Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for May 26, 2024

Pierce had a past. Did it at last return to haunt his sleep?

Dredged up foul deeds raised from the weeds. Investors made to weep

At the bundle they had bought. A poison pill inside

Shenanigans from charlatans the honest can’t abide.

Pierce had paid a heavy price to keep old facts at bay

Seems at Tip Top Town Topix there’s nothing they won’t say.

Kill a story for a price or print the ugly mess

Salacious stories sure do sell, as anyone can guess.

Blackmail is such an ugly game. Pay up or take a fall

Profit or print. Resist or relent. They don’t care at all.

Good morning™, all!

There’s the name of their publication, “Tip Top Town Topix.” I don’t like the way Charles boldens whole lines, regardless of the content. It sounds like that’s some kind of a gossip rag.

Third base? The league? I guess the Knights is a baseball team, right? (Yes, I know that “third base” has a different connotation here, but I think it’s a baseball pun, also.)

I think Eric is referencing the baseball team that was featured in a Minute Mystery, the one where a player was murdered in the clubhouse. All part of the TracyVerse. So we’re now seeing the bigger picture, as it were, of the story & the villain, & apparently it’s not set in the world of finance but the tabloid press. Narrative momentum, the usual fine art. 3 stars.

Good morning™, Black Mailers Inc. !

Those Naughty girls !  They look so pure and clean. :-O

These panels are a joy to look at. The characters have a definite identity and the boss guy is a definite stand out, in the Dick Tracy pantheon.

Ah, a professional blackmail ring. Your days are numbered now that Tracy is on the case.

Great comic as always

It appears the cleavage of the one in green grows deeper in each panel, not that I would notice such a thing …

Okay, so Cherry’s apparent mustache from the previous day was just a slip of the pen.

Blackmail has been an overused trope since three days after Gutenberg printed his first page (a yard sale sign for his neighbor).

Hats off to David Letterman who, in 2009, went to the police when an attempt was made to extort $2 million. Despite some initial shame he has mostly been extolled for not caving in.

It’s ok to have an affair in baseball, just don’t gamble or you’ll be banned for life. (Unless you’re working with the licensed sports betting books

After a week of no name for Ms. Fying, I wonder how long we’ll have to wait to get an I.D. on Teddy Newsyvelt….

Artwork is stunning as usual.

Note the portrait on the wall in row 2, panel 1 – the man’s mustache is the same as the head blackmailer :)

Umm… what is going on?

The KFC Colonel is our next villain?

Beauregard’s wife must’ve been a big gal – look at the size of that ern in the first panel!!!

1-BEAUREGARD PECKR TISK:* Excellent lockstep ladies. Bounce those Big*uns in here – FORWARD HARCH!

2-CHERRY: We’re confused, boss. Are we in the blackmail business or in the slimy, lowest rung of journalism business?

3-BEAUREGARD: Why can’t it be both? Now what do you got on a Tracyville “mover and shaker” that involves Elvis and/or sex with aliens?

4-SARAH: Well…the owner of the Knights Single-A ball club has a girlfriend. We can spin her as an alien based on her looks. CHERRY: HEY! I’M HIS GIRLFRIEND! SARAH: I know – better phone home, ET!

CHERRY: BEE-ATCH! SARAH: SK*NK!

5-BEAUREGARD: LADIES! LADIES! NO STORIES INVOLVING STAFF! I know – just update the story about a Yeti in the sewers! That always moves copies. And include some stuff about Dick Tracy being unable to catch him because he’s afraid of the dark. SARAH: Ahhh – there’s the “just enough truth to make it believable” angle. Good one, boss!

….btw, how ya like the frame on “Cherry”? Uh-huh-HOO-Ha-HA!!………

He he he he!! This guy is ridiculous and fun :D

Sara Phymm and Cherry Bimm…. aah a couple of angels aren’t they?

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

Well, now we know who sent Pierce that info. Seems there’s an scandal sheet in town that is willing to do anything for a headline. Let’s see if they cross the line between skirting the law and breaking it……

Me not understandeeng what on earth they is talking about.

I like these characters.

I do believe that “the boss” here bears more than a passing resemblance to certain depictions (both photos and courtroom sketches) of the erstwhile publisher of the National Enquirer—grey hair and mustache, high forehead, metal-rimmed glasses, and yellow tie.

I presume that most people have already noticed, but for those who might not have: presumably the “4-T” in the logo is for the name of the publication.