Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for December 05, 2010

Too bad they couldn’t have given Thick a Ford Bronco. What vehicle could have been more appropriate to this strip’s pace?

Notice that it’s raining on the right side of panel #2 but not on the left side. I think that’s a new record for one of Locher’s continuity errors–or does Dr. Mordred have a smile for his umbrella?

At least now we know it’s Dr. Mordred inside the frog suit. And, making another guest appearance as the Only Pistol in Tracyland, it’s Walther Pidgeon!

Human debris. Non-human. Missing link.

Solitaire cheater. Chronic litterbug. Open parking spot stealer. Hands nonwasher. Long line cutter. Toilet-seat-down-peeer…

The whole premise of this story is beyond ridiculous…

Gold chains for Doctor Mordred? Mr. T, is that you?

Camelot?

So Locher’s still bitter about JFK winning the election?

And what is “double alert?”

And why is Dick driving a 1960s era East German sedan?

Gee, Liz, if you really were concerned about Spacy maybe you could have assigned another cop to be with him.

And how is Dick on the serial killer case? Wasn’t the case already wrapped up, and that’s why the guy’s in chains?

Panel #2: I can see why Locher talks about non-humans. He’s a closet Trekkie. The cop on the right is clearly from Earth, but the one in the middle is, what? Andorrian? Bollweevilian?

Panel #4: Why do they need to shout from car to car? Don’t they have radios, or even two-way wrist gizmos?

Panel #5: What happened to the rain?

Panel #6: It only took Thick two panels to notice the rain. And, “ghoul”? When did Thick’s feelings begin to soften?

At least Dick explains why Mordred is allowed to keep his mask on. He’s a ghoul. Those things are really really ugly.

I was about to call on our resident auto expert, Flight Suit, for an id on the car Tracy is driving, but I see that he has already id’d it. You’re fast, Flight Suit. I thought the car was a 2020 Martian Space Devil import.

As for Crimestoppers Textbook… I find that if I pay close attention to the school bus unloading, I can easily pick off around 3 to 6 kids in one pass.

Bill, I can’t claim credit for an ID on that car. 1960s and East German is pretty vague. Actually, I should have probably just said Eastern Bloc. Heck, there were even a few cars from Western European nations that looked like that thing.

The front end looks more modern, though. That rectangular, vertically oriented headlight is definitely a modern styling cue.

I just get this very funny feeling that this ghoul is not going to be incarcerated tonight.

Good: The story moved forward a little bit.

Bad: We’ll spend all of the coming week rehashing this forward movement.

Here’s a picture of an actual prisoner transfer:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TimothyMcVeighPerryOKApr2195.jpg

Maybe Locher is playing this straight, and is ignorant enough to think that what he’s drawn here is realistic. I see a lightly-guarded prisoner being kept in the open, in view of at least two rooftops, while the guards make idle chit-chat. That doesn’t exactly scream “Secure!” All this scene needs is a footnote to explain that police term “human debris.”

Still, the artistic thrust of the last two panels is revealing. Notice how Thick and Mordred appear to exchange a longing glance while they think of one another. Thick burns with pent-up emotion as he anticipates his blind date, while Mordred fancies Thick as his knight in shining armor. Tomorrow the Frog of Doom sings “Someday My Prince Will Come!”

A bit of research seems to be too much trouble. That’s why we have this arc written this way in the first place, and why we, the commentators, have been chewing it to rags. If Mr Locher had done some research, this story wouldn’t read the way it does.

There are ways to transport convicts. This ain’t it.

About today’s Notebook: Clearly, L&B have run out of ideas and they’re running lame hash. Never pass a schoolbus when its lights are flashing and it’s taking on or letting off children— it’s the law and most states have signs up telling you that.

The story — “Moved forward a little bit”? – Really?

I guess compred to the ‘frenzied’ (?) pacing we’ve had these past 2 weeks it could seem so, until you take a closer look

On this Sunday the first two panels say the same thing, then forward movenent coveyed in the next three could all easily have been accomplished with the text - “we’re off”, and the car pulling out in just panel -4.

A whole Sunday page (of 7 panels) to show Tracy LEAVING and Mordred WAITING !

Yesterday, a few posters saw it for what it was, and LudwigVonDrake summed it up nicely in one sentence - “To much talking - and no action.”

No need to tell us it’s “raining” (panel 6), the visuals amply convey that. And some Authors complain it’s the lack of space that suffocates pacing and forward movemen (?)

