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Tracy, feeling his rage coming to the surface, turned towards Crystal.
âUgly Crystal, I knew you werenât the innocent, poor little niece of a madman! Youâre going to pay for thisâ!
âDonât call my uncle Bribery that, heâs a genius and a great man!â
Tracy laughed out loud, âNot so great that he couldnât get caught by me and sent to jail for a very, very long time!â!
Crystal grinned widely while almost hissing; âDonât think those four walls are stopping him from ruling this city. Heâs still in total control with his wishes being carried out by folk like me, his sweet, shy niece!â
âDonât you mean a devious niece, better known as Doctor Fix?â Tracy sarcastically said.
Crystal laughed out loud with a surprised look on her face.
âYou think Iâm Doctor Fix? I underestimated how dumb you are. Of course Iâm not Doctor Fix, Iâm just a loving niece delivering messages!â
Tracy eyes narrowed and he gritted his teeth.
âWell then, if youâre not Doctor Fix then I donât need to take anymore of this Lady GaGa from you, do I?â
Tracy began to walk towards where a smiling Crystal was standing, but before he finish his second step, Tracy froze upon hearing the sound of a shotgun being cocked.
No, Iâm not Doctor Fix, but he is!"
To be Continued
(I know, Iâm trying to finish the story but I figure I owe it to my 3 fans not pull a Mike and leave them dangling!(calm down Firebug!))
flashback time⊠and now it begins⊠and thank god, no Garage Man til the summertime, hopefully⊠this should drive the Garage lovers crazy and quiet until summertimeâŠ
With Art Dekko & Sue Reel in custody, and 99 safely out of town, and Tracy reminiscing about the time he met Nero Wolfe, it appears weâve reached the start of a new story. When Iâve decided a new storyâs started, I do a list of every Tracy story on GoComics. Unfortunately, soon after I started doing this GC imposed an asinine character limit of only 2000 characters which includes every letter, space, punctuation, & html, which means I have to do this over several posts. Iâll do my initial introduction in this post and start the list in the next one, because otherwise, I canât even get past the second year.
My notes are fairly simple. Just my name for the story (usually the name of the main villain or villains, unless they just arenât the emphasis) followed by the dates the story began and ended. If someone was the main villain for more than one story, I add a âIIâ and so on to emphasize this. If more than one villain from a past story are in the same story committing major crimes, I include them altogether. Finally, for the 4 cases of more than one villain with the same name (Chameleon, Mr. Crime, Shaky, the Ace of Spades) I add, âThe Secondâ in front of their names.
Minit Mysteries Note: at the request of people who wanted to see these listed here, Iâve decided to make a separate post for them to keep the listing of Mike Curtis stories in as few posts as possible.
At the start of the GoComics archive, the writer was the late Mike Kilian. Personally, I like his work on Tracy and think heâs very underrated. At the very least, he knew how to tell a story in the daily strip format where every day, something happens that moves the story along, a quality his successor sorely lacked. I recommend anyone here who hasnât read these stories to check them out.
Iâve started taking notes on all the crossovers (x-overs) Curtis has written into the strip. I wasnât taking notes of these when they first came out, so I had to start from scratch. Iâm able to do this because Iâve taken on trying to read every single Dick Tracy story in the comic strip, alternating between reading Gouldâs original strips (which I can read in my complete collection of IDW reprints), the post-Gould pre-GoComics period (which I can read in Newspapers.com) and the GC period. This is a WIP (Work In Progress) that will take a very long time for me to complete. In the meantime, Iâll post that WIP here on the same day I list GC stories, listing the year, then the titles of the stories in boldface and anyone here can use my GC list for cross reference.
IMHO, there are several different types of x-overs: characters from other comic strips, characters from other media outside comic strips (including characters that originate from Dick Tracy media outside the DT comic strip), real life celebrities appearing as themselves, and Written Around Trademarks (WAT) cameos from other strips and media. A WAT cameo is one where itâs never directly stated, so thereâs room for plausible deniability, but itâs pretty obvious itâs this character.
Finally, I decided not to include characters based on real life celebrities but with different names, because I feel the changed names mean theyâre not really x-overs. However, I will give honorable mention to the two most prominent such characters here, and the stories they debuted in: Jerry King (based on real life wrestler Jerry Lawler) who made his debut in the Thunderchild story, and George Tawara and his husband Brad (based on real life actor George Takei and his husband Brad) who made their debuts in the Sweat Box story.
The story was just starting to pick up some real narrative steam, with an intriguing woman of mystery on the run & the introduction of a potentially great villain. So of course Mike has Tracy pouring coffee & telling us thereâs nothing going on, & will now give us at least a week of a cross-over story featuring a character that could just as well have been chosen by throwing a dart at a board with the names of literary detectives who have about as much connection with the world of Dick Tracy as Daffy Duck. Really, Mike, are you that bored with the strip?
Well, I sleep through the changeover, so I thought Iâd better come on and say hello.
It seems that we are setting up for an extended flashback story. We are not looking at Nero Wolfe yet. This whole scenario would be out of character for Wolfe. This is clearly Pat in the last panel.
â⊠when Pat and I were partners. As I recall, he [Pat] was taking off for a long weekend, but came by to rub it in.â So, thatâs the setting. Tracyâs partner at the time, Pat, has left for the weekend, leaving Tracy in the office all by himself. So, Tracy is going to tell Sam the whole story about how he came to know Nero Wolfe.
I have read exactly one Nero Wolfe book out of the 33 novels and 39 novellas that were written between 1934 and 1975, the year of death of the author, Rex Stout. The book I read was The Doorbell Rang and I think it would not work well at all in a daily comic strip. Itâs much too complicated. That novel severely criticized the FBI and I understand that J. Edgar Hoover kept a close watch on Stout for suspected Communist connections.
