Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for December 11, 2015

Seems quite Gouldian to me, somehow! Anxiously anticipating the answer!

.Good morning fellow DT fans!**.Who was “The Hangman”? We wait…

This time, “Flattop” survives!

Tracy’s looking especially grim in panel 3….great work.

Gweedo arrived early and stated,Good late night morning, Vista B-B Bill !-—————————————————————.Good morning Gweedo. Time for me to climb in and close the lid. Move over, R^^^^.

The Unofficial GoComics Staton/Curtis Death ListAs compiled by boboscar, Tarry Plaguer, and AnyFaceNOTE: Names with a + were found dead or killed prior to the story start.+ Wormy & Thistledew (Reported dead in armory fire) 3/21/11Flyface 4/22/11The Fifth & Eddie Garcia (Caught in ’Thor’s Hammer’ beam weapon overload explosion) 4/25/11Earl (Flaky and Hot Rize’s innocent co-worker) 5/12/11Hot Rize (Asphyxiated in flour silo) 5/28/11Emma Parks (A.K.A. Ponytail Mk I) 6/14/11The 2 terrorists who tried to hire and double cross Morning Gloria 8/13/11Big Frost 10/20/11Apparatus Member (Killed by DoubleUp) 10/25/11 & fed to Tonsils 10/27/11Flaky Biscuits (Never confirmed, but implied) 10/29/11+ Sizzler Sitzes (Hired by Kadaver to kill Charles Adams A.K.A. Baron Clovis in a hit and run. Was then shot and killed by Kadaver to keep him quiet) 10/31/11 identified 11/9/11Cueball 1/31/12Mr. Levitz (Doubleup’s main henchman in his first story; later killed by Kadaver to get Doubleup off) 3/13/12+ Vincent Vinyl 5/5/12 confirmed 5/11/12The 3 supporting members of the Mumbles Quartet (Car bomb explosion arranged by Abner Kadaver under Panda’s orders) 5/20/12Lt. Teevo (Fed to Muerte Vine by The Mushroom Lady) 7/6/12 confirmed 7/18/12Panda (Tripped and fell into Tonsils’ tank under smoke cover released by Abner Kadaver, then eaten) 7/15/12 confirmed 7/23/12Davey Mylar (A.K.A. Mr. Crime Mk II) 7/13/12 tombstone 9/30/12+ Arthur Curry (Aquarium director) 8/22/12Bookie (Measles’ partner) 10/14/12Measles (Overdose) 11/10/12+ Stephen Baux’s fiancée 2/8/13 identified 2/27/13Simon Baux A.K.A. Sweat Box (Struck by train during car chase) 2/24/13Diet Smith Industries Guard (Supposedly killed by Bardoll) 6/25/13 (Uncertain; shown lying on the ground and called a “casualty” on 6/29/13, but unconfirmed)Bardoll 7/7/13 confirmed 7/16/13Hy Pressure 9/28/13 confirmed 10/8/13Drs. Sail, Ghote, and Flash Munroe? (Still alive last we saw them, and ambiguous that they’re dead, but it often sounds like Curtis thinks of them as dead) 10/18/13Bill “Shortcake” Mitchell (Apparatus member) (never confirmed, but implied) 10/31/13Miles Mycroft (Garroted by Silver Nitrate, then fed to Lena the Hyena) 1/26/14Mr. Kolossal 4/30/14Ed Rosato (Never confirmed, but implied) 5/14/14Tabby Angus 5/28/14The Butcher of the Balkans A.K.A. Henrik Wilemse (Punjab placed his magic blanket over him, sending the Butcher on to “fly with the Maji” where none have ever returned) 7/27/14Axel’s “crack combat troops” (Implied to have all gone the same way as The Butcher of the Balkans a la Punjab) 9/30/14Axel (Blown up by Dr. Kenyon’s unstable experimental explosive) 10/5/14Otis (Killed by Gruesome) 12/5/14Mrs. Flattop (Flattened by 70-pound Film Canister thrown by Sprocket Nitrate in self-defense) 3/1/15 confirmed 3/6/15Cork 4/29/15 confirmed 5/1/15Fontane 5/6/15 confirmed 5/12/15Jimmy Choo Shooz (Sucked into undertow at Lake Prachett) 6/4/15Méliès (Accidentally shot with 50 caliber bullet – Possibly in right eye – By Apollo) 8/23/15 confirmed 8/31/15Rocket Munroe & Apollo (They would’ve been fatally shot by 9/12/15, on 9/13/15 it’s implied Venus is the only one on that floor still alive, on 9/21/15, Rocket & Apollo are among those on that floor who are identified.)VENUS IS DEAD FISH DEAD!!! 9/22/15+ Vic Smith /John Cassaday 11/7/15+ Byron Orlock 11/16/15Freddy Capp 11/23/15The Hangman (caught and hanged in Tracy’s safety cable while trying to hang Tracy) 12/10/15

Uh …

… did “The Hangman” say he wanted to take revenge on Tracy?

