Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for December 24, 2021

Good morning™, everybody!

So, the new plan is to get the Apparatus people to lead the police to their newest headquarters. Is that going to work? I suppose that infiltrating the previous HQ did allow them to make a lot of gains, but the Ace of Spades escaped. The real question is whether this new plan will get them to the Ace.

(I really like the drawing of Tracy in the second panel.)

“And if she starts to change her mind, I’ll just hypnotize her.”

I really like the way Shelley draws Lizz. Yowza!

As I write this, it’s pouring down rain here in LA County. Maybe we’ll have an above-normal wet season this time around and the drought will be diminished, though not totally broken. The drought is too severe to be ended in one year.

This story will probably be continued on Monday. I’m guessing that tomorrow will be a Christmas-card-like panel and then “Christmas with the Tracys” on Sunday.

Good morning™, pretty police ladies !

If all cops were female I would be a frequent law breaker. I like how Lizz dangles that reduced sentence plum, but can she guarantee that in writing that binds ?

I am wondering what the confrontation will be like between Dick Tracy and the Ace of Spades. Also, what exactly is going on with the spy who blew up in Diet Smith’s lab, along with the time drone? Is he dead? Or is he trapped between dimensions? Things may finally get juicy here.

Pleger’s artwork is spunky, as usual.

Merry Christmas to Mike Curtis and Shelley Pleger! Best to both in the New Year!

Beautiful green eyes.

Sterling Eliot’s hand was only recovered, minus any trauma or decay. The rest of him was never found. Which means he and his whereabouts are still unaccounted for. You don’t need to be HG Welles to understand where Curtis’s story may go. He deliberately brought the whole time travel concept into play for a reason.

Lizz is looking smart and professional today.

Tracy’s looking old in panel 3.

Can anyone remember the last time we were shown any police work (other than a deus ex machina drone)? The apparatus is supposedly a major criminal force in the city, but the police have no evidence of their activities until Rose gives them enough info to get a warrant for theft of services from Diet Smith. (Apparently hit men hired to kill Tracy and accountants don’t count as criminal activity.) They’ve got an office building complete with receptionist and dozens of crooks going in and out, but police can’t find it until Rose gives them a location. New location, but we’re relying on Patty (the Apparatus drafts people to run one of their operations?) to lead them to it? The police apparently sit around drinking coffee all day, waiting for the next coincidence or someone to hand them hearsay on a silver platter.

All Patty Cure has confessed to is being a drop for the Apparatus. She says they want her to manage an “escort service” for them, not that she is doing that for them, So for what charge is she facing a possible lengthy jail sentence?

It’s apparent to me that Liz is going under (the) cover(s) as a HOOKER so Patty Cure can lead her to Apparatus HQ.

DOWN BOYS, DOWN!!!

1-DOLL: On the other hand – this one here – I …I lost my thought.

2-DT: Happens to me all the time. Mostly on the witness stand. Sometimes I have to ask the judge why I’m there. In fact, just a couple days…

3-DOLL: Wait! I remember now! You asked what we should order from the deli for lunch and I said corned beef is good but on the other hand , turkey is less fattening.

DT: RIGHT! OK. I’LL MAKE THE CALL BEFORE I FORGET.

DOLL: Forget what?

Third panel…Tracy has a smile!

Or her life!

That little exposition dump at the end…wow…

They never found the mole at HQ, did they?

“And I’m hungry! Let’s see if we can’t throw a little business her bakery-owning sister, Patty Cake’s way. I’m talking chocolate lava cake!”

Use an undercover asset to track down the Apparatus to their super-secret headquarters? Didn’t we just see this movie recently? Any way, Merry Christmas, everyone!

Those green eyes just turn my legs to jelly.

Off Topic: Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays to all!

Tracy does look great in panel 2 as he discusses the Patty Cure situation with lovely Lizz.

It is a bit unclear to me what Lizz has in mind by her remark in panel 2, too. Does she envision accompanying Patty to the new Apparatus HQ? That, I imagine, would require her going undercover as a working girl being brought in by Madam Cure. Not sure that’s such a good idea, if that is what Lizz is considering….

Chester Gould was a great fan of Christmas. I fondly remember a strip from long ago, when he is at least as merry as Santa Claus could ever be. I wonder if the modern creators have forgotten?

How can Patty be taken to the new headquarters of the Apparatus? When Ace of Spades and Double Up were fleeing, I did not see either of them drop a forwarding address.

What makes her so valuable to the Apparatus other than the escort thing?

Whatever you do Lizz and Tracy, don’t send the woman in wearing a wire.

Considering that they must start from scratch, Apparatus will probably admit her into their ranks with no questions asked.

https://i.postimg.cc/sxrRggqp/christmas-eve.jpg