Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for October 07, 2009

Hey, THREE freshly-drawn panels. Although it’s a little odd that after months and months of random tiger drawings, when he’s actually doing something Brozman doesn’t show him. Too much action?

And again, the idea of a whole circus of criminals is kind of inspired. And would make entertaining reading if it were revealed in some way other than characters saying “the circus is full of criminals.” Writing is not yet a lost art in other comic strips but it sure is here.

btw, wonderwarthog, brilliant poem yesterday.

mph, interesting about Gould being pressured to retire. I can believe it, even Schulz was criticized for having lost his style in later years. But even Gould’s late, weird stuff was worth reading.

Macy shouldn’t have eaten all that popcorn.

I continue to wonder why Barb Els didn’t use her 30-30 directly on Ringo instead of shooting Louise Trapeze. Was Louise planning to kill Ringo during her trapeze act? There’s no tension on the tent ropes. Maybe the tent will colapse!

If the clown keeps on talking the tiger may just die of old age.

This is actually good today. Bravo on the poem, WW.

Blood. Blood. BLOOD! Shakes head clear I’m sorry, what were we talking about? I’m kind of anticipating the usual family-unfriendly deaths that get in with no complaint when a wounded veteran in Doonesbury isn’t allowed to say ‘Son of a bitch’ (I am quite sure the previous sentence was censored).

I agree, jumbobrain. It does make a beautiful sense through Dick Tracy logic: the villain in DT is almost always the deformed guy (especially if his name relates to the deformity), so when the crime scene is a circus, logically the majority of the circus is in on the crime. If only the execution had some subtlety - you couldn’t find heavier hands on the Statue of Liberty.

So the 3rd possibility is Memory Loss hmm very interesting Syd. Tess donated the money to the Alzheimer Society for research. I wonder if that was a kick on Locher’s memory? Gosh, that was almost 3 years ago when DT was reading everyone’s mind with that diabolical device. The villain blew his brains out using it…..who else could have thought up such a twist other than Mr. Phillips? Too bad you couldn’t write the scripts Syd. Your memory of past DT strips etc. is truly amazing. You obviously don’t have the aformentioned affliction that’s for sure.

Soon, Tracy will outsmart them all by taunting Barb by calling her, “Boy Girl”. Barb will become so angry that she will kill Pops because he was going to kill Tracy before Barb could, (just like she did Louise). Then, to create a diversion, Tracy will feed the FBI agent to the tiger, and make his escape.

Barb doesn’t look much like Jay Leno anymore. Did she have a little plastic surgery while everyone stood around chatting?

Editors of newspapers have restricted comics so much these days. Once we had “four” paneled strips now it’s three. A full sheet of 12 panels filled a Sunday page now it’s down to half that. The panels themselves were so reduced that you really can’t get much in them except tor close ups of faces and limited text. Still a real artist could probably fill in a great deal of detail using a very fine line pen. Chester Gould could probably do DT on a head of a pin. Locher did a fine a job in the past but he’s older and with present restrictions he’s become limited. Be it as it may we are loyal to DT despite our frustrations. There may be hope soon when a new team takes over.

Ummm… Jumbobrain? The circus of criminals thing? Kinda been done. For decades. By Marvel comics. Maybe you’ve heard of them?

I GOT IT!!!! The undercover agent that the FBI has is THE TIGER!!!. He’s creating a diversion with all of those noises so Tracy and the other FBI agent can escape!!!

is it just me, or is pops repeating himself over and over?

Jumbobrain, Margueritem and Sydney, thank you. Is that a double-barreled pistol Pops is holding? It seems the weapons change as much as the tiger.

The pig on wheels is conspicuously missing from panel 3. Macy is right now convincing the big cats to attack the juicy bacon wagon instead of him and his scrawny FBI friend, and they’ve dragged it into the cage area. Macy and friend will jump into the pig on wheels, and the kitties will get so angry with their futile attacks on the porcine paddywagon that they’ll rattle the cage open, freeing Macy and allowing the panther to go to town on the clown.

Film at 11.

So, the panther eats the clown and then makes a disgusting face.

“What’s wrong?’ asked the tiger.

