Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for April 25, 2011

Good morning all…

If Tracy was smart, he’d ask Liz to trade!

Lizz in Dick’s Trenchcoat!!!!!

Is Lizz planning to pose for the

“Policemans Calendar”????

The only other person that shared

that “Trenchcoat” was Mordred!!!!

And a “good mornig” to you Bill

I miss the FLOOM’s. ;-)

Lizz and Tracy are so cool, bantering with each other in a room full of charred corpses. All in a day’s work!

And so we bid a fond farewell to Flyface and the Fifth.

Lizz in Dick’s trench coat, hubba-hubba!

Liz in Dick’s trench coat…Ye Gods!

I hate to say it, but this story arc really wasn’t all that complex, and it didn’t truly involve a ton of detective work. Certainly way better than Locher’s follies, but I guess I just expected a longer, more involved adventure, and for the story’s resolution to involve something more detailed than Dick barging in and opening fire.

@Flight Suit: Short, snappy, to the point. What’s not to like? ;)

We just had a story that was shorter than what we are used to but a lot more info and conversation, again what we are not used to.

On the downside, I would have liked to see the ending last a little longer.

The 5th blasts a hole in the wall (not, to be confused with the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang ) and now they are on the run with Tracy & Sam in pursuit..

So the Fifth and his plans go up in smoke while Ed bytes the dust. And my hat’s off to the artwork in panel #1!

A longer resolution would have been welcome, as Flight Suit and safeway674 said, and there’s a loose end in that “Americans for America” rally. The rally gave the villains an excuse to return to Naperville, but it promised a more complex crime.

Oh, well. This arc delivered more than enough to make up for that issue. It re-introduced the major characters and gave us an entire story in about six weeks. More, please!

(And that’s a good gentlemanly touch in the second panel, where Dick’s hat covers his eyes as he offers Lizz his coat.)

But the continuity is all wrong. How did this explosion happen from where yesterday’s strip ended? Tracy fired that shot, which caused the explosion in the original Plainclothes strip, the day before yesterday. Was Sunday’s strip just supposed to be a recap? Unfortunate sequencing if so.

Still, it’s better than anything the previous 32 years had to offer, so I shouldn’t be complaining.

As criminals, they will no longer toil Having shuffled of their mortal coil The Fifth, Flyface and little Ed Lying on the floor, now deader than dead Tracy, fires but a single round And puts them six feet in the ground The path in life they took was dumb Now, crispy critters they have become Oh, if only they had seen the light And so saved themselves from this plight But this was how they cast their lot And so became casualties of the plot Fast and furious was the pace With which Tracy solved the case Coming on just like a gang buster There was no time for pun or bluster Lizz, her life saved by the roar of guns Now seeks to cover up her buns Hopefully a future story Will expose her in her glory Perhaps a case of great import At a trendy nudist resort.

Nice one Chikuku. @ Sydney, yes, those were heady days indeed. Thanks.

C’mon. If we don’t see some detailed artwork as Lizz exchanges her robe for Tracy’s trench coat, I’m going to be severely disappointed.

Such a scene would never have occurred in Locher’s fundie-christian Tracy world, but now it should be shown.

A good and faster storyline, for me.

Nice one, wndrwrthg!!!

While yes, the story arc wasn’t that complex. I have to say, I am more than pleased with the new teams first story! I mean, long lost friends and enemies that been long gone for years. The retro/modern style, Tracy being a man of action (once again), and finding out where they stored all those wonderful toys, all wrapped up in one story. To Mike, Joe, Shelley, and Shane all I can say is BRAVO, BRAVO…… I’m ready for more and I don’t think I’ll be disappointed. THANK YOU for saving Dick Tracy, I’m not sure how much longer he would of survived if you hadn’t come along.

This Song is true again, FINALLY!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8QOyLSjM-U

GUYS GUYS GUYS, the story isn’t done yet!

I would be very surprised if the story is done with that explosion. VERY surprised.

Anthony 2816: How familiar are you with Chester Gould’s original run on Dick Tracy? Although he only mentioned it during times of great stress (such as the accidental kidnapping of Bonnie Braids), he made it quite clear that Tracy is a Christian, if not a “fundie”.

Great story, Mike and Joe! Thank you for a job well done. Now, I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen with BO Plenty.

Didn’t Tracy bring BO back from the dead by praying once?

Anthony 2816 said, “Such a scene would never have occurred in Locher’s fundie-christian Tracy world, but now it should be shown.”

Det.DanDone said, “Didn’t Tracy bring BO back from the dead by praying once?”

I consider myself a fundamentalist Christian from the standpoint of the Bible being fundamentally true and accurate. The word “fundamentalist” has picked up a negative connotation in this context along the way and now is sometimes used (often shortened to “fundie”) to apply to extreme radicals who use the Bible to justify things that it just doesn’t (killing abortion doctors, for example).

