Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for October 23, 2023

now Dick begins the in-depth, probing investigation…

“Any Hardy Boys?”

What’s Tracy doing, the Firestrike Underdog???

“A Judo, a chop chop!”

FINALLY!! Some action in this story! It took a while but it was worth it!!!

I swear I saw Dick’s right nostril move!!!

YES!!!

Good morning™, your bloated magnificence !

I got a million questions, lady !!!

Stately Libris library.

Who dusts the books?

Is it just her or do any siblings aid in maintaining the book collection? At an early age she was too sophisticated for them. Daddy gave her boyfriend a thorough interview before leaving the house with his daughter.

“Yes, did you serve in the military?”

Beautiful lovely artwork is continues with lovely colouring. Spectacularly rendered scene as if it a picture of a real three dimensional cartoon world. Artist and colourist is does a splendid job with the opportunity they is has. Such a joy to views this comic.

Questions? Yes, a few!

She just described the Library Of Congress.

How did her family procreate if they are as cold as she is ?

Obvious place to finds em stolen mediaeval manuscripts. But like me said before it be like looking for little needles in humongous haystack.

Yeah, I got a question “VOGUE QUEEN” ….. what in tarnation does any of this have to do with anything? We’ve spent the last four days simply moving from the front door to the library….and yet, like everything else in this story…tracy still doesnt have clue #1 as to what’s going on with this case

Well, the library building itself doesn’t go back 7 generations – no private person in the Americas was building something like that more than 200 years go. The library is the books, however, and the collection of books could have started that long ago – perhaps even in Europe. But if the generation before Ms. X allowed more access it would explain the library tables some of us found so puzzling yesterday.

Still not sure where the dome a couple days ago fits in… But it was an impressive, albeit, puzzling visual.

Tracy will find out that she is over a thousand years old and keeps taking the place of her ancestors . That cold frigid biatch collected all the books herself and will sacrifice Tracy and her other victims to stay alive and steal their books !

The library is gonna burn, isn’t it?

Good morning™, everyone!

The stats are impressive, but I guess you can do a lot over a span of 150 years if you have money.

Xaviera’s hand looks a little awkward, but she’s pretty stiff anyway. Let’s get down to the questioning.

(In case anyone’s wondering, my new work hours make it hard to post at midnight CST.)

You have questions, Detective?— “Yeah, for starters, where can I put down my dang coat n’ hat already?”

“Yes, Ms. Libris. When is Drag Queen story hour at this library? Asking for a friend.”

“300 feet long, 100 feet wide, 3 stories tall. It was originally built for arena football, but when that went bust I converted it into a library.”

“Do you have any of the Derby Dugan books, Ms. Libris?”

For all you Sheldrones out there, Shelly’s done a great job capturing Tracy’s grin of joy in panel 2!

Great artwork. Library details drawn to perfection…

So, once again we find the Dewey Decimal System at the heart of a twisted and fiendish plot!

what’s your insurance bill like?

750 years means that a 1290 prayer book would just make it in that range :)

The narcoleptic bradipus Is sleeping. Should this story go slower ( if even possibile) It Will become comatose

I wonder who uses the desks and reading lamps if she rarely invites anyone in?

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

And please let me show you the red room with its padded walls.

I bet there are no Zane Grey novels up there. Or Harlequins.

I hope her library is well protected in case of fire.

Now hopefully the storyline will match the art!

All those chairs and not a place to sit.

All those balconies and not a coat rack.

All those books and not a word on the killer.

All those chandeliers and lamps and… well maybe she’ll shed some light on the subject at hand. Shoot your shot, Tracy.

“LADY! I just wanted someone to play Go Fish with! Look! I even bought my own cards!”

Well, I guess ‘Got any 5’s?’ could be technically ‘questioning’ the suspect.

I’m starting to love this panel-by-panel story here (on account of this great dreamy library)!!

Hmm…she might just have motivation to add to her library..through murder! Wa haha.

Xaviera Libris is about as cold as a statue…

yeah, the Statue of Libris…

Where exactly is this thing going? We’re going to brose her library for the next two months?

“Can a lightsaber cut through Captain America’s shield?” Sorry, not sorry, but Mike & Shelly left themselves wide open!

Speaking of libraries, Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas (where I work and live) has recently started construction of a brand-new library on the just cleared-away site of its old one. (website at academics at library) The exterior may (purposely) remind you of a famous historic site :) There is a also Vimeo video of the panaoramic view of how the library interior is supposed to look when it is completed in 2025, although for some reason not linked from the above page. (One of the rooms in the video is appropriate, given the future building’s exterior.)

Dick needs to have a cup of tea with her. Then compare the saliva sample with the Caxton sample.

Anyone know a way to bypass the block on posting links???

TRACY: 750 years!

LIBRIS: Yes, in fact, I’m getting ready to clear out the old items from 1273 now. You know anyone who would give the original manuscript of the Summa Theologica a good home?

Where’s A.T.? I’m really getting concerned about him. I don’t want to get in his business or anything; I just haven’t seen him on here in a few days. Can anyone here reach out to him or does anyone know if he’s alright?

Impressive statistics, indeed, Ms. Libris. Almost a three-storey football field of books and opulent fittings in the Grand Manner. Over seven generations (of a typical thirty years each), that’s over 200 years of collecting by your family.

My first question is, is your name, X. Libris, just coincidentally canting (a bookplate “from the books/library of…”), or is it a coining that conceals a more famous or infamous family name? Who are you, really?

“Hundreds of thousands of the finest volumes”?

Let’s do a little math. A Google search wasn’t immediately forthcoming, so I’m going with an average thickness of 1.5". For “hundreds of thousands”, I’m going to use 100,000 for a base, then multiply from there. That works out to 12,500 feet of books stacked side by side. Three stories, each having walls with, seemingly, 5 rows of books, so that’s 12,500 / (3 * 5) = 833 ft.

I see that the drawing is less than this, but the room size works out to 800 feet of wall (stacked 15 high over three floors), or not quite enough for just 100,000 books.

There isn’t enough room for “hundreds of thousands” of books.