Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for July 12, 2023

Good morning™, everyone!

They know more about Adam’s girlfriend than they realize. It’s a good thing for “Susan” that they are away on vacation on the coast (by the looks of it) and she was not back at the hotel when they called.

Good morning beach boys and girls! Oh,yes, Sprocket is a very special girl all right!

Good morning™, adorable children !

Crystal looks like future mommy material. The bad persona “Ugly” gene may come back after having skipped a generation. A meeting with Susan could be safe until later they chance to see her mug shot but by then an emotional bond will have formed between the formerly Ugly Crystal, and her new found friend, who will be tugging at Daddie’s pimp shirt and wailing at him not to tell Tracy or Sam who “Susan” really is. After all, Suzy’s a good girl now, as long as Dick stays in the dark about her employment at the call center.

Does Crystal have a brother that she didn’t know about ?

A) I’ve only been following this strip for maybe a year or so. (I started about the time the Yeti/Ferret story began) So I’m not familiar with Lafayette and Crystal. Does he know Susan from her Sprocket days? B) I know ‘Susan’ used to be on the wrong side of the law and all, but still she seems to have reformed for the most part. Is it wrong that I am feeling quite worried for her?

I had a feeling two days ago at the start of this arc in the story of an ominous ending to Susan/Sprocket and Adam’s relationship and I’m kind of convinced after today.

Who’s the surfer? Crystal’s boyfriend?

Nice artwork… I can almost hear the waves crashing & smell the salt air. Life’s a beach!

Sigh, to think I woke up for this surf city!

Whatever one thinks about the plots and structure (a little hit-or-miss at times IMHO, but I also admit I could never begin to do better), this team excels at developing characters that one can feel for. I’m reminded of the time Lt. Columbo explained his technique to a college class, saying, while hating what they did, he looked for the things he and the murderer’s family liked and loved about them to get to know the entire person.

does anyone actually say ‘gf’?

If you only knew how “special”, Lafayette. And, I wouldn’t be surprised if you find out.

Dang, that looks like a great vacation!

1-LAFFY ET: Gotta hang up now, bro – Ugly Crystal’s baby is getting fussy. AUSTINPOWERS: WHAT? Isn’t she a little young to have a kid?

2-UGLY: I didn’t have him, Unk! He’s Kimo’s kid from his second marriage. I met Kimo here in Hawaii and we instantly fell in love. And the best part – he also has a son from his first marriage who is my age so I got a husband AND a friend!

AUSTINPOWERS: Uh – what’s the number of Child Protective Services where you are?

3-LAFFY ET: Look how happy they are! No one could ever condemn my parenting skills if they saw this and by this I mean how I managed to get someone to marry my ugly, blue haired daughter! It’s true – there’s somebody out there for everyone!

So the question is: Did the goComics colorist get all the skin colors right for the three new characters that appeared today?

z z z z z z z z z . . .

So I got caught up after about five and a half weeks, and reading them all at once… this strip’s kind of bouncing around a bit, isn’t it?

Oh, look! Some more new characters added to the mix! Just what we needed. A white kid who may or may not be Crystal’s boyfriend (as distinct from just a friend), and a big, muscular dark-skinned dude, whose little child is seen with Crystal (panels 1 and 2) and then with him (panel 3). He may or may not be Lafayette’s romantic partner; he could be just a walk-on (and walk-off), since (so far) he has neither name nor dialogue. Maybe we’ll find out—or maybe the “plot” will swerve off in yet another direction….