Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for August 19, 2022

“Then a TV station so they can view anime – with no commercials!

Good morning™, all!

Ro-Zan thinks he has it all figured out, but Thorin will be expecting to see him at the Space Coupe hangar, so he has already lost the advantage of surprise. It sound like the military basse attack is planned to happen immediately after Thorin is assassinated.

Really Ro-zan is stupid. First he makes his plans known to a potential dissenter. Then he plans to attack a military base ( USA I suppose), then making i the lunarians location known and posdibly inviting a massive retaliation. Some strategist!

(William Conrad voiceover)

Things are about to heat up in the frozen wastelands as Ro-Zan’s rebels revolt against Thorin’s loyalist Lunarians. Sparks are guaranteed to fly. Be sure to see our next electrifying episode,

“Anarchy in Antarctica”

or

“Bad Moon (Up)rising”

How could Lunarians build their base without being noticed?

Once again the story falls through cracks in the ice to fall even deeper into the depths of silliness!

Did yesterday’s strip seem out of order to anyone else?

Good morning™, frantic informers !

She is wound tighter than an Omegra watch, sold from inside a coat by a slippery in the alley type “salesman”. I can hear the smooth sound of wheels turning in Tracy’s head as this new information comes in. Thorin is more intently focused by P.3.

Uncle Kenny is right, RoZan divulges his detailed plans to ambush the Ambassador after Shay-Gin has fled from the meeting. So how would she know them? Once again, Mike seems to be getting sloppy as the story (presumably) moves to the climax.

Her antennae shifted! She must be very excited!

I am hoping to see Mark Willman back on this website soon. His posts are insightful, interesting and funny, too. We need more positive people like Mark, contributing to the discussions here. Best to you Mark, from The Big Apple.

Always found your secret colony near a military base, because they will never notice it.

There are a large number of bases in Antarctica, but none of them are really “military” due to the restrictions of the Antarctic treaty:

ARTICLE I

1. Antarctica shall be used for peaceful purposes only. There shall be prohibited, inter alia, any measures of a military nature, such as the establishment of military bases and fortifications, the carrying out of military maneuvers, as well as the testing of any type of weapons.

2. The present Treaty shall not prevent the use of military personnel or equipment for scientific research or for any other peaceful purpose.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_stations_in_Antarctica

If he is evaluating human military capability by what he sees in Antarctica, he is in for a rude surprise when he runs into real military.

Will Tracy call in the military for assistance and be ready to pull a switch-e-roo on Thorin and his thugs? That would expose the existence of the lunarians though… hmm

What kind of technology can they release on the planet ? They were dependent on Diet Smith for the Moon Coupes technology and do not even have their own spacecraft to leave !!!

Ok, Tracy, time for a preemptive strike!

When are Mike and Shelly going to get back to some real crime stories , like Yeti and that stuff . This is ok I guess , but I just can’t get into it for some reason ?

This smells like a rotting corpse of a trap! The rebels are either incredibly stupid, or else they’re setting up Tracy and the Ambassador? But then, this whole thing has the earmarks of being more of a fanatics uprising, instead of something well thought though. Maybe using the concept of pure numbers and power over brains.

A human military base nearby… When did THIS happen?

Tracy need the help of Flash Gordon.

hmm… maybe those plans ought to change. boo ha ha ha! :}

the introduction into the story of a planned Lunarian rebel attack on a human military installation is a new added aspect to the arc… I’m just at a loss for words… there has been so many instances of illogical nonsensical occurrences, the many occasional, random one day fillers happening that are not even proving to be pertinent to the story, as of yet, so many flaws, so many instances where I’m expected to suspend my disbelief… just too many negatives in this story far outweighing any positives… oh, sure, the story has me coming back and looking in, but only in the hope and expectation that we might be presented with a cohesive, smooth-flowing, logical, interesting and exciting arc… and the ONLY thing that stood out was the shocking, cold-blooded and cold-hearted (and NO, those were NOT intentional puns there) execution of Marina and the outrage of Sloe-Gin, along with her realization of Ro’s plan, all masterfully depicted by Shelley… this had the ingredients for a really good story, but most of this story, in MY humble opinion, was a poor narrative, poorly planned out and poorly executed….. it’s been, to ME, a slap-dash, hodge-podge of a mix that seems as if Mike is making chit up as he goes along… I HAD high hopes at the start, but as it progressed, it was evident that this was a slow and gradual descent into mediocrity and irrelevancy in the Dick mythos… well, I’ve said my peace, but I’ll just keep on with this and do a wait-and-see as to where it all leads to and how it will all end… maybe I’ll be surprised, but I won’t be holding my breath…

Shay-Gin, tell us everything— “Everything? Waal, I was born on the Moon; my pappy took us west of Clavius Crater back in….”

We know, Shay-gin. Ro-zan live streamed the secret plan he announced at a giant public meeting.

Tracy and the Ambassador have their work cut out for them. Any counter-moves they can make…the timetable just got sped up.

Ro-zan was being “nice” to the Ambassador all along just to eliminate him.

Go home Dick. Go fight “Open-Mind Monty” or “Rughead”. Be the real Dick.

I see Tracy is simply devastated by Marina’s death. Or straining to remember who she was?

1-THORIN: BRRRRRR! Anyone else cold?

SHAG-GIN: Is that a “it looks pretty nippy in here” joke?

2-…Be the adult in the room for once, Dick! Shut that kind of sexist talk down! DT: ??? What joke?

3-THORIN: That was no joke. I am legitimately chilly.

SHAG-GIN: OH! I’M SORRY!

THORIN: Thank you. Now cover those things up before you POKE OUT DICK’S EYE!!! HA HA!!!

DT: ??? What?

MOVIE QUOTE

“And you,Bombo! O MIGHTY WARRIOR!! What have you won?”

GULLIVER’S TRAVELS—1939

The “friend” is the one who brought Marina to the meeting—-now she must feel like a murderer herself.

Did anybody bring Intro’s old suit of bullet proof underwear?

Hail, the unexpected heroine!

Shay-Gin’s revelations blow the whole xenophobic cabal plot, and Ro-Zan’s leadership in it, wide open!

Now, it but remains for Thorin to get his act together and, with Tracy and loyal Armsmen, force the cabal and Ro-Zan to give up their fantasies of world conquest….

Ne w Saturday TMC Serial: Dick Tracy Conquers the Universe