For those who donât know Wolfe at all, he tended to keep to his New York City brownstone residence and he had rule about never going out of the house on business. All of the investigating out in the field was done by his assistant, Archie Goodwin. Wolfe had a strict routine at home, including a time set aside for his beloved orchids and very formal gourmet meals prepared by his chef, Fritz Brenner. Wolfe was also always reading books when Goodwin went to report to him.
I just cannot overstate how excited I was to see Nero Wolfeâs name!Just hoping it isnât a let down.(Paid up member of the âWolfe Packâ fan club)
Oh goody! Yet ANOTHER meaningless, go nowhere, whereâs that ritalin, âcelebrityâ crossover story. Geez, I just canât get enough of these things!
And yet, somewhere some old man is still digging thru a mountain of papers in his garage while lonely olâ ollie blank eyes puffs on yet another stogie trying to decide whether or not to call tracy to help him with whatever vague problem he currently has
Trivia: there was a Nero Wolfe newspaper comic strip for a while. After all the dark-haired actors who have played Archie Goodwin, I was shocked that the cartoonist drew Archie as a blond! Archie never describes himself in the books, so itâs possible. Iâm really looking forward to Shelleyâs version.
During the years when Tracyâs partner was Pat, there was no MCU, as depicted in todayâs last panel. Tracy and Pat took on every kind of crime, from kidnapping to petty theft. (You could look it up!)
Tough times for Sam fans lately, with Mr. C mostly absent from the last case and now about to be benched again while a yarn that predates him unfoldsâŠ.
And, we now come to the Nero Wolfe crossover, obviously authorized by Rex Stout/Robert Goldsboroughâs publisher and, the Stout estate. Iâve seen a few drawings on how Wolfe would look like, and, then thereâs the various actors who have portrayed him on TV. It should be interesting to see how Shelly sees him (and, Archie too?)
Iâve always imagined Shelley as being much younger than Mike and I fear that her youth will cause her to draw Nero Wolfe like Robert Pattinson in the Twilight movies. I suppose if she makes that mistake, at least Tracy will get a bunch of new, pre-teen readers. UghâŠ
1-SAM: Our newspaper sure is hurting for news! Lookit this headline! DT: Well you know they canât afford to subscribe to AP and the mayor wonât let them print any local government failures.
2-SAM: Lucky for the MCU. DT: Yep. We screwed the pooch on that Art Dekko thing but the public will never know!
3-SAM: On the other hand, now this outta towner detective gets all the press.
4-DT: Lemme tell ya a story about the Chief that will explain why thatâs a good thing. CHIEF: Was I sober in this here story, boy-o? DT: Course notâŠ
5-âŠHang on a sec â I gotta put my hat back on to tell this story. So the Chief wasnât Chief then and he was still young enough to handle the booze he had in his glass-lined cane. He was headed out to fill his satchel with the weekly take from bars whenâŠ
CHIEF from the doorway: I STILL HAVE THAT CANE AND SATCHEL! DT: Not important, Chief. Anyway, as usual he grabs a couple of shots along with each cash pickup and as always â loses the satchel! SO the rest of the department has to chip in for the mayorâs piece! We all hate the Irish drunk but the mayor â who always gets his cut â thinks heâs great and makes him CHIEF! And that works out for us because Liz is a reliable and sober bagman! CHIEF: HAPPY ENDINGS ALL AROUND! LETâS HAVE A DRINK TO CELEBRATE! BURRRPPP!
And so we begin the long-expected Nero Wolfe crossover, beginning with Tracyâs reminiscing about the Old Days with then-Detective Pat Patton (seen in the last panel as he was then) as his partner. Where will this lead, besides to a certain NY brownstone?
Back from a week-long trip to the Middle East and I find the story has wrapped up, if you want to call it a âwrap-upâ, and weâre starting another one. Okay. Weâll give this one a few days to get going. It has to be an improvement, right?
From the looks of todayâs story, it looks like I am going to get a flashback narrative with a touch of comic strip noir (my paraphrasing of film noir) I just went to a search engine and found out Sam was partnered with Tracy on September 11, 1949. So in the last panel, it looks like Pat was the one who is going fishing for the weekend. Nero Wolfe must have appeared on the scene when Pat left. From reading a few Nero Wolfe mysteries, the character was rather portly and had an affinity for food.
By the time this flashback wraps up, I hope Mike and Shelley will have some new villains. Generation Xers and the Millennials, I donât recall seeing these groups represented and reflected in the strip as of yet. The former costumed hero should have graduated from the police academy by the time this storyline concludes. Maybe he and his superior will the ones who contact MCU about a pending case.
âTurn around slowly Tracy, and be nice to the little girly. I donât want to, but I wonât hesitate to put a hole the size of Gertieâs cooking pot in youâ.
For the first time in his life Tracy felt totally dumbfounded. He must be imagining things. For a second he thought the voice he just heard sounded just like B.O. Plentyâs.
âB.O?â Tracy stammered, âis that you?â
âWell it sure enough ainât Groovy Grove, ya darn fool!â B.O. chuckled at Tracy.
Ugly Crystal, walking to the wall, turned on the storeâs lights, which caused Tracy to squint and put his hands over his eyes.
âChief detective Tracy, I think you know Doctor Fix, who my uncle hand picked to run his operation while heâs away, thanks to you!â
Tracy, still shocked by all of this turned to B.O. and simply said, B.O., why?"
B.O. smiled and said, âAll these years you and everyone else bought my dumb hillbilly act. What better person to operate in plain sight without anyone suspecting me of running Briberyâs in his absence."
âBut how do you know Bribery?â Tracy asked, while scanning the room to see if there was anyway he could get the jump on them.
