Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for January 04, 2021

If Pouch is “closed” what he’s doing seated on a park bench in the freezing winter’s night?

Buy what? What dope is “Blow”?

Good morning™, buyers!

If Aquarius didn’t expect to see Pouch in the park this late, why did he even go there at that time? He’s fishing for information here, but I wonder what sort of response he really expects to his question in the last panel.

So now we know that Aquarius is completely unaware of Pouch’s “street cred” as a dealer in information. Ahh, kids these days… they don’t know that they don’t know!

If Aquarius is supposed to be incognito the peace sign on the hoodie doesn’t help.

Good morning™, irritating solicitors !

Pouch looks peeved in panel 2. I bet this is one time he wont question Tiger’s methods.

We had a comic book store here in Bergen in the 90s. It was suddenly closed. Seems like they, too, sold other things after hours. “Goat cheese,” someone humorously called it. Though I guess that Aquarius is under some misapprehension about what those other things might be.

Good interaction between characters.

Still bothered by the foundation of the story.

(All hippies are druggies, Milbrook House to invoke Timothy Leary, &c)

So my question is…….why did they show Abner’s hand coming out of the water such a long, long time ago now? Is he joining Ponytail in a parallel universe, lol?

15 cent balloons. What time period is this ? 1965?

There was a store here in Boston called Boston Sound that sold radios, boom boxes, TV’s, and even umbrellas. It was eventually closed by court order. Maybe they sold stuff after hours…….

Is Pouch homeless? That’s kinda sad.

Undoubtedly, Pouch will have his antenna up for any further developments as a result of a pusher’s mysterious disappearance from his territory.

Doesn’t beat around the bush, does he?

I thought Pouch’s trade was in information

The GoComics colorist wasn’t very popular last week, but I have to admit he did a nice job today; the night sky is quite striking!

No “talking heads” today, Instead, a very nice effect over three panels, as if the “camera” is zooming in as the action takes place.

I’m closed. Even though I’m still here just sitting here with unsold balloons that will be worthless by tomorrow.

The park at night seemed to amplify the cold, the dark, the hollowness of all existence. Having served to meet the base needs of those who only come out at night, it emptied itself of any trace of joy the humans had tried to design into it. Only then were the darkest souls called by the park’s siren sound of gloom, sorrow and pain…

1-NARKY MARK: DAG, it’s cold. Oh, there’s my man…

2-…What’s shakin’ bacon? MEL T. FACE: Go away. Can’t you see that this is the time of night when I sink into my deepest sorrows and failures and contemplate a past and a future with no love, no solace, no…

3-NARKY: Whoa, you writing a book on your phone? I bet it’s hard typing with frozen fingers. I had an idea for a book once. It was about a guy who never got out of the 60’s. I couldn’t come up with why that was a bad thing so I dropped it. Anywho, give me 3 balloons. MEL: Fine. 45 cents please. Come again.

The pink hooded man had once been a promising writer but failure to publish had left him susceptible to the faint but persistent call of the park… MEL: OOOH. Good stuff! I’m gonna be famous! I’m gonna be famous!

There’s also the possibility that Pouch is an informer, either for the police or someone else.

Aquarius better watch out; Pouch is still a pretty tough customer.

Where’s Pickle Nose tonight?

Thankfully, Dick Tracy isn’t by Paul Stanton and Curtis Joseph yet. Who’s the creep in the LaVIOLETte hoodie?

Aquarius is just testing the Balloon Man, but his line of questioning in panel 3 is awfully direct: it is tantamount to saying he believes Balloon Man is a drug dealer or familiar with pushers. Pouch has been very protective of his identity and “his” park—hence the Tiger Lilly episode, even though that was botched when Dollar Bill’s neck turned out to be too fragile. I’m still not sure how this meet will end, but there is a potential for someone to end up Not Well….

I think “Blow” is cocaine, because it blows your mind.

Pouch is only open to people he knows. And a stranger with his right hand in his jacket pocket is bad news.