Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for July 20, 2020

Good morning™, squatter-busters!

I’m Det. Tracy. Who are you and what are you doing in Dethany Dendrobia’s building?

Tune in tomorrow for their explanation.

Good morning™, suspicious sidekick scoopers!

“Maybe we is and maybe we ain’t, but either way the Felons, Crooks, and Kidnappers Union Local #2 (FCKU-2) gots rules that sez we get a 15-minute ice cream break right now. So scram!”

Good morning™, surprised visited !

Did someone turn up the (disconnected) heater, it just got very warm in here. Will Corney put down his frozen confection and show Tracy out ?  I’d like to see how tough he really is.

Howdy looks like a teenager, and why Dethany is so scared by him?

Who gave Howdy a Moe haircut in panel 3?

Where’s Tom Carvel when you need him?

Why do I suddenly have a craving for a Fudgie the whale?

That seems like a really large scoop.

An Emeril rerun had him explaining that the different sized scoops are identified by numbers. The lower numbers are the bigger scoops because it refers to to how many are in a gallon.

This character is based on the children’s 1950s TV show “Howdy Doody” It was on every Saturday morning. Any time you hear the term “peanut gallery” it came from this show. The “peanut gallery” was where the children sat who were on the show.

Rather an impudent greeting

Soon, they’ll spot him reading an old issue of Creem Magazine, which mentioned a brand of beer called Boy Howdy.

If Deathany has been looking into this old warehouse for conversion into a branch of Fastrack, wouldn’t she have encountered Coney, and, crew before? And, even if she hadn’t isn’t Coney the one who’s been threatening Deatany to leave the warehouse alone?

Now I want an ice cream.

It now appears that Coney has actually “set up shop” in at least part of that warehouse, where he has some sort of living quarters. I think warehouses like that used to have an office or two in a corner; maybe that’s where his ice cream table is located. But that would mean that while his hirelings have been searching diligently for the supposed money, he’s been sitting there the whole time.

Starting today, Dick Tracy is showing up at On the Fastrack with Dethany.

You’re supposed to smile when you ask “Who’s there?”

Howdy’s never been the same blythe, happy boy since his show got cancelled…

Wait…so now Coney has moved into the warehouse, presumably with a freezer full of ice cream, as well? A warehouse under renovation…where the crew is quitting due to “mysterious accidents”…and where someone recently took a shot at Dethany. Yeah, why would such things raise any red flags. Way to stay under the radar, Coney.

I’ve got it all wrong at my construction site. I need a freezer full of vanilla and a box of cones on top of it for my breaks.

Thanks for the recap Neil. BTW folk, the penultimate IDW Tracy book is out. I suggest the Fanboys try to get a couple and see how a story should be told

1-HOWDY DOOGIE: AMAZING! This cheap ice cream hasn’t melted a bit after sitting out all day. What? Who’s knocking?

2-…YESSSSSSS?

3-DT: Word on the street says you’re planning a Quidditch Patch here and that you got ice cream.

HOWDY: DAG! That got around fast. So what do you care?

DT: You’ll need security. Those Harry Potter kids can get out of control with those wands poking ever which way. And it so happens that Deth here is a security expert.

HOWDY: In this world? Never mind. We ain’t hir…

DT: Oh, I think you are. We’ll discuss how it’s in your best interest to hire my hand-picked Security Expert over a couple of scoops.

HOWDY: SHAGGY! IS THERE ROOM IN THE BUDGET FOR EXTORTION???

This strip probably could’ve appeared 6, 6 days ago, after a day of exposition regarding Stooge’s hidden stash.

Seeing Tracy, Howdy may have made a doody!

Detective Dethany Dendrobia has just called in Dick Tracy in the Fast Track comic, at Comics Kingdom. Double-cross-over!

“Hey Boss, a couple a fedoras here to see you.”

“That doesn’t sound good! * Slurp *”

They supposedly are searching for Stooge Viller’s money under time constraints and still take time for ice cream?

A shady fellow who doesn’t know Dick Tracy on sight? What madness is this?

We learn that Coney himself is present at the old warehouse and serving himself generous scoops of ice cream while Howdy and pseudo-Shaggy do the scud work. Howdy opens the door when Tracy, looking impressively like a hard-edged cop, and wide-eyed Dethany show up; surprisingly, Howdy seems not to be familiar with the city’s famed Chief of Detectives. Perhaps Dethany recognizes Howdy, or suspects something.

It’s Cat-and-Mouse time, kids! Quiet there in the Peanut Gallery….