Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for November 10, 2010

He went undercover so no one would suspect his motives? “Gee, D’oggybreath has vanished, and then died, yet he’s still issuing orders–well, let’s not question his motives, much less how he’s doing it!”

Panel #2: WHAT CRIMINAL PLANS? And where did he recharge his cell phone? And does Thick realize that he needed to have an accomplice to carry out his plans?

Panel #3: Name the people whose lives he ruined, Thick. Either that or take several deep breaths, stop grinding your teeth, and for heaven’s sake bathe already!

Please get to the point, ok?

At least someone handcuffed D’angerous D’ave.

But look at all the kids he made happy…

Pontius Pilate here, Thick, asking you what evil he has done. Oh, yeah– “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee even to this place.” Okay, take him out for a good flogging and a quick crucifixion. Bit excessive for waving around a gun, but after over a hundred days of this goofiness Thick has a right to feel a bit peeved.

I don’t care if it rains or freezes Thick’ll twist the arms of Jesus and roust him on the streets of Naperville.

Thick has gone and caught D’buckworth and there’s no power on this old earth to keep Thick from ranting harsh and shrill.

Now Thick can’t wait to drag his man in and give him to D.A. Sam Hedrin, who’ll send him to the local Hanging Hill.

But like Saul going to Damascus Thick ain’t really an ornery cuss and you know he’ll bow to his maker’s will.

So soon we’ll hear from old Dick Locher with words as welcome as a red-hot poker as he makes our Dick into his hapless shill.

For us to have that view of D’buckworth’s elbows while he’s in that position, his left arm would have to be about a foot longer than his right arm.

Maybe he threw away his money so hard that he dislocated his front shoulder..

So far D’ducky has only done good deeds anonymously, yet Macy rants and spits bile at him as if he was Al Qaeda

I don’t really mean to go back to comparing this to The Phantom, but if this were The Phantom, we’d have had the “Next; New Adventure” box days ago.

Crikey, at this rate, it’ll be another three weeks before Dick goes home, says he wants to relax, and then Tess drags him off for another “new adventure” at, oh, maybe the mall this time. There will be mimes.

Jesus has returned!! Hallelujah!

We’re definitely into FLASHBACK time … the only thing missing are the cloud shaped panel borders.

We’ll probably have to endure 2 more weeks of repetition while the Author thinks of what should happen next.

I’m sorry my Bolshevik Uprising guess was wrong. I’d love to have seen Locher handle a crowd scene. Would it have looked like a bowlful of Cheerios, with anonymous little circle-faces swirling around the Bastille? Or would he have drawn two homeless guys rioting outside the Winter Palace?

Meanwhile, did someone drag Pistol Packin’ Penny to jail? And how long will we have to watch this performance of Locher’s Messiah? It’s now five weeks since Thick identified D’ullard in the Alley of Gethsemane. (Or is it Thick who is having his faith tested? Will it turn out that he has in fact met 6avid 6ierdorf 6’buckworth? How much longer will Locher bedevil us?)

Bad arc turns worse

I mean, what *is* with Thick’s rage? Maybe Sydney Phillips had the right idea, and D-cubed represents George Soros, or some other liberal figure who moves Locher to the brink of madness.

I prefer my theory that D-cubed is Mary Sue Locher, and that he will somehow persuade Thick to submit to him, but this Wagnerian tempest is a new development with Locher.

This BS is really testing my patience! Locher has definitely crossed the line as far as insulting people’s intelligence goes. Macy has NO HARD EVIDENCE of anything, except two misdemeanors. And to sit there and lecture the guy who put money into Good Samaritan’s pockets. I wonder if Macy ponies up the $1000 bill he got for “evidence?” Hardly.

And you sure has hell have wasted my time with this strip. Gee wiz lets get over it and move along to the next story line.

BillThompson said, about 3 hours ago

“I’m sorry my Bolshevik Uprising guess was wrong. I’d love to have seen Locher handle a crowd scene. Would it have looked like a bowlful of Cheerios, with anonymous little circle-faces swirling around the Bastille? Or would he have drawn two homeless guys rioting outside the Winter Palace?”

Both – on alternate days.

“Meanwhile, did someone drag Pistol Packin’ Penny to jail?”

No, she’s hiding in the sewer. It’s pretty crowded down there, half the time….

-Cougar :{)

What is he talking about?

P.S. There must be someone hiding behind 3D too, since those can’t both be his arms. Maybe they’re all hiding behind 3D, in single file. One of them screwed up and let his arm show but the others are all perfectly hidden.

