Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for December 11, 2010

Hi, kiddies! Slylock Fox wants you to spot the six different snowflakes in today’s and yesterday’s panel #2!

I hope that the thought balloon in today’s panel #2 means that Thick will soon be road kill.

Panel #1 proves that Mordred is not just sedated; he’s bombed out of his mind.

For someone that’s sedated, Dr. Mordred appears to think clearly. Wonder where Dr. Mordred had his mask made?

VistaBill said, 2 minutes ago

For someone that’s sedated, Dr. Mordred appears to think clearly. Wonder where Dr. Mordred had his mask made?

Why, ‘Gimps R Us’, VistaBill.

margueritem said, “Why, ‘Gimps R Us’, VistaBill.”

Shoulda known! That’s where Johnny Nothing/The Blank got his mask!

Hey, that’s quite the hood on Kinky Frogman. Check out panel #3. Apparently he can aim his eyes independently of each other, focusing in different directions, like a chameleon.

Or could it be just bad art? Naw, it can’t be…

A chameleon has a tongue longer than its body. That should add some fun for Dick and Kinky on their first date.

Panel 2: Just a bump in the road? Wow. What a deep thought! Like we’re all just dust in the wind…

The real question for panel #3 is, does Locher know what’s in store for Thick?

This story arc is sort of interesting except I know when the action starts it will go back to being same-old Thick Spacey. In the hands of a better artist/ storyteller, this could be a good story I think. But I don’t hold it too much against Locher considering his age and everything.

Also I just realized why he might wear a mask; it makes it harder for minions to figure out which Froggy is the real one?

Also what are all those lines outside? Is it raining or snowing or both??

“He still doesn’t know what’s in store for him.”

Let me guess- a surprise birthday party!

Hey I just got an idea; what if Dr. Mordred is Thick’s kid? Or relative or something? Like kind of how Mordred was related to King Arthur?

Or maybe we will never see his face like that Faceless guy, I forget his name. Not having a face makes you more evil or something.

mgreenhorn, that makes genuine sense. Locher has gone out of his way to trash Dick Tracy’s image. You can’t imagine the original character cheating on Tess, so giving Thick an illegitimate son would fit in.

BillT said : Hi, kiddies! Slylock Fox wants you to spot the six different snowflakes in today’s and yesterday’s panel #2!

I got it ! The car was talking yesterday and the car is thinking today . ( repeat five times ) Oups , you said snowflakes ! Sorry I’m starting to think like Locher ! Please somebody help me !

In panel one the mask has two mouth openings which slope downward and are separated by a zipper. In panel three, there appears to be just one perfectly horizontal mouth opening.

Sydney Phillips, I don’t think Locher has Alzheimer’s. I think he’s just a hack who scammed his way into his position. Two reasons:

1: My father and maternal grandmother both had Alzheimer’s, so I know a little about its effects. Locher produces trash, but he has enough mental focus to get through a drawing session with his so-called inker.

2: While there are good strips out there (Pardon My Planet, Non Sequitur, The New Adventures of Queen Victoria, Phantom) there is a lot of garbage. Case in point, Luann. Locher is far from unique in his lack of talent.

I don’t know why syndicates and editors tolerate garbage, but they do. Locher is just one of many who get away with a minimum effort.

Speaking of Dust In The Wind, a great way to entertain your coworkers for hours is to do Dust In The Wind in your Shatner voice. And just when they start looking for the gimp mask and chains, you go from Shatner to Dylan. That’ll learn ‘em.

Hey, it’s snowing outside. For real. And it looks just like the second panel, minus the ‘68 Citroen and awkward thought balloon.

Anyone who has read a fair share of Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy work, would eventually realize that his favorite name for minor, incidental characters was … “ED”

For example, he festooned the Brow (1944) story with them. He had 3 different, secondary characters with that name.

His was a strip ‘distiguished’ from the competition by it’s distinctive (or grotesque) rogues, while his “ED’s” (in contrast), were usually bland and uninteresting.

