Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for November 28, 2010

Crimestoppers textbook………………..I tell them I’m alone all the time, it does NO good!!!!!!!!

At least Crimestoppers Textbook is new. Flightsuit will need to tell us the make, model, and year of today’s poice car, though.

“The FBI wants us to create a diversionary tactic” translates as “The FBI wants you to stay out of the way, Thick, as in, pretend you are a group of sheep which has dived into a pool of coloring agent: flock off and dye.”

The thought that Thick will have anything to do with Mordred is so terrifying that the Police sign has run away in fright, while the light bar atop the police car is now scared straight.

Daily Continuity Error List:

1: The Police sign.

2: Does the police building have two or three levels?

3: Yesterday Mordred had his hands chained palms-in, as though on his lap. Today they’re palms-out, as though behind his back.

4: Prison suits usually have institutional names on their backs, not the names of the felon.

What if he turns out to be innocent?

“He’s a piece of human debris”, says Tracy, as he describes himself.

That car is truly horrifying. It looks like somebody took a Stutz Blackhawk and glued VW Beetle fenders to it.

For reference, a Stutz Blackhawk:

http://www.jukeboxcruisers.com/StutzBlackhawkWeb.jpg

The Blackhawk was, of course, a two-door coupe. This thing in the pic, then, is, I think, a VW Jetta with a Stutz Blackhawk front clip and VW Beetle fenders.

Good catch, Bill, about those hands. That was the first thing I noticed.

Slimeslobbers dialog: “Sure, Dr. Mordred, nobody is with Mr. Locher and he’d love some help with today’s strip!”

Here’s another oddity about those chains: where are the locks? Does Locher dread locks?

Does Dr. Mordred have a nicer son name Les?

No, but his auctioneer daughter is named Morbid.

(Re: last panel)

“Your honor, I’m Leo Pinko, ACLU lawyer representing Doctor Mordred. Apparently my client has been chained up for so long that his arms have been shortened by such treatment. Please look at this illustration by police artist Locher. This is worse than Chinese foot binding! Why does my client have to have his arms chained behind his back?

“What’s that, your honor? Mordred has his arms chained behind him to make it easier for him to kick Dick Tracy in the buttocks? That’s fine. See you later, judge.”

Human Debris? Wasn’t he a sidekick to the Human Torch?

I hope Dick and Liz don’t stand around, calling Doctor Mordred all sorts of names for the rest of the week – nasty terms like non-human, missing link, whatever - until next Sunday’s strip when that classic term, “human debris” is repeated. I mean, that would be kinda boring… kinda Locher.

In case anyone else is interested in how DT is trending with GoComics subscribers:

10/26/10 - 22931

11/19/10 - 22986

And now for the latest total:

11/28/10 - 23008 !!

So people are coming here for the great writing – in the comments section, that is.

What is going on with the Krimestopper Kid’s ear? Do you pull the string to make him talk? Is Locher so out of touch with the world that he thinks kids have hair growing out of their ears? Why is he pointing with his pinky? And is that not the sloppiest semaphore Z on record?

I’ve done something Locher never does: research (I don’t count watching “The Fugitive” and “Silence of the Lambs” as research). As near as I can tell the FBI has nothing to do with prisoner transfer. That’s the job of Federal Marshalls and the Bureau of Prisons.

As to why the Nappingville PD would get involved here, that only makes sense if Dr. Mordred is about to be put on trial in a local court. Then, maybe, the Federal government would transfer him to local custody. The FBI wouldn’t enter the picture until after Thick bungles the job and lets the prisoner escape.

BillT’s noticed it ! Panel 7 whick looks like an entrance to the basement except that the steps go up before they go down. A flooding problem in the area?

They have ommitted the Police sign seen immediately above the entrance as depicted immediately above in panel 3, while the upper frame of the entrace door (?) in only half the height of the floor it leads to.

Brozman (I understand), gets mildly annoyed when readers notice these (little?) disprepancies and ‘highlight’ them.

Remember those signs on buildings and fences from long ago (?) … “KILROY was HERE” ? Like that, these goofs are a silent reminder that Locher is still here ! No need to ‘sign’ the strip … destinctive quality work always peeps through !

How much longer does Locher need to depict a lighted, ready to GO - Police Car outside HQ before readers finaly get the ‘message’ that it’s in that open, conventional vehicle that Tracy will transport the ‘cereal’-killer

O K we get it, escape intended !

They need to put his fat girth on a diet. The monochromatic sweatsuit doesnt seem to be working !

