Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for March 08, 2021

Good morning™, everyone!

So, it’s confirmed that it was a fake leak — no surprise — and the firefighter and gas company man discovered the drug lab in the basement, also not a big surprise. Now, Tracy can go have a look.

It appears the gas is colorless.

Tracy and Sam might meet Tiger Lilly in the basement…

Good morning™, stupendous discoveries !

The real gas guy and the fireman no doubt saw the fake gas leak set up while down there as well as the “production facility”. Did Pouch get out ?  By the time Tiger Lilly gets out of the cellar it will be summer, with the scent of flowers and butterflies in the air.

Should be easy for Pouch to escape with everyone wearing the same jacket as him.

Did they find the drug lab, or just the stash Aquarius was supplying his dealers from?

Weren’t they just strolling inside the building? How much time has gone by between yesterday and today? At least a couple of hours I’d guess.

Love the return of black and white!

And the joke above, poore ronnie, and the “colorless gas”!

“This case is plainly black and white Tracy”!

Did they forget to schedule an inker for today’s strip?

The residents? What residents? They all skedaddled.

Even without the color the images are just great .

Today’s strip should appease everyone who was wild yesterday: Tracy DID call the gas company. And it appears they DID find Aquarius’ home business.

Tracy’s still wearing the hat with the right bow on it.

Kudos to Gweedos for calling the find of the production facility by the Gas Man. And from the stoned look on his face in Panel 1, for calling out the Gas Man’s helping himself.

Intriguing… What is the secret in the basement?

I am seeing far too many Comments saying that Tiger is in the basement when in fact he is in a root cellar somewhere else on the property. I hope those Commenters will find this bit of info helpful and that Neil will no longer have to respond with so many individual corrections going forward.

(You’re welcome, Neil. Glad to help.)

1-DT: Sorry I had to wake you up, Captain Fireman. At least you got to slide down your pole, I guess. Cops just walk out the door like normal people. Have you been shot at lately? Oh wait. It’s us poor cops who get shot at. Speaking of shooting, what was your latest score at the target range? Did you manage to squirt the water in the bullseye? By the way was the Captain’s Exam tough? I’ve heard that “squirt water on it” pretty much answers every question. How’s that for A BURN, CAPTAIN!

CAPTAIN FIREMAN: Yeah, well we went into what could’ve been a dangerous situation while you ran out here to your car, Tracy.

DT: Ummm, maybe I just came out looking for my flashlight or something…

2-GAS MAN: Come with me, detective. I got something to show you.

DT: Are you sure it’s safe? I got a wife and kids you know. Maybe you should show Sam. No, better yet, show that chick I brought with me. She’ll know what to do… I STILL SMELL GAS!

Are we closing in on an end of story?

Nice to see Dabney Coleman getting work…

I wonder if the actions between yesterday and today’s strip allowed Pouch enough time to get away. It would behoove Tiger Lily to lay low and shiver a little longer in the root cellar. He might have suffered enough and may surrender.

Just like the newspaper in my home town….the black & white version of Dick Tracy from Monday to Saturday.

Boy, Dicko sure bailed quickly from that house, but after 2-3 weeks, the gas issue has been solved. Love the b/w BTW, just like old days, real noirish

We know who the big [blue] cheese is.

https://www.gocomics.com/buni/2021/03/08

I guess the inker didn’t show up again this morning. He must have stayed out to late again.

We of the audience knew all along what the fire chief confirms for Tracy, that the “gas leak” is fake.

Excellent artwork today with the tight shots of Tracy and the distinctive fire chief—but it does IMO look better in color, as at any augmented ComicsKingdom site, e.g. at the Chicago Tribune: https://tinyurl.com/y7g567nk

Why does it seem every time this storyline is heading to a climax, another narrative delay, like Oscar the real estate guy, or emergency crews showing up, is thrown in?