Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for December 31, 2010

Is Mordred standing up or lying on the ground? And how did he get impaled by the chains? And whose hand is that in panel three?

And why is Tracy crying like a jilted lover?

Soon as I can find my pen and some paper…

Happy New Year, Flight Suit, from me and the Pig.

That’s a really big finger.

Flight Suit, maybe this song will help dry Thick’s tears:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2E_RSJAhYU

Of course there’s no reason for Mordred to feel gratitude. After all Thick is responsible for him almost drowning. But it’s nice of him to add Thick to his list. Just let him have it tomorrow, Doc!

Errrr… . Spacy, you might want to put handcuffs and chains on this dastardly fellow.

What a crappy comic. Too much on the background and not enough where you need it. Looks like they are talking in a hurricane.

And leave the “computer pirates.” I think a computer HACKER would do more than a pirate. Jim is going to pay $200 an answer for more technical and to know the difference between a pirate and a hacker.

Jim and Dick really need to use me as a consultant.

And a happy new year to you, Marg!

In panel #1, it looks like Mordred has flung his arms wide so he can embrace Thick.

In panel #3, at first I thought he was jabbing that finger at Thick for emphasis, but his hand is turned the wrong way for that. Is he trying to give Thick the finger? I’m sure Locher has seen that gesture whenever he introduces himself to people, and it’s no surprise that he gets the image wrong here.

But it may just be that Mordred wants to pick his nose.

Is tomorrow’s strip going to say “Happy New Year” from Mordred?

First of all:

“HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE”

In the past couple of days, Moon Maid has been brought up with thoughts on Gould’s Space Days.

I liked the space days. We have just come out the 1940’s and 50’s with all the science fiction and horror movies.

So a space story was not out of ordinary

I was at that age when you start looking at girls and Moon Maid Maid was pretty hot by the standards of those days.

The most exciting pictures for a boy my age was a 1962 Playboy of my dad’s I found stashed away.

LOL!!!!

In this era, I see more on the covers of magazines at the grocery store checkout. than I did back then.

The strip had some excitment to it as JFK told us that the United States was going to the moon and the U.S. will be the first one’s there.

After we reached the moon and did not find an old man or cheese, Gould should have phased out the space angle at that time since the moon was now no longer a mystery to what was up there.

Nice that they have this conversation in the middle of a typhoon.

Is that Mordred’s finger or is he just happy to see Tracy?

That “number one” may be Mordred’s way of telling Thick he needs to evacuate his bladder.

And you have to love the way Thick critiques Locher & Brozman in panel #2. He looks them right in the autograph and tells them off!

To Notta Fallar - Remember

Good Girls go to heaven

Bad girls go everywhere.

Moon Maid, Mrs. Chin Chillar, Molene…some of the sexiest dolls you will ever find in the comics….and by the way…

Happy New Year to all!

“Because your kiss, your kiss is on my list, Because your kiss, your kiss I can’t resist, Because your kiss is on my list of the best things in li-i-i-ife.”

Is he holding up the right finger?

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!

Safeway - Your post brought back some nice memories. You and I must be about the same age becasue 1962 was the year I was introduced to Playboy magazine too.

Andyh40 - Talk about sexy comic characters - How about Ooola, Daisy May, Dale Arden, Long Sam, etc. Those were the days.

Just before Mordred does Trashy in, he will remove the mask and reveal himself to be ….. Dick Locher!

You know what Locher and Brozman should do? (pause for the obvious lethal and humiliating suggestions) They should look at today’s “Phantom.” Panel #3 shows the proper use of black shading on the Phantom’s face. You can see the anger and impending vengeance. The artist doesn’t slap India ink all over the place as a lazy way to fill panels.

For that matter, Kit has just rescued Diana. They’re now relaxing on a lakeshore, and despite a few stumbles their break is not being used as filler. Diana is telling Kit things he can use on the next adventure. There is an actual story being told. Locher should let the air out of his ego and learn from it.

