Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for December 27, 2019

I’m close to speechless regarding this strip destroying alleged story.

That’s it?? Really?

Pan Am?? Seriously??

What I suspected yesterday has proven to be a reality;

They had an excellent run but perhaps it’s time they turn Dick Tracy over to someone who actually cares.

Good morning™, pan-Americans!

This isn’t the first time that a plane of this style has appeared in the strip.

I think this story lost it’s way while Mike worried whether he was about to die. I hope the next story is better, because I suppose a lot of it was written during that illness, too.

Good morning™, pan-a-maniacs !

Nicely restored old tyme flyer.

I was super excited when I learned that JOE STATON was taking over D.T. I was also excited when characters from the newspaper comic strip graveyard were used in crossover stories. Lately I have been disappointed with the lack of creative writing in the storylines. It may be time to have someone with fresh ideas and a new perspective take over. I am a long time fan and wish nothing but the best for one of my favorite strips.

The story itself wasn’t bad……just the ending being too sudden…..I think we all wanted to see Splitface say more at the end…..not sure the purpose of all that Vitamin stuff now was, either….

YE GODS & Holy Toledo! PAN AM went out 28 years ago!

Well, I was certainly disappointed by this farce of a story. So much potential was just wasted.

Could be worse. They could be on a 737 MAX. :P

PanAm? Steve, and, Mike employer must really be tight on travel expenses. Having them fly on an airline that hasn’t been in business for years.

Well its over lets move on!!! The guys may have been tired and just hurried the story along!!! So this next one may have more intrigue???

I seem to recall that this is not the first time the denouement has been a bit rushed on this strip.

It seems like every important thing that happened in this story happened off camera. But the alligator-about-to- -eat-them thing went on for days, with no story advancement at all. I have no explanation for this at all. What was the point of adding the steak, or Clyborne the Crow?

WE DIDN’T GET TO SEE CLYBOURNE, THE CROW!!!!!

Finally, Nomad gets to call someone “joker”.

WTF? Did GoComics miss a day or a stuff up? Because it goes from the cornering of the bad guys to "Make sure ya come back ya hear.

Geez, the Christmas spirit soon died, give the guys a break….

Story rushed (happened here in the past) or marketing genius move (going flashback when more people will read newspaper and not being off grid) or wrong strip for the day(not the first time)

1-CAPTAIN OBLIVIOUS: Nice being almost eaten by an alligator with you Tracy. DT: Likewise Cap.

SAM: So Grandpa and Shady tried to get away from you by going in the bear cage? CLUELESS: Ummm, sure…

2-CAPTAIN: Well Clueless. I guess it’s another city and another hotel where we’ll pretend to be bellhops.

CLUELESS: Not this time pal. I got a suitcase full of Circling Brothers heist loot! CAPTAIN: So that’s why Grandpa and Shady didn’t make it to jail.

CLUELESS: Yep. After Grandpa told me where the loot was, I locked them up in the bear cage. Turned out to be a bad idea. Who knew?

CAPTAIN: Wait. You didn’t mean for that mess to happen?

CLUELESS: No. Who would’ve guessed that hibernating bears wake up hungry. CAPTAIN: Oh Clueless!!! CLUELESS: Huh? Anyway, the weight of those circus nickels cost me half the dough in luggage fees.

CLUELESS: Pan Am still operates like it’s the 1990’s. You can even smoke on the plane if you want.

CAPTAIN: Well, I’m outta breath but we wrapped that up. CLUELESS: Yes, and it all makes perfect sense…

I’ve quit watching this children’s story ..Bye Bye Richard Tracy!

I think I’ll quit Tracy, too (after 60 some years). It has become so nothing there’s not much to quit on. Staton and Curtis began their run in great fashion, but now…phttt, Nada. THEY should quit and turn over the reins to someone who really cares about Tracy and the gang.

Has the syndicate reinstated the shorter length rules that were in place at the beginning of Mike&Joe’s run?

JEEZ? I have grandchildren who tell better stories. All this mish-mash does is leave open a chance for H&H to return for the 4th or 5th time. I reiterate what was said above; when this crew took over, the characters, art and stories (Though short) were interesting. Little or none of that remains. Crossovers, and rehashing of old characters are getting real old, and worse, boring. I mean when Neil is upset, I’d say the guys are in trouble. The Gould era IDW works are almost finished. I think the “creative minds” should read these books, and make some sort of attempt to follow suit. I’ve been reading this strip since 1945, get more disappointed by each episode.

How long before Kenny boy or Neil begin their ridiculous defense of such a lackluster several weeks? The fact that this pathetic story followed an almost equally pathetic one (Frisk) seems to point to the **UNDENIABLE** fact that Mike cant write worth a hill of beans.

Maybe I **should** submit my story as an “application”… I’ve already gotten 10 chapters completed, and breaking them up into 3 panel dailies plus 6 panel sundays … I’d say I’m probably set for at LEAST a year’s worth of story so far…and the surface hasnt even been scratched yet!

I don’t mind having characters from other strips, in fact I was delighted when the mystery of “Annie” was solved. But Team Tracy seldom features some of the best characters from the past such as BO and Gertie. Junior, Tess, etc.

Very disappointing ending to this story arc…

What I’d like to see is more story and character development… The “Ghost Pepper” arc confused me since the relationships between Ghost Pepper, Simon Stagg, and Tracy were never explained… Also, how did Lizz’ meeting with her birth mother go ?There seems to be plenty of “off panel” activity that could be shown so that Tracy’s actions make sense… Also, the “crossovers” don’t really help… I do understand that writing new stories and creating new characters can really be difficult ( I have heard authors discussing that topic )…

And creating new “bizarre” criminals is also draining instead of “resurrecting” the old ones…

Well, well. That was abrupt.

There seems to be a kind of formula going on here: plenty of build-up, story asides, and interesting lead-ins. Then, there is, basically, no endgame. After all the preliminary and middle (chase/hunt) exposition, the well seems to run dry and the ending is flat, abrupt, rushed. In this story, Mike Nomad had just come up on Splitface and Clybourne with his gun drawn. So, what happened? We have no idea what happened, except in retrospect, because the next thing we see is Tracy saying bye-bye and Roper and Nomad flying back home (wherever that is) to write up the story.

Sure, Mike was distracted. But my main criticism remains, as it has been for some time, that he is spread too thin. He has other projects besides scripting Dick Tracy, and I think simply does not give it sufficient concentration and time (of course, his main concern is earning a living; if Tracy does not provide sufficiently, it cannot be his top priority).

Aside no. 2. This is not a strip set in “our time and space.” The Tracyverse conflates time, so seeing Nomad and Roper flying on a DC-10 is not really an issue.

Not just Pan Am, but a DC-10, also long gone from passenger service.

Tracy’s city is served by Pan Am, am airline that’s been extinct since 1991.

thanks so much JOE STATON and MIKE CURTS for introducing STEVE ROPER and MIKE NOMAD in scene again. They are great characters cannot be forgotten!

Splitface is easy to catch. It’s hanging on to him that seems to be the problem.