âWeâve known each other for years. Bribery bought goat milk from me and Gertie for years!â
Suddenly Ugly Chrystal moved in front of Tracy.
âEnough of all these questions. Now youâll listen to us and do what we say, or youâll regret what happens next!â
âTurn around slowly Tracy, and be nice to the little girly. I donât want to, but I wonât hesitate to put a hole the size of Gertieâs cooking pot in youâ.
For the first time in his life Tracy felt totally dumbfounded. He must be imagining things. For a second he thought the voice he just heard sounded just like B.O. Plentyâs.
âB.O?â Tracy stammered, âis that you?â
âWell it sure enough ainât Groovy Grove, ya darn fool!â B.O. chuckled at Tracy.
Ugly Crystal, walking to the wall, turned on the storeâs lights, which caused Tracy to squint and put his hands over his eyes.
âChief detective Tracy, I think you know Doctor Fix, who my uncle hand picked to run his operation while heâs away, thanks to you!â
Tracy, still shocked by all of this turned to B.O. and simply said, B.O., why?"
B.O. smiled and said, âAll these years you and everyone else bought my dumb hillbilly act. What better person to operate in plain sight without anyone suspecting me of running Briberyâs in his absence."
âBut how do you know Bribery?â Tracy asked, while scanning the room to see if there was anyway he could get the jump on them.
âWeâve known each other for years. Bribery bought goat milk from me and Gertie for years!â
Suddenly Ugly Chrystal moved in front of Tracy.
âEnough of all this yaking. If it were up to me Iâd have eliminated you a long time ago. Youâre just lucky I like Honeymoon. Now youâll listen to us and do what we say, or youâll regret what happens next!â
Tracy knew that he was in a real jam and needed to act quickly. A crazy idea came to him.
âWhat do I have to lose?â He figured as he prepared to give his idea a try.
âTurn around slowly Tracy, and be nice to the little girly. I donât want to, but I wonât hesitate to put a hole the size of Gertieâs cooking pot in youâ.
For the first time in his life Tracy felt totally dumbfounded. He must be imagining things. For a second he thought the voice he just heard sounded just like B.O. Plentyâs.
âB.O?â Tracy stammered, âis that you?â
âWell it sure enough ainât Groovy Grove, ya darn fool!â B.O. chuckled at Tracy.
Ugly Crystal, walking to the wall, turned on the storeâs lights, which caused Tracy to squint and put his hands over his eyes.
âChief detective Tracy, I think you know Doctor Fix, who my uncle hand picked to run his operation while heâs away, thanks to you!â
Tracy, still shocked by all of this turned to B.O. and simply said, B.O., why?"
B.O. smiled and said, âAll these years you and everyone else bought my dumb hillbilly act. What better person to operate in plain sight without anyone suspecting me of running Briberyâs business in his absence."
âBut how do you know Bribery?â Tracy asked, while scanning the room to see if there was anyway he could get the jump on them.
âWeâve known each for a long time. Bribery bought goat milk from me and Gertie for years!â
Suddenly Ugly Chrystal moved in front of Tracy.
âEnough of all this yaking. If it were up to me Iâd have eliminated you a long time ago. Youâre just lucky I like Honeymoon. Now youâll listen to us and do what we say, or youâll regret what happens next!â
Tracy knew that he was in a real jam and needed to act quickly. A crazy idea came to him.
âWhat do I have to lose?â He figured as he prepared to give his idea a try.
Tracy had a plan, but for it to work heâd need to set the groundwork, and quickly.âWell B.O., I give you credit, All these years you had me fooled. I always thought you were nothing but a mindless, stupid, ugly, idiotic hillbilly bumpkin and here you are, the second in command of a huge, evil empire!â
B.O. squinted his eyes and hissed; âWhat do you mean, âSecond in command?â Iâm in charge of this here crime syndicate!â
Tracy grinned; he knew B.O. ate the bait.âWell my former friend, obviously Ugly Crystal is the real brains and leader of the syndicate. Do you really think Bribery wouldnât leave his niece in charge while he was picking up soap?â
Crystal quickly interrupted Tracy; â Shut up, you lousy excuse for a cop! Donât listen to him B.O., heâs just trying to put a wedge between us!â
Tracy went for the kill; âB.O. if and when Bribery ever gets out, youâll be goat food before you can say; âYee Haw!ââ
Crystal pulled her beloved slingshot out of her back pocket and placed a large, round rock with spikes on it in it.
âI wonât hesitate to kill you with this Tracy, and then Iâll leak to the newspapers all about your secret Lost Weekend in the Catskills and about what you did to poor, poor Hilda!â We own most of the papers and theyâd love a juicy story of a beloved detective messed up in scandal!
To be continued
Every time I try to wrap up the story it keeps pulling me back in!
B.O. squinted his eyes and hissed; âWhat do you mean, âSecond in command?â Iâm in charge of this here crime syndicate!â
Tracy grinned; he knew B.O. ate the bait.âWell my former friend, obviously Ugly Crystal is the real brains and leader of the syndicate. Do you really think Bribery wouldnât leave his niece in charge while he was picking up soap?â
Crystal quickly interrupted Tracy; â Shut up, you lousy excuse for a cop! Donât listen to him B.O., heâs just trying to put a wedge between us!â
Tracy went for the kill; âB.O. if and when Bribery ever gets out, youâll be goat food before you can say; âYee Haw!ââ
Crystal pulled her beloved slingshot out of her back pocket and placed a large, round rock with spikes in it.
âI wonât hesitate to kill you with this Tracy, and then Iâll leak to the newspapers all about your secret Lost Weekend in the Catskills and about what you did to poor, poor Hilda!â
âYe Gads!â Tracy thought in shocked horror, âThe little maggot knows about Hilda!â
âWe own most of the papers in the cityâ, she continued, "and theyâd love a juicy story of a beloved detective messed up in scandal!
