping” a Moon Maid! He obviously remembers the original MM zapping him & Ugly Christine back in the 60’s! This story continues to delight and excite!

Very “Lex Luthor” of Bribery.

We’ve finally learned what Bribery’s ring is for. A defense against lunar attacks!

Why Yoda-talk you speak?

That ain’t no Orphan Annie secret decoder ring, that’s for sure!

Bribery’s defense again the moon people isn’t limited to a fancy space suit! It’s much more elegant than that.

Uh, did Bribery forget the place is being stormed? You’d think he’d be just a little concerned about that. Hope he gets away, though, or at least lives to return later…

A surprising and very interesting turn of events! Mysta doesn’t know what hit her.

“I don’t think we should let Willy see this one.”Too late, my friend!

Finally we catch up with Mysta. Only I didn’t expect this.

So Bribery has a few tricks where Mysta is concerned. I wonder when Honeymoon is going to show up to even the odds.

I don’t like Bribery. He hurt one of my favourite people!

This is an example of the excellent storytelling from the team of Joe Staton and Mike Curtis.No word, or visual detail, no matter how seemingly insignificant it may appear, should be ignored. How many times, before his face was revealed, did we see a close-up of Mr. Bigg-bery’s hand with the ring prominently featured? How many times did we, the readers, just shrug it off as "oh… he now wears a ring… "? Did any of us foresee this nondescript piece of jewellery coming into play in this unexpected plot twist?It is important to pay close attention to every word of the dialogue. Something mentioned in passing by a character could turn out to be a vital part in the assembly of a well-crafted tale in the future.That being said, I am truly anticipating the next appearance of Abner Kadaver. In his cameo appearance a couple of months ago (which was discussed on yesterday’s board), he says to Bigg-bery, when asked why he hasn’t killed Tracy yet, “what you do not know is that you are helping to implement my plan at this very minute.” What is this plan, and what were the Blackhearts doing at the time that would facilitate things?Time will tell. Stay “tooned.”

I wonder what defense Mr. Bigg has against the more basic weaponry of Punjab? Or SWAT guns?

He’s asking for it. Dead fish dead!

Now I suppose he can get to 6B and use that secret escape plan. Nothing in the way, it seems. Could 6B have one of those old flying-trashcans parked in it?

Well I’ll expect anything at this point…a flying trashcan, a mini space coupe, Marvin the Martian with K-9….

“It’s the Moon Maid Knockoff!” FINALLY someone in Tracyville who speaks the truth!

At least she’s acknowledging her new Identity.

Good morning guys!.That was unexpected! Call in Punjab!

I KNEW it!!

I called it weeks ago, that Mr. Bribery would have some sort of ‘remote control’ over Mysta!!

Since they ‘chipped’ her with a tracking device and they showed Mysta being a Lab Rat with the tests against that Lunarian Defense Suit, the first thing I thought was ‘Why is Mysta cooperating like this? Like some Lunarian mercenary for hire?’

Now we know.

Look to Honeymoon and Punjab to the rescue as poor Mysta is forced to be Bribery’s new L-Bolt (Lightning Bolt) to help him escape!

Poor Mysta!!

So…

Why didn’t Bribery use his ring against Honeymoon???

Bribery’s ring reflects back Mysta’s zap, much to our heroine’s distress. Coming to Honeymoon’s aid comes at a cost; one she was fully prepared to pay. We’ve seen this ring many times since first spotting it on the weathered hand of the mysterious man in the limo. Mysta slowed but could not prevent Bribery’s progress to suite 6B. Most revealing of Bribery’s miscreant ways is his belief that he owns Mysta. He does not. He cannot. Such warped thinking is villainous. Safe to say, Bribery is clueless as to the myriad changes Mysta has undergone, and is undergoing, since her escape from the clutches of Sail and Ghote. Honeymoon’s changes clearly caught him off guard. He was too slow to bring the bling ring.

Honeymoon caught him totally by surprise,-———————————————-In more ways than one.He didn’t expect to see her (or Annie or Diet Smith loose), but he might not have known she had developed horns and powers.

I was never particularly fond of Moon Maid after I saw this back in July of 1966.

Felt she was just a little too loose with the juice on occaision.Nice to see her get it back just once to see what it feels like.

Is Bribery going to take Mysta as a hostage? It looks like he wants to reclaim his “property.”-I’m still wondering who survived the shoot out. Mumbles? Any of the Munro brothers? Apollo?

Uh-oh

What do the numbers on the heart playing cards signify? I thought they were floor numbers but they seem to vary randomly – 10? 11?

Is it too late for me to join the police force? I must say the line “you are still my property” just started a fire under me.

The major characters: “Where are they now?” revised from yesterday.