Anywho, I’d be real interested to see the answer to Det.DanDone’s question. I would be surprised if it were something that really happened in DT, as nowhere in the Bible does it say that followers of Christ can bring the dead back to life by praying.

I missed something, What caused the explosion? Did Macy hit the battery pack?

This story went way 2 quick 4 me and the ending sucked…

Wow, that ended fast. I’d also expected the story to go on a bit longer, and I’m kind of disappointed to see the Fifth (and Garcia?) taken out right there.

I confess, I was hoping Liz would get the drop on the Fifth, and take him down (maybe using Flyface’s cast off bug zapper).

Of course, that’s not much to complain about. A great re-launch for the strip.

Had Locher been doing this strip, we’d have seen the exact path Dick’s bullet took in at least 3 different strips. The pacing is just too fast! In other news Wendy Witchel will blame Tracy and police brutality for all of this carnage, and Flyface’s kid’s will sue Diet Smith for product liability!

Det.Dan, the incident you refer to occurred in 1950, but B. O. wasn’t actually dead. He’d been shot in the chest by T. V. Wiggles in a shootout between the two as Wiggles had been involved in the kidnapping and attempted murder of his daughter, Sparkle. Tracy was indeed shown at his bedside offering a very passionate prayer to God to spare B. O.s life. This was Gould at his best. B. O. was just on the brink of death in an oxygen tent, not actually dead.

Personally, I don’t think this story has “offically” ended yet. Thus, all questions will be answered. I have a feeling the next storyline will bleed into the end of this one. As far as the continuity from the Sundays and the Dailies, we have to remember, some people only get the Sundays. So, they have to set it up in such a way that the Sundays can stand alone. Their own story if you will. Besides, originally the Sunday strips had it’s own story line, then the Dailies. If you look at it that way the minor “errors” really aren’t. Seeing how it’s just the New Team trying to keep everyone happy. If you skip Sunday and just go from Sat. to today I think you’ll see my point. neonleon59, I hope someone answers my question also. I don’t know why I remember that… But, I could be wrong on all counts. Wouldn’t be the first time, doubt if it would be the last…

Again, I tip my fedora to the new team, on a job WELL DONE!

neonleon59, to clarify what Det.DanDone was referring to:

In the T.V. Wiggles story, B.O. Plenty was gravely injured and in the hospital’s intensive care unit. He wasn’t expected to survive, but he was still alive albeit comatose when Dick Tracy knelt at his bedside and offered a heartfelt prayer for B.O.’s recovery.

Soon after this, B.O.’s little daughter Sparkle Plenty entered the hospital room, playing a ukulele and singing a song to her papa. And B.O. Plenty woke up from his coma. It was left to the readers to decide for themselves whether B.O.’s surviving the crisis was an answer to Tracy’s prayer, a response to his daughter’s singing (“Shock treatment!” commented the doctor), both of these – or just a coincidence. I know what I think it was.

The story was faster than what we had been used to (some six months instead of six weeks). But my opinion is the story was being recycled from the Plainclothes site which was a trial run to see if the new team would be accepted. I am so happy to see such great artwork and actual conversation taking place that it makes no difference how fast it occurred. I’m sure that it will be paced more to our liking as the new arcs are handled. Having said that, the Sunday strip did confuse the story since it was added to the original Plainclothes strip. If you are interested, the color on the Comicskingdom site is much better today for panel #1. However, the B&W edition is outstanding. I agree with BillT that there is a loose end with the rally, but after the loose ends of a body on a stage and others that we have endured, this was such a small one since it did reset the strip. I AM ENJOYING DT AGAIN!!!!

Maxine and LittleRedDress, thank you, for some reason I thought he did pass away. I do apoligize if I offended anyone. Wasn’t my intent, just an honest question from a vage memory.

No offense taken by me, Dan. I was keenly interested if that had happened as you thought you remembered. Thanks to Maxine and LittleRedDress for the clarification.

On to the next story!

btmosley—I think you will find out if they explain, that Tracys earlier gunshot damaged the ceramic battery case, & so the explosion did not happen until the weapon was being fired the second time.

I’ve been reading DT strips from the 30s and 40s and the pacing of the episodes back then was generally about the length of this one, sometimes even shorter. Often there were spinoff episodes as secondary characters from one episode took center stage in subsequent arcs. imo this was an excellent reintroduction of DT – it brought back classic characters and villains, introduced new ones, tied up loose ends and got us all rolling into a new era. plus the artwork continues at a spectacularly high level. again imo this is far and away the best action and adventure strip going.

billdi: and it was all done in only six weeks! Old characters return in their Gould personification, new characters added, visits in offices, work in squad rooms, tailing suspects, 2 way wrist radios, and a shootout at a warehouse. We have not seen such action in years.

This is a pretty lame ending. Based on earlier story elements in this arc, I expected more, much more. Nice art work though.

