Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for December 22, 2008

More?!? Do tell!

Hey, give Locher a break. The plot is actually advancing.

I wouldn’t call that advancing, more like inching. I can hardly wait till next april to see what “more” there is.

So, Tess is the neighborhood watch?

Isn’t Dick a “policeman” who could write a ticket for reckless driving to the Dr.? Or even call someone at HQ to check the driving record of the new neighbor. It would be something for Sam to do instead going out for donuts.

More? I bet he doesn’t color within the lines!!

Dick looks VERY tired in the last panel. Look at those bag under his eyes! Ye Gods!

Shouldn’t the Tracy household be decorated for one of the upcoming holidays?? A Christmas tree? A Menorah? A Festivus pole?

Yes, Ludwig, in the old Tracy strip, that is under Mr. Gould, Christmas was always celebrated. There were clocks and calendars to denote the passage of time. Day looked like day, night like night. Here in the Locherverse, time has no meaning. There is no snow. Think of how many great Tracy stories involved snow or Christmas. Piggy & 3D Magee, the Chameleon, Mr. Bribery and Moonmaid, Flattop, etc.

Hey, read today’s Gasoline Alley. Note character in last panel.

Yesterdays mis-characterization of Gould’s Rogue design work impels me to come back to the subject. I can’t let it easily pass! As a list below will reveal Chet Gould’s cartoon focus was always confined to the ’head’. It started and ended there! The suggestion that it somehow extended to hands ,’large and small’(?) seems like a slick distortion. Somthing crafted to convince the ‘inexperienced, but isn’t it really put forward only to try to give Dick Locher another unfair ‘pass’ (?). Jeff, (with respect) tries to call this ‘opinion’ but it looks more like an intentional distortion, a clutching at straws - apparently, all in defence of Dick Locher! (?) Here NOW are examples of Gould’s cartoon ‘heads’, at least TWO from each decade. Needless to say, Jeff won’t be finding ANY to support his allegation on ‘Hands’ etc ! The Blank (Faceless Redrum),Scardol Little Face, B-B Eyes, Pruneface, Flattop, The Brow, Coffyhead, Open-Mind Monty, Miss Egghead, Spots, Flyface, Brush, Haf and Haf, Brain and Pucker Puss. Jeff to bolster his point of cartooning beyond ‘heads’ may think of Shirtsleeves Kelton, Ribs Mocco, Shoulders or Newsuit Nan. Best bets, but NO cartooning flavor there (chuckle). So to what avail ??? As I noted it goes well beyond innocent ‘opinion’. Frankly it’s an outrageous distortion, bordering more on an ‘obsession’ to ‘PROTECT’!

H’mmm. Well, actually I’m glad the story didn’t advance very much the last few days…my internet has been going in and out so I didn’t get on to see.

Erratic Driving? Hmmm, sounds like Tess is really into that kind of thing. I guess she likes the bad boys.

If Locher forgets Christmas this year, I’m going to write him off and put him in the same category as his synchophant, BNM. Gould never did that. I’m serious, folks!

My point, Sydney, was that historically, PERSPECTIVE was not based in realistic design in the strip. You took my statement and applied it in an entirely different way than I intended. Go and do the same research on the same characters you mention and tell me that every hand of every character meet the perspective realism that the OTHER posters here were criticizing. They don’t. In fact, more often than not, Gould’s hands are TOO large in relation to the heads of his characters. “Potato - Potato, Tomato - Tomato, lets call the whole thing off.”

The plot advances as quickly as the lines did in France back in ‘15.

Tracy was worried. Was Tess hiding something he should know? She was spending a lot of time lately out of the house, involved in some stupid charity or event. He longed for the old days when she would always be at home, excited to see him. He slowly turned his head to face her and squaring his jaw into an almost inhuman shape spoke in as dry a voice as he could muster. “Why the sudden interest in this new neighbor?” Tess tried to put on her best ‘little innocent girl’ look. “Fine time for Dick to be asking questions”, she sighed. She hoped he would be as easy to distract as he usually was. “Dr. Noll”? She asked, “Well he’s new to the town and he seems so lonely”. Tess wanted to slap herself. She realized that if it was anyone other then Dick she was talking to what she just said would have really blown it for her. “Good thing I know my man”, she chuckled softly. “Why did Tess just mention Dr. Nolls name”? Dick wondered. “And what we’re we just talking about”? he frustratingly tried to remember. “Oh, she was probably expressing her concern about my near accident just now”, he finally figured out. He was so grateful to have a wife that loved and supported him like Tess did. “He’s an erratic driver, that’s all I know”. Dick said to her while wondering how his tie got loose. Tess, satisfied that Dick was still clueless decided to push things a little more. “There’s more”.

TBC

BB

Is Dick leaning over all the time because his eyebrows weigh so much? Groucho Tracy - Ye Gods!

And what’s that suspicious shadow always following the back of Dick’s neck?

Morrow, If you call a panel ‘BOX’, “remembering”, you’ll probably get that, but recall, you’re dealing with the “change” master. Those warm little Christmas strips, one or two in the Season just don’t seem to be in Dickey’s play book, nor are those end of story light hearted informalities that Chet gave us. It seems those moments are almost anathema in modern day Dick Tracy. There have been so many “changes” since he teamed up with Kilian, that the strip now resembles a slightly more ‘serious’ version of Fearless Fosdick. One without that important funny bone.

I think the reason why Christmas isn’t celebrated in this strip is because Locher may be abiding by that “church & state” B.S., or in his world, the cast of D.T. can’t celebrate Christmas anymore is because they (and us) all know “crime never takes a holiday”.

On December 25, show the whole Tracy clan (post plastic surgery) all around the Christmas table celebrating the wonders and joys of the season. It’s either that or ANOTHER recap.

Dollars to Doughnuts Locher doesn’t even know yet.