Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for April 17, 2011

Once again, it is now a pleasure to read the Sunday comic. Sam and Tracy are on the job, not talking about how it’s been a while since they’ve seen Lizz, and whether they should go for doughnuts.

The Fifth has some evil plans for Lizz, but here’s hoping Tracy and Sam rescue her in the nick!

Good Sunday Morning to you Vista Bill and everyone else. Another great Sunday Dick Tracy.

If Lizz drops that robe, she will show Flyface & The Fifth another way to get a group of people to stop what they are doing.

Everyone would be just standing there gazing.

As a former second generation law enforcement officer, I have to ask. What’s with all the donut comments? I mena seriously, have ANY of you folks EVER seriously CONSIDERED doing police work? geeez

I are one, LordDogmore, hence the BADGE-R.

Sam’s green suit and bowler remind me of the suit Frank Gorshin had made when he was the Riddler.

Jokes aside, Lizz isn’t going to win this one by peeling. Not unless she wants to get raped first.

Meanwhile, what kind of power source does Thor’s Hammer use? Did Ed have it charged up when he packed it? And didn’t he say it was about the size of an Uzi? How many doughnuts has that Uzi had lately?

A Sunday recap that moves the story forward! Who would have ever dared hope for such a thing?

BillThompson said, about 1 hour ago

Meanwhile, what kind of power source does Thor’s Hammer use? Did Ed have it charged up when he packed it? And didn’t he say it was about the size of an Uzi? How many doughnuts has that Uzi had lately? ————————————————————————————

Your misquoting Ed, Bill. He didn’t say it was the SIZE of an Uzi he said it WEIGHS no more than an Uzi. In other words it is bulky, but light.

http://comics.com/zoom/358751/

Thanks, Terry. I just don’t think of a lightweight weapon as something that would need those shoulder hooks. It seems hard to aim something with those hooks, too; the user would have to turn his upper body to aim it. Or is this unit designed as a defensive weapon, creating a zone of electric shock in front of the bearer?

I am not an expert on Diet Smith weapons, but my guess is that the hooks and front chest panel are meant as a protective vest to prevent the user from getting shocked by the device. I also think it requires both hands to operate, so it is supported with the padded hooks over the shoulders. Generally, the user just faces whatever he/she wants to hit and fires. Depending on the setting, an electrical discharge will come out of the front. It can be a broad spectrum charge that will disable a number of people, or a focused charge that strikes like a lightning bolt, or ball lightning. I believe it can also create an EM Pulse that will disable a vehicle or electronic devices. I’ll give you one guess on what setting The Fifth plans to use..

I personally haven’t made too many doughnut comments, but this morning’s question makes me change that. Police eat doughnuts. I go into the 7/11 on a fairly frequent basis, and every morning there’s a couple of Elk Grove Village’s finest sitting at the counter munching doughnuts and drinking coffee. No problem as long as it doesn’t interfere with the job We The People are paying them to do, of course. I wouldn’t even bother making this observation if somebody hadn’t raised a bit of dust on the issue.

Great strip today, quick recap then on we go! Thank you Mike, Joe, Shelley, and Shane. WELL DONE!

LordDogmore, I’m fresh out of the Academy myself.Tested for our local Dept., made it to 2nd on their hiring list, and I’m just waiting a phone call. For those that don’t know, only bigger cities run their own academies and you get in right after graduation. For the rest of us you go to the Academy, get your training, take a state test, and its off to find a job. Obviously, since I’m not even a Patrolman, then I’m not a Detective yet, defiantly a future goal, seeing it there keeps me focused. Actually took the named from a Dick Tracy rip off, Detective Dan Dunn by Norman Marsh, (It also helped that my name is Dan) like myself he’s a Dick Tracy wanna-be.

http://www.toonopedia.com/dandunn.htm

That being said, all the instructors I had ( all of which are current or retired officers) and all the officers I’ve been doing ride alongs with, actually REFUSE to eat doughnuts. Simply on principle….

I stop to get a cup of coffee at a donut shop and like clockwork, half of Galveston’s police force is there. Their coffee is comped and the donuts are half price to policemen.

Getting back to the strip, it’s great to see a quick recap and then move forward. Using the “L” word, he’d stretch this scene out for 3 months and show us 50 shots of the warehouse exterior. Good going, guys!

Hey, I appreciate the discussions on Diet Smith’s weapons and on doughnuts, but I think the real focus needs to be on the fact that Lizz is really, really hot and all she’s wearing is a very short robe. I - I fail to see how anything else could possibly matter.

Her eyes are green. Sigh.

Do I love her? Yeah, actually, I do.

Yes, the patrolmen in our area stop at the donut/coffee shops. And the convenience stores. And the drugstores. And the gas stations. And the diners. And the bookstores. And the mall. And pretty much any establishment along their beats where people normally “hang out”. And I love it.

If I’m a bad guy and I see that the beat cops normally hang out at various normal retail establishments along their routes, I’m going to think twice before popping in and doing evil.

safeway674 said, “Good Sunday Morning to you Vista Bill and everyone else. Another great Sunday Dick Tracy.”

Good morning safeway674 et al. I agree, it is a great Sunday DT!

I never ate donuts on the job. Ice cream, yes.

Anybody willing to strap-on a vest and put there life on the line, to protect and serve the community. Should have as many free or half-priced pastries as they want! Sure we love to watch T.V. shows about police work and law enforcement. But is everyone willing to do it? Be honest.

P.S. Another great Sunday fellas, keep up the good work.

