Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for July 31, 2018

Looks like Pequod was right about Lafayette Austin…

Austin is now very close to admitting having a relationship with Christine. I do not think he knew that Christine had a daughter and it is most likely that he is the father. It is now time for a DNA test.

Good morning™, college friends!

That scene on the second frame seems very familiar! Let me find it.

Yes a nice wide angle shot in the middle distance. Nicely framed.

I still think he looks like Mumbles crossed with Shaggy from Scooby-Doo!

I repeat – there’s something not quite right about Mr. Austin.

I agree Jonah. I think my wild theory from yesterday about him being Crystal’s dad might not have been wild enough. Again, taking clues from the visual storytelling, in the last panel we are being shown Austin’s face in a new way that suggests strong similarities with Bribery. Is he actually Bribery and Christine’s brother? Instead of a happy story where Crystal finds a sympathetic relative, what if he’s like Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) in “The Godfather” where he tried to turn his back on the family crime business but now he feels pulled back in with an obligation to avenge his sister’s death? If so, Lizz is the first of the team to be in trouble…

Good morning™, chimney sweeps !

This guy’s shifty or Tracytown’s biggest flake !

There goes hope for a reunion. :-(

Also think the framing in the first panel is significant, both those grins look too close

I find it hard to believe that Disco Kid doesn’t know what happened to Christine. Her death wouldn’t be top secret news, would it?

I guess the snacking Sawtooth saga is over for now, as I said.

How old is Austin? He knew Bribery in college? He looks much younger than Bribery, I have my doubts about this claim.

Great flashback to the death of Christine. I like the hovering Air Cars with Lizz reaching out in a vain attempt to save her. Is Austin merely the good guy informant serving the MCU with Patton’s approval, or is there a hint of the sinister? The background info will be new to most readers. We now know that Austin attended college in Tracyville before returning to Central City. If he and Christine were close, it does not make sense that he never learned of her death. May have been a brief encounter. Today’s strip confirms the possibility that Austin is unknowingly Crystal’s father, as Bribery leers from the monitor.

Elsewhere, Sam and Tracy race to Magic City to find and confront Sawtooth. I like that we’re trusted to follow more than one thread in this tale.

She fell down a smokestack becoming Uglier Christine?

Austin is just a bit out of date. This happened 52 years ago.Since the original Bribery story line was my favorite of all time, needless to say I am enjoying this!

The way he looks in that first panel… he’s going to turn out to be Crystal’s father, isn’t he?

For a big time police informant, Austin sure is behind the headlines. & few things are surer to raise a red flag with a police detective than to express sorrow over the death of an arch-villainess. The artwork today is out of this world, suitable for framing.

Looks like all the salient points about today’s very interesting and portentous strip have already been made by 22ph, Pequod, and numerous others.

Yes, Lafayette Austin does resemble Mr. Bribery, as is emphasized in panel 1.

Yes, he seems likely to turn out to be Crystal’s father, from a brief liaison with Ugly Christine.

Yes, IMO there is flirtation going on between him and Lizz, though it is not likely to go anywhere except possibly as driver to a plot point.

Yes, he is a suspicious character, not All American Good Guy, IMO.

Yes, it is surprising that he claims not to have known of Ugly Christine’s rather spectacular death plunge, which I think would have been in the news in Central City as well as Tracyville.

“The plot thickens.”

I go for the theory that Lafayette is likely a younger brother of Bribery and Christine. However Bribery and Christine were brother and sister which means if Lafayette is a younger brother, he would have had to commit incest to be Crystal’s father. However he could be another uncle and Crystal’s legal guardian.