-Cougar :{)

“Please, please, won’t someone finally arrest me and haul me away from this gasbag”.

Bill Thompson said: ”At least someone handcuffed D’angerous D’ave.”

Once again I have to thank Bill. I didn’t realize he was handcuffed, I just figured Locher couldn’t draw.

Panel 3: Is Tracy talking about the readers of this strip?

Every time I think it cant get any worse it proves me wrong. Why is Dick calling the shots all of a sudden? Where did the FBI, CIA, IRS and every other government agency that wanted this man go? Did they just decide to hand the case over to Dick so he could give a nice month long speech?

locher is doing his best to ruin the memory and legacy of DT. this story has been trash from the start and it’s really not worth trying to figure it all out.

It’s not worth trying to figure out, but it is kinda fun pointing out all the plot holes…

He could ruin my life with a spare $1000 bill.

This arc is a trick question. You think the answer is “Dick Tracy is pursuing criminal X for crime Y,” but the real answer “D’ick Locher has dragged us into the Twilight Zone so he can lecture everyone.”

His characters look like he either drew them with stencils or got a kindergarten class to sketch them for him. Except for the berobed Cranky Jesus in panel #1. I think he took an illo from a Chick Publications comic and used it to turn the strip into Dick Traced. Give us Barabbas, Locher, at least he was an honest thief!

Others have mentioned Locher is retiring at the end of the year (truth or rumor?). Since there are only 7 1/2 weeks until that time, is there enough time for a new story? Will this one drag out until 12/31/10? Tune in tomorrow (and the next day, and the day after) and maybe we’ll get an answer.

Great comments today BillT, really liked your song. Now, if you pardon me, I must go and hit my head against a wall. Hopefully this will get today’s strip out of my head.

Is Tracy constipated?

The worst storyline of the year. Horrible.

Thank you, Wonder Warthog. I wish we could see Locher hit his head against a wall.

Old Tracy, I don’t know if Thick is constipated, but I suspect Locher is not–that would explain the “material” he’s put on display.

Locher still has two major factors he hasn’t put into play. That would be the We’re-Lyin’ associates and Sue Doko. Try this scenario:

D’oggydoo will sermonize on why he is a saint. Thick will fall for it and fawn over him. But how to get Messiah Man out of the clutches of the Feds? First, the ex-partners show up and try to kill him, sparking a huge firefight. Cranky Jesus escapes by following Thick, who will run for safety. That will lead them to Sue Doko, who will whisk her boss to safety. Thick will cover for their escape. (Alternatively, Sue Doko arrives first to rescue the boss; during the escape she and he appear to be killed by the sinister ex-partners.)

Or maybe this will end like the Shirl Locke Holmes arc, where it was revealed that Shirl was an escaped lunatic masquerading as a cop. The only real certainty is that Locher will find new ways to trash the Dick Tracy legacy.

Y’know what today’s strip needs? Mood music! Not just my Guthrie knock-off, but full-blown orchestral grandiosity to highlight Locher’s megalomania:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVjDP0vlem4

OldTracy-you just noticed? He’s a walking metamucil commercial, the “before” picture

Tracy didn’t seem to have a clue to what was going on until the last few days (and that may be wrong). Is he psychic? If D’Buckworth is the bad guy, have his associates been falsely charged?

Since Tracy said “Take them away, Officer” two days ago, I have to assume that he’s now following behind them, haranguing them for blocks until they finally find their cars.

Since Spacy keeps his eyes closed, that explains why they won’t let him carry a gun.

How long is this lecture going to take??????? Let’s move on. I think I might have to give Dr. Drew a phone call and see if he planning a TV Rehab show for Dick Tracy readers.

Thick has already been on this one scene for over five weeks. Of course it’s taken that long to pack in all the exciting action: the recognition of the fugitive, the grappling, the escape, the revelation of the Feds …

Thick’s tirade is meant to provoke Cranky Jesus into explaining his innocence and good intentions. Thick will then understand and approve of it all. Because they will be Locher’s views, it is Locher’s way of getting an American icon to bless him.

Now, who has the clip-art pistol that Cranky Jesus dropped when Marty the Mutant goosed him? Will it re-appear in the hand of an undercover Judas who works for the ex-partners? Or does Cranky Jesus have it in his pocket, to hand over to Thick as a sign of his good will? (I know he’s handcuffed. But in Locher all things are possible.)

Will someone please explain to me what is going on with this story???????

PaStark said, 36 minutes ago

Will someone please explain to me what is going on with this story???????

No one really knows…

If I said I knew I what’s going on in this story, I would be a liar. The same goes for Locher.