Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for August 26, 2023

Call center a lark then things got dark. Murder in the air

Extra cash so fun ‘til all undone. Sprocket had a scare.

Life with Adam so sweet, too close came the heat. Good life nearly lost

Smoke and hot flame. Crime not a game. Sky high is the cost.

Leech and gunplay. Violence this day. Tunnel escape so fraught

Foolish the risk. Evasion so brisk. “Susan” knows she ought

Her blessings to count. Relief still does mount. Hot tub soothes the pain

Hard lesson was learned. She was nearly burned. Now homebound on the train.

Good morning™, everyone!

We conclude with a song of the type that typically inspires Mike’s writing. I feel sure that this one came from him.

[I would put a link to Kermit the Frog singing here if they would let me. Somehow, Mike seems to get away with snippets from lyrics.]

so Sprocket evades capture and it’s finally ended…

NOW we have to deal with ANOTHER Minit Mystery…

As the train enters a tunnel for the symbolic coda to the story.

Yes, I realize it’s not actually shown entering a tunnel. It’s a joke.

It’s with mixed emotions that this mess of a story has ended.

While I’m relieved that it’s over, it’s infuriating that the whole Sprocket angle was meaningless and nothing more than a time/space killer. To bring her back in this manner is ridiculous and shows the total lack of imagination team Tracy has these days.

Today’s strip earns zero goat heads!

Minit Mystery is another name for Firestrike!

Good morning™, close call escapists !

And Sprocky glides smoothly away while Adam can stay in raging blind love for a while longer. The front page in P.3 is a nice touch.

Not another of those silly Minit Mysteries! The last I liked was that of Scarmony and Mindy Mysta Chimera…

So all the other threads of this story got burnt to a cinder in the fire?

Darn! A MM. No villains waiting in the wings. Yep! Mike is probably holding auditions. Of late what has been shown was nothing to write home about. Criminals in Tracy land is hard to come by these days. Besides auditions, Mike needs a suggestion box.

They are not going to wrap up by saying she is pregnant with the next generation of scam artists?

Today we are treated to an “AHHH” moment, holding hands even!

“TOMORROW: MINIT MYSTERIES” ummmm…hasn’t the last several weeks been just a long, drawn out minit mystery to begin with?

In the 1920s The Gumps was the most popular comic strip in the US. 1928 saw a roughly year long arc sometimes dubbed The Mary Gold Saga. In the course of the long arc there were some ideas started, went nowhere, and dropped. It may have been the first comic to feature the death of a major good characters. (Deaths of villains don’t count.) This game of “Pass the Plot” didn’t require a year to rack up as many plot holes/problems.

But, I am glad they had the good sense to drop Audie’s voices. While Tracy’s villains have had a number of personality tics mental health issues are a bad idea. Apparently he stayed on his meds after the first week, and even got a sympathy, “Get out of jail free” card at the end.

Meanwhile Gertie and Chick Tracy keep waiting for another Scam phone call…

I just realised boboscar should be doing his annual chronological stories recap tomorrow. Could be fun.

For the umpteenth time, Can We Not Get A Competent Writer For This Strip? I’ve been reading Dick Tracy since 1957. This seems to be a plot by the syndicate to drive a stake through its heart.

This is one of my wife’s favorite songs. She sang it with kids, she sings it with the grandkids. And me.

Madsen goes to prison for felony assault, the guy he shot probably longer because he stole from Argos, Audie/Sabrina live to call another day….Susan gets to go away with Adam, and probably will be recognized on TV by Audie when one of Adam’s books becomes a movie…..

Like most social media, it’s easy to leave snarky comments as there are no consequences. Those who leave this type of comment must be missing something in their real lives.

And, this arc concludes with Adam, and, “Sally” singing one of Paul WIlliams biggest hits, while traveling westward on Amtrak.

After 13 consecutive Sundays without an interlude, it looks like we’ll finally have one tomorrow :(

And there’s the song clip Mike wanted, though the bus is now a train. I’d had (in my script) Tracy doing a wrap with the fire chief and the fire, when it began to rain. That would have explained a rainbow over the departing bus which was a connection to his wanting the lyrics.

RECAP:

1- This story existed to answer Silver’s original question: “I wonder what she (Sprocket) is doing now?”

2- Diet found a mysterious note on the dash of a mysterious space coupe.

3- Audie’s auditory ailment was cured after we, The Readers, complained. Meanwhile, poor Ernesto still walks with a cane, presumably the result of an errant shot by Tracy.

4- Someone got shot but not killed – as usual.

5- Stucco and granola bars played a role that meant nothing.

6- Ugly Crystal has a baby with some big Hawaiian dude.

7- Something about Telemarketers that ultimately meant nothing.

8- The new “Signs Of Life” feature of the Wrist Radios doesn’t work for chitt.

9- Everyone escaped except for Madsen.

10- Tracy declared Victory and went on vacation.

1-♪♪♫ HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN! …

2-THIS ARC HAS FINALLY REACHED ITS END…

3-HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN!!!! ♪♪♫

How long did this story lasted? I remember I was much younger when it began

OT (CONCERNED): Evidently Terri’s plans or my birthday, seem to involve the hardware store. I suspect I’ll spent the day putting new master spring on the garage door. Whee.

I am, by the way, hopelessly inept and injury-prone with tools. Giv me a screwdriver without protective gloves, knee pads and goggles, and I’m a new Tracy villain. Blood shall soak the land.

kr perry probably never read a Gould arc

The happy couple is pretty cute!

Let’s admit it. They are a very cute couple.

minute mystery? I’ll be back in 2 weeks

I’ll just leave this here for a MM: GERIATRIC MUTATED ANGRY GNATS WITH KNIVES.

8 pm – On “Tracy’s Uncaught Suspects”, we check in on the relentless search for Sprocket Nitrate!

9pm – Each week, “On Bail Forever in the City” looks at another Tracy’s villians out living unhindered while Mr. Kleene and other unscrupulous defense lawyers keep them out indefinitely rather facing trial. Tonight: “DoubleUp…DoubleUp!”

10 pm – Tonight, “Tracy’s Weird Science Cases” talks to forensic investigators who wonder if the missing artificial intelligence (AI) software Matty Squared (which vansihed when Tracy apprehended Mr. Bribery, who sponsored its creation) is responsible for the rash of generative AI which threatens society!

I always thought Sprocket was nice.

No!!! No MM’s!!

What in the name of Annie Oakley does The Rainbow Connection have to do with the price of eggs in China?

I’m sorry, but you two just ain’t Kermit and Miss Piggy!

Adam is blissful but ignorant. “Susan” (Sprocket Nitrate, fugitive from The Law) is happy that the Tracyville carnival has ended with the apprehension of the damaged Leeland “Leech” Madsen. And so, the train rolls on down the tracks.

That’s a wrap.

That’s all there is, folks!

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times….

I want to know more about the hide-out in the tunnels. There has to be a story there.

Is… this… this a HAPPY ending?

Good morning, lovers, dreamers, and me!

As Sprocket and her lover bid a fond farewell to the City at the end of this memorable tale, they serenade us with one of the best songs ever. A cherished song of my childhood. A song so great it could only be hated by morons so tasteless they should never regularly write for Dick Tracy (jk…sorta). Straight from The Muppet Movie, it’s The Rainbow Connection:

https://www.youtube.Com/watch?v=WS3Lkc6Gzlk