Won’t happen. What’s the next Plot Twist of the Week? Do Mordred’s shadowy evil henchmen appear? No, they’re henchwomen, Morganna and the Lady of the Lake, and they’re evil. They rescue their boss and capture Thick. And if you haven’t figured out that a serial killer’s minions are evil, Thick will tell you several times before they bleeep slap him.

As someday it may happen that this strip will run aground, I’ve got a little list, I’ve got a little list Of aging comic characters, who might well be underground, And who never would be missed, who never would be missed! There’s the pestilential nuisances who drive into a lake, Thinking that their prisoner won’t think it’s a mistake, All coppers who have morphing cars, that never look the same, And cops who really should have stopped them, from going down the drain, And writers who have insane plots that they just can’t resist, They’d none of ‘em be missed, They’d none of ‘em be missed! He’s got them on the list— He’s got them on the list, And they’ll none of them be missed, they’ll none of them be missed!

Can someone even tell me what is going on in panel 1? We see the very top of Mordred, and then what? Has he been buried in the ground? Is he partially submerged? Or has he lost most of his straw like the Scarecrow in Wizard of Oz?!?

To the tune of “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town:”

You better hide out You better be sly Better not doubt You’re going to die: Doc Mordred is loose in your town.

He’s making a list And checking it twice; Gonna decide who to slice and dice Doc Mordred is loose in your town.

They had him safe in prison But along came Dick Tracy Who botched his transfer mission And set the killer free!

So you better hide out! You better be sly Better not doubt You’re going to die: Doc Mordred is loose in your town! Doc Mordred is loose in your town!

Oh, Mordy? Rule number one for deranged serial killers: less talk, more murder. Get with the plan, boy!

Fer Lefer, You’re welcome. May the Pig be in our hearts forever. He’s the best thing to come out of this comic in years. Happy New Year, one, and all!

Auld Lang Syne, my fellow suffers!

In panel one, it looks like Mordred’s auditioning for “Born to Dance.”

Re the deep water, there is one possibility. In downtown Napperberry, there is a railroad viaduct that could (if the pumps failed) flood to a depth of eight or ten feet. But Tracy would have to be beyond stupid to drive into that hole…

Puddlegum— have you SEEN the stuff Tracy has done lately?

Beyond stupid doesn’t begin to describe it.

Because of the distance driven, I’m guessing they’re not exactly in town. Look for an intersection near a river or lake, preferably near a curve or hill (for the jump). I know of a few candidates for the job within the fifty mile radius of Naperville. The car isn’t on the road now, it’s in the lake or river (probably a lake) alongside the road. Still, to pull off a stunt like Tracy did— trying to power through something like that— you have to be either outrageously stupid or falling-down drunk. Maybe both.

“and thanks for loosening these chains…do you have a pen on you? i’d like to add you to my list right now! by the way is there a jack-in-the-box around here? I’m famished!”

“And I am still going to add you to my list unless you pull my finger.”

Looks like Locher’s ‘penciled in’ the shortest arm (panel 1), in the 78 years of the comic strip’s history … it almost appears as if the wrist joint is coming right out of the shoulder socket.

Jim Brozman who could have adjusted it as he did the inking, didn’t bother to correct it

Maybe Brozman got fed up with Locher telling everyone he’s just an inker, and decided not to fix the problem (but notice that the hand in panel #3 is amazingly handlike). But with all the sexual implications in the Locher Horror Picture Show, the “short arm” could be a visual innuendo.

BT

Great song, Is certainly appropriate for this story.

Modred should think twice about threatening Tracy. I sure wouldn’t pick a fight with someone who hauled a fat man in manacles and 40 pounds of chain out of a 10 foot deep water pit with one arm.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY !!! WHOO HOOO !!!!

Bob - That’s a good question. I had supposed you were a fisherman, but knowing you as I do, it may mean you’re into a certain kind of music we have in common. On the other hand, it may mean a “fisherman” in another sense.