Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for October 09, 2010

Finally Tracy’s going to get the stompin’ he deserves!

On October 6, the “crowd” of homeless people consisted of two men. Today, Tracy is inexplicably tackling one of them, even though he made no effort to flee or resist arrest (not that Tracy had identified himself as a cop or attempted to perform an arrest, mind you), so that should leave just one homeless guy standing by the burning barrel of trash. Where did these other two fellows come from?

Better get out your wrist thingie, Dicky. (Where did those guys come from, anyway?)

Thick has just assaulted a man who is not accused of any crime. He has not identified himself as a cop. He is now being menaced by three American citizens coming to the aid of a crime victim.

Of course Thick will be saved when Testicle Chin, Horn Hair and the Keystone cops show up, and the three men will be arrested for assaulting a police officer.

What is that symbol on the first man’s chest supposed to be? The one that looks like two crossed Fred Flinstone stone axes over a C?

A flying tackle of the bum Is nothing more than really dumb No call for him to stop No warrant from the cop In defense of their own The bums look to break a bone More than one would be just fine Maybe they’ll even snap his spine Anything to retire this lousy dick Use a brick and make it quick What a heaping, steaming pile of …. Do us a favor Locher, and just quit From bad to worse every day Jabs and jeers is all we have to say.

Thanks Bill T. Your ideas are far better than what we are subjected to.

Thanks, Wonder Warthog, both for your poem and your praise.

Whatever became of the real Dick Tracy? Not just the upright man who defended everyone, but the whole concept of the strip? Clear-cut villains and a sense of morality? An effort to use detective skills to find criminals?

Will Locher explain any of this in a way that makes sense?

wndrwrthog, yet again I am pained that people are getting paid to slop out this farce of a comic strip, and your eloquence comes to us for free.

Flight Suit and barticle35, I imagine that the men were already in the area, but Doubleheader’s artistic laziness kept Locher & Brozman form sketching in more figures.

I realize that they are not getting wealthy from this work and that there are time constraints. But you’d think they would have enough of a work ethic, and enough respect for their audience, to try better.

Take a second look at panels 1 & 2. Is it just me or are they out of sequence? Shouldn’t it be Thick, panel 1, yelling at the suspect and then panel 2, he tackles the man.

As it stands now Dick tackled the guy, then got up and shook a fist at him. Seems to me a real cop would be holding the suspect by the arm instead of standing over him, shaking his fist.

Once again, great job, WW.

A sign of the Apocalypse!

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Panel 3:

The first bum: His shirts says he’s anti-C.

The second man: His baseball cap says he’s pro-C.

I wonder if they get into deep philosophical debates about the Cincinnati Reds.

That third guy – he’s gonna give Thick a good thumping with a dirty toilet plunger!

I know, Gweedo Murray, but tonight’s strip is so deranged I can’t believe what I see. Last night I guessed that D-cubed would escape in the confusion, but I didn’t expect Thick to actually assault him.

Will the three men wallop Thick as he now deserves? If they do, will Thick be honest enough to admit he screwed up, or will Locher have him lie about events? Will they even assault Thick, or just stand there and block his pursuit of D-cubed? If arrested, will they cringe and spill all they know?

I suppose that if Locher bothers to explain things, he will retcon some story about how Thick can prove why he had to attack D-cubed. But we have seen nothing to justify Thick’s actions.

My guess du jour is that D-cubed hates modern society just as Mrs. D’cougar claimed, and seeks to destroy Western civilization. He began his subversion by reviving that sinister mind-rotting Commie plot of the Fifties: 3-D movies. Alas for him, the resulting flood of trashy movies has failed to ruin our minds, and is in fact arousing the forces which will crush him. In desperation D-cubed has taken to the streets, giving people the money they need to buy tickets to his movies while he organizes an underground army to destroy a country that is not as decadent as he believed. Now, to his shock, he discovers that Thick has seen through his cunning plan. Stunned, he runs in fear, cruelly denying Thick the chance to run in fear. That is Thick’s story and he’s sticking to it!

Panel-Panner, I’m guessing that D-cubed escaped because between panels 1 and 2 Thick tried to do something one would not expect to see in a family comic strip. It is sad to think that Thick has lost all his self-control, just as he has (again!) lost his cap. Testicle Chin had better watch out, especially if Thick sprouts another face-level hand.

Of course! Thick wasn’t trying to stop D-cubed with that flying tackle! He got his face so close to the bum’s bum because he promised Horn Hair he would sniff out crime! And while he was in the area he planted some coke in D-cubed’s hip pocket, and stole some thousand dollar bills! The he let him go on purpose! Now the other cops can bust him in good faith while Thick modestly denies he did much.

At least the guy wearing the nipple hat is the same as yesterday

Right, VanDork, he’s changed since 5 October. He’s lost that resemblance to Mullet Head from 29 and 30 October (especially that odd facial distortion Mullet Head had on the thirtieth).

Know what else? We still don’t know for certain if that really was D-cubed who Thick assaulted today. Only an idiot would take Thick’s word at face value.

*If* it is D-cubed, I’m sure Thick meant to scare him into running. D-cubed is probably running straight for the confederate he contacted on his cell phone when he ordered the money given to the senator. Sue Doko is top of my list for that. If he’s befuddled by amnesia, then she’s most likely manipulating him.

Do we (or Thick) have any reason to believe this guy is D-cubed? First, he happens on a guy who gives him a $1000 bill and disappears. Next day (strip-wise) Thick finds a different guy and declares him to be D-cubed. I have only been reading this strip for about 10 years so maybe I’m not up to speed on the intricacies of the story arcs.

goodyart, Thick has run such a sloppy investigation that we have little solid evidence of anything, For example, two cops found Butterfly McCorpse drifting in the water, but there was no evidence he was D-cubed. No identity cards or anything on the body, and the ME never identified the corpse. For no discernible reason the corpse was shown to Mrs. D’eceitful, who claimed it was D-cubed because she said he had a butterfly tattoo. Nobody verified that D-cubed ever had a tattoo. She contradicted herself several times and I think she lied to inherit D-cubed’s fortune.

