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

“Nah-Tay” doesn’t count? ✨

Good morning™, impatient readers!

So, we now know that Christine had no other boyfriends. That makes it pretty sure. Is testing next?

Hu, looks like I was a tad bit wrong…

Good morning™, true blue maiden mommas !

Christine’s heart broke that day when they parted ways, him to whatever and her to an evil malevolent lifestyle… Only she hadn’t realized it or brushed it off.

Now what did Tracy promise Bribery?

Gotta admit, I’m a little surprised Bribery caved….nice that he did though. Now he’ll likely avoid DEATH ROW.

That would be shocking..

So it was Tracy who talked to Bribery. Huh.

From the Dick Tracy Wiki:

Nah Tay was a Native American from Ecuador who worked for Mr. Bribery. He was a large man with long dark hair that he wore in braids.

He operated a seemingly legitimate business where he sold rugs, ponchos and serapes. One of his specialties was shrinking the heads of Bribery’s victims.

Nah Tay was a loyal member of Mr. Bribery’s organization for some time. After Bribery’s failed attempt to kidnap the infant Honeymoon Tracy, it was Nah Tay who rescued the petrified Bribery and Ugly Christine from freezing to death in the snow.

Nah Tay worshiped “Moon Gods” and as such would not harm Moon Maid or her child. However, he agreed to kill Dick Tracy for Mr. Bribery. Nah Tay engaged in a series of rituals to prepare for the murder, which included sending Dick Tracy a wooden carving of his own head, and planting a similar carving in Tracy’s yard. Nah Tay then fashioned a spear out of the collapsible leg of a camera tripod, which he intended to use to kill Tracy.

Another element of Nah Tay’s ritual involved taking native potions and drugs intended to make him strong. Much of this turned out to be beer, and Nah Tay became consistently intoxicated. In a drunken stupor, Nah Tay decided not to kill Tracy, believing that he was a good man. He decided to kill Bribery instead. Bribery had planted a listening device in Nah Tay’s home, and he heard the native man talking to himself about the change of plans.

Bribery double-crossed Nah Tay by bribing Maay, one of Diet Smith’s Space Coupe pilots, to kidnap Nah Tay and eject him from the Space Coupe while in orbit. Nah Tay’s body was later recovered by Dick Tracy.

Many years later, it was revealed that Nah Tay had a brother who also become skilled at head shrinking.

Good summary, Pequod. Brings back memories of the day.

Nice little “family portrait” in panel 3. Back in the day though, I can’t ever recall Nah-Tay smiling. (Come to think about it, I can’t recall Ugly Christine ever smiling, either!)

Panel 3 looks like the world’s worst job of cosplaying the Village People, or something.

Who’s the Indian?

Mary Worth, meet Rex Morgan. Will this ever become a detective strip again? Polar and Devil(ia) await. BTW, Nah Tay is there to assuage out Native American reader.

Today’s takeaways:

It was indeed Tracy who paid Bribery, or rather AC1938, a visit, even though some of us were prompted (in my case, largely by the art work and opening remarks) to suspect it was the Anti-Tracy.

Tracy managed to get enough substance out of Chatty Cathy Bribery to assert with fair confidence that Austin was the “:one man” in Ugly Christine’’s life; i.e., he must be Crystal’s father. —Nice “those were the days” group portrait in panel 2 to seal the deal….

Meanwhile?…

I’m surprised Tracy takes anything Bribery says at face value. Also surprised “Nay Tay” was deemed acceptable for a public comic strip in 2018.

I still want someone to explain why they needed Bribery’s help on this? What could he tell them that a paternity test couldn’t?