Sydney Phillips, that makes it a question of two or four levels in the police building. I didn’t look to closely at the lower portion of the building because the deranged perspectives make me queasy. If you look at the building structure under the words “our city” in the balloon, you’ll notice that the wall’s corner extends upward and includes a portion of a third-level window. Also the background buildings change between panels 3 and 7, and which side of the street is the car parked on?

It can’t be that we’re looking at the rear window to Horn Hair’s office in panel 7, not unless the police building is one office thick and has no corridors.

People would ignore the occasional goof if the flubs only happened once in a while. But the serial-blunder appearance of this strip makes that impossible. You’d think Locher and Brozman could put enough effort into the strip to give consistent buildings, coherent dialog, and oh yeah something other than these interminable static extreme close-ups of stylized faces!

Eeeewwww… The Snotpicker’s kid has a right hand at the end of his left arm. Gross.

Flight Suit - According to Wikipedia (which is never wrong, btw) there was a four-door Blackhawk, but it had a different roofline. I think your Jetta/Blackhawk/Beetle theory makes the most sense.

Too bad, though, ‘cause I kind of liked the idea that maybe Elvis didn’t die, but just joined the Naperville Police and brought his car with him. That would explain why they have to keep changing the “POLICE” sign.

Extreme Make Over; Elvis Edition.

I’m going to be home alone— do you feel lucky? Well, do you?

Bill T: Glad to see that there’s another occasional detective on the job. Maybe Locher and Brozman might consider asking us about how it’s done? Sure, we’re just civilians and not real detectives but a little curiosity and a desire to get the facts straight goes a long way.

Actually, Locher finally got it right with the Crimestoppers Textbook. If I was that guy on the right, I sure wouldn’t want that creepy strange kid to know I was home alone.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiight – that’s how the Federal Bureau of Prisons transfers a prisoner. They ask the Federal Bureau of Investigation to ask a city police department to ask a particular detective to “create a diversion.” They do it all the time. It’s to distract the media. Those paparazzi are such a nuisance.

-Cougar :{)

maybe the only reason the feds want spacey to handle the transfer is so that they can watch him get beat up, run, squeal, cower and hide when Mordred escapes. An excellent “diversionary tactic” and revenge for thick ruining their case against 3D.

About the Crimestoppers: Frighteningly true incident. I am a delivery driver. On one of my deliveries a couple of years ago, I was greeted by a child at a farmhouse. Within minutes, this kid had told me just about all the secrets of the house, including who slept where at night. The house isn’t within hearing range of any other dwelling. Supposing I had been up to no good——. So, I’m inclined to give Locher and Brozman a pass on this Crimestoppers. Stupid, yeah, but maybe not as stupid as that kid at the farmhouse.

Debris? Who uses that word?

BillThompson, had to scan the comic again to understand your point #4: Prison suits usually have institutional names on their backs, not the names of the felon.

It’s so true…why don’t we put them away and start over.

Good thing I wasn’t drinking coffee at the time or it would have been ‘clean up in aisle 1’.

Hey, nice job of instructing the young-uns. Actually, the Feds are moving the good doctor in hopes they lose the ACLU lawyers. Also, I guess the reason that they have him bundled up with a mile of chain is they instinctively know Thick will do something stupid to let him escape.

Or………. the guy is soooooo bad, that they figure the punishment worse than death is parking him within 20 feet of Thick when the wind is blowing that way. After 5 minutes in the breezeway, the doctor yells, “I confess! Gimme the needle! Hurry! Cruel & unusual punishment!”

I’m going to be home alone tonight. Oops!

Radfish, I was just about to say that. Who would actually call someone that? Maybe Dick is all out of insults that can actually be printed. Hes all talk now but watch him run the minute he sees the guy.

You know Im actually interested in this arc. Panel 3 and 7 lay it out right? Dick is to transfer the serial killer and the police are to provide a diversionary tactic. What is this, 16 Blocks? So can I assume that Dick will be in the truck with this murdering madman? The guyll probably say ‘BOO’ and Dickll dive right out the back into moving traffic. This ought to be quite interesting indeed.

What next? Perhaps the infamous Professor Moriarty comes to the rescue of his colleague, the dreaded Dr. Mordred?

LudwigVonDrake–no, that’s his name – Human deBris. Distantly related to d’Buckworth.

Oddest thing about the last panel is that if you look closely at the chains, you’ll see they’re just sorta draped over the guy’s shoulders, and at no point are they actually securing him in any way. More evidence that this is just a set-up: the FBI’s going to turn Dr. Dreadlocks over to Spacey, expecting the Doctor to slip out of the chains and immediately turn the Dick into chutney.