Tracy, trying to remember where he heard that before knew it was now or never!
To be continued
Every time I try to wrap up the story it keeps pulling me back in!
Tracy had a plan, but for it to work heâd need to set the groundwork, and quickly.âWell B.O., I give you credit, All these years you had me fooled. I always thought you were nothing but a mindless, stupid, ugly, idiotic hillbilly bumpkin and here you are, the second in command of a huge, evil empire!â
B.O. squinted his eyes and hissed; âWhat do you mean, âSecond in command?â Iâm in charge of this here crime syndicate!â
Tracy grinned; he knew B.O. ate the bait.âWell my former friend, obviously Ugly Crystal is the real brains and leader of the syndicate. Do you really think Bribery wouldnât leave his niece in charge while he was picking up soap?â
Crystal quickly interrupted Tracy; â Shut up, you lousy excuse for a cop! Donât listen to him B.O., heâs just trying to put a wedge between us!â
Tracy went for the kill; âB.O. if and when Bribery ever gets out, youâll be goat food before you can say; âYee Haw!ââ
Crystal pulled her beloved slingshot out of her back pocket and placed a large, round rock with spikes in it.
âI wonât hesitate to kill you with this Tracy, and then Iâll leak to the newspapers all about your secret Lost Weekend in the Catskills and about what you did to poor, poor Hilda!â
âYe Gads!â Tracy thought in shocked horror, âThe little maggot knows about Hilda!â
âWe own most of the papers in the cityâ, she continued, "and theyâd love a juicy story of a beloved detective messed up in scandal!
Tracy, trying to remember where he heard that before knew it was now or never!
To be continued
Every time I try to wrap up the story it keeps pulling me back in!
Tracy had a plan, but for it to work heâd need to set the groundwork, and quickly.
âWell B.O., I give you credit, All these years you had me fooled. I always thought you were nothing but a mindless, stupid, ugly, idiotic hillbilly bumpkin and here you are, the second in command of a huge, evil empire!â
B.O. squinted his eyes and hissed; âWhat do you mean, âSecond in command?â Iâm in charge of this here crime syndicate!â
Tracy grinned; he knew B.O. ate the bait.
âB.O., my former friend, obviously Ugly Crystal is the real brains and leader of the syndicate. Do you really think Bribery wouldnât leave his niece in charge while he was picking up soap?â
Crystal quickly interrupted Tracy;
âShut up, you lousy excuse for a cop! Donât listen to him B.O., heâs just trying to put a wedge between us!â
Tracy went for the kill; âB.O. if and when Bribery ever gets out, youâll be goat food before you can say; âYee Haw!ââ
Crystal pulled her beloved slingshot out of her back pocket and placed a large, round rock with spikes in it.
âI wonât hesitate to kill you with this Tracy, and then Iâll leak to the newspapers all about your secret Lost Weekend in the Catskills and about what you did to poor, poor Hilda!â
âYe Gads!â Tracy thought in shocked horror, âThe little maggot knows about Hilda!â
âWe own most of the papers in the cityâ, she continued, "and theyâd love a juicy story of a beloved detective messed up in scandal!
Tracy, trying to remember where he heard that before knew it was now or never!
To be continued
Every time I try to wrap up the story it keeps pulling me back in!
avenger09 about 2 years ago
Tracy Meets Doctor Fix
Chapter 9
Tracy, feeling his rage coming to the surface, turned towards Crystal.
âUgly Crystal, I knew you werenât the innocent, poor little niece of a madman! Youâre going to pay for thisâ!
âDonât call my uncle Bribery that, heâs a genius and a great man!â
Tracy laughed out loud, âNot so great that he couldnât get caught by me and sent to jail for a very, very long time!â!
Crystal grinned widely while almost hissing; âDonât think those four walls are stopping him from ruling this city. Heâs still in total control with his wishes being carried out by folk like me, his sweet, shy niece!â
âDonât you mean a devious niece, better known as Doctor Fix?â Tracy sarcastically said.
Crystal laughed out loud with a surprised look on her face.
âYou think Iâm Doctor Fix? I underestimated how dumb you are. Of course Iâm not Doctor Fix, Iâm just a loving niece delivering messages!â
Tracy eyes narrowed and he gritted his teeth.
âWell then, if youâre not Doctor Fix then I donât need to take anymore of this Lady GaGa from you, do I?â
Tracy began to walk towards where a smiling Crystal was standing, but before he finish his second step, Tracy froze upon hearing the sound of a shotgun being cocked.
No, Iâm not Doctor Fix, but he is!"
To be Continued
(I know, Iâm trying to finish the story but I figure I owe it to my 3 fans not pull a Mike and leave them dangling!(calm down Firebug!))
avenger09 about 2 years ago
Sigh, another wasted Sunday on a history lesson.
Brian Premium Member about 2 years ago
That guy in the final panel looks to be about 1/2 the size of the ârealâ Nero Wolfe.
avenger09 about 2 years ago
Patâs like; âGeez, let me get out of here before I get suckered into listening to this story for the umpteenth time!â
firestrike1 about 2 years ago
flashback time⊠and now it begins⊠and thank god, no Garage Man til the summertime, hopefully⊠this should drive the Garage lovers crazy and quiet until summertimeâŠ
boboscar about 2 years ago
âAnd now for something completely different.â
With Art Dekko & Sue Reel in custody, and 99 safely out of town, and Tracy reminiscing about the time he met Nero Wolfe, it appears weâve reached the start of a new story. When Iâve decided a new storyâs started, I do a list of every Tracy story on GoComics. Unfortunately, soon after I started doing this GC imposed an asinine character limit of only 2000 characters which includes every letter, space, punctuation, & html, which means I have to do this over several posts. Iâll do my initial introduction in this post and start the list in the next one, because otherwise, I canât even get past the second year.
