Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for September 20, 2010

  1. Emerald
    margueritem  about 14 years ago

    Whoa! Coincidence? I think not…

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  2. Rimshot
    Panel-Panner  about 14 years ago

    Today’s strip doesn’t make any sense!

    It’s as if Thick asked a question, then mentally responded to Mrs. D’B’s answer BEFORE SHE SPOKE IT.

    The sequence should have been:

    Panel 1: Mrs. D’B- “My husband did withdraw a lot of money in cash. Large bills.”

    Panel 2: Tracy - “Thousand dollar bills, right?”

    Panel 3: Tracy’s thought balloon: “Just like that homeless man in the newspaper.”

    But what do I know? I’ve never been published; my fiction wasn’t “good enough.”

    Then I have to visit this site and see a story that wouldn’t even pass muster with a ten-year-old (excluding Simon Penn, of course). I could write better stuff drunk, high on airplane glue, while suffering from a severe head wound.

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  3. Rimshot
    Panel-Panner  about 14 years ago

    And speaking of repeating things ad nauseam, wasn’t the withdrawal business already covered? It’s like this strip is trapped in a revolving door, spinning around, the same scenes come back again and again.

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  4. Bren suit
    FLIGHT SUIT  about 14 years ago

    Tracy asks, “…and it was all in cash?”

    As opposed to what? How else could you withdraw money?

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  5. Josette   13 march 2016   c
    Bill Thompson  about 14 years ago

    Panel-Panner, the withdrawal came up several Ice Ages ago, and got skipped over even though both Thick and the Widow thought it was strange.

    At the time Thick should have asked things like “Did you withdraw this money as a ransom payment? Did kidnappers tell you to pay up and keep the authorities out of it?”

    He should still ask that. And Thick should not assume that the thousand dollar bills were part of the withdrawal; he should also ask if D’uncecap had any K-notes, say in a wall safe or as part of a currency collection. But first he should talk to D’eadguy’s accountants about the money. He just might stumble over some clues before they end up in the Daily Fishwrapper.

    Incidentally, does anyone think this Slimecropper tip looks familiar?

    http://www.gocomics.com/dicktracy/2005/07/31

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  6. 220px charles bowles aka black bart
    Steve Bartholomew  about 14 years ago

    Yesterday’s strip had a secret coded message embedded in the newspaper: “HMFTL VCLEX ELST OMSAN AUMNS HELRE VEL YPLPR MOKAREEA HCAR”.

    It is from the Illuminati, who are actually behind this evil comic strip. I have successfully decoded the message using my Dick Tracy decoder ring. It says: “Always drink Ovaltine!”

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  7. Adopted from phoenix az  humanes societyavatar
    Fusnr  about 14 years ago

    Nothing ha$ made mu¢h ¢ent$ lately in thi$ $trip $o that i$ why we are dealing with $1000.00 bill$ I $uppo$e. A penny for your thought$ wouldn’t help Mr. Lo¢her in this ar¢ either.

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  8. Josette   13 march 2016   c
    Bill Thompson  about 14 years ago

    Good point, Flight Suit. In the real world it could have been an electronic transaction. In fact there’s no alternative; the typical bank doesn’t keep that much physical currency on hand. And how else could Homeless Guy have used his electric whizzbang to transfer cash to the senator? Alas, this is Thickworld, and Nutless Nodick won’t even ask how the widow knew about the money when she said her husband never discussed business with her.

    Rightwingmoron, I just figured it out! The SEC, FTC, FBI and EIEIO hired Barb Els, now sadly worn down by steroid abuse, to portray Mrs. D’isappearedguy. Her assignment is to keep Thick out of the way while they conduct the real criminal investigation.

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  9. Adopted from phoenix az  humanes societyavatar
    Fusnr  about 14 years ago

    That’s what Tracy needs, Ovaltine . I drink 2 12 oz glasses a day and come up with better dumb ideas then he ever thought of.

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  10. Adopted from phoenix az  humanes societyavatar
    Fusnr  about 14 years ago

    I think thaty house is shrinking in width and going higher up the roof.

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  11. Odd spots 002
    sydney  about 14 years ago

    That’s Dashiel Hammet’s house for the Thin Man !

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  12. Odd spots 002
    sydney  about 14 years ago

    Isn’t it more than a little strange that the ‘face to face’ question Tracy asks Mrs. D’Buckworth today in panel 1, is the same Question asked of her over the ‘telephone’ yesterday (?)

    Why visit the home to ask the same question ?

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  13. Warthog
    wndrwrthg  about 14 years ago

    Oh Dickie, you silly twit You have no detective skills, not one wit All this was laid out long before Deep into senility you sink, more and more The bank, dear Tracy, about the money you must ask Or would that be too daunting of a task The money, in volume it would fill 8.4 cubic feet And weigh 204 pounds, that would look really neat Another little thing that I wish to bring to light They record the serial numbers, you know they just might So check the bills against the numbers If you can waken from your slumbers Sue Doko, have you forgotten her You worthless misbegotten son of a cur TMS is the one to blame For running stories that are this lame Can the Tracy strip be turned around If new artists/writers, they are found Or is it now in its dying throes Its bones to be picked over by the carrion crows.