Perhaps The plenty’s will figure into the current story and the next one!

I thought maybe there could have been a little more shoot em up in the end. But all in all a good story. Thanks to Joe and Mike, you guys have done a very good job.

BillThompson said, And that’s a nice gentlemanly touch in the second panel, where Dick’s hat covers his eyes as he offers Lizz his coat.

Agreed, but apparently, Sam’s no gentleman!

R_Noonan - you are right! Dick had better drop it off at the cleaners. A friend of mine’s wife (who distrusted him with reason) spent days on end having his dog trained to bark when he smelled perfume (or you-know-what). Every day, when the poor guy was at work, she was paying a professional to train the dog. He’d come home and the dog would go crazy. One day he asked her why the dog barked so much. She told him.

I love the current art, but am I the only one who finds Lizz’s right hand (panel one) a tad grotesque?

don’t get it…….why on earth would a weapon THAT powerful not have any type of shielding other than a ceramic casing that easily shattered with a bullet? And Tracy needs to confiscate Lizz’s robe first, it’s crime scene evidence, lol.

Here is a list of: THE COMPLETE DICK TRACY BY CHESTER GOULD……….. Vol. 1……Oct. 12, 1931……..May 20, 1933 Vol. 2……May 21, 1933……..Jan. 29, 1935 Vol. 3……Jan. 30,1935……..July 12, 1936 Vol. 4……July 13, 1936……..Jan. 20, 1938 Vol. 5……Jan. 21, 1938……..July 4, 1939 Vol. 6……July 5, 1939………..Jan. 22, 1941 Vol. 7……Jan.23, 1941………Sept. 23, 1942 Vol. 8……Sept 24, 1942…….March 22, 1944 Vol. 9……March 23, 1944….Sept. 19, 1945 Vol. 10…..Sept. 20, 1945…….March 16, 1947 Vol. 11…..March 17, 1947…..Sept. 26, 1948 Vol. 12…I don’t believe it has been released yet,however,it will be Sept. 27, 1948…..March 25, 1950

16th law of cartoon physics: any high-tech weapon explodes with the force of a small hand grenade when struck by a single bullet.

(Now that I think of it, perhaps this is the reason Diet Smith cancelled the project…)

But seriously… overall a good series, and a very successful reboot of the franchise. I’m still hoping to see Tracy, Sam, Lizz and Pat do a bit more detective work in upcoming stories.

scuttlebutt99 said, about 7 hours ago

What happened to Junior? Did he get lost?

—————————————————————————————-

I think he was just tailing FlyFace and Ed to the warehouse. He radioed in their location and a description of the rental car to Sam and Dick, and then went to the hospital to be with his mother in-law who was about to give birth.

I am not 100% sure how Mike is treating Junior, and what his actual position with the police department is. Shelley thinks he is only a police sketch artist, and is not an actual patrolman. Mike, do you want to clarify for us?

Now that Junior is a husband and a dad, he doesn’t seem to run headlong into danger like he used to. He still helps out the police whenever he can though.

Junior, to the best of my knowledge, was never officially made an officer or a detective (unless you count when Chief Brandon made him “Secret Operative Number Two” back in the ’30s, when he was still just Tracy’s “boy sidekick”). However, during the Collins/Fletcher storyline that killed off Moon Maid, he was shown to keep a .38 snub-nose pistol that was implied to be department issue. Not sure if it proves anything one way or another, but there’s that at least.

Also, to whoever said this story was “better than anything from the last 32 years”: Wow. I know it’s fashionable to hate on Locher, and for good reason, but was the stuff he did with Collins really that bad? I don’t happen to think so myself, but then, the Collins/Locher era was my introduction to the strip back in the ’80s – specifically, the Pruneface return from ‘83 – so maybe I’m biased. Still, it does seem kind of a harsh generalization that everything Locher touched was automatically garbage because he was involved in it…

You’re right, Kid. I’ve been reading some of the Locher stories after Rick Fletcher passed away and the artwork, while not the greatest, was still infinitely better than it was toward the end. It was only when Locher became the writer as well that this strip really began to decline. What I didn’t like was the fact that Locher couldn’t seem to create any outstanding Rogue’s Gallery villains to match what Chester Gould had done.

Well gentlemen: Your first story is over. The art was excellent, the story was good. I’l give this one a 4 out of 5. Nice start!

I too would like a longer story; ala Goule in his heyday. But I’m glad to see Tracy back finally. I’m already asking the two papers I read in Kentucky about carrying Tracy now.

Keep it going for another 30 :)

Chikuku, the story you’re referring to was original Collins, not Gould. However, Gould was still alive when it was done in 1983, and I’m sure he would have acted as a consultant for Collins when he wrote it. It’s a great tale done in the Gould tradition; definitely one of Max Collins’s best DT stories.