Now Locher (a former Gould art assistant), never used the name, but that not to say he hasn’t had a number of principal villains with appearances that fit the mold, and easily earned a cap marked “ED” ! (e.g. Detective Bland-1996, Bill Baily- 2001, G.R.Eed- 2002) .

Locher himself may have been embarrassed by his nonchalance and carelessness until he tried hIs Queen of Diamonds (2007) which was a “knock-off” design from a deck of playing cards. He would follow up in 2009 with One-Eye Jack, King of Clubs and Big Ace - candy wrapper designs lifted from the same source.

Perhaps, that’s where the new idea may have been born (?) Instead of drawing more “ED’s” why not use the convenience of masks (?) Bingo ! … and then we had Mr.Pops with the Clown’s mask, The Blank was a natural.

It was a brilliant design “avoidance” concept, and so today we have the ‘masked’ marvel right out of Marvel Comics.

In fairness, I must say that on occasions when he has been ‘MOTIVATED’, he has had some truly great designs that could stand besides Gould’s best.

It’s just that we haven’t seen much of it, these past few years !

I wonder if Mordred’s mask is part of the decoy scheme, or if his real face is supposed to be hideous. Hiding a deformed face Is a gimmick used in numerous movies–Phantom of the Opera, Mystery of the Wax Museum, Dr. Phibes, Queen of Outer Space, The Fly, Star Wars among many. The gimmick heightens suspense before the unveiling, but the drawback is that the mask itself has to be effective. This one is an artistic failure.

A ski mask would work just as effectively as fetishwear, and would allow an artist to show Mordred’s eyes.

What;s the purpose of the mask? As previously considered, is this guy a Mexican TV wrestler? Matter-of-fact, I vaguely remember watching WWF a few years ago when they brought Wild Man El Gato into the ring with chains and a mask. He ripped off his chains and whupped up on the other guy and then the referee. If I remember correctly, Locher had ringside season tickets.

I know who the dummy is! Me because I keep coming back to read this garbage.

(reads panel 1)

Excuse me for a moment.

(walks out of the room)

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AHEM!

(walks back into the room)

As you were.

Okay, time to correct the word order in panel #1:

“This dummy is no detective.”

As for panel #3–Mordred, your fly is open.

Q: How did Mordred determine that Thick is “no dummy”?

A: You don’t want to know where his hand is right now…

Apparently Modred doesn’t read this strip.

the entire premise of this story-line is a dumb show, but at least it has the definite possibility that we’ll soon get to see thicky running, hiding, cowering and squealing in the snowy forest while frog prince makes inane threats. sadly, this is what DT entertainment has come to. anyway, Free the Classic Gould Strips! End the Locher Travesty!

And I really don’t want to know how he gets irked by someone who shops at Petunia’s Palace of Pain.

Mordred’s outfit kind of reminded me of an earlier villain from another comic. “Doomsday” from the Superman series. Evil killer? Check. Bundled up in chains? Check. Wears a mask with goggles? Check. Has a super hero who will check his advance into the city? Whoops, we have a problem, Thick is escorting the killer into the city. Besides, calling Thick “super” anything creates real problems.

Now just look at what y’all done. You’ve got me calling the series star “Thick”.

Thanks to Locher for a good laugh today.

Panel one - This detective is no dummy.

He is a dumb as they come. Riding around the city with world’s worst criminal as if he is on a date with Liz.

The bump in the road is smarter than Tracy.

Neither will we know what’s in store for him for probably another two weeks as this story sloshes sluggishly through the storm in Locher’s typical drag-it-out fashion. Dicky, don’t fall asleep at the wheel with this heel!

For all of you that have been complaining that Mordred doesn’t act like he’s sedated:

“This Detective is no Dummy”

That PROVES that he’s on drugs!!!

What if Mordred is really a woman named Mildred. Then she’d be Mass Murderer Mildred Mordred.