Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for December 08, 2019

Some criminals say that stashed away there is an armored car

Meant for a job. The goal to rob. That plan did not go far.

Wormy is dead, so it is said. Why let it go to waste?

Armory fire did turn most dire. Flames tend to make haste.

Thistle Dew she is dead too. That gal was one bad dame

“This will not do!” Last thing she knew. Incineration’s flame.

Splitface is game. So apt his name. His brain it is exposed

The bomb did miss. No tears for this. The empty wreckage hosed.

Now on the cheap Splitface may reap the payback he does seek

Armored car may take him far. This path not for the meek.

This time be smart and play the part in uniforms that fake

One’s occupation. No hesitation. Be bad for goodness sake.

Good morning™, friends!

So, Splitface plans to use the armored car and uniforms for whatever he has planned, but we don’t yet know that is. The other background I think we mostly covered here yesterday.

Their place (condemned building?) doesn’t get too fancy with the lighting fixtures, does it? Do you think the “24” hat is like that TV show where everything happened in real time?

Good morning™, flashed back reenacter schemers !

For lack of funds they should do a robbery and close by the station to make sure as best they can that Tracy will be a responder. If machine guns were stashed along with the rest of the tools the good guys will be in for a rough time. When the plan goes south as it surely will I want to see dead bodies on both sides.

Maybe the boys are planning to drive the armored car in uniform to the bank on pick up day, load up the cash, and drive away with a huge bundle of loot…

Hmm. Back story last Sunday, more back story this Sunday.

Has anything happened at all this week?

Ho hum

Is this done

Loads of fun

Is on the run

Can’t wait

It’s getting late

Don’t want to hate

But Low’s it’s rate

All this time

The truck is fine

It blows my mind

The truth is blind

For an insane and murderous criminal, Splitface comes up with some pretty good ideas…..

sirens blare

Alright, Continuity Cop here. I have a warrant for the arrest of one Mike Curtis for the charge of confusing one lady crook with “Dew” in her name for another.

The woman Wormy and Measles teamed up with in that past story was Dewdrop, not Thistle Dew. Dewdrop debuted in 1954 and towards the end of her case, she teamed up with Open-Mind Monty until they were both caught (Monty was bailed out and had another clash with Tracy ending with a second arrest).

Thistle Dew debuted in 1963, working with her Uncle Punky, going on a date with Junior so she and her uncle could lure him into a trap.

It’s understandable Curtis got these two confused. Not only do they have similar names, but Thistle Dew is far more memorable. I can’t recall much offhand about Dewdrop besides her teamup with Monty and later teamup with Wormy and Measles. OTOH, Thistle Dew stands out as the only thing like a girlfriend (entirely cynical and malevolent on her part) Junior had after his tragic romance with Model Jones and before his marriage to Moon Maid. (One Sunday strip in the late 50s implied Junior was attracted to Popsie, but nothing ever came of it.)

I can recall at the start of Curtis’ run in 2011, he had a headline claiming Wormy and Thistle Dew perished in a fire. At the time, I was puzzled by this, since prior to that headline they’d had no shared history in the strip. Since the headline wasn’t a major part of any story, and anything can happen in the Tracyverse outside the strip, I didn’t openly question it at the time. Now we know, this whole time Curtis had Thistle Dew confused with Dewdrop as the woman Wormy and Measles teamed up with in that 1981 story.

So, together they’re the Hideous Trio?

I think someone is gonna notice a 1940s armored car with 1940s uniforms, ne desu ka?

Thistle Dew looks prickly….

Ol’ Splitty better wear a hoodie with that cap if he wants to hide his appearance!!!

I like the B&W flashback.

Interesting idea. Complete the plan Measles, Wormy, and,their henchwoman had before Sam arrested them. I see one problem, isn’t it possible/probable the guards uniforms have changed significantly in the intervening years. The truck possibly as well but probably internally not externally.

It’s perfect! No one’s gonna notice an early model armored car being driven by a guy who has half his face melted wearing a 20+ year-old uniform…

1-GRANDPA: Ahh, Hickory and Dickory. I remember…

SHADY: Here he goes again…

GRANDPA: They were convinced, now this was 1942 mind you…

2-…that the Nazis would win the war. Thinking to set themselves up as Der Two Fuhrers of Amerika, they smuggled in Greta Goebbels who, after many hours of practice, taught them the proper salute…

3-…That training proved to be their downfall when the ageless Sam tricked them into giving themselves away when Sam cleverly went around town yelling “Sieg Heil!” Not only did Hickory and Dickory fail to beat him up as had countless others, their arms shot up in the mindless salute!

4-SHADY: Got to bring Grandpa back to the present Hey Grandpa. Why does your hat have a ‘24’ on it?

GRANDPA: I’m a big fan of the show which is good because the Fox Rerun Network was the only channel the Nut House TV got. ALSO, it reminds me to make the most of every hour of the day. But first and foremost, it’s a signal to the chicks – if you’re older than this, don’t bother trying to hit on me.

SHADY: Ummm, I guess that helps you to not waste a second of the 24 hours in a day.

GRANDPA: It sure does!

Catchem Caughtem?

The boys better bring jumper cables since the truck has been sitting idle for 30 years. Dewdrop. Thistle, Droppy the ape, alla same I guess. Who needs consistency?

I wonder if the Siam hotel will be the target since a bombing was already done there ?

Also, I’d like to see how Steve Roper and Mike Nomad will fit into what follows…

Is crazed Splitface a big fan of Kiefer Sutherland—or, more likely, of Jack Bauer and his methods? Or does the “24” cap have something to do with where the armored car and uniforms (etc.) are stashed? Maybe at the Prop Department of the Tracyville Fox affiliate (“24” was on Fox)? —At any rate, something similar?

A simple bank heist, for its own sake, is not likely to be Splitty’s agenda; rather it a means to an end—Tracy’s (and Sam’s and Roper’s and Nomad’s)….