    Bill Thompson, great one yesterday.

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  14. Josette   13 march 2016   c
    Bill Thompson  about 14 years ago

    Thanks, Wonder Warthog! Your works are always a pleasure to read.

    And I think the strip could be turned around–in fact I think this D’emented story could be saved, if it came into the twenty-first century. Like this:

    We confirm that D-cubed took the money before he vanished. Next, we get a call from the ME who says that the dead man is not D-cubed; “he” has been identified as a woman named Ginny Pigge, an Alzheimer’s patient who volunteered for experimental stem-cell treatment. Her brain was injected with stem cells that caused the growth of new neurons. (“She was so decayed we couldn’t tell she was a she,” the abashed ME tells DT.)

    We next learn that the experiments were funded by D-cubed. It turns out he was developing Alzheimer’s and was rightly terrified of it (my dad and grandmother faded out with it). And D-cubed, having a huge ego, put a nasty twist on the experiment: he had the experimental subjects injected with stem cells cultured from his own body. As their minds regenerated, their neural pathways developed along the same lines as those of the young D-cubed. Ginny Pig became so much like D-cubed that she even got a tattoo like his.

    Satisfied that the therapy worked, D-cubed had it tried on himself. His brain also regenerated . . . to become like his younger, idealistic self. Horrified at finding himself a ruthless tycoon, he goes underground in an effort to both destroy his equally-nasty enemies at We’re-Lyin’-terprises and to reward any act of good he sees. He’s aided by Sue Doko, who has fallen in love with his renewed self.

    Of course he still has enemies at We’re-Lyin’, and they’re horrified that he has the wealth and will to take them out. So they now send gunsels to abduct Mrs. D, to force D-cubed into surrender. It’s now up to DT to rescue her, aided by some of D-cubed clever anti-burglar inventions in the Mighty Morphin’ Power Mansion. DT gets in a shootout, bullets follow trajectories recognized by Euclid and Newton, and in the end DT is left to ponder the legality and morality of D-cubed’s experiments.

    Doofus Twacy, of course, will decide that the way to draw D-cubed into the open is by reading the newspapers.

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  15. Josette   13 march 2016   c
    Bill Thompson  about 14 years ago

    Panel-Panner, maybe Doofus is turning into Lincoln Powell, the telepathic detective from Alfred Bester’s “The Demolished Man.” Powell chased down Ben Reich, a wealthy industrialist who thought he had committed the perfect murder. Maybe that’s why Nutless Nodick went to the mansion–in Bester’s story the espers could only read a mind when they were face-to-face with a person.

    In Bester’s story, Ben Reich murdered a fellow industrialist named – D’Courtney. Reich did it out of passion, subconsciously realizing that D’Courtney was his long-lost father … who appeared in his nightmares as The Man With No Face. Maybe D’eranged has a similar passionate relationship with someone at We’re-Lyin-twerprises.

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  16. Missing large
    Maximara  about 14 years ago

    At least we have Gould’s old comics to read as this is becoming more and more painful to read. I have seen bad fanfics better than this. Welcome to the Adventures of Defective Dick Tracy. Ugh.

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  17. Missing large
    veldy  about 14 years ago

    My Bank allows me to make withdrawls in chickens and beaver pelts

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  18. Missing large
    neonleon59  about 14 years ago

    BillThompson said, “…Incidentally, does anyone think this Slimecropper tip looks familiar?”

    http://www.gocomics.com/dicktracy/2005/07/31

    OK, Bill, that creeped me out. In Panel 2 of that strip, Tracy has A RIGHT HAND ON THE END OF HIS LEFT ARM.

    Proof that the unacceptably inane artwork that is thrust upon us these days is nothing new.

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  19. Av1
    steveyorkdesigns  about 14 years ago

    Why does Tracy shout when he thinks?

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  20. Missing large
    puddleglum1066  about 14 years ago

    I am still trying to figure out how (never mind why) Tracy seems to have removed his coat, tie and shirt between the first and second panels.

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  21. Drmid nite head
    Dr. Midnight  about 14 years ago

    A few days ago I mentioned that the last $1,000 bill was produced in 1934, and as RWM posted, there are enough left that he could have converted his withdrawal into $1,000 bills, although he likely would have had to pay more than face value for them.

    BUT HE COULDN’T HAVE WITHDRAWN THEM FROM A BANK THAT WAY!!! Because they are all in the hands of collectors, not sitting in a bank!!

    Why doesn’t Locher just say 3D went to the bank and withdrew his fortune in gold Spanish Doubloons? It would make as much sense!

