Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for April 03, 2021

Another villain brought down by stopping for exposition. Internal exposition at that.

Is that considered pillow talk?

Good morning™, friends!

Here’s the motive. He’s afraid of being found out by Peggy’s new, more agressive attitude. If he’s planning to flee to Colombia, I suppose he cares less about any evidence that he happens to leave behind.

Stephan Bellum, it is now clear, would not have approved this plan, even if he does stand to inherit the family fortune.

As Aquarius waits anxiously for the elevator, I hope it comes soon. (I’m pretty sure that woman is just a random crowd character. They seem to be appearing often in the foreground lately.)

I wonder what, exactly was the leisurely exit that Oscar had planned. It seem that there has been a slight change in his plan.

Good morning™, elevator riders !

A good chance that Alex will make it even if barely. I bet he snaps sissy boy in two like a dry twig. I hope that transparent glass looking elevator doesn’t go making all kind of stops on its way up. The button looking doo dads just ahead of him suggest he is on an elevator.

Next panel: unbeknownst to Oscar, Auntie Bellum cleverly hid the family fortune in diamonds in the light fixture behind his head.

Bogota? Columbia does extradite to the U.S. so it’s not a guaranteed safe haven. Unless… does Oscar have powerful cartel connections? Has Alex’s cocaine dealing been secretly orchestrated all along by Oscar, as part of his original “more leisurely exit” plan? Was Kelly somehow coerced to be the pawn that suggested drug dealing to Alex as a way for him to make enough money to keep 1312 Bedwell going despite Oscar’s siphoning off most of the funds? With the way that Oscar loves to “monoloque” we’ll soon find out during and after the looming showdown. I hope tomorrow is just Alex’s surprise entrance and the Sunday strip is the knock-down action-packed one!

So, I presume, Auntie Bellum was successfully demised?

Wonder who that is giving Aquarius a death stare?

Tomorrow will tell, I think!

Why Columbia? That is a mystery to me!

I hope Alex will save his aunt!!!

I love Neil’s random crowd character in the last panel. All she’s there for is to fill up space and give the place some depth and she does a great job. Her brief, passive interaction with Aquarius balances Oscar’s internal monologue and evens out the toon. You are awesome, Snobby Elevator Lady!

Maybe the elevator woman just does not like his looks! Or the way he is attired, as she is dressed to the max with pearls, coiffured hair etc. !

I’ve done my share of making fun of Oscar, but: that face expression in P2: Whoa….reminds me of Katnip Cat’s face in that cartoon where he was “Ye Tax Collector” and he was savoring thoughts of ripping all the poor peasant mice out of all their savings. Katnip say: "BWAAAAAA…HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAAAAA!!!!……

MEANWHILE….that gal in P3…..an agent of “some sort”? “P3 to P4: He just entered the location, plan is going seamlessly. Alert your people!”

P3: How long has it been since Aquarius last took a shower?

Monologuing: the bane of criminal types everywhere.

Whatever, the story goes on…on…on…and on!

1-BIGG JR: Hang on. What am I thinking? I’ve only embezzled so far. Adding murder doesn’t help my plan to escape to Bogata. I could be at the airport now with no one even wondering about it. This death combined with Kelly’s unusual “floor-nap” is bound to bring questions…

2-…Oh well, in for a penny, in for a pound!

3-KAREN HEIRESS:* Ugh. I stay at the Pierview to avoid people like this. But as much as I hate to admit it, its an egalitarian world ever since the common people embraced President Trump.

…PARDON ME, …Ummmm, SIR. Do you happen to be a lottery winner? Or perhaps a washed up rock star?

NARKY: No.

KAREN HEIRESS: Well, there’s really no explaining his presence here then.

HELP, SECURITY!

Aquarius take a shower?? He’s stuck in the 60s, no water, no peace. But maybe it was when this story started, so actually it’s been months.

https://youtu.be/C0aWrDcM988

All the countries in the world and you want to go to Columbia??? There are some nice countries out there without extradition treaties with the US, you know.

Oscar seems confident that Stephan will “in time” see his sister’s murder as “for the best” and that Stephan will then presumably reward him and buy him a ticket to Bogota. This suggests that there might be a period in which Stephan will be outraged by the murder of his sister, and want to turn Oscar over to the cops. If the cops don’t figure it all out by themselves, and if Stephan doesn’t audit his own books. Risky business, Oscar…

Can this be the end of Auntie Bellum, Tracy fans?

Oh, no, they’ve killed Peggy!

And just like that, Devious Unctuous Obsequious Assassin Oscar becomes Villain #1 in this sordid tale of a dysfunctional family and its satellites.

And who is that woman in panel 3 staring at Aquarius with such suspicion? Is she a Good Citizen, about to rat him out? Or is she just an uptight hippie-hater?

This strip should have appeared a day or two before, so we had a better handle on Oscar’s motivations. I do wonder though why he wants to go to a town in New Jersey.