Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for July 21, 2018

Good morning™, decision makers!

Grimm is trying to decide if he should retaliate against Tess for shooting him in the shoulder, but she no longer seems to be an immediate threat. On the other hand, it really looks like Sawtooth could use his immediate help.

Who knows what that thing in his hand is? The best I can figure out is that it’s a leather “slapjack,” a small sort of truncheon.

Loyalties to be decided, for certain. Tune in tomorrow, same bat-time, same bat-channel!

Its called a “sap” usually full of lead pellets and injure someone badly if used too strenuously. Helping Sawtooth may or may not help him about losing Sawtooth’s money. Leave him to Tracy and try to escape before the police arrive. Or hold Tess hostage for Sawtooth to get free.

I’m betting Tess shoots Grimm in the back. Any takers?

Wait a minute, didn’t Tess just shoot Grimm the other night? So how did he knock her unconscious?

Any real clue as to who shot Grimm? Was it Tess, & Grimm just knocked her out with his “blackjack” after her shooting him?

This has been the best action set-piece since Silver and Sprocket Nitrate drove Flattop, Jr.’s “Wonder Car” into the lake. ✨

Good morning™, downed dames !

How long before shock sets in for Grimm ?

I wonder why the “Auugh” from outside? Did Sawtooth hit his head, like I had hoped?

And how much longer ’til the cavalry arrives?

I think what we’re seeing today with Grimm and Tess is the aftermath of an implied knockout. It’s less confusing if we go back to yesterday’s comment by @AnyFace regarding standards & practices: It’s most probably against the rules to depict a woman – or maybe anyone – getting violently struck unconscious. Bash them with baked goods: go ahead! Jump them with a blackjack: no-no, no-no, no!

The awkward gap in the action could be the result of a proposed strip designed to fit between yesterday and today that just couldn’t be edited enough to be acceptable and so was cut altogether. That would explain why we didn’t get any hint like when the movie screen goes dark then hearing a gunshot and thud implies a killing. Or how the passionate couple tumbling into the bedroom and shutting the door suggests…

We’ll likely have to wait for an answer until after the dust settles and Tess comes to. But I don’t think we’ll be hearing Grimm’s version. Now that Tracy has the drop on Sawtooth I’d bet anything Grimm’s gonna hightail it so that he’ll never have to answer for gambling away all the money. Unless he’s surprised at the front door by Sam & Lizz, that is!!

The fact that Grimm is comparing his Blackjack to Tracy’s gun says a lot in the 2nd panel

Will our beloved detective be ambushed from behind;

ONE MORE TIME!!!

Tune in tomorrow to see.

How considerate of Mr. Grim(m) to wipe all the blood off his shirt from his suddenly healed shoulder so not to spill any blood on the carpeting!

If we are correct in our deductions that it was Tess who fired the shot at Grimm (and I think we are) then the sequence of events since the shot shows that Grimm must have sapped Tess off panel while Tracy was grappling with Sawtooth. You would think there would be blood or a bruise or some other indication that Tess has been hit, but maybe that is too much for the current “comic strip code” – much like most of the gunshots on the older Gunsmoke episodes, where Matt obviously hit his opponent, and Doc would pronounce him dead, all without a single drop of blood showing.

Sawtooth is all worn out from the patio party. He never shudda messed with Tracy’s sourdough. Grimm knocked out Tess off-panel before she could shoot his other shoulder. The blackjack is conveniently positioned over his wound to minimize any bloodshed that might offend newspaper readers. I like the action. Knowing that he’s blown all of the money on the horses, this might be a good time for Grimm to quietly slip away before backup arrives. Let Sawtooth deal with the troublesome aftermath of the failed hit.

And thus you have such confusion in the midst of today’s strip due to the fact that by present day standatds, a story must take place over a much shorter amount of time than those of the Gould eta. If it had been done in a story which was allowed to be played out for several mouths, I’m sure it would have been made clesrer!

Wait. Tess shoots Grimm and then passes out again. How did that happen or did Grimm already hit her with the sap? But she was holding a gun. Also, where did Tracy get a revolver. Did he have it on him while baking or did he take it off of Sawtooth?

I think Tess shot Grimm. Then Tracy and Sawtooth crashed through the patio door. In the confusion, Grimm KO’d Tess with his blackjack.

Most police carry a back up gun, usually holstered above the ankle…

In the Ghost Pepper story arc, I believe that Tracy used it to shoot Ghost Pepper….

So, Grimm turns chicken and runs out into the waiting arms of Vinnie and Guido looking to settle his gambling debt.

I think Colonel Mustard shot Grim(M) in the library

Where is Sam Ketchum? Will he come to their rescue?

To all who are wondering where Tracy got the gun from.. last panel, check his ankle.. theres the holster in plain sight

Looks like Grimm came to the sourdough heist heavily armed; not only the pistol he was packing initially, but also a pocket sap. I interpret today’s panel 1 as the immediate aftermath of his surprise coshing of Tess.. Out on the patio, Sawtooth has landed hard (“AUUGH!”) and Tracy has taken the opportunity to draw his backup piece (a snub-nosed revolver, five or six shots depending on the make and model) from the ankle-holster on his right leg. Grimm, wounded (holding his hand and sap/blackjack/slapjack/cosh over the shoulder where Tess plugged him) has a moment of initiative open to him, and is deciding whether to try to help his dangerous boss or just to split and flee the scene while he still can….

Center mass, Tess, and don’t stop ‘til they they aren’t moving.