Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for February 11, 2011

We can’t even call out, yet we somehow know all about the AWACS plane. We just can’t contact it.

Is Sam’s face distorted or does he have a finger up his nose?

Flight Suit said, “We can’t even call out, yet we somehow know all about the AWACS plane. We just can’t contact it.”

Makes one wonder…

Given that the chains are off, why wouldn’t Mordred remove the mask too?

OldTracy, Sam is morphing into Prune Face.

I’m betting someone will suggest using smoke signals…hell they’ve got every other wild-assed thing going in this latest disaster of a story, might as well add one more.

Oh, just give it up as a lost cause, Liz.

That’s not Sam…that’s a float in this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving parade.

We can’t even call out- how will we ever get a pizza?

The water finally reached the floor. What a storm!

JonahHex said, “I’m betting someone will suggest using smoke signals”

I vote for semaphore flags. Sam can go to the roof and signal the AWACS plane..

Looks like Testicle Chin has his, uh, face pressed against a window. Either that or he’s trying to swallow his lips, as a sign of how badly this arc sucks.

Meanwhile Thick appears to be hip-deep in water, which is a sure sign that water won’t cause a problem in this custerfluck of an arc. And what’s become of Froggy’s clothing? Is he wearing a one-piece wetsuit? Is he happy about the water because he prefers to mate underwater? Will he and Thick spawn a flock of tadpoles?

“Air Force AWACS plane?”

WTF??? Where did THAT come from? Without doing any research (which I hear Chester Gould DID do) I know that you don’t send AWACS planes into storms in urban areas to find individuals.

Ya know, I never met Chester Gould. But Dick Locher did, and frankly he ought to be ashamed of himself for letting Gould’s creation devolve into such a nonsensical mess.

This strip used to be a classic, now, well, at best it’s a morbid fascination.

OldTracy:- with a chin like that, are you sure it’s his finger?

Four weeks, two days. We can hold out. I hope.

The illustrations in this strip get worse each day. Tracy’s collar is done up in panel 1 and is undone in panel 2. Sam’s head is like a gigantic blown up balloon relative to the size of his bow tie in panel 3. The design of the illustrations each day look like Lochler roughly pencils the strip and Broznan inks it in (but he does not have the drawing ability for the task). I’ve looked at Lochler’s Dick Tracy strips from 1987/1988 when Max Collins was the writer and Lochler was the artist. The style and composition of the illustrations was similar to those of today but the artwork was much better.

Didn’t Sam have some good news??

Yeah, a team of artists will straighten out his face.

Incidentally how does Thick know that Mordrek is going to prison? The arc started with Thick taking Morbid to his sentencing. For all Thick knows the judge may have Mordred confined to a mental hospital. (A sentence of community service is unlikely, but then again, Naperville is so corrupt that anything is possible.)

Welcome Back Bassman Bob !!!

Whee Whooo !!! Whistle !!! Ya Hooo !!!

Egad! The disembodied hand from a few weeks ago is back! Only now it’s in TC’s mouth, trying to pick his nose from the inside! This story gets more exciting by the minute…

Meanwhile, panel one looks like he just pasted in the stock profile of Tracy from the title of the Sunday strip. What’s with Mordred’s mask changing colors between panels, anyway?

This is the worst case of going nowhere that Locher has ever had. Weeks of exchanging threats, the weather is getting worse, the communications are down, what are we going to do? It serves no purpose but to waste time.

Two days in a row with no repeat of the outside of the granary panel!! Go Locher, Go!! Try for three! You can do it!!

@LudwigVonDrake:

The good news was the AWACS plane.

Bassmanbob! Would the good-looking lady happen to have a famous cousin-in-law? Whoot! Whoot!

Secondly, as an aide to the terribly confused plebian readers (unimportant), WHAT is going on with this storyline? What does it mean? We know that Locher’s stories are written in codespeak, and are designed to convey a secret meaning, but we need your help with this one! Thanks!

Morrow

Now we know how Mordred escaped his chains. The police never accounted for the fact that he only has 3 fingers on his right hand.

Only the gazinta circuit on the police radio is working; the kumzouta circuit has failed.

But why use an AWACS? A Predator is much more suitable for finding individuals…and blowing them away, along with (we can only hope) the whole story arc.

i don’t think locher has a clue how to end this dreck.

Art interpretation for the perplexed.

Panel 1 - Mordred has donned an old fashioned diving suite and gloves (cleverly hidden by his cronies under the grain sacks). He knows that water will soon be flooding in over their heads, so he is getting ready.

BTW – If you’ve ever wondered what Mordred looked like without the hood-mask, panel 1 shows him in all his creepy best! That must be his real face, as there is no zipper scar.

Panel 2 - Mordred has his hood-mask back on (the zipper has appeared again). I think, though I can’t prove it, that the hood-mask will work as a functional diving helmet. The collar of the diving suit is clearly shown just below the bottom of the hood-mask (good art there!).

Panel 3 – Sam is just having another “anal-retentive” moment. Chief horn-horn has forgotten about their Dunk’n Donuts hot line! Since it’s hardwired, communications is not totally down! They can order, and then munch on a few dozen baked goodies while they wait for Spacey to drown!

