Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for July 22, 2021

Good morning™, everyone!

Tracy had better hurry and find them before they get moved to an island where they are a lot harder to locate. Putting them on an island seems to me like another nod to The Tempest (referenced in the last story). In the novel, The Collector, the woman who was abducted was named Miranda, like the character in Shakespeare’s play. The man who captured her told her his name was Ferdinand (the name of the prince in the play who would eventually marry Miranda), but in her diary, she always called her captor “Caliban” (the “monster” on the island who wanted to rape Miranda).

Good morning™, private banana republics !

The amount of brass this guy has is astounding. I wonder if (former) Moon Gov notices the lack of emanations from Mysty.

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Where’s the ring????

It hopped into his pocket???

Photo shoots of Mysta with “no interference” on a private island. Sounds like Archival has more in mind than simply collecting more pics of her.

Now, this is new. Sending his prisoners to a tropical hideaway would help in keeping them hidden. But the trick is getting them there. What do y’all suppose that Archival has his own jet plane?

Looks like Mike wants us to feel sorry for Vera!

Many of us figured that Archival wanted Alldid to produce his strip solely for him. And he thinks there’s nothing wrong with this. He thinks that if he caters to their every physical need, Mysta and Vera will go along with it. Crazy!

Archival really DID plan a long way ahead… This guy is going to be a great addition to the DT rogues gallery.

Banana trees or coconut trees?

That man is totally crazy! In comparison Vera seems wise and reasonable.

What if Alldid does something desperate, what if he’s finally worked up the nerve to whack Archival in the back of his head with a chair? If he does, I say it won’t work. Tracy has to save everyone, not Vera. It’s his strip.

Just take a pen and jam it in just below his ear as hard as possible while his back is to you, that ring won’t affect Aldid!

Look at it this way Vera, it will translate into some good source material for the strip

The best drawing of Alldid in p3 so far, he doesn’t look so cartoonish.

he’s going to relocate them? really/ this was just locking the door but once the doors are unlocked…

Does the TSA do nothing about the international flight of private aircraft? I thought they snooped around because of their interest in drug smuggling? Or does he plan to ship them to the island? (A whole lot slower and more chance of witnesses.) And exactly how many of his staff/servants know of the kidnapping? It would be hard to believe he’s doing this all by his lonesome.

Yes, we have no bananas

Uh – hello? Grab a lamp or something and knock the schmoe out! (Geez!)

“I’M YOUR BIGGEST FAN…MEET MY PET PIG J. STRAIGHTEDGE TRUSTWORTHY”

Going to a tropical location could mean some time in the Sun for Mysta, if Archival allows it. But how is he going to regulate it, so that she doesn’t recharge enough to be able to use her telepathy. I’m presuming that Archival, having acquired Bribery’s ring to reflect Mysta’s zaps, is also well aware of her telepathic abilities, and, has kept her indoors, away from the Sun to keep her drained, unable to use it.

“And now, my dear, ON with the My Little Pony Costume, and whinny pretty for the camera! Where’s that extra in the Barney suit, anyway?!”

Sounds like Archival is having Vera draw JST just for him, which means that clues can’t be planted for others to read. The strip would go permanently into reruns.

Maybe Diet Smith’s new technology can help find Mysta and Vera.

“Secluded island” reminds me of when Tracy and Annie were on one…but Team Tracy wouldn’t use it…would they? :)

1-VERA: YIKES! I’ve never had an editor before.

STAN LEE: THIS STINKS! WHERE’S THE SUPER POWERS??? WHY ISN’T ANYONE FLYING?

2-…If you don’t shape up, I just might have to replace you.

3-VERA: Damn this writer’s block! Maybe I’ll please the old man if I add a couple of pre-teen girls or a cigar smoking loud mouth like J Jonah What’s-his-name or even an Archie look-alike. WAH! HE’S RIGHT. THIS STORY STINKS!

How fruitful would it actually be to try to force a creative person to produce quality work under duress? I would think violence, or even the threat of violence, would be counter-productive, causing the art, music or whatever to deteriorate and lose value.

A story line where Alldid embeds subtle clues in his strip to cry for help would be a really good time to pretend there’s no such thing as lead time in comic syndication. Just saying.

“An extended vacation on my private island in the Tropics”. Who is Archival related to? Dr. No?

So everybody will leave his estate under cover of darkness. Archival has a private jet parked on an isolated area of the runway to take them away. Chances are his island has its own landing strip.

Won’t miss a beat….Vera’s strips will be flown back to the states and mailed. Nobody will be suspicious. Somebody will but I’ll have to stay tuned to find out.

What does Archival mean, you’ll draw J. Straightedge Trustworthy for me…doesn’t he realize Vera has a contract with the agency or syndicate? They could sue for breach of contract. Which will involve court appearances. A video deposition might not cut it.

Why doesn’t the dweeb just knock the mustached lunatic on the back of the head with a lamp or something?

“Alcatraz with banana trees.” They call that Devil’s Island.

Hey, Vera – this may be your chance to alert Dick Tracy in case Mystra cannot contact Honeymoon!!

Maybe that private island will be submerged due to rising ocean levels. Finally, one positive thing about climate change.

“Evening, squire! So ah… your ‘Moon Maid’… is she a goer, eh? Know what I mean, know what I mean? She’s been around, eh… nudge nudge, wink wink! And does she go around for the ‘photography’… he asked him knowingly… you know, ‘candid’ photographs — snap snap, grin grin, know what I mean, nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more, say no more?!”

Dick Tracy statue in my town, Naperville! https://i.imgur.com/XtbxSB8.jpg

An island trap and sunshine regeneration of health bring to mind two excellent Tracy tales, one from 1958, the other from 1964. On August 10, 1958, Miss Egghead pushes Tracy from an airplane. He parachutes into Granite Island, where he meets another stranded man, Superintendent John Whitehall of Scotland Yard. It is a fun part of the Miss Egghead story, which is quite good. The ingenuity and resourcefulness that aid Tracy and Whitehall’s survival make for a fun diversion well away from Tracyville.

On March 7, 1964, Moon Maid is hospitalized in the aftermath of her daring rescue of mother and the baby she helps her deliver. She situates herself in the sunshine. Junior, Tracy, and Lizz observe that, “She’s letting the sun fall directly on her horns. It’s like charging a battery.” “Then she gets her power from the sun?” “Yes—the sun must be the source.” “It looks as though we can learn a lot from Moon people,” says Dick Tracy. The sun restores her powers in the wake of Moon Maid’s first adventure, one that reveals a depth of character and willingness to suffer to help others. Mysta has been zapped and locked indoors, so her powers and energy are drained. Like Moon Maid, she needs the energy of the sun to recharge.

Whaddya know? Vera/Vile shows a trace of humor under pressure in panel 3!

When Alcatraz was Paradise: Brock’s private tropical island (!) will make escape or rescue that much harder for our neo-Survivors, if he actually succeeds in transporting them there. Mysta outdoors in the sun will recover her strength, and maybe even cartoonist-letch-boy will man up enough to help, or at least not impede, escape/rescue.

The longer Archival’s fantasy plays out and the more elaborate it becomes, the greater the chance is that he’s gonna stumble at some point….

Curiously in panel two he kind of LOOKS like a banana.