First of all - Crimestoppers -The child pictured looks very young, so you don’t answer the door if your home alone at that age and if someone is home with you, you let an adult answer the door unless you live in Mayberry, North Carolina.

Second - Speaking of Mayberry, is Tracy releated to Barney Fife????

Third - We all know Tracy will let this guy escape, so let’s move the story along to the escape, we don’t need any build up to it.

Hes going to let this scum loose? No way! How?

Viewing the comic, then reading the comments….. Locher and Brozman have painted themselves into a corner. Everybody and his brother have figured out that this is going to get impossibly stupid, with the FBI asking a local police department to create a diversion so the most dangerous felon in custody can be moved to their town.

BWA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Had to laugh at this. If Mordred is as bad as they say he is, if he has to be chained like that, there is no way that they would EVER transfer him to a local lock-up. He’d be transferred to a super-max prison if he’s that bad. Federal marshals would handle the whole affair, and they’d be open for business if the killer tried anything.

The only reason for this to happen is that Locher and Brozman need another chance to make Tracy and the Napperville police look bad. I guess this will work, with the added “benefit” that you can make federal forces look like a bunch of buffoons into the bargain.

NVash, what ever made you think a Truck (or an ‘armored’ car) would be used to transport the killer ? That would be too logical

Tracy is going to transport him easily visable in a plain “squad car”, and with no one to assist him (no Sam,no Teevo) all alone, LIKE the little boy in the Crimestoppers.

It’s what the WHOLE story is about - ‘escape’ from under those CHAINS and handcuffs. Dick Logical? had to make it as easy as possible. The chains are only a slight-of- hand “illusion” to make it look difficult, and to distract us from what is basically a flawed plan to move the man.

What Dick Logical? hasn’t ‘figured out’ yet, is what’s going to happen after the ESCAPE (?)

Welcome back from Thanksgiving week break, a lot of brand New Dick Tracy strips to catch up on! And a whole new Serial Killer storyline!

And some posters dare put up a different viewpoint last week…, From the 24th….. Artists can create whatever they want. So some nit picking is just for those who have nothing good to say ever. And come here to do so so that they will always be happy at being unhappy. Also from the 24th….. It seems that to be an accepted member of this club, you can only post negative comments, some many times a day by the same author.

And you guessed it; everybody over-reacted and out come the name-calling. Come On People: Can’t we all just get along! Today we get two different views of the Police structure. Maybe Front and side…maybe front and back….maybe two other sides altogether. Problem solved! What’s so funny about peace love and understanding!

Sydney Phillips, sometimes the Slimegobblers Notebook mirrors what happens in the strip, like advice about guns when a gun figures in the Sunday strip. Today we see a warning about kids getting alone with strangers, while Thick is set up to get “Home Alone” with Dr. Mordred.

chemcope, if you’re right about Dr. Moriarty, Thick should look out for anything with “Reichenbach” in the name. Although it’s more likely we’ll see Dr. Morbius from “Forbidden Planet.” It’s certainly been a long time since this strip has had much to do with this planet!

“The FBI” again, even though that agency isn’t involved in prisoner transfers. Locher’s government-bashing would make more sense if he could bother to get the details right. He’s setting himself up for another backfire. Ah, those arrogant Feds, the ones who were too busy tracking D’oggybreath, and collecting evidence, and building a case, to tell Thick they were on the job while he was bumbling around.

Welcome back, Simon! I’m happy to see your mentor (Thick) is doing you well! How’s Jeffie?

I’m betting that by Wednesday, the mad dog serial killer will be on the loose to commit murders by the score…

By Wednesday??? Brother, if you expect anything to happen in only a few days, you haven’t been reading Locher’s strip for long. Remember Locher’s rules:

CONTRADICTION IS CONTINUITY REPETITION IS VARIETY TALK IS ACTION DELAY IS SUSPENSE BOREDOM IS EXCITEMENT

-Cougar :{)

Sydney Phillips, youre right. That is entirely too logical. I was giving Locher entirely too much credit. Thats almost as crazy as the very idea that they might have some sort of interesting conversation whilst Dick transports him. Im still waiting for Mordered to say ‘BOO’ and for Dick to dive out of the squad car.

JonahHex, and by Wednesday you mean the first Wednesday of the year 2011 right?

Yeah, I forgot…..getting Lochner to move a story along is like watching paint dry….my bad.