Blaze and Notta are presumably escaping, separately, till things cool off.BB-Eyes (injured) and Doubleup are in custody.Venus has given up and is likely about to be taken into custody.Apollo is dead or injured, along with some unidentifiable character beside him. Méliès died some days ago, of course.Sputnik and Satellite Munro were last seen a month ago and are likely still together somewhere in the building.Mumbles and Rocket Munro were last seen planning to ambush the cops. One of them is lying dead near Apollo. They may have reconsidered their plan to confront the cops as the battle turned against them.T-Bolt got zapped by Mysta in the stairwell (or close to it). T-Bolt is probably dazed and confused, at the very least.Mysta and Mr. Bigg (Mr. Bribery) inevitably met in the corridor as Mysta headed towards Honeymoon and Mysta headed away from Honeymoon.A surprise zap by Honeymoon and a brief threat by Punjab, followed by this short enbcounter with Mysta didn’t do much to deter Mr. Bigg’s walk to his secret escape route via Suite 6B.For Mysta, however, she been insulted by being called a “knock-off,” criticized for having a quick temper, called a now-useless by-product of Mr. Bigg’s weapon testing, called property, then zapped by her own reflected power. She has certainly been slowed down in her mission to get to Honeymoon.Honeymoon, Annie, Diet Smith, and Punjab seem to be safe for now. I’m not sure whether they are going anywhere at the moment.Tracy and Sam seem to be almost done on the 4th (and/or 5th?) floor and will eventually be headed to the 6th floor.Fritz Ann is in the care of the EMTs. Her condition won’t likely be known until the bad guys are dealt with.

Bribery’s as contemptuous as I’ve ever seen him today. Hard not to feel sorry for Mysta, but I bet the day is coming where she will have the last laugh over Bribery.

Will Bribery get away from this???

Is T-Bolt going to be a “loose end” for the next year?

If she isn’t Lee Ebony, then the writers effectively wrote her off as being insignificant – just like they did to Teevo for a couple of years. I’ve been following this strip for quite a while now and they never seem to include Lee in anything. I’m sure that way back, she was in a story or two, but not lately.

As some are aware, Abner Kadaver is visiting Greedo for a few weeks. I sent my drones over to snap a picure and my avatar is the result. Who are your pals, Gweedo?

Punjab can take care of Bribery! What happened to T-Bolt/Lee?’ And it’s still unclear if Mumbles, Apollo and the Munro brothers are alive.I know many of you speculate the lifeless hand holding the Big gun was Apollo, but last we saw, he wasn’t wearing a suit jacket.

His “property?” I hate Bribery with a burning hatred for all the wicked things he’s done to Mysta.

Ouch! Mysta got a taste of what she dishes.From the way Mr Bigg used the ring, it looks like he has to block the zap with his ring. Now if Honeymoon and Mysta have Mr Bigg between them, he would only be able to block one of them

Oooh, Mr. Bribery needs another smackdown, pronto.

Good afternoon everyone.-————————Moon Maid may be down but don’t count her out yet. There may be more surprises ahead.-————————Be healthy, wealthy and wise, my friends.

““He’s” not, but I know Willy’s tender feelings for the “Moon Maid Maid knock-off”. Just so he knows he has support during this trying time.”Willy can speak for himself, but dang it, it’s hard not to have tender feelings for a hot blonde dressed in a bunny costume and lacy thigh high boots. Mysta is awesome in every way, and Bribery is human garbage. He kidnapped a woman, performed experiments on her, repeatedly messed with her mind, and now he’s physically and verbally abusing her, as though she’s his property. The guy should be taken to an alley and given some serious payback for treating women that way.P.S. I’m completely digging Mysta’s darker gloves and boots, since no one else has mentioned that. Am I the only one loving her new look? Wow.

@Neil Wick said: “I don’t think it uses batteries.”It might use a rechargeable battery. When a Lunarian zaps it, the electrical energy is absorbed. That would make it a very efficient weapon… getting its power supply from the very source of which it is designed to shield its user.

Wendy sighed and felt a sense of professional despairShe had nothing new to say as she reported live on the airI’ll give them all a recap of information they already knowAnd hopefully something new will happen before it starts to snowReally this is all Tracy’s fault he’s such a conceited snobHe acts like no one else could fill his shoes and do his jobHe never once has thanked me for all the attention to him I bringAll I ask is his story rights but my phone he never ringsOnly once did he send a gift it came one Christmas nightAn officially licensed “It’s a Gift!” fedora in a color, oh what a frightWhat I really need right at this very precise momentIs something amazing to explode that’ll cause my competitors tormentQuickly take the camera shoot the building and put it to zoomAnd hopefully in the next few moments something stupendous will go BOOM!

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Hey, be merciful people, there was nothing to work with today! LOL!