Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for September 25, 2023

“Plus he usually made his own sauerkraut, so things actually smelled a bit better than usual.”

Good morning™, everyone!

Eccentric is his excuse? Good thing I’m not eccentric (I think).

Repeating a comment I wrote yesterday, the original Aldus Manutius. was a pioneer in printing and publishing. Among other things, he is credited with being the first person to print things in italics.

The other victim is named after William Caxton (c. 1422 – c. 1491), the first person to bring a printing press to England and the first to sell books to the general public. “Wilhelmina” is the feminine form of “William.”

We are looking at a very literary case here.

Tupperware window seat? ;)

Good morning™, incredulous investigators !

That box had to have been sealed mighty well unless, as suggested by one of the Armchair detective guys, yesterday, he was away, came back and met his fate soon after.

I suppose firebomb will suggest that P. 1. Tracy has the look of a man trying to make a Play Do.

imagine if his body smelled like really bad kimchi…

HOO BOY!

I actually agree with Tracy’s shocked question.

What he should be asking is; “Is there ever going to be some excitement in this story?”

If he was eccentric, are you irresponsible, missing for 11 months and no one reported him?I wish Tracy could arrest one of them for that!

I would’ve called him a recluse and possibly secretive, instead of calling him an eccentric and that has always been his behaviour since they have known him. And it could’ve been added that they called him eccentric.

“Well. he’s got a reputation as an eccentric, sir”. Chances are that Dr. Manutius was also a recluse. Hmm he related to Howard Hughes? Nah…perish the thought!

Did the same person who bumped off the tea lady, take the good doctor out as well? It will interesting to see what the motive is. Certainly not over getting a bad grade.

So if you is eccentric then you is get 11 months absence without even informing about it and yet gets to keeps your job? Eh me is be eccentric too. Where does me sign up for this kinda job?

If Dr. Manutius was also a friend to the mayor then this story will get really interesting, i.e., someone is killing off the friends of the mayor on the way to taking out the mayor herself….

Where were his paychecks going?

“And in 11 months, nobody noticed the smell?”“Well, he also has a reputation for poor hygiene.”

Aldus Manutius—“Old Man?” and if he’s been missing 11 months, then who’s classes have I been taking?

Wonder if Tracy will also sense ‘something else screwy’ about this screwy doc’s setup….

Tracy has had his fill of mad scientists and screwy professors over the years. Flattop’s brother, Sharp top, was a college professor.

Did he turn 72 during the time he was missing? Or maybe he was to turn 73 next week :)

Also, how long since the victim has died? (A recent death might explain the lack of stench.) How long has the dead body been there?

Think what this will do to his eccentric reputation! He’ll be in the Eccentric Hall of Fame!

Who is the tall woman talking to a cop in the background, I wonder? It’s not Lizz; the haircut is different from Lizz’s style a few days ago.

1-PERFESSOR UNDERTAKER: Is he…dead?

2-DT: I’ll have to let the M.E. make that call – that’s P.D. Policy. For now, let’s just say that he appears to be in a deep, deep, deep coma. Real deep.

3-PERFESSOR UNDERTAKER: That’s a relief! So there’s a chance!

DT: Sure. I’d give it the odds of a snowball’s chance in hell, the Tracyville Knights chance of winning the pennant, a pastrami sandwich’s chance of surviving an encounter with Sam, Lee’s chance of getting a promotion now that her secret’s out, Liz’s chance of getting a promotion now that we realize that we’ve filled the chick quota in the department.

PERFESSOR UNDERTAKER: Oh good. This institution can’t afford to lose a mind like Manutius’s!

MOVIE QUOTE

“I love driving on the wrong side of the road”

James Fox—THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE—1967

Okay—now,these two deaths are going to be connected somehow——the forum is open to wild guesses.

who volunteers to look through every book on the shelves, just in case there’s something between the pages?

Better look in the closet before you go,Dick….

If it is literary when can I say “Bookem’ Dano !!!”

The killer must have used a ton of Febreze !

Another case for Dr. Quincy M.E.

Will we ever have a flashback to Vitamin Flintheart’s wedding.I’m still burning that it happened off-panel.

The possibilities were endless.

Why is there a guest writer? Is Mr. Curtis on vacation or sick leave?

Is this a rerun? I remember the Professor being in a story a good while back, maybe even the murder happening in the strip.

So could all this relate to Johannes Gutenberg, the 15th century inventor of the printing press? Gutenberg never married or had any children, but there are gaps in his life that could have allowed for it. Or it could be someone who believes that Gutenberg is a descandant. Where’s Mr. Am when you need him? (Or was he “Mr. Was” back then?)

Manutius may indeed have been eccentric. But we (meaning Tracy and his team) are leaping to conclusions in presuming that Aldi’s been in the box for the whole eleven months. That is not yet established. For example, he may have been off on a research mission for over ten months, come back only recently, and then been murdered and stuffed into the window box….