Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for April 15, 2023

Pawn Stars game expert Steve Johnston apparently:

https://gspawn.com/pages/meet-the-experts

Good morning™, everyone!

Okay, so I believe that this is Steve Johnston from Rogue Toys who advises on toys for “Pawn Stars.” He seems to already know Sam. Maybe they talked on the phone. He also seems to be a fan of a certain “bat” character.

Good morning™, diverted Gamers. !

Steve thought he was there for fun and games, or just being facetious ?  Well, he wishes it was a social call, but as an MCU affiliate he will be bucking down to a more serious “game”.

Love Sam’s P.3 profile. They could copy and paste Sam’s mug on that mountain in New Hampshire and no one would never know the original nose had ever gone.

Hello, fellow game experts!

I’m not sure what this guy can provide that will help the MCU get the jump on Gameboy, but I’m sure there will be some kind of clue within the information Sam gets from him. I guess it depends on what he has stolen specifically besides the money from the other robberies. Hopefully we will find out tomorrow,

ZZZZZzzzzz,,,,,, Someone please put on American Pickers!

Wonder how much Steve paid for color changing Batman logo tee shirt???

The store window turned from multi to single. Not a colorist error.

The security camera’s MIGHT be due to the angle but I doubt it.

A slow, boring story make errors much more glaring.

It’s like Mike can’t even be bothered to write any sort of real Dick Tracy stories anymore, with actual police detective work & suspense & colorful villains, but just instead come up with some sort of idea he can use as a hook to throw in as much obscure trivia information & contrived cross-overs as possible. Once again, I Have to wonder if Mike’s heart is really into writing this strip any more.

If Gameboy goes after Pop-O-Matic games, I’ll be surprised.

I hope someone rolls a lucky seven soon!

Looks like it’s an old buddy of Sam with the familiarity.

Seriously, I need to dedicate an hour or so to my personal dick tracy story…no matter how bad I may screw up, it CAN’T be this awful….

When last we left it, Deadeye was hiding out in an abandoned warehouse on the pier after shooting Thunderchild and the MCU has launched a manhunt with sisters Eiko O’Malley and Lotus Blossom (the team’s new forensic specialist and medical examiner respectively) taking the lead

Chutes and Ladders? Why doesn’t he go for something more strategic, like Candyland?

Why do I get the feeling that the story is about get even more convoluted with at least one side with a very loose connection to this story?

“Sam, this is Candyland. And THIS is Mystery Date. I don’t DO those!”

Hey Mike, I’m an expert on vintage Rogers brand drums. Can I do a cameo in Dick Tracy? Here’s an idea: The NAMM music convention comes to Tracyville, planning to auction Buddy Rich’s original Rogers Dynasonic snare drum that he debuted on the Tonight Show, proceeds to benefit Annie’s Little Orphan Fund. A relative of Flattop, let’s call him Drumhead, steals the Dynasonic. Action and hilarity ensue, along with unlimited cameo possibilities….

Note that Sam expresses his confidence in his friend Steve by saying that his information WILL help rather than “might help”. Nice.

you know, he might be holding a ‘get out or jail’ card

1-STEVE AREENO: Hold it right there, buddy. There’s a game board thief on the loose and we don’t know who to trust.

2-SAM: It’s me…Sam. Remember? We went head to head at that Gamer Convention in Fargo. I smoked you at Twister!

3-STEVE AREENO: Oh yeah. You wore rank underwear and I passed out when I was forced to make a move that put my nose near it, I threw up and passed out. I would’ve called a foul had I recovered before they awarded you the trophy.

SAM: Ha ha! And it wasn’t even a ploy – I’m wearing those same undies right now!

STEVE: Huh? Sniff THUNK!

SAM: Steve…?

Guest appearance by some TV dude I’ve never heard of and don’t care about. I hope some people are enjoying this geeky self-satisfaction.

It’s hard even to imagine what advice or insight this Steve Johnston could give Sam that would lead to the capture of Gameboy. And, what does Sam know that we don’t? So far, we are privy to 1) robbery at the Federal Bank, 2) robbery at a Savings and Loan, and 3) theft from a toy museum of a board game that is an imitation of Monopoly. That’s all we know of in the way of crimes. Gameboy has also left taunting notes that might reference an obscure vintage failed kids’ TV show. Where does Steve Johnston’s expertise fit into this dossier?

Maybe in showing a pattern as to GameBoy’s crimes thus allowing the MCU to be at his next target to make the collar and toss him in the slammer…..