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  22. Missing large
    neonleon59  about 14 years ago

    Yesterday Dick asked Mrs. DDD the exact same question on the phone.

    Sigh.

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  23. Dick t
    Groundzero7  about 14 years ago

    “And was it all in cash?”

    “No,part of it was in food stamps.”

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  24. Fashion fail looks like you bumped your head
    tsouthworth  about 14 years ago

    Panel-Panner, yes, the withdrawal was mentioned in Dracy’s expert investigation on 8/22 - a month ago!

    Moving swiftly on…

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  25. Avatar
    jumbobrain  about 14 years ago

    yeah yeah, rich guy disappears, pretends to be bum, gives out money. The real mystery remains why TMS continues to bother publishing this strip as it is.

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  26. Ca avatar patch
    CougarAllen  about 14 years ago

    And did he bandy his money about town in a bullock cart?

    -Cougar :{)

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  27. Oddball
    Morrow Cummings  about 14 years ago

    At least I know why Macy “conveniently” drops in on Penny day after day, covering stuff that she told him back in August. Macy’s definitely got his antenna up (or, whatever). Never one to waste time, he’s gotta score before Tess gets her antenna up.

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  28. Anim chromosomes
    chromosome Premium Member about 14 years ago

    This strip is obviously emailed in via a 300 baud modem. I’ve never seen a slower story line.

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  29. Josette   13 march 2016   c
    Bill Thompson  about 14 years ago

    neonleon59, the real oddity about that right hand is that isn’t attached to Thick’s left arm, it’s growing out of the left side of his neck. Funny how people in this strip have become so anatomically incorrect, isn’t it? I blame the Wrist Geenee and its forgotten power to read DNA. It obviously works by scanning people with some mysterious radiation that alters DNA. Looks like Doofus has scanned himself a few times. They should have let the FDA check it out before it went into service. Granted that a proper study of its risks would have delayed putting the DNA gizmo into service by a few years, but so what? It takes Thick that long to solve a case anyway.

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  30. Professor chaos
    countoftowergrove  about 14 years ago

    Assuming that there were several hundred G notes, one asks, since they were used only in inter-bank transactions, were there ever that many in circulation in the first place?

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  31. Josette   13 march 2016   c
    Bill Thompson  about 14 years ago

    Can’t wait for Thick’s next deduction. “D-cubed was robbed and killed, and his murderer is handing out the money! When we find the man with the money we’ll arrest him!”

    Makes me hope Homeless Guy is D-cubed, just so I can see how Nutless Nodick charges him with his own murder.

    Thick? D-cubed can’t possibly haul around all that money. Us readers have seen someone hand him cash, too. So have the widow and Miss-Remember-Me-I’m-Sue-Doko followed, and see which of them visits the local skid row.

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  32. Missing large
    trickdacy  about 14 years ago

    Your prayers have been answered. This is the wave of the future for Dick Tracy Fans: The Dick Tracy Panel Scrambler

    http://joshreads.com/images/10/09/Random Dick/comic-scrambler.html

    or

    http://tinyurl.com/38h36st

    Just click the “Scramble” button to create your own plot twists!

    Makes MORE sense than the panels assembled by Locher and Brozman.

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  33. Calvin
    SimonPenn  about 14 years ago

    Another GREAT All-New Dick Tracy comic strip today! FUN!

    More fun all-new Dick Tracy comic strips here tomorrow, CHECK OUT THE FUN!

    Be back here tomorrow if you love today’s all-new Dick Tracy comic strip for further fun adventures.

    Great Stuff!

    If you love today’s all-new Dick Tracy comic strip, CHECK IT OUT tomorrow for more great comics!

    CHECK IT OUT! More Fun Adventures Ahead!

    Be sure to be here tomorrow if you love today’s adventure!!

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  34. Avatar 4101
    g6793  about 14 years ago

    SimonPenn…are you for real??!

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  35. N211317039976 6359
    trekkermint  about 14 years ago

    i think this guy /\ has a nice template for comments - why read? mad lib it and drink yer oval teen

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  36. Josette   13 march 2016   c
    Bill Thompson  about 14 years ago

    Always did love Mad-libs, rabbitrose.

    The headline on the Daily Dilly-Dally reads “Another GREAT All-New Dick Tracy comic strip vanished today!” The article said “It was replaced by garbage from some Fully Untalented Nitwit who snuck into the offices of TMS!

    “Be back here tomorrow if you love today’s replacement of the all-new Dick Tracy comic strip with more of Locher’s India-ink disasters and you can have a good time wondering what he uses for brains and how further he can take this strip from anything that resembles fun and adventures.

    Most of us think it would be Great if Locher took it and Stuffed it!

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  37. Th
    marvee  about 14 years ago

    Almost anyone here could write a better strip. Bill Thom;pson’s idea was great! Simon Penn sounds like a spammer, selling Dick Tracy rather than jeans or shoes. I wonder if he (or his creator, ever read the other comments.

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