Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for April 17, 2017

Sounds like a mecha of some sort.

For anyone who’s interested …

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mecha

“If a ‘Robot Mecha’ is introduced in ‘Act One’ …”

You can tell Honeymoon is sweet on Astor!

I would think she would still prefer the Spirit. But he’s gone so….

Now this looks heavy.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/downtowntraveler/15486961676

Why do actors (the male ones, that is) have to wear those heavy costumes in those comic-book type movies. George Clooney who played in the two Batman movies (the second one he was in was the worse!) said his costume weighed about (I’m guessing this) 50 lbs?

Any kids read the strip? Will there be any cross-traffic from Sven’s site?

I finished my taxes. I’m sure everyone’s been on the edge of their seat.

It looks to me like somebody is spying on them, using the TV behind Astor in panel 1. The spy is watching them on the tablet in panel 2, and the voices in panel 2 belong to the spies, not the kids.

@Neil Wick

Mr. Wick, I use your “Open all Replies” bookmark, but I would like to request an update to it. It works absolutely fine if you are not signed on, but if you are, after it has opened all the replies, it scrolls down to the last comment box that the signed on user can enter text in, forcing a scroll back up to the top of the comments. Not knowing Javascript, I made a few attempts to fix it, but the best I could do was a scroll to the first open comment box, but then the next time I used it, back down to the last comment box again. So, Mr. Wick, if it is possible, please put this fix in. Thanks!

Good morning guys!

I was thinking that maybe we’d get to see Dethany Denrobia (or a Dethany fan who has her “noir” game like Honeymoon does) make a cameo in her “sleuth” avatar we saw here when she ran into Tracy at the detectives convention last year (Dethany’s wearing it in today’s “On the Fastrack”).

@ David42: Really good catch! Unfortunately, we don’t know whether it’s a “selfie” and the voices are Honey and Astro, or if this is a hijacked video in the hands of the as yet not introduced bad guys…

@ Constantine500: Speaking about Svengoolie, having spent a lot of time looking at the older clips and, let’s face it, Jerry G. Bishop was the better of the two! My question: Does anyone know what that guitar clip is that is used as a “music bed” for the screams in the background of those clips?

" … his latest build… " ?? I don’t understand. What does that mean? “… build…” ??

I think it is unusual that Astor would know the EXACT amount of time he can wear the device. It almost sounds like he is wearing SCUBA gear instead of a costume piece.

My question: Is this the real astro boy, or just someone who dresses the part?

We seem to have lost about 15 comments from Morrow or Avenger and whoever replied to them. I may not agree with everything people say but I think various opinions are good to see. Keep it civil, I guess. Everyone deserves to be heard, so long as you can stay relatively polite. It wouldn’t be my choice to remove those comments.

The ‘40 Minute Time Limit’ might be a key to the upcoming crime.

Astor’s going to have to divest himself of that Cosplay past a certain point.

Will someone else assume the mantle …?

@NIGHT GAUNT 49:

I appreciate your comparison to Columbo, and the fact that he often did not appear in the first 20 minutes or so of each episode. But, once he did come on the scene, he was in almost every scene until the end of the movie. Here’s hoping Tracy and Sam have lots to do once they are called in on this caper!

Things we know so far …

- There are three Margies – Big, Middle, and Little.

- The three are involved in the running of ’CosUCon’ – Specifically, the Cosplay Contest, possibly additional aspects of the convention as well.

- ‘CosUCon’ is being held at the infamous ‘Locher Auditorium.’

- TV Horror Movie Host ‘Svengoolie’ will be hosting and judging CosUCon’s Cosplay Contest.

- The Cosplay Contest features a grand prize of $10,000.

- The ‘Program Books’ have arrived.

- Harold Teen, Shadow, and Pop Jenks are aware of the convention, thanks to a promotional poster placed in the window of ‘The Sugar Bowl.’ by a young woman whose identity we still haven’t puzzled out.

- Honeymoon ‘might’ be competing in the cosplay contest – presumably in the ‘Junior Division,’ as opposed to the ’Adult Class’ – in her ‘Chimetra’ costume.

- Astor will be competing – presumably in the ‘Junior Division,’ as opposed to the ‘Adult Class’ – in his ‘MegaMan’ costume.

- Both Honeymoon and Astor’s costumes include working lights. Might these be used to startle someone at an opportune moment?

- Astor’s brother has a table/booth at the convention, where he will be selling complete cosplay props. This appears to be his specialty.

- Astor’s brother has a blog.

- Astor’s brother’s ‘Latest Build’ is heavy enough that Astor can only wear it for about 40 minutes at a time without taking a break.

- Astor will be wearing his brother’s creation at Astor’s brother’s booth off-and-on, to attract crowds and drum up business.

Did I miss anything …?

I think the 40 minute time limit may refer to the batteries needed for any electrical functions in the suit. And if that’s the case, Honeymoon could do all the recharging needed.

BREATHLESS_MAHONEY77 yesterday asked what kind of adults dress in costumes. I guess he forgot that there’s a $10,000 prize for best costume. So the answer would be, “a lot of them, including professionals.”

I see my comment and the numerous replies from this morning mysteriously disappeared. Wasn’t the first time and won’t be the last. I can honesty say it doesn’t bother me anymore. Hey, this one might go before the night is gone. Free speech is not a given in Tracyville but I accept that it’s their house so they get to set the rules.

I noted that on the Svengoolie fan page over on that social networking site Sven posted that this story with his his appearances would “continue into early May.” I find that somewhat ambiguous, since it could mean 1) his part in the story does so; 2) the story continues into early May but doesn’t end there; 3) the whole story does end there (if so, it’s a rather short one). Take it for what it’s worth.

Astor and Honeymoon are a cute tweenaged couple, though it not be seen as too serious a thing. Like many of her generation, a phone photo of anything remotely interesting is obligatory, and she and Astor in their costumes make a nice one (as seen in panel 2).

Onward to the Locher!