My notes are fairly simple. Just my name for the story (usually the name of the main villain or villains, unless they just arenât the emphasis) followed by the dates the story began and ended. If someone was the main villain for more than one story, I add a âIIâ and so on to emphasize this. If more than one villain from a past story are in the same story committing major crimes, I include them altogether. Finally, for the 4 cases of more than one villain with the same name (Chameleon, Mr. Crime, Shaky, the Ace of Spades) I add, âThe Secondâ in front of their names.
Minit Mysteries Note: at the request of people who wanted to see these listed here, Iâve decided to make a separate post for them to keep the listing of Mike Curtis stories in as few posts as possible.
At the start of the GoComics archive, the writer was the late Mike Kilian. Personally, I like his work on Tracy and think heâs very underrated. At the very least, he knew how to tell a story in the daily strip format where every day, something happens that moves the story along, a quality his successor sorely lacked. I recommend anyone here who hasnât read these stories to check them out.
TBC cuz GC decided to suck now
ScottHolman about 2 years ago
Old story over? Well that was excitingâŠ.not.
Ashmael about 2 years ago
IâM really looking forward to see how Shelley depicts the most ponderoys private sleuth!
boboscar about 2 years ago
Curtis Crossovers
Iâve started taking notes on all the crossovers (x-overs) Curtis has written into the strip. I wasnât taking notes of these when they first came out, so I had to start from scratch. Iâm able to do this because Iâve taken on trying to read every single Dick Tracy story in the comic strip, alternating between reading Gouldâs original strips (which I can read in my complete collection of IDW reprints), the post-Gould pre-GoComics period (which I can read in Newspapers.com) and the GC period. This is a WIP (Work In Progress) that will take a very long time for me to complete. In the meantime, Iâll post that WIP here on the same day I list GC stories, listing the year, then the titles of the stories in boldface and anyone here can use my GC list for cross reference.
IMHO, there are several different types of x-overs: characters from other comic strips, characters from other media outside comic strips (including characters that originate from Dick Tracy media outside the DT comic strip), real life celebrities appearing as themselves, and Written Around Trademarks (WAT) cameos from other strips and media. A WAT cameo is one where itâs never directly stated, so thereâs room for plausible deniability, but itâs pretty obvious itâs this character.
Finally, I decided not to include characters based on real life celebrities but with different names, because I feel the changed names mean theyâre not really x-overs. However, I will give honorable mention to the two most prominent such characters here, and the stories they debuted in: Jerry King (based on real life wrestler Jerry Lawler) who made his debut in the Thunderchild story, and George Tawara and his husband Brad (based on real life actor George Takei and his husband Brad) who made their debuts in the Sweat Box story.
My list is coming up in the reply.
BreathlessMahoney77 about 2 years ago
The story was just starting to pick up some real narrative steam, with an intriguing woman of mystery on the run & the introduction of a potentially great villain. So of course Mike has Tracy pouring coffee & telling us thereâs nothing going on, & will now give us at least a week of a cross-over story featuring a character that could just as well have been chosen by throwing a dart at a board with the names of literary detectives who have about as much connection with the world of Dick Tracy as Daffy Duck. Really, Mike, are you that bored with the strip?
Ida No about 2 years ago
How can you recognize Nero Wolfe, heâs the Stout one.
Neil Wick about 2 years ago
Good morningâą, everyone!
Well, I sleep through the changeover, so I thought Iâd better come on and say hello.
It seems that we are setting up for an extended flashback story. We are not looking at Nero Wolfe yet. This whole scenario would be out of character for Wolfe. This is clearly Pat in the last panel.
â⊠when Pat and I were partners. As I recall, he [Pat] was taking off for a long weekend, but came by to rub it in.â So, thatâs the setting. Tracyâs partner at the time, Pat, has left for the weekend, leaving Tracy in the office all by himself. So, Tracy is going to tell Sam the whole story about how he came to know Nero Wolfe.
I have read exactly one Nero Wolfe book out of the 33 novels and 39 novellas that were written between 1934 and 1975, the year of death of the author, Rex Stout. The book I read was The Doorbell Rang and I think it would not work well at all in a daily comic strip. Itâs much too complicated. That novel severely criticized the FBI and I understand that J. Edgar Hoover kept a close watch on Stout for suspected Communist connections.
For those who donât know Wolfe at all, he tended to keep to his New York City brownstone residence and he had rule about never going out of the house on business. All of the investigating out in the field was done by his assistant, Archie Goodwin. Wolfe had a strict routine at home, including a time set aside for his beloved orchids and very formal gourmet meals prepared by his chef, Fritz Brenner. Wolfe was also always reading books when Goodwin went to report to him.
CarrollJr about 2 years ago
A very young Nero Wolfe if he has left his home.
Farmboy71 about 2 years ago
Let me guess⊠Pat was off to spend his long weekend at a comic book conventionâŠ
therese_callahan2002 about 2 years ago
At least the sites I buy food and clothes on are 100% legit.
Mark Jeffrey Premium Member about 2 years ago
I just cannot overstate how excited I was to see Nero Wolfeâs name!Just hoping it isnât a let down.(Paid up member of the âWolfe Packâ fan club)
tsull2121 about 2 years ago
Oh goody! Yet ANOTHER meaningless, go nowhere, whereâs that ritalin, âcelebrityâ crossover story. Geez, I just canât get enough of these things!