Thick seems to be gambling that certain hunches are right, and for some reason D-cubed is living on the streets and handing out money. However Thick has no evidence of that. It is possible that D-cubed was kidnapped, that the abductors told his family not to call the cops, that for some reason they wanted to be paid in thousand dollars bills, that the ransom payment fouled up, that a homeless man stumbled across the ransom money and is now being generous with it.

Possibly Thick guessed right, and happened to find D-cubed, and recognized him. But Locher hasn’t played fair with the readers. Early on, Horn Hair mentioned a special force that investigated D-cubed’s disappearance. For all we know Thick has access to whatever they found. If anything.

BillThompson said, Will Locher explain any of this in a way that makes sense?

Oooh, oooh, Mr. Kotter! I know the answer, call on me!

The answer is… No.

BillThompson said, What is that symbol on the first man’s chest supposed to be? The one that looks like two crossed Fred Flinstone stone axes over a C?

It’s actually the Chicago Blackhawks’ alternate logo, I suppose confirming further that this drivel takes place in Nappingville (a suburb of Chicago).

And middle bum dude’s headwear could easily by a Cubs cap as in the picture above.

But the significance of third bum dude’s toilet plunger escapes me.

Whether it’s D-cubed or not, he’s got a case for police brutality.

Okay, the first two panels seems to follow the current storyline, but what has the cover from ZZ Top’s El Loco got to do with all this?

Looks as if Dickie-Birdbrain was snoozing during the police academy classes on the proper procedure for making an arrest, the Miranda decision, etc.

Although given how long he’s been around, maybe he never attended any classes but just bought his badge, the old-time Chicago way.

The level of mediocrity in this story is awe inspiring.

Thanks, neonleon59. Sports is one of those areas where I know nothing signifcant.

Interesting point about the Three Sharp-Dressed Men, JC Fremont. And I just had a disturbing idea. What if they’re about to attack not Thick, but D-cubed? Maybe they feel betrayed because D-cubed kept his identity hidden, and of course they instantly believed Thick’s words. After all he may have started ranting like a paranoid schizophrenic, and they would have to be even less observant than Thick to not have noticed anything odd about D-cubed, but what does that mean in Locherland?

Is that Manny Moe and Jack in panel 3? I guess they’ve fallen on hard times.

I think it’s the same crowd that lined up to whack the hysterical woman during the flight in the movie “Airplane”.

leon-I think the plunger may be there to assist the story line along

MEMO

TO: Testicle Chin SUBJECT: Career Opportunities

Dear TC:

Thick has put himself in a situation that even Wile E. Coyote would call ill-advised. Take your time in coming to his aid and your promotion is assured.

Love & kisses,

Charles Darwin

I cant believe this. Did he really just tackle the guy? That was completely uncalled for! He didnt try to attack him, run away, anything! Dick just yelled at him, didnt like the response and tackled him! And this is supposed to be the good guy? Is it bad that Im rooting for the homeless?

Is that a miniature ladder or broken railroad tracks below Spacy’s moustache?

Is triple D related to Dan Diedorf the football player?

I remember reading that Chester Gould worked hard at making sure Tracy followed realistic police procedure. I guess that’s out the window with Locher.

Old Tracy not only followed police procedures, he also had advanced scientific equipment, unavailable at the time. Now he doesn’t even use ordinary 2010 equipment. The homeless men could appear from behind any nearby place they took shelter and would use anything they found as a weapon.

Two BIG questions still hang out there - If that’s 3-D, why is he in ‘disguise’ (?) AND exactly what’s the CRIME that Tracy is all hot and bothered about ‘investigating’ ?

Just a newspaper rumor that a street beggar is giving away $1,000 dollar bills ? Is this a case for the Major Crime Squad ?

Is Tracy now in his dotage ? Does Chief Lizz think he needs permanent “rest and relaxation” ?

It’s Odin, Tyr, and Thor! That’s no toilet plunger – it’s a badly drawn Mjolnir. The Norse Gods wax wroth when harmless poor folk are assaulted!

-Cougar :{)

Locher is going to spring a Big Surprising Revelation on us. It will turn out that Thick has deduced that something evil is afoot and he hasn’t had the time to reveal it to anyone, much less get any warrants, read anyone their rights, call for back-up or plug in his brain. All of D-cubed’s actions and Sue Doko’s eagerness to help Thick? The giving of money to people who do good deeds? The giving of money to a politician whose vote aided ordinary people? Thick is so paranoid that he thinks people only do good for bad reasons.

Never mind the widow’s clumsy lies or the unidentified corpse. Those are mere crimes. This goodness chips away at the foundations of Thick’s world!

I believe Locher is indulging some loony fantasy of his, same as he did with the Mistress of Death arc. Society crumbles (he thinks) not because individuls are responsible for their own actions, or because of internal problems, but because some nasty person does things that don’t meet with his approval.

does macspacy have legs and know how to use them? hope not because the zztop boys want to whup on him – then he can run and cower. at this point i don’t much care if there’s been a crime or if macdick “solves” it. all logic and continuity left this strip ages ago.

Know what there is to hate about the Three Sharp Dressed Men? The way they cut to the head of the line. There are people who have waited for ages to beat the snot out of Thick Spacy, but do they show us any consideration? NO! Just wade in there like they’re entitled to first crack at Thick! t’ain’t fair!