Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for March 22, 2016

You didn’t see that coming?

1. Yes, Mole’s name is Louis.

2. Toad is not to be trifled with.

LOL

.Good morning fellow DT fans!

Cute little sidebar. Someone was saying Notta is supposed to start soon?

D’awwww!

Gweedo requested,Can you turn this crypt temperature down a bit ?-——————————————————————.We don’t have heat, Gweedo. You must have climbed into the wrong crypt again!

Well that was certainly a delightful set of strips lately. I hope we’re coming back to another segment of Toad, and her family.

So yesterday we’re talking about we might not learn the Mole’s real name even at the wedding, and the next day we find out his first name is Louis in a nice family scene. Team Tracy is always thinking ahead! :)

I loved watching Lawler and Kaufman fight in the day

@JPuzzleWhiz:From Yesterday:Nowadays, that surname would never fly with the censors. It’s a slur.I know that, but Gould wasn’t slurring anybody – it didn’t mean that back then. Anyway, that was only an example of my point, which was that Gould enjoyed working real people (many of whom were personal friends) into his strip, with clever names.

May some kind person wise in the ways of DT lore please enlighten me as to why a pretty little girl has the name (or the nickname) ‘Toad’?

While various DT Wikis inform us that her full name is ‘Toad Spencer’ and that her mom is Mole’s fiancée, none offer an explanation.

In the green pastures of Liberty Meadows today, the talented Mr. Frank Cho has created a fun guest appearance by Fearless Fosdick.

Greetings, Gweedo.

Does that mean Dick and Jerry Van Dyke will have to change their name ?

“Van Dyke” is from Dutch (“from the dike”) and is the fifth most common surname in the Netherlands, so it cover a lot more that Dick and Jerry. Another spelling is “Van Dyck” but I don’t think that would improve things. The modern standard spelling in Dutch is “Van Dijk” but I don’t think English readers are generally prepared to deal with that. I think the “Van” lets them off the hook.

I Like little Blaze Rise whose twin “Hot” died in a cocaine foul up back when the MCU still did some crime solving. Hard to say if the strip was going for a pair of gay women who liked checkered suits and flash bow ties, or did they have to lose “Hot Rise” due to it being a trade mark of Martha White Flour. Blaze sure seemed sad when Notta showed her the door.

Ahh, good to see Mole! Life seems to treating him well these days, except that he is perhaps not entirely at ease dealing with the youthful exuberance of Toad. She and Jerry are just playing nicely together; Jerry gets to tune up his pro wrestling acting skills, while Toad gets the boost to her self-confidence that thrashing the big guy gives her!It’s just darn nice!

Gweedo replied,Sorry, for the false alarm, Bill.-————————————————————————-.You know we have a “bare bones” lifestyle, Gweedo! I was afraid that you might have stumbled into the crematorium when you mentioned being too warm!

….so what did Toad ask….if she could wrestle him?

Thanks for the link, Gweedo. Yes, I knew Liberty Meadows was in reprints. Sorry that there are no new ones, yet happily await the next Brandy vs Evil Brandy cycle. The Fosdick face is well timed, as teasers go.

Yesterday, Maxine_Viller kindly replied to my question about ‘Toad’ as a girl’s name: “Mole and Toad — I suspect that Mike Curtis* is a “Wind in the Willows” fan. This cute little “Toad” has all the spunk and enthusiasm of the Kenneth Graham one. Hopefully, she won’t be as reckless as that one, though.”*You probably meant Chester Gould rather than Mike Curtis?

“Mole and Toad” Parp! Parp! of course — well detected, Maxine, a likely and happy explanation for such an unusual choice! Perhaps also, in 1941, ‘Toad’ didn’t have the same connotations as it does today?

FYIThe Dick Tracy strip made its debut on October 4, 1931 in the Detroit Mirror and Gould wrote and drew the strip until 1977.The Mole first appeared in the strip from November 16, 1941 to December 24, 1941.On January 19, 2011, Mike Curtis (writer) and the current creative team (Joe Staton (artist), Shelley Pleger (inks and letters), and Shane Fisher(Sunday colouring)) began producing the strip.

Gweedo feebly replied,I was a bit “stumbling in the dark” when I came in Bill and totally forgot to bring the night vision specs !-———————————————————————-.If you forget, you can always rent a pair a the Cemetery Gate Concession Stand!

Gweedo added,And people like Bill and Rikki !-————————————————————-.**We’re cool guys, Gweedo! Part of “the underground”, so to speak.