OldTracy, my money’s on Sam having a stroke from all the bad art and writing.

I hope the “new guys” are watching, and reading like they said. They should by now realize what NOT to do. Volume 11 of the Complete Dick Tracy was recently released. Just a glance at it shows how, even with so called “minor villains”, Gould still created interesting, move– along stories. This hopefully, will be emulated.

Today’s problem:

A few days ago Sam had good news and Sam told Lizz that the AWACS Plane is up in the air and if Tracy’s wrist Geenee is turned on, they will find Tracy.

Liz says today, How will we contact the AWACS plane to search for Tracy”

Listen up Lizz, Sam told you that plane knows about Tracy and if his wrist geenee is on, they will find him.

Again, Locher screws up his story line.

Hossblacksilver,

You’re probably right, or else Sam is so bored that he’s got nothing else to do but pick his nose. You’d think he’d be looking for his galoshes so he could go outside like he said 6 weeks ago.

Saw that first panel and thought for a moment that zipperhead had lost his zipper

And Testicle Chin should ask Hornhair why she asks him that question, she’s the one getting the big bucks

It is said a picture is worth a thousand words That’s far too few to describe these inky terds There are those who say I’m snarky and mean But I just comment on what it is I’ve seen A little logic, some continuity At least show us a modicum of ingenuity So, it’s another day and Mordred’s not under wrap It’s now evident Locher long ago stop giving a bleeep Mordy makes threats and tries to kill Tracy, like a log, just stands there still Far be it for him to keep the situation under control He seems more comfortable digging himself a hole Talking of the weather and Tracy’s imminent death We sit here hoping that they soon run out of breath I realize the difference between comic and real time But the pace of this strip should be considered a crime Two thirds of it at least is just a waste of space Nothing here that can be considered a saving grace So we bide our time till all is said and done Expectantly waiting for the new guys to come.

Thank you, woodworker318, billdi, BillT. @ Gweedo, yes I do have that “gleeful wide eyed smile” while I compose. I’ll probably have it while I decompose also.

I have kept my opinion to myself for 20 years now! The current artist needs to GO! They have disfigured every character in this strip one… by one… now Sam only has half a mouth? What’s up with that? I have stayed with this strip because of my love for the character’s, but I have been unhappy with the artwork for years and years! It is time to bring some new blood into this strip before it’s too late. I am looking forward to the new team coming next month.

Once again, good work, Wonder Warthog!

Now, WTF is with the FORTY FRICKIN’ POUNDS OF CHAIN? Why have they suddenly vanished? Was Loser Locher’s plan to distract everyone with umpteen weeks of threats, then a lame-ass struggle, followed by–what?

Maybe the chains will return and Morass will die through their presence. But what’s the idea now? Is Thick going to escape the granary, swim to safety, then watch the building collapse around Mordred? Will there be some feeble joke about how Mordred brought his own Camelot down around his ears?

If Thick’s wrist-gizmo won’t work in the storm, how is the AWACS plane supposed to track it? Assuming that for some reason a military craft can communicate on a frequency reserved for civil police use.

WW, again you get to the heart of the matter with this so called story that is just being dragged out until March 13th so that Locher doesn’t have to start another story. It would have to be a very,very short one that he isn’t capable of doing.

BillT, I’m just guessing here but— maybe the AWACS plane only has to detect the signal and locate it, using something like the old RDF methods? About being able to detect the signal— any Radio Shack was, and maybe still is,– selling scanners that would pick up local police bands. If our military can spend thousands of dollars for a carpenter’s hammer I’m reasonably sure they can scare up fifty bucks or so for a scanner.

OK, I admit it: I’m trying to think of something that would make sense in a story which, up to now, has been in short supply of anything that makes sense.

You guys need to give up on trying to make logic here. Ain’t gonna happen. Locher has thrown too many red herrings in the fire for him to have any way out! C’mon next month! As far as the forty pounds of chain goes, the significant clue here is “forty”, which is the IQ that Thick strives for in order to pass his next proficiency gig. He’d have to cheat to make that, though.

Michael, I’m guessing a lot too. With Hosni Locher, may he go into exile soon, there’s really no point in trying to deal with real-world considerations. If he shows the AWACS crew doing anything, we’ll see a pinch-faced guy in a Ptomainian Air Force uniform staring at a circular radar screen, with a rotating scan line and a blip to show Thick’s location.

A bit OT I know, but I don’t think anyone would bring a scanner aboard an AWACS-type craft. Aside from the problem of where to plug it in, there’s the risk of RF interference with the AWACS systems. And the maddeningly high price of hammers, toilet seats and so on has a deplorably good reason. You may need a hammer that doesn’t strike sparks and can’t be magnetized, and you’d only need a limited number of them. But designing it and going into production costs just as much as mass-producing a regular hammer. So you end up with a high unit price (same for aircraft toilet seats–they have to stay sealed atop a chemical toiler during extreme maneuvers. Most bathrooms don’t bank at high angles.)