FYI …

… we were well over 100 Comments yesterday, but I’m not quite sure why.

Anticipation …?

How come Tracy was able to get down while The Hangman still hangs up there when they were in the same safety cable – attached to Tracy and looped around The Hangman’s neck. Aren’t they supposed to come down together when Tracy was lowered?All the answers tomorrow and the start of Vitamin’s Christmas adventure on Sunday.

Gweedo continued…Sleeping with a bony elbow poking my exposed ribs keeps me from getting my beauty rest,-—————————————————————.I’ll have a talk with Abner about consideration of our guests, Gweedo.

Wonder if the Hangman is the author of the novel the film is based on? Perhaps the ending of the film was not the original ending?

Gweedo answered,This new me is going to take some getting used to.-———————————————————————.I hope the “new look” isn’t permanent, Gweedo! If it is, you are going to find that your friends will start avoiding you! You might want to start a daily dosage of Dezombifier™ (liquid or tablets). It’s available in the cemetery Overnight™ store.

They were next to each other in panel 1 yesterday and they were attached to a single cable.

Either Tracy is being cautious in his remarks to Sam or he really is not sure yet who The Hangman is and, like us, has to wait for the deposition of the body from the harness rigging and unmasking to see if he recognizes the face of Evil Past.How many left-handed persons of interest have we seen in this story, hmm?

Probably a relative of someone Tracy collared or killed. That could be a long list.

Bingo! but, you’re right — that doesn’t narrow the field much. I’m waiting till tomorrow night to present my reasoning.

Hmmmm, so who is the Hangman and why revenge???

“Vengeance makes people do crazy things, Sam” I still think Forsythe’s still gonna turn into a new “Flattop”… -Can’t wait for the wrap-up on Saturday, and a new tale starting on Sunday.

Gweedo responded,I have been getting second looks from the goul gals lately. Choices ! Soo many choices…-—————————————————————.With your “new look” Gweedo, you’ve “got what it takes”!

I hope we get a believable explanation !

You don’t like the explanations that Ken and I gave? They make perfect sense to me. It seems clear without the strip having to go into further detail.

Space fans: A couple of days ago, NASA released a false-color video of Ceres in the asteroid belt, which lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. It shows saltly deposits all over the place and it’s pretty cool: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8er_0yY1S1o

Gweedo stated,That’s right, Bill and I’m Ready to Rock !!-————————————————————.The “girls” are dying to meet you, Gweedo. They like a man with brains! That Lagerfeld Formaldehyde™ aftershave is knocking them cold!

Gweedo answered,The graveyard store carries good bad stuff, Bill !-———————————————————————————-.You might prefer the “Dusk to Dawn™” store, Gweedo. The girls are waiting for you. Drop in on them later. There’ll be a “whole lot of shakin’ goin’ on”!

Gweedo stated,That’s right, Bill and I’m Ready to Rock !!-————————————————————————-.Check out the gal that is singing, “I Fall to Pieces”, Gweedo! Hubba, hubba!

Flattop had a much more violent reaction to being shot than “Flattop.” Of course, being unconscious might have something to do with “Flattop’s” composure. The overhead stretcher pov echoes Gould’s drawing of Flattop when Tracy tells him he’ll live.

@Jim in CT: Best wishes for coping with some very difficult anniversaries and reminiscences.@AnyFace: Thanks for the kind words yesterday. Cheers.

No offense meant, but you guys’s explanations are but mere fan speculation …

No offense from me, either, but I think they’re mostly just common sense and I have a feeling that it’s one of those things that mike won’t think he has to explain because it’s kind of obvious.

However, there are other things which may demand an explanation which we’ll likely never get, like why two of the characters in this story suddenly changed names after they first appeared.

Interesting that the colorist over at Comics Kingdom chose to make Tracy’s hat yellow today, even thought the trench coat is still red.

I wonder if we’ll ever find out what was/would have been the great ending to the movie (at least in Tracy’s opinion)