Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for November 12, 2021

Good morning™, everyone!

As I said, the counterman is in on it and the chauffeur, too. It’s a good thing Sam didn’t take too long in the bathroom or he wouldn’t have seen her. So, what happens next? He doesn’t have backup.

“I’ve already sent five people up there. You having a party?”

What awaits for Briar at the top of these stairs isn’t likely to be a “luxury apartment” ANd I definitely won’t have a “spinach salad bowl”

Because the criminal masterminds of the Apparatus never considered a disguise. And why would poor little Ms Rose even consider hair dye?

Have a nice day?, yeah right, A nice day in her way to jail!

I still say the deli has been there awhile. Some time ago, I bet, the Apparatus bought the building and added the apartment in case someone would need it. They wouldn’t do all this just to bump off Rose. Notice the keypad next to the door in panel 3. That would take time to install and program and not something they’d do once and then remove.

I bet there’s no “spinach salad bowl” on the menu.

What can Sam do? He can report in that he’s seen Rose and that Tracy and some cops should come over to arrest her. So there’s no suspicion, Sam could order a drink or dessert as if he’s changed his mind about leaving, and wait in the deli and make sure Rose doesn’t leave. Or worse. Maybe while he’s waiting, he’ll hear a shot and then go into action.

Nice Rose don’go up those stairsThere lies an Apparatus lairYou’ll desire you went to jailRather they sent you by mailAs a popsicle on a tray!

Good morning™, Dead girls walking !

Nice special looking access door and stairs. Too bad Rose isn’t packing heat so that she can open the door and then stand way back while bullets fly before returning fire. So, does Sam rush her and salad bowl boy or call Tracy and they go both go up and recover an injured or “clipped” Rose ?

Do my eyes fool me or has JK taken to robbing the cradle ?  I swear that was Rose back before she went sour.

What in the world is that little figure to the left of Sam’s head in panel 3?

Better jail than the reception I suspect is waiting for her upstairs, please note the spinach reference….

Probably just a hit man waiting, though it won’t be Abner, lol

Upstairs the “spider” waits for it’s “fly” ! Hope Sam can save her, and if he does maybe she will give info about the Apparatus to Tracy and company!

So…if the only way in is through the Deli, how does one get in after hours? AndI say she gets shot at, then rescued by Sam

“Wow, you’re like the eighth person to order a ‘spinach salad bowl’ today. The Apparatus must really be cleaning house!”

“…Pardon?”

“C-cleaning YOUR house, I mean. Your…your hideout. Don’t want a dirty hideout!”

Great, anyone who walks in off the street and asks for a spinach salad bowl gets shown the stairway to a gang leader. (I.e. her lieutenants report to her, but it the counterman wasn’t even shown a picture of Briar he won’t know what her lieutenants look like either. So, on a diet? Hey, meet a mob boss.) This makes even less sense than one entrance off a public street.

Now what ?

A killer upstairs

If Briar Rose dares

Ascend to her new home.

A tarp of the floor

To catch all the gore

No longer shall she roam.

If Sam is smart he will call Tracy for back up………I hope?

I really like the art work!

1-MAHALO: Why when you pay at the counter does somebody think we would come out here and buss tables??? Dumb ba*tard!

2-DRIVER: I hope I can count on you for a good rating…and if so, please rate me right away before anything should befall you, heaven forbid. And if you weren’t satisfied, hold off on that rating for 10 minutes or so…

3-SAM: Whoa. Bean Smoothies don’t stay with a guy for long…hello!

MAHALO: So when you’re not with a “John”, you have to maintain our product inventory making sure we always have at least 3 Cali Wraps and 3 Bean Smoothies available – one for me, one for you and one for the total daily customer count we typically have.

SAM: Wait till I tell Tracy that I saw Briar Rose and that she’s apparently doing undercover reporting at a deli!

The plot thickens~~

Sam saw her near the bathroom? Ohhh… so that’s what they mean by a “lookie loo”!!

Give Tracy a fast call Sam

Sam takes the counterman out….however Briar Rose closes the door behind her and runs upstairs where the “staff” has a “welcome home party” planned. Next…the late Briar Rose. Hmm…does the staff have an escape plan?

Someone seriously asked"What is that figure by Sam’s head"? Bathroom sign yo-yo, you should get out more. BTW, why no masks?

Briar Rose is pretty angsty about the whole thing. Look at those clenched fists in panel 2.

Sam can take care of himself,except where Sleet is concerned. It’s been a while since he heroically soloed.So that’s what I’m rooting for.

Good style for far shot characters, minimized detail level but still immediately recognizable. Nice! I too wonder what Sams’ next move will be… !

POSSIBLE SCENARIO

DOUBLEUP IS UP THERE,BUT HE REFUSES TO GO THROUGH WITH THE HIT.

There’s a slight dilemma as to what to do with Doubleup,who started out as a murderer but has become“unexpectedly popular”.

One solution is to have HIM go into witness protectionand out of the public eye.Refusing to carry out an Apparatus contract would be his “way out”.

movie quote—-

“Boy,you don’t look so good”

“How am I supposed to look after hours laying in the sun with ants and lizards crawling all over me?”

William Bendix in “CRASHOUT”(1955)

who didn’t see that coming?

The beginning of the end for Briar Rose, either one way or another. Either the “staff” upstairs snuff her, or Sam Catchem saves her life but arrests her (not sure of the charge: maybe obstruction of justice?)….

Big weekend shootout? Or series of missed opportunities?