Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for September 29, 2009

Wonder what he has in mind?

I thought he was an exporter… Now he’s been a clown forever according to the way he’s talking…

MargueritemGenius_badge said, 34 minutes ago

I thought he was an exporter… Now he’s been a clown forever according to the way he’s talking…

Exactly! Huh? What?

Panel 2. Isn’t that train car or trailer on the right hugely out of proportion if it is as big as the entire big top? Is the SWAT team in it? They sure aren’t around the tent.

a career-clown who somehow had access to hi-tech weapons which he sold to foreign countries, but instead of retiring on the Cayman Islands the nostalgic smell of sawdust brought him back in the circus ring.

Fishbulb, I guess that trailer thing explains the various moments over the last several weeks in which Tracy’s appeared to have magically teleported from the circus tent to a crime lab, and back again.

It sure is odd, though, that we’ve never seen it before.

And, as you pointed out, it’s too big!

Or maybe the circus tent is shrinking?

That could explain why the “circus grounds” are suddenly “deserted:” Extraneous personnel have been forced to flee the rapidly dwindling big top!

All of this, from the very get-go, has been very Kafka-esque, thus supporting the assertion made so many weeks ago, that what we’re seeing are the feverish hallucinations of a Dick Tracy who’d been forced to retire due to a brain injury, but still thinks he’s a cop.

Yes folks, bring the kids out to the circus when it comes to town. We have the world’s greatest collection of thieves, murderers, blackmailers, and terrorists, all under the big top. Come on down and see death defying feats. Come down and see some that didn’t defy death.

Donaldo, NEVER underestimate the smell of sawdust.

Let’s keep the politics as far off this board as Locher’s mind is from the story! It’s a hot-button and there are appropriate places to comment on it. Not here. We like each other too much!

Thanks, folks!

OK, let’s just talk about the art. Having seen Locher’s political cartoons, I now feel it’s good discipline for him to be forced to draw DT, ‘cause he has to at least make some effort to produce illustrations which kind of resemble a known property in an established style.

With his political cartoons, he he free rein to be as sloppy as he wants, and boy does it show! Malformed hands are the least of his problems there.

Margueritem nailed another contadiction and we recall the unrealistic language from a Captain of industry (“copper”, “squeal”)

On Sept. 20 the (last) Police Officer told Tracy : “We’ve got records on the whole troupe” Agent Ennen effectively said the same thing. So both the FBI and Police HQ know the identities of all the criminals AND of their earlier threats to Ringo.

Knowing THIS, why would Mr.Pops then THINK that his “silly” plan to frame Ringo could possibly work?

Talk about writers carelessly “faking”, and then ending up twisting themselves and their work into knots. ?

He should stand in a corner of the Studio and CRY ! All he has done is shamefully embarrassed himself ! This Kindergarten XYZzzzz’s will be remenbered and haunt him long into retirement

So this is his plan? Pull a gun on some cops and then talk about his feelings for the next 3 or 4 hours?

MPH, yeah, I bet everyone missed you. Maybe try a third strip, then you can take a few more days off. Or help DL with his health plan screeds.

Matthew…….. do you stand to make money doing this? If so, WHO pays you?

Circus people with shady pasts? Who’d a thunk it?

(captainzero said:

So this is his plan? Pull a gun on some cops and then talk about his feelings for the next 3 or 4 hours?)

Don’t you mean talk about his feelings for the next 3 or 4 weeks worth of comic strips?

Mattie, It’s good to hear that you are busy working on two strips. I hope you have found placement for them (?) Perhaps, that’s why you have calmed down considerably, not making outrageous exagerations on Locher’s sad, pathetic work on Dick Tracy.

But I suspect that’s exactly what you’re going to trot out on Sunday and then divert criticism by saying you’re really praising the “survival” of the strip. Not so ?

Regarding your strips, I’ll certainly read them, if I can find them anywhere. And will give you some “expert” critiques and positive encouragement along the way. They’ll be well intentioned, just as they have been for Dick Locher these past seventeen years. He’s the loser. Look where he is today. Being hounded into obscurity and forced retirement.

