Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for July 19, 2016

.Good morning fellow DT fans!.I love it! Sic ’em Rikki. Take the evil guys out!

Minus one casino boss, plus his driver (not to mention the car). The new mechanical vampire is quick and efficient.

CRUNCH~!!

Reminds me of the “Weird-Oh’s” from the 60’s, cartoon monsters driving goofy cars with giant slicks in back. One was an outhouse on wheels, another a coffin, you get the idea.

It reminds me of a toy I had years and years ago …

I think it was designed to gobble up a a small action figure in its jaws in front, then spit out a flattened cardboard version of the same figure out of the back.

There are a few different versions of this to choose from, but regardless of which is used …

We can pretty much agree that this should be its theme song.

Lots of variations.

This arrangement might appeal.

Rikki doesn’t waste time. Is Rikki going to take over the casino business of that guy?

In the second frame, the Vampire Mechanique reminds me a little of Oogie Boogie in Nightmare Before Christmas as in this t-shirt interpretation:

Thinking about it, I suppose that the eyes are like jack-o’-lantern eyes.

Spike Jones just popped into my head.“You always hurt [cah-runch!] the one you love…”

That big AND fast? If that’s the Vampire Mechanique, the hydraulics are off the charts!

Stealthy, subtle, quiet and discrete. Not.

Rikki drivesTaking livesWho survives?Crunch and munchBunch of lunchTicket punched.

…talk about…jaws…on wheels

Oo. A monster truck.

Short and sweetNice and neat —Your poetryJust can’t be beat!

.

Yours is quite nice too, JPuzz!

One of the reasons I am not too keen on costumed villains in the strip is that their sheer flamboyance seems antithetical to a detective strip based upon a brilliant mind like Tracy’s that utilizes logic and deduction to solve crimes.

Most criminals try to lay low so as not to draw attention to themselves or their crime. The only reason to costume up is because you want people to see you. You have an attitude and want to display it publicly.

Driving a vehicle like this through city streets would certainly draw even more attention to the crime. Even at night, are we expected to believe in a city with millions of people and in front of a casino which operates 24 hours a day (unless it is different than most casinos) that nobody witnessed a girl dressed like a vampire driving an unusual-looking car-eating machine? Did nobody in the entire city see her driving there? Will no one see her driving away? Will she drive away through city streets without being spotted by a single officer on patrol?

At least Flattop Jr. made his wonder car look like other cars of the period so as not to draw attention.

Someone had to build this “car-cruncher.” How many custom car shops are there in Tracy’s city? Witness descriptions of the vehicle could also be sent to other cities as well. Are there any known criminals in MCU’s database who do this type of custom work? The first clues to the crime start here.

There are also likely paint scrapes from the Vampire Mechanique jaws on the crunched car (and vice versa). What manufacturer makes and sells that particular type of paint? Which paint company has recently sold a large amount of that particular color? With some good old-fashioned detective flat-footing it shouldn’t be too hard to find out.

Someone also had to ship the car to Abner. Remember, when originally presented, it was in a large wooden crate. Most shipping and trucking companies keep records. How hard are they to uncover? Which company recently delivered a two-ton crate (which would probably have required a crane to unload it from a flatbed truck)? Where was it delivered to? Who delivered it?

Too sloppy of a crime. Too much sloppy planning. Too easy to trace. Too much flamboyance. Too many clues left.

The colorist must be on vacation.

Looks like the casino manager will survive as a witness. (Can we see him tear up the list of things the now-deceased owner gave him to do, saying “Guess I won’t need this now” LOL)

The Rowwer Crunch method

@Chris Colvard“And, I kinda admit… I want one.”You and me both! Looks like a combination dragster and bulldozer, with a little Batmobile thrown in.

@Illegal Seagull

You’ve just been Oddjobbed!

I think you’re thinking of Jaws, the role played by Richard Kiel in the 007 movies. Oddjob was Goldfinger’s stooge, whose hat was a weapon.____________________

He might’ve meant when Oddjob ran the car through the car crusher, which crushed the homing device.

Whoa! That is one serious street-sweeper! The Vampire Mechanique in Rikki’s hands is a formidable weapon when it can sneak up on its target. But in a more open environment it would not be a weapon of choice.I guess Mr. Monopoly (for want of a better name) had somehow crossed Kadaver or those who have hired him and Rilli….

Hmm…what appears to be needed is someone to hack into Mechanique’s system, preferably someone familar with Rikki’s Goth culture…

They actually tried to build something like this on the Discovery Channel series “Monster Garage.” An old hearse with a small excavator that would extend from the back and rip cars apart. First episode of the show where the team failed, as they couldn’t keep the hydraulics working. So they passed the car through a shredder with a tank of propane in the back. It blowed up real good…

Should I say “That took a bite out of crime?”

Wow! Talk about MONSTER TRUCKS!!!

.I love the short poetry, Pequod and JPuzzleWhiz!

I see we have color now.

Today’s strip looks better on the Comics Kingdoms site. They colored it in shades of reds and yellow. Looks awesome.

Yes, there are things here that stretch the imagination…..it’s a comic strip, and we’re here to have fun. I don’t see how the vampire vehicle is any more a stretch than Gould’s space coupe…in fact, it’s not even close, lol

This seems to go against Abner’s usual method of operation which is more subtle rather than being so obvious. He used his spook houses to capture his prey and ingenious traps to escape from. This is putting Rikki in danger because she’s out in the open and can be trailed. Her horse and carriage wasn’t so obvious. I also don’t like the idea of turning Rikki into a killer. It could result in a bad end for her. Abner should handle his contracts himself.

This vehicle looks much like “The Mangler”, which was manufactured by toymaker Mego during the 1970s — much of Mego’s merchandise was advertised in comic books by Heroes World, during that era. If anyone’s curious, check-out “Mego Museum” on both the internet, and Facebook…