I don’t have a problem with cops eating donuts, my problem is the 1’s who expect 2 get them 4 free because of their badge…

Anybody know when the strip featuring The Fifth’s brother appeared, or was this death “off panel”?

I take a morning work break each day and a lunch break at the same time every day. I take my break at the same place every day and my lunch break at the same place also. It wouldn’t bother me to see a policeman at the same place frequently because he deserves breaks also as long as it is quiet on the crime front

I am a detective and have been enjoying Dick Tracy for several years now. As for the doughnuts comments, my 2 cents: Patrolman have to take their breaks in public, where they patrol, as they are never off the clock. Convenience store owners want the police to come into their shops for coffee, as they like the police presence. It’s good for business because it makes the customers feel safer.

Wow. I am so impressed with the new artists for the strip. Like the days of old when Chester set the stage. Good plot… it moves for a change. Really sharp drawings good detail. You guys have done a GREAT job. Don’t run out of ideas and hope you develop some evil doers with great names and unusual features in the future. This IS the DICK TRACY I grew up with. The beat goes on. Tom Davis, Mechanical Engineer, Newark, DE

Hey NightGaunt - it’s not fair for the 5th to get a peek and I don’t!

It’s interesting to see how many real law emforcement officers read Tracy.

I used to cover police when I was a reporter, and I was always impressed by the casual bravery of them.

When a shift begins, they have no idea what’s going to happen, when/if they may suddenly find themselves in a dangerous situation. That’s courage.

As for the donuts discussion –

Of course cops stop at donut shops - they usually have restrooms, and are open all hours.

And being open all hours, a b&w in the parking lot discourages the bad guys.

(And no cop could eat as many donuts as a reporter.)

scuttlebutt99 …

First, to judge an entire group by its “average” members is to almost automatically lie. No individual is an average.

Second: yes, there are bad cops. And it’s impossible to weed out all of them, and the blue wall is a well-known problem. Training, and screening, and review boards, and all the other efforts that get decried as “politically correct” reduce the problem but can’t eliminate it. Nothing is going to stop some cop who lacks a moral safety net.

Third: If all cops were as evil as you claim, law enforcement wouldn’t work at all. Yet it does, most of the time. Notice that the cops in the Abner Louima case were prosecuted and convicted. One of them is still in prison.

That scene today, panel 1 - Lizz with the dark glasses, reminds me of an ‘assasination’ of a man in the Godfather movie, similarly looking up - from a massage table … and then shot right through the eye.

Here, all the 5th needed - was to pull the trigger !

What a NAME (?)

You have to wonder, is the guy up ABOVE speaking from practical experience ?

A few years ago a big theft ring around here was broken up because of a cop at a donut shop. He was a detective (not working on a case) and overheard one of the people involved in the operation talking about some of the jobs the gang had pulled. The department fallowed up on the information and shut down the whole operation.

A local cop who’s been on the force about 3 years, a former neighbor, stunned me when she told me she doesn’t drink coffee. Whaaaa?

And she always works 2nd & 3rd shift (because of seniority).

Hmmm—- Now I know how Locher got his ideas about how police operate. Scuttlebutt was feeding him information through a bit of a twisted lens.

Sure there’s bad cops out there. Read the Chicago daily papers and you’ll find that out. But,there’s cops out there who will put their lives on the line to save your sorry derrière, too. We’ve been served up the Locher version of the cowardly detective for so long it’s not funny, now we’re getting a taste of the cop who will stand in the line of fire so that others may live. I like the change.

I believe the Halfa Millyuns death was on camera, but I admit I have not seen it. Maybe later on as the big reprints go along.

New villians? Actually at the moment I am at the end of September on scripts. Plenty of new villians on the way.

scuttlebutt99, I’m aware of the results of the Louima case. I also know of equally bad cases. The one I’m familiar with is the Ron Settles case. (June 1981; Settles was a college student, arrested in Signal Hill, California for DWB, falsely charged with cocaine possession, beaten by the cops and hung in his cell that night. The cops involved–all of them–took the Fifth and escaped justice. Settles’ family later won a civil case, but Settles is still in his grave.

(And anyone who thinks Johnny Cochrane was a pain should remember that he was the family’s attorney here. He saw a lot of very real police abuses long before the Simpson case.)

But your assertions about 99% of the police are unsubstantiated nonsense.

MAN, It’s good to know when I get sworn in I’ll be WAY ABOVE average.

Don’t worry, I always strive to do my best. I’ll make it to your 1% scuttlebutt99.

Some cops are good, some cops are mean And on some the badge has long lost it’s sheen They take an oath to protect and to serve For this it takes a very special kind of nerve You wake for your shift and put on your shoes Just another day of the working man blues You do your job, no matter what it may be And your out there for all of us to see Dealing with people who may not be the best It’s an everyday thing that puts you to the test Listen to me, I’ll give you the skinny Just one bad cop ruins it for the many Sure they may swagger, bluster and brag And reactions from the citizenry can certainly be a drag Everyday you never know what’s what Will it be routine or will you be shot Dressed in a uniform, such a target you make For any cretin, scuzzball or flake When budget time comes, you they threaten to cut You considered expendable, your out on your butt But when something goes down, they scream and they cry Expecting you to rush in and possibly die For all of your skills, training and acumen The bottom line is that you are only human You can make mistakes, sometimes you get it wrong But you are out there, all the day long One day you are feted, the next one you’re hated Is it any wonder that some of you become jaded? So thank you for a job that very few others would do Hats off to the men and women wearing the blue.

Me too like wndrwrthg said.

Unfortunately, all it takes is 1 bad cop 2 make a bunch of good 1’s look bad…