And yet, somewhere some old man is still digging thru a mountain of papers in his garage while lonely olâ ollie blank eyes puffs on yet another stogie trying to decide whether or not to call tracy to help him with whatever vague problem he currently has
CaptainKiddeo about 2 years ago
Trivia: there was a Nero Wolfe newspaper comic strip for a while. After all the dark-haired actors who have played Archie Goodwin, I was shocked that the cartoonist drew Archie as a blond! Archie never describes himself in the books, so itâs possible. Iâm really looking forward to Shelleyâs version.
cmerb about 2 years ago
The images are just great by Shelley today , thanks " BIG " time : )
Sporteric11 about 2 years ago
I always enjoy reading your notes.
Sporteric11 about 2 years ago
I remember Nero Wolfe being played by Raymond Burr so I expect his comic counterpart to be a big man !
Ken in Ohio about 2 years ago
During the years when Tracyâs partner was Pat, there was no MCU, as depicted in todayâs last panel. Tracy and Pat took on every kind of crime, from kidnapping to petty theft. (You could look it up!)
SKJAM! Premium Member about 2 years ago
Hmm, Nero Wolfe isnât in the public domain, so I presume this is a licensed appearance (when the character actually appears on page, that is.)
Just-me about 2 years ago
I remember William Conrad playing Nero Wolfe in the 80âs tv series.
orbenjawell Premium Member about 2 years ago
Ohhhhh-kay: I confess: Iâm new to this oneâŠâŠ.soâŠ.âlead, kindly light, lead thou me onââŠâŠ..
orbenjawell Premium Member about 2 years ago
âŠâŠlike that look on the chiefâs face: like: âOh hell, heâs actually going to tell itâŠâŠâ
oakie817 about 2 years ago
read everything Mr. Stout wrote when i was a kid
Delicate Girl about 2 years ago
Demanding readers want to knowâŠWTH? With the world spinning out of control, I prefer a little Tracy slowness.
atomicdog about 2 years ago
Ooo
Batster about 2 years ago
Tough times for Sam fans lately, with Mr. C mostly absent from the last case and now about to be benched again while a yarn that predates him unfoldsâŠ.
WilliamVollmer about 2 years ago
And, we now come to the Nero Wolfe crossover, obviously authorized by Rex Stout/Robert Goldsboroughâs publisher and, the Stout estate. Iâve seen a few drawings on how Wolfe would look like, and, then thereâs the various actors who have portrayed him on TV. It should be interesting to see how Shelly sees him (and, Archie too?)
prrdh about 2 years ago
https://www.scribd.com/podcast/418728119/Episode-147-Wolfe-in-Sheep-s-Clothing-Amazing-Nero-Wolfe-Billed-at-one-time-as-the-handsomest-man-in-the-world-silent-screen-idol-Francis-X-B
TracyFan 65 about 2 years ago
Tracyâs gotten YEARS of use out of that necktie!
Wichita1.0 about 2 years ago
So early, Mike?
Wichita1.0 about 2 years ago
SAM (continuing): So, everyone. Do you know Pinky Pie from MY LITTLE PONY?
TRACY: KNOW her? I was best man at her wedding to Papa Smurf.
MuddyUSA Premium Member about 2 years ago
The art work on this current strip is excellent. Nice work, Shelly!
Another Take about 2 years ago
Iâve always imagined Shelley as being much younger than Mike and I fear that her youth will cause her to draw Nero Wolfe like Robert Pattinson in the Twilight movies. I suppose if she makes that mistake, at least Tracy will get a bunch of new, pre-teen readers. UghâŠ
Another Take about 2 years ago
1-SAM: Our newspaper sure is hurting for news! Lookit this headline! DT: Well you know they canât afford to subscribe to AP and the mayor wonât let them print any local government failures.
2-SAM: Lucky for the MCU. DT: Yep. We screwed the pooch on that Art Dekko thing but the public will never know!
3-SAM: On the other hand, now this outta towner detective gets all the press.
4-DT: Lemme tell ya a story about the Chief that will explain why thatâs a good thing. CHIEF: Was I sober in this here story, boy-o? DT: Course notâŠ
5-âŠHang on a sec â I gotta put my hat back on to tell this story. So the Chief wasnât Chief then and he was still young enough to handle the booze he had in his glass-lined cane. He was headed out to fill his satchel with the weekly take from bars whenâŠ
CHIEF from the doorway: I STILL HAVE THAT CANE AND SATCHEL! DT: Not important, Chief. Anyway, as usual he grabs a couple of shots along with each cash pickup and as always â loses the satchel! SO the rest of the department has to chip in for the mayorâs piece! We all hate the Irish drunk but the mayor â who always gets his cut â thinks heâs great and makes him CHIEF! And that works out for us because Liz is a reliable and sober bagman! CHIEF: HAPPY ENDINGS ALL AROUND! LETâS HAVE A DRINK TO CELEBRATE! BURRRPPP!
42Irish Premium Member about 2 years ago
I was wondering about the MOLAR CRIMES UNIT?
sugordon about 2 years ago
It looks like Pat is going fishing in our flashback.
Wichita1.0 about 2 years ago
TRACY (continuing): âPat caught a U-Boat and NEVER let me forget it! Yu may have notices itâs mounted on the wall of his office.â
Sisyphos about 2 years ago
Bye bye, Agent 99! Crime does pay! (Grumble!)
And so we begin the long-expected Nero Wolfe crossover, beginning with Tracyâs reminiscing about the Old Days with then-Detective Pat Patton (seen in the last panel as he was then) as his partner. Where will this lead, besides to a certain NY brownstone?
Gweedo -it's legal here- Murray about 2 years ago
P. 5. Tracy looks really good. :-)
jim_pem about 2 years ago
Back from a week-long trip to the Middle East and I find the story has wrapped up, if you want to call it a âwrap-upâ, and weâre starting another one. Okay. Weâll give this one a few days to get going. It has to be an improvement, right?
