Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for December 30, 2018

Early for spring cleaning

Yet Sparkle scrubs and paints

Opens up an old box

It goes pow and she faints.

Wait now just a minit

A vintage bobby trap?

Mystery for Tracy

Has landed in his lap.

Who would harm dear Sparkle

And leave her badly gassed?

Time for some detecting

And digging through the past.

Good morning™, MM adventurers!

Well, let’s see what Donnie Pitchford can do with the MM adventure format. I know he’s been following our comments here closely. The story does seem to have started off with a bang (or at least a “Pow!”).

I seem to remember someone here asking for more Sparkle Plenty content and here she is, but I hope shes okay. Childhood objects are usually not so dangerous!

Woah, Nelly! This might be more interesting than I expected! Sparkle Plenty the first victim?

Dag nab, I might have to break my promise and follow this!

An intriguing start, to be sure. ✨

Good morning™, two time widowers !

I hope Jr. doesn’t lose his Sparkle.

My first thoughts: some time ago, my brother-in-law, who used to collect WWII gas masks, suddenly fell ill to a mystery disease, which the doctors could not diagnose. He puffed up like a balloon, wouldn’t respond to any treatment, then eventually, his health returned.

Some time later, he found out from another collector that the gas mask that he had recently bought, still packed in its original raw talcum powder, was the culprit. Something happens to the powder after 75 years….

An impressive start to the Minit Mystery. Hopefully, the rest of the run will live up to the opening.

Speaking of which, whatever happened to Sparkle Plenty, Jr? It’s been 30 years since Janice Trohs kidnapped her. Although Janice is deceased, her henchmen are still alive. Maybe one of them escaped from prison, and……

Oh no, not her! You remember what happened to Junior’s wife back in the late 70’s?! Good thing this is a “Minit Mystery”.

A BO Plenty Bath Bomb?

Whoa…what a way to start the day, and it wasn’t Folgers!

Interesting beginning…

I just hope this isn’t one of those where it turns out to be impossible for the reader to solve until we see the ending.

First off, joe is still doing the art duties so it wont be so much of a “shock to the system”.

Second, Donnie Pitchford just flat out stole a scene almost COMPLETELY from one of the first X-Men comics I ever read… it was Giant Size #4 I believe

In the story, it is Nightcrawler’s birthday and he is opening presents. One in particular catches his attention since it is a jet black box with no markings as to who it was from.

He opens the box, and it explodes in his face, seemingly killing him. Professor X calls in Dr Strange who surmises that Kurt’s soul has been forcibly removed from his body and the good Doctor and the X-Men travel to a facsimile of Dante’s Inferno where it turns out that the culprit is none other than Kurt’s adoptive mother Margali Szardos who is seeking to punish him for the death of her true son Stefan (I think that was his name).

The X-Men and Dr Strange rescue Kurt’s soul, but seemingly at the cost of Jimaine Szardo’s life.. Kurt’s adopted sister who is a sorceress herself.

Its revealed at the wrap up that Jimaine is actually Kurt’s girlfriend, airline stewardess Amanda Sefton and that she wasn’t killed. Margali forgives Kurt when she realizes that he accidentally killed Stefan in self defense when they fought.

This is all from memory of course.. but lets hope that this ISNT what happens to Sparkle

Hooked already!

As a married man, the first thing I thought of was she’s putting everything in the house back and he’s not helping? Other than that, nice start to a mystery.

And the Minot Mystery morning starts off with a bang…

Nothing like 50-year-old fruitcake gas to knock you out!

So today fits in with a theory I haven’t had a chance to express yet. Since Lum and Abner may be making an appearance, the DT characters most reflecting their humorous and rural style are Sparkle’s parents, B.O. Plenty and Gravel Gertie. And since today Sparkle saw something from her childhood, and is also potentially injured, naturally the Plentys will be making an appearance shortly!

So of course today’s Lum and Abner is devoted to announcing Donnie Pitchford’s run here on DT. http://www.lumandabnersociety.org/Comic-Strip-Home.html

No debris on her face.

“Ye gods”? Is Vonda McIntyre ghosting this?

Thanks, folks!

cue the ominous music

In the three previous Mysteries, the crime (a murder) had already been done before Tracy came on the scene. This time, Tracy is already present and (despite it being non-canonical) it is unlikely that Sparkle will die.

Off to a promising start. Can it be wound up clearly and satisfyingly in just two weeks?

Well, now Junior can hook up with Mysta guilt-free.