You better believe (and deep down YOU know) that what experienced readers think really COUNTS. No need to hide behind Stan Lee’s trite little quips. And in any event, from his success platform Stan can say that. A little start up guy isn’t in that ball park; neither frankly is Locher the man who confidently, KNEW everything about how to do it, but who perfected - “the Anti-Midas touch” instead.

Poor, bad choices, hard-headed Dicky threw it ALL away.

Looking forward to that Mattie. Hope you will give us an outline on Sunday on the type of strip. The market you are aiming for and who will do the writing ?

Flight Suit: I don’t know that Locher bent his style overmuch doing Dick Tracy…he’s been on it for 25 years, and his style has always been very different from both Gould and Rick Fletcher. I looked at his editorial stuff here and age is definitely a factor…his linework is not so strong as it was years ago. Still, I think he’s a decent editorial cartoonist, and was even okay as Dick Tracy artist…but, as writer he is clearly and painfully unsuited to the task, and I sure wish TMS would wake up to that fact.

I was going to comment yet again on how this plodding plot gets flimsier with each revelation…but why bother? Maybe Locher feels that, being new, Brozman can’t be trusted to draw anything but people standing around talking, and that’s why nothing has happened since July.

Chubsy, DT WAS once a hero! That’s before he turned into a wienie, thanks to DL.

Wow! That’s one big trailer (or train car)! Or… is the tent shrinking (again)?

Hey Matt, how about giving us a background on Len then. Has he written or scripted any other stuff? We will all look forward to seeing (and critiquing) your strips on Sunday. I wonder if we can post the remarks here?

Killin’ is too good for him. Let’s talk his ear off!

-Cougar :{)

Is that the sun setting behind Tracy’s head in the third panel?

WTF? the clown was out to get Ringo for revenge for blowing the whistle on his business, now the clown is a long time resident of the circus. Wouldn’t Ringo have seen the clown without his makeup from time to time and recognize that he might be in danger?

Matt, how about giving us links to find your strips?

What’s Gaddaffis tent doing in this strip? I can’t believe DT would approve that. I’m trying to figure out how long these people have been standing there after the murder and how long when the FBI lady traveled to the scene. Don’t they need to use the toilet, eat, sleep, etc.? Isn’t Bonnie and Tess worried about DT and where he’s been since the murder? And by the way, whatever happened to Jr. Tracy and his truly alien wife who used to zap people with her fingertips? And dress really slutty? Didn’t they have a half human half moon child (or whereever her planet was) who could zap too?

Did they ever remove Louise to the morgue or is her body still lying in the saw dust?

BASSMANBOB,

Your’re right, the original English spelling of the word IS colour. In America it has been abreviated to color, which I try to use posting on these boards

Years back there was a bit of a “tizzy” as Gould liked the spelling of “Clew” and used it more frequently than the more traditional “clue”. It sent quite a few readers “off”. But both are grammatically correct.

I’m not the best at spelling around, but heck it’s too much up and down to get to one from this board.

jjff,

You sound like a long lost fan from Gould’s sixties and seventies. a whole lot of water has gone under the bridge since then. In recent years under Dick Locher it has gone real bad !

Locher changed Junoior Tracy to look like his son John, his one time assistant who died young. Moon maid was killed off in 1978 by Max Collins who wanted to end the sci-fi aspects in the strip. Junior got married to Sparkle Plenty and Honeymoon Juniors offspring hasn’t been seen since 1991. “New” Junior hasn’t been in a story for about five or six years.

This is probably the worst D,T, story ever written ! Tracy has been STANDING in the Ring for over 12 weeks now. Enough time for FBI Agent Ennen to fly in from Wastington an join him. Poor guy, he hasn’t hit the toilet for THREE months

But Norman, we’re on the Internet now. Does a comment-poster’s place of origin even matter when the comment itself has the potential to be read by people all over the world?

Compared to all this darned 1337-speak and txt-ing shorthand that’s destroying our language, the difference between grammatically correct, properly spelled US English and grammatically correct, properly spelled Queen’s English seems moot.

“Colour” was in common use in the US until at least WWI. This spelling appears in the original additions of Booth Tarkington novels.

Thak you Mr. Phillips for the info. Trying to search my memory if I saw the death and remarriage. I’m almost tempted to say to the clown……pull the frigging trigger already! We all know Macy will survive.