That’s not Dicky’s problem ! When we see next weeks Sunday we’ll realize what could have been achieved on just ONE page !

Surprising !

Tracy drives off in an unmarked car, not the clearly marked Police vehicle Locher had in front HQ signaling what was about to happen.

Then Lizz confirms that her Naperville Police will provide the DECOY cars and those trained “look alike” actors ! Will they be wearing the same mask and chained attire ?

Lizz has* briefed* Tracy on ‘specifity’, right down to the chains that bind Mordred, but not a word about the mask (?)

But these ’ pesky ’ details don’t matter. I guess we’ll never see or hear of those Decoys again. They’ve served their purpose … sand in the eyes and FLUFF !

I tried to boil down the past two weeks so they could fit into twelve panels, but I can’t do it. I bog down on the reality factor:

Day 1: Panel 1 is labelled “Back from Acapulco.” Tess and Dick are hanging a souvenir poster. “Weren’t those two wonderful weeks?” “Never any better, dear!” In the corner, the phone rings. Panel 2, Dick answers. “What? Okay, Chief, I’ll be in at once.” Panel 3, as Tess hands Dick his coat, “You look worried. Will it be on the news?” “I hope not,” Dick answers.

Day 2: Panel 1 is labelled “Police HQ.” Dick and Sam are in Liz’s office. “The FBI has Dr. Mordred in Rivertown,” she says. “They just flew him in on Con Air.”* (footnote: JPATS–the Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System.) Panel 2: Sam “The worst serial killer in state history!” Dick: “I thought he would be tried in Chicago.” Panel 3: “There’s been a change of venue,” Liz says. “But not in death threats.”

Day 3: Here’s where I bog down. The decoy plan is asinine. No amount of lipstick will turn that pig into Theda Bara.

I have no idea where Locher is taking this, but he could get there a lot faster if he’d drop the repetition and get rid of his “one revelation per week” rule. Keep the story moving and assume that the readers have an attention span.

Sydney Phillips, I think the original Tonka police car was there to provide Locher’s notion of action. The lights were flashing one day, remember? Motion! Action! The only real development today is that Locher quashed my idea that it wasn’t Mordred in that costume.

I keep thinking that the razzle-dazzle decoy scheme has to be a cover for some plot complication. Maybe the CIA wants to hire Mordred as an assassin, and they’ll engineer a fake escape. But you’re most likely right that the decoys will be forgotten.

Maybe TMS will retire the strip with Locher, and Locher has decided to end DT with a bang. Why not have him die while fighting the worst criminal yet, the way Doyle created Moriarty to end Sherlock Holmes’s life?

This whole transfer process with trained “look alike” actors and Tracy driving a conspiciously dressed Mordred is laughable …

Only in a Dick Locher comic strip … It’s like straining with a sledge hammer to kill an ant.

Armoured Car and Swat team style Guard to move the man. LOGICAL !

Last panel: Cop has finger on trigger, gun pointed at foot. Car backfires. Hilarity ensues.

I agree! ALways be on double secret alert around school buses. Those little buggers will overpower and mug you before you know what’s happening

It’s Sunday morning. I’m about to go to church. Trying hard to think of something nice to say…

Panel 6 is the best drawing of Tracy we’ve seen in a very long time.

OK, that’s all I got…

” This better be something my wife will understand … we had made plans ”

That mini segment with Tess burnt up a whole week. Effectivly, a waste of time … an unecessary and poorly assembled sequence.

The statement on the Tracy family plans had a ring of ‘IMMEDIACY’ to it, as if, Tracy knew EXACTLY when the puzzeling 3-D case would be ’ wraped up ‘, SO they could fly off somewhere on a specific date (?) How realistic is that ?

Then from all accounts this new case requires no investigations, It’s a three hour job - to go and return. 52 miles away, a 1 hour drive to get there. He should be back home before Tess gets packed.

Instead of getting Lizz to call, Dick should have sent Tess a Lollipop in one of those Decoy cars

Put nicely, it was a ” needless ” segment that only served to further burn up useful time and forward movement, and further frustrate readers !

You know, I STILL don’t think Liz actually got Tess’ permission for all of this…

Tracy finally found his trademark yellow hat. In the old days he wore it everywhere. I can’t remember the last time I saw it here.

