Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for June 11, 2022

Good morning™, everyone!

Yes, Gravel Gertie is a bit of a frightening sight for those who don’t know her.

I had to look up sorghum. It’s not something common in Canada. Wikipedia tells me, “Sorghum syrup and hot biscuits are a traditional breakfast in the Southern United States.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_sorghum)

Here’s a picture of a spread made by mixing the syrup with butter, spread on a hot biscuit of course.

https://www.goldenbarrel.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_8278.jpg

Did not see this coming. ✨

For perspective’s sake:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=P0g8reK9RgY

“Sizable” man was very rude to call Gertie a what!

Strange looking biscuits which seem to have shrunk in panel 3.

If the biscuits are so hot that your can see the heat rising shouldn’t the pan be too hot to hold??

As someone who was raised on southern style biscuits and sorghum molasses, I can absolutely answer Mr. M’s question: “You’ve moved into a neighborhood that is waaaay too good for you son.”

a good thing it WASN’T Attitude at the door… there must be a reason why we’ve never seen a good look at him.. if it WAS him, Memory probably would have gotten more of a shock of a lifetime if he DID lay eyes on the little runt than what he did in seeing Gertie… LOL

“What kind of neighbourhood?” A nice one!

“Such nice folks. I shall shed a minuscule tear when I dispose of them.”

Good morning™, well fed neighbor crooks !

They will all be so nice to him he’ll stop his evil ways, golly, shucks, gosh all, shazaam !  With those good manners no one will ever suspect what kind of “work” he is doing. I’m waiting for him to snap and blow like Krakatoa.

If Gertie continues with the food deliveries, it’ll be JUST the thing to add a few more pounds and inches to his Victor Buono-sized frame… he’ll balloon up quite nicely…LOL…

He should say “thanks but I’m on a diet”

Someone called this yesterday, good job!

A neighborhood with southern hospitality, Mr. Memory.

Now I want jam biscuits! I’ll settle for biscuits and gravy though

Anyone remember when they used to have REALLY, REALLY GOOD STORIES in this strip?

Musta been, what…back around ‘78…’79 or so?

Mr. Memory should move into a new neighborhood…let’s see…there’s a place in the 1300 block of Mockingbird Lane available! LOL

Anyone else thinking that Memory is gonna wipe clean the plenty’s account?

Come on, now, Gertie doesn’t look any weirder than a lot of people in this strip. Imagine Memory’s reaction if Mr. Melies showed up at his door.

Oh, he’s REALLY going to love it when the Muppets show up.

“What kind of neighborhood have I moved into”? Whose fault is that Mr. Memory, didn’t you talk with some realtors first? Hmm…apparently not!

Sorghum is mostly used as animal feed in the US. It’s a beautiful grain while growing in the field. Sweet and nutty taste.

aw…he’s going to end his crime spree and go straight

A neighbor hood that will make him fatter and eventually caught!

“You big city fellers have Uber Eats and DoorDash. In these here parts we have Velocity Vittles, and ah’m Gertie, yer delivery driver. Hope to do bizness with you agin real soon”

1-GERTIE: Hi there Big Fella. I’m Gertie and I brung you a country surprise…

2-…Stop undressing it with your eyes, big boy. It’s here for the takin’ if you know what Ima a getting’ at. ‘Round chere, we got a sayin, “the closer to the bone, the sweeter the meat!”

3-MEMORY: Umm, yes, I’m sure that’s true. That said madame, you should know that I’m what you might call a Contrarian. I stick to hot dogs. Sausages if you prefer.

GERTIE: DANG IT! B.O. was right! Wait’ll I tell him. He’ll be back over here faster than grease drips off ere dang thang I cook!

MEMORY: Fiddlesticks!

If you are ever in the North Texas area, look up a restraunt called Babe’s. They serve up a good old fashioned fried chicken dinner that includes biscuits, butter, honey, and sorghum molasses.

The type where you have very kind neighbors, some of whom are great cooks who will watch out for you. How can even a selfish criminal turn their nose up at that? If this doesn’t make Mr. Memory consider reforming, nothing will. The way to a man’s heart is through the tummy they say. But I’m a sucker for good biscuits so what do I know?

Sorghum is also a source of molasses.

https://www.americansorghum.com/sorghum-molasses-tradition-worth-preserving/#:~:text=Sorghum%20molasses%20is%20a%20rich%2C%20brown%2C%20sweet%2C%20thick,used%20as%20a%20sweetener%20in%20baking%20and%20cooking.

But will neighborly kindness turn around an evil man’s heart to do good? (no)

It’s so good to see GG again. I was hoping we might finally see what Attitude looks like. I read once that Gould originally intended for BO to remain a villain and get killed or imprisoned but so many fans loved the character that Gould had him reform and marry GG. I wonder if there was any truth to this.

I hope Memory gets out before the Plentys roast him for Sunday dinner.

Without looking it up myself, I thought sorghum was some sort of molasses.

Memory, for a guy that wanted to be isolated, your sure picked the wrong neighborhood. The Plentys are plenty neighborly.

I guess Memory gave his name to B.O. when he gave B.O. a lift. Which makes him just abut the stupidest genius about ever.

That should be, “just about…”

So…are we all agreed that the ‘Villain’ here is the Late, Great Character Actor Victor Buono? (Batman’s King Tut if you need a memory jog.)

I swear every time I see that guy all I think of is Edwin Flagg.

“Oh, yes. I’m quite fond of tea. You must have guessed that I’m English. "

We know that BO Plenty and Gravel Gertie are a homely-looking couple with a beautiful daughter named Sparkle.

The Plenty’s just might warm the maniacal thief up.

Well, what do you know? What Mr. Memory addressed as a “what” yesterday turns out to be sweet (today) Gravel Gertie Plenty! What about that?!

Bearing gifts of biscuits and sorghum, Gertie nonetheless puts fear into the reclusive thief. [Sidebar: while I had though up to yesterday of Memory as rotund but not tall, largely because of how he appeared in the early ATM strips relative to the other characters, I now accept Neil’s verdict and the analogy with Victor Buono, 6’3" and over 300 pounds.] Such a cynical city boy, he cannot understand the hospitality of the neighborhood of Sunny Dell Acres and its contiguous rural zone….