IvanB.Cohen about 2 years ago
From the looks of todayâs story, it looks like I am going to get a flashback narrative with a touch of comic strip noir (my paraphrasing of film noir) I just went to a search engine and found out Sam was partnered with Tracy on September 11, 1949. So in the last panel, it looks like Pat was the one who is going fishing for the weekend. Nero Wolfe must have appeared on the scene when Pat left. From reading a few Nero Wolfe mysteries, the character was rather portly and had an affinity for food.
IvanB.Cohen about 2 years ago
By the time this flashback wraps up, I hope Mike and Shelley will have some new villains. Generation Xers and the Millennials, I donât recall seeing these groups represented and reflected in the strip as of yet. The former costumed hero should have graduated from the police academy by the time this storyline concludes. Maybe he and his superior will the ones who contact MCU about a pending case.
IvanB.Cohen about 2 years ago
As Tracy is telling this story, was there even a Major Crimes Unit? The lettering on the door makes me wonder.
avenger09 about 2 years ago
Tracy Meets Doctor Fix
Chapter 10
âTurn around slowly Tracy, and be nice to the little girly. I donât want to, but I wonât hesitate to put a hole the size of Gertieâs cooking pot in youâ.
For the first time in his life Tracy felt totally dumbfounded. He must be imagining things. For a second he thought the voice he just heard sounded just like B.O. Plentyâs.
âB.O?â Tracy stammered, âis that you?â
âWell it sure enough ainât Groovy Grove, ya darn fool!â B.O. chuckled at Tracy.
Ugly Crystal, walking to the wall, turned on the storeâs lights, which caused Tracy to squint and put his hands over his eyes.
âChief detective Tracy, I think you know Doctor Fix, who my uncle hand picked to run his operation while heâs away, thanks to you!â
Tracy, still shocked by all of this turned to B.O. and simply said, B.O., why?"
B.O. smiled and said, âAll these years you and everyone else bought my dumb hillbilly act. What better person to operate in plain sight without anyone suspecting me of running Briberyâs in his absence."
âBut how do you know Bribery?â Tracy asked, while scanning the room to see if there was anyway he could get the jump on them.
âWeâve known each other for years. Bribery bought goat milk from me and Gertie for years!â
Suddenly Ugly Chrystal moved in front of Tracy.
âEnough of all these questions. Now youâll listen to us and do what we say, or youâll regret what happens next!â
Before
avenger09 about 2 years ago
Tracy Meets Doctor Fix
Chapter 10
âTurn around slowly Tracy, and be nice to the little girly. I donât want to, but I wonât hesitate to put a hole the size of Gertieâs cooking pot in youâ.
For the first time in his life Tracy felt totally dumbfounded. He must be imagining things. For a second he thought the voice he just heard sounded just like B.O. Plentyâs.
âB.O?â Tracy stammered, âis that you?â
âWell it sure enough ainât Groovy Grove, ya darn fool!â B.O. chuckled at Tracy.
Ugly Crystal, walking to the wall, turned on the storeâs lights, which caused Tracy to squint and put his hands over his eyes.
âChief detective Tracy, I think you know Doctor Fix, who my uncle hand picked to run his operation while heâs away, thanks to you!â
Tracy, still shocked by all of this turned to B.O. and simply said, B.O., why?"
B.O. smiled and said, âAll these years you and everyone else bought my dumb hillbilly act. What better person to operate in plain sight without anyone suspecting me of running Briberyâs in his absence."
âBut how do you know Bribery?â Tracy asked, while scanning the room to see if there was anyway he could get the jump on them.
âWeâve known each other for years. Bribery bought goat milk from me and Gertie for years!â
Suddenly Ugly Chrystal moved in front of Tracy.
âEnough of all this yaking. If it were up to me Iâd have eliminated you a long time ago. Youâre just lucky I like Honeymoon. Now youâll listen to us and do what we say, or youâll regret what happens next!â
Tracy knew that he was in a real jam and needed to act quickly. A crazy idea came to him.
âWhat do I have to lose?â He figured as he prepared to give his idea a try.
Getting close to the end.
avenger09 about 2 years ago
Tracy Meets Doctor Fix
Chapter 10
âTurn around slowly Tracy, and be nice to the little girly. I donât want to, but I wonât hesitate to put a hole the size of Gertieâs cooking pot in youâ.
For the first time in his life Tracy felt totally dumbfounded. He must be imagining things. For a second he thought the voice he just heard sounded just like B.O. Plentyâs.
âB.O?â Tracy stammered, âis that you?â
âWell it sure enough ainât Groovy Grove, ya darn fool!â B.O. chuckled at Tracy.
Ugly Crystal, walking to the wall, turned on the storeâs lights, which caused Tracy to squint and put his hands over his eyes.
âChief detective Tracy, I think you know Doctor Fix, who my uncle hand picked to run his operation while heâs away, thanks to you!â
Tracy, still shocked by all of this turned to B.O. and simply said, B.O., why?"
B.O. smiled and said, âAll these years you and everyone else bought my dumb hillbilly act. What better person to operate in plain sight without anyone suspecting me of running Briberyâs business in his absence."
âBut how do you know Bribery?â Tracy asked, while scanning the room to see if there was anyway he could get the jump on them.
âWeâve known each for a long time. Bribery bought goat milk from me and Gertie for years!â
Suddenly Ugly Chrystal moved in front of Tracy.
âEnough of all this yaking. If it were up to me Iâd have eliminated you a long time ago. Youâre just lucky I like Honeymoon. Now youâll listen to us and do what we say, or youâll regret what happens next!â
Tracy knew that he was in a real jam and needed to act quickly. A crazy idea came to him.
âWhat do I have to lose?â He figured as he prepared to give his idea a try.