What is double alert, sir? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0cF2piwjYQ

-Cougar :{)

About that school bus: The Stop sign that folds out is usually on the side that faces traffic, not the curb side. As depicted in the crimestoppers textbook, drivers wouldn’t even be able to see it. Either that or it’s a British bus and the driver is unloading those kids right into traffic.

How does today’s Crimestopper’s Textbook relate to crime or its prevention?

“Debris”? C’mon… Who really refers to another person as “debris”?

In today’s exciting installment, the part of Dr. Mordred was played by an EMC E3 Diesel Engine. The other part of Dr. Mordred was played by Sir Rupert Carpet who found a pair of swimming trunks on his head…

“… live happily ever after in their cameltoe?”

the stupid-o-meter is holding steady in the red zone. dr. ribbit is standing outside waiting for spacy to arrive for their date with destiny. looks like the two cops aren’t paying any attention to thick’s frog prince – he could just stroll off. please, please end this absurd schlock and bring back classic DT! Gould Lives!

I take it back! He’s actually a GMD SD70M complete with the Union Pacific logo. How could I have been such a piece of human debris?

Ludwig………. I do! Just ask me about politicians and if you have a few hours, I’ll tell you all about human debris.

I have to agree with neonleon59 about panel 6, I think it is the best drawing of Dick in years.

But I don’t think going to Church to pray and light a candle will help the strip. Maybe an exorcism. is in order,

Thank you all for your kind words And (in my best Python voice) “I’m getting better”.

Piled up like the detritus of humanity Is this pathetic example of human debris The effluvium of a life that has gone bad Renders in the heart a feeling so sad His was once a world filled with respect Now he’s nothing more than a hopeless derelict A ghoul, a psycho, even a missing link Are just a sample of what people think Called a despicable non-human low life scum Is it any wonder people wish he would succumb But the wheels of justice turn mighty slow Adding greatly to our feelings of woe How long until this nightmare comes to an end And down what pernicious roads will it wend Until we are free of this loathsome tripe Well, for today, that’s my gripe.

Thanks for that link yesterday BillThompson! You know reading them even back then I can see Locher enjoyed killing time. The man loves to repeat himself. And Diet is still here? I just got to thinking, how old is he now? Come on Locher, this is getting ridiculous. These people are aging rapidly, are you going to have Dick fighting crime in his 80s? And why does Diet look like a horrible rendition of Colonel Sanders from KFC?

Well now we finally get to see some progress. First we start off with a Crimestoppers excerpt that is just plain idiocy. If one does not stop in back of a bus they can get in a lot of trouble last I knew. Maybe Locher witnessed someone driving through that Stop sign recently and wrote this especially for them? In Panel 1 we see the man telling everyone that Dick is on the case. He isnt in the least bit happy to be reporting this. Panel 2 we see that Dr Mordred is apparently a Stormtrooper spray-painted orange. Someone get Lucas on the horn, I know he wont like this. And wait, someone else called him ‘Human debris’! Locher is clearly out of insults. Panels 4-6 are a complete waste of time but hey, at least Dick is finally on the way. Panel 7 Dick has noticed its starting to rain. How long has it been raining now? Someone get this man out of the car, he obviously doesnt pay attention to anything. Panel 8 we get the first glimpse of Dr Mordreds evil thoughts. What in the World is this man talking about? ’Happily ever after in their Camelot’? Who gave this strip the OK? Does anyone stop this bleeep before it goes to print and ask just what the heck Locher is trying to say or do? That sentence didnt even make sense! If this is any hint as to how Mordred talks I think I can stop looking forward to any witty dialogue between him and Dick.

Think Dick will ask about the mask? Think he will call him a piece of human debris to his face? How will Dick mess this up, even though its already messed up? These are things that one can still look forward to. Watch Locher mess all of them up too. Oh, and the horrible artwork. Think Locher will keep drawing cars or just switch to a point of view from inside the car to save time and effort? Expect even worse artwork either way. This isnt going to get any better folks but hopefully itll get more interesting the worse it gets.

Having the yellow hat and coat on Tracy, is easily the most innovative impression Dick Locher has provided all year in the Dick Tracy strip

Locher is - 81 years old, and will achieve 82, on April 6, 2011. For the record Chester Gould had just turned - 77 when he retired.

I enjoy this new Dick Tracy comic strip everyday. The comic continues to gain new readership everyday and is quite fun to read. Then I look at the responses on this log and always the same vile hatred and name-calling. The petty name-calling by the same 6 guys here day after day. There is even one guy who makes fun of Dick Locher like crazy, but ends his hatred by saying that Dick Locher is a good man or wishing Dick Locher, Happy Birthday or Merry Christmas! And if anyone points out a positive, they are name-called Mattie instead of Matthew. Name-calling is so much fun–(sigh). Instead while you are on the internet this weekend comparing car bumpers or the length of Mrs. D’Buckworth’s ear-rings from one day to the next (sigh), take the time to look into a program spear-headed by Jeff Bridges, nokidhungry.org and support a process to assure our children do not go hungry. Take the time to do something responsible and dedicate yourself to the service of others, you will find you are less bitter.

You’re welcome, NVash.

Whatever is wrong with this strip, has been wrong for quite some time. Here’s something from 2002, where Thick is dealing with a bank robber who tried to fake a terrorist attack:

http://www.gocomics.com/dicktracy/2002/04/26/

Once again Thick displays enormous courage and restraint when dealing with a prisoner, as well as a stunning concern for due process.

The bad guy was caught because his improvised disguise proved to be one he’d used in a previously-unmentioned career, and he was caught by some passing Texas cops who just happened to recognize the disguise. The only good thing about that arc was, it was short.

TMS obviously lost interest in the strip’s quality many years ago. Maybe they decided the newspaper market for comic strips had too low a profit margin to justify the expense of any real editorial control. Or maybe it’s just a cultural thing and only a few carpers expect standards in cartoon strips, because there’s a lot of garbage out there that should never get published.

What is that expression on Horn Hair’s face in panel #3? It’s like she’s watching the clock. “Okay, I’ve been here long enough to qualify for overtime, push Thick out the door and I can go home.”

BillT The fall off in real quality started with the departure of Max Collins in early 1993. Shortly thereafter Mike Kilian a TMS writer was invited by Locher to do the writing. That’s when the Chase Sequence (which was the heart and soul of stories by Gould and Collins) took two fatal shots in the temple.

We haven’t seen one since, other than that ’reverse’ run, by Tracy in the Johnny Nothing saga. Locher did try ‘art wise’ in the mid to late ninties. There were a few memorable villain designs (eg. Dab Stract, Smirk, Snails, Beau Tox even top quality secondary characters like Amy Lovelaw) that is when Locher put his ’mind’ to it but that period was also punctuated with a series of flops.And having the distraction of Editorials every week didn’t help.

Story quality got worse when Locher took it over, and sadly instead of wisely patterning his style after Gould or Collins he surprisingly, copied the crippling Kilian style. Story ‘build up’ and repetition took up ‘residence’ !

He is no writer and that turn, was adding fuel to fire !

I’ve been away since the end of the 3D caper and just catching up. I’ve notices in the last ten days or so that the characters’ drawings has been wildly distorted. And catching up on the story, sentencing in Naperville seems a little late in a trial for a change of venue. These eleven people Dr Mordored murdered, where they from different states? There’s no other plausible reason in the story thus far to rationalize murder as a federal offense.

Is that one cop meant to be black? Or is it just a coincidence that his skin color in one panel vaguely matches a known human flesh tone? And how did his jaw acquire that double bulge not seen in Panel #1? Has he been infected by Testicle Chin’s DNA?

countoftowergrove, we don’t know who Mordred killed, or where he did it. Locher said that he had been convicted and was coming to Nappingville to be sentenced. That doesn’t happen in the real world, where convicted defendants are sentenced by the same judge who conducted their trial, but it doesn’t matter. Give Locher a few weeks and he’ll forget he ever mentioned the conviction.

BillThompson, thanks again! I read that and couldnt believe Dick really punched that man out like that. What changed in him from then until now? I understand he probably shouldnt have socked him one but I dont see this man in front of us that claims to be Dick knocking anyone out anytime soon. I see him screaming and running like a coward. He seemed so much more angry in that arc from what Ive read, so much more bent on catching the guy, it seems nowadays he couldnt careless what happened. If I didnt know any better Id think Locher didnt write this at all.

NVash, it’s the artists who changed, and they did before 2002. They turned Dick Tracy into a putz. Only the details of his putziness vary. Run away in one strip, bungle an investigation in another, arrest or accuse an innocent person on a flimsy pretext–this is not the iconic Dick Tracy.

As for the Locherian epoch, that one is easy. Locher is lazy. It’s easier for him to draw talking heads and close-ups of hands than to do action scenes.