To be continued. Getting close to the end
avenger09 about 2 years ago
Tracy Meets Doctor Fix
Chapter 11
Tracy had a plan, but for it to work heâd need to set the groundwork, and quickly.âWell B.O., I give you credit, All these years you had me fooled. I always thought you were nothing but a mindless, stupid, ugly, idiotic hillbilly bumpkin and here you are, the second in command of a huge, evil empire!â
B.O. squinted his eyes and hissed; âWhat do you mean, âSecond in command?â Iâm in charge of this here crime syndicate!â
Tracy grinned; he knew B.O. ate the bait.âWell my former friend, obviously Ugly Crystal is the real brains and leader of the syndicate. Do you really think Bribery wouldnât leave his niece in charge while he was picking up soap?â
Crystal quickly interrupted Tracy; â Shut up, you lousy excuse for a cop! Donât listen to him B.O., heâs just trying to put a wedge between us!â
Tracy went for the kill; âB.O. if and when Bribery ever gets out, youâll be goat food before you can say; âYee Haw!ââ
Crystal pulled her beloved slingshot out of her back pocket and placed a large, round rock with spikes on it in it.
âI wonât hesitate to kill you with this Tracy, and then Iâll leak to the newspapers all about your secret Lost Weekend in the Catskills and about what you did to poor, poor Hilda!â We own most of the papers and theyâd love a juicy story of a beloved detective messed up in scandal!
To be continued
Every time I try to wrap up the story it keeps pulling me back in!
avenger09 about 2 years ago
empire!â
B.O. squinted his eyes and hissed; âWhat do you mean, âSecond in command?â Iâm in charge of this here crime syndicate!â
Tracy grinned; he knew B.O. ate the bait.âWell my former friend, obviously Ugly Crystal is the real brains and leader of the syndicate. Do you really think Bribery wouldnât leave his niece in charge while he was picking up soap?â
Crystal quickly interrupted Tracy; â Shut up, you lousy excuse for a cop! Donât listen to him B.O., heâs just trying to put a wedge between us!â
Tracy went for the kill; âB.O. if and when Bribery ever gets out, youâll be goat food before you can say; âYee Haw!ââ
Crystal pulled her beloved slingshot out of her back pocket and placed a large, round rock with spikes in it.
âI wonât hesitate to kill you with this Tracy, and then Iâll leak to the newspapers all about your secret Lost Weekend in the Catskills and about what you did to poor, poor Hilda!â
âYe Gads!â Tracy thought in shocked horror, âThe little maggot knows about Hilda!â
âWe own most of the papers in the cityâ, she continued, "and theyâd love a juicy story of a beloved detective messed up in scandal!
Tracy, trying to remember where he heard that before knew it was now or never!
To be continued
Every time I try to wrap up the story it keeps pulling me back in!
avenger09 about 2 years ago
Chapter 11
Tracy had a plan, but for it to work heâd need to set the groundwork, and quickly.âWell B.O., I give you credit, All these years you had me fooled. I always thought you were nothing but a mindless, stupid, ugly, idiotic hillbilly bumpkin and here you are, the second in command of a huge, evil empire!â
B.O. squinted his eyes and hissed; âWhat do you mean, âSecond in command?â Iâm in charge of this here crime syndicate!â
Tracy grinned; he knew B.O. ate the bait.âWell my former friend, obviously Ugly Crystal is the real brains and leader of the syndicate. Do you really think Bribery wouldnât leave his niece in charge while he was picking up soap?â
Crystal quickly interrupted Tracy; â Shut up, you lousy excuse for a cop! Donât listen to him B.O., heâs just trying to put a wedge between us!â
Tracy went for the kill; âB.O. if and when Bribery ever gets out, youâll be goat food before you can say; âYee Haw!ââ
Crystal pulled her beloved slingshot out of her back pocket and placed a large, round rock with spikes in it.
âI wonât hesitate to kill you with this Tracy, and then Iâll leak to the newspapers all about your secret Lost Weekend in the Catskills and about what you did to poor, poor Hilda!â
âYe Gads!â Tracy thought in shocked horror, âThe little maggot knows about Hilda!â
âWe own most of the papers in the cityâ, she continued, "and theyâd love a juicy story of a beloved detective messed up in scandal!
Tracy, trying to remember where he heard that before knew it was now or never!
To be continued
Every time I try to wrap up the story it keeps pulling me back in!
avenger09 about 2 years ago
Tracy had a plan, but for it to work heâd need to set the groundwork, and quickly.
âWell B.O., I give you credit, All these years you had me fooled. I always thought you were nothing but a mindless, stupid, ugly, idiotic hillbilly bumpkin and here you are, the second in command of a huge, evil empire!â
B.O. squinted his eyes and hissed; âWhat do you mean, âSecond in command?â Iâm in charge of this here crime syndicate!â
Tracy grinned; he knew B.O. ate the bait.
âB.O., my former friend, obviously Ugly Crystal is the real brains and leader of the syndicate. Do you really think Bribery wouldnât leave his niece in charge while he was picking up soap?â
Crystal quickly interrupted Tracy;
âShut up, you lousy excuse for a cop! Donât listen to him B.O., heâs just trying to put a wedge between us!â
Tracy went for the kill; âB.O. if and when Bribery ever gets out, youâll be goat food before you can say; âYee Haw!ââ
Crystal pulled her beloved slingshot out of her back pocket and placed a large, round rock with spikes in it.
âI wonât hesitate to kill you with this Tracy, and then Iâll leak to the newspapers all about your secret Lost Weekend in the Catskills and about what you did to poor, poor Hilda!â
âYe Gads!â Tracy thought in shocked horror, âThe little maggot knows about Hilda!â
âWe own most of the papers in the cityâ, she continued, "and theyâd love a juicy story of a beloved detective messed up in scandal!
Tracy, trying to remember where he heard that before knew it was now or never!
To be continued
Every time I try to wrap up the story it keeps pulling me back in!