“Never eat a clown”, replied the panther. “They taste funny!”

Better stick with stuffed bunnies.

I thought clowns just taste creepy

The end of this storyline is near.

Tracy & Ennens have decided to sing “Heigh ho for Anthony Rowlllllllllley” to relieve the boredom – possibly a mistake. Is their singing beginning to annoy the tiger and/or the badger (or Tasmanian devil)? Will they be annoyed enough to take a bite out of Tracy, or eat more of Ennens?

Tune in next century (or maybe it only SEEMS like a century)….

-Cougar :{)

Jumbobrain,

Locher was technically FIRED last October by TMS. He had a 5 year contract to Dec. 2010 which failed to protect his tenure. It was phrased in nice language … he was to be “RETIRED” at end 2008.

The suggestion came on one of the Comic Strip sites and seemed to be authenticated by “accolytes” who suggested that TMS also planned to end newspaper circulation. There were frantic appeals on two DT boards to write in, to TMS, to reverse that decision. Many readers here and on DT Yahoo did so to save the strip, some confessed later - yes, but not to save Locher.

TMS denied that what was reported had been contemplated. But we were told by those that should know that Locher had been “reinstated” - saved by the weight of letters from the VERY readers who HE in superior fashion so contemptiously ignores. Insulating himself from REALITY and the “consequences” of INFERIOR work he was and IS still producing.

TMS’s hiring of Brozman last February was born out of that. But I speculate that Locher moved very quickly to “suggest” the candidate, a man he knew (indirectly maintaing a degree of leverage) It was the selection of an Artist who I suspect was one of his son John’s classmates at University of Northern Illinois doing Fine Arts together.

It comes as a surprise that Matthew would have to go back 32 years (ancient history), to find an “example”, when he has a RECENT, “sitting” example right in front his eyes.

No need to wonder WHY, in a year when that individual is producing a comic strip, not to honor say, Dick Tracy but rather as “HOMAGE” to a MAN – Dick Locher, who benfitted career-wise, more from the association than the strip itself ever did !

There once was a lady - an FBI traveler Who went for a ride on a Tiger, They returned from the ride With Mr.Pops inside … And a satisfied, smiling Tiger !

Haven’t seen the end yet, but I’m just “predicting”, it’s the same way Red Hawk went. (June 2003)

This is pathetic!

I hope Tracy’s wearing dark pants

As they saying in Trinidad goes – “I’ll take in front …”

Let;s not attempt to rewrite History !

Any one who is interested enough can research the Archives of actual “posts” at he time, to ascertain what I’ve said on what went down. (that’s mid-November to mid-December 2008)

And what I’ll NOT accept is the “convenient” take that it was publication of the report which made TMS rethink their position. It HAD to be the heavy weight of readers writing in. Blog sites don’t buy too many papers. Readers of newspapers do ! That’s what rattles the CASH in the can ! And that’s what ultimately PAYS Dick Locher. No matter how much he likes to hold his readers in “contempt.”

Further, the Acolytes take great pleasure in saying the Writers have no obligation to communicate or respond to reader queries. And in SO doing completly MISS the “point” of advantages that come from communication !

CyberV, Though I’m not much of a superhero comix reader these days, yes, yes, I know about the circus of criminals, at least the one the X Men fought. They also used that idea in “Batman Returns.” And at least two Tracy villains– the Blank and Half-n-Half– have had nearly identical versions appear in Batman comics. Original ideas are hard to come by these days. I was just saying the circus of villains was a nice idea, and this continuity might be less utterly lame if they’d explored it.

The shotgun is the same model that Gertie used to hold the criminals at bay in her basement while BO was at the casino. I turns out that the Plenty family has actually turned rogue and are in league with Ringo as gun runners. Since Ringo cost them their casino money investment they were helping the clown get even, not knowing that Tracey is about to become involved himself! Any minute now BO and Gertie will show up to save the day in another sudden and senseless plot-twist!

I’m expecting to see Don Quick Oatie any minute now! This place is a looney bin!

ps…….. with MPH’s installment today, you ladies can see where his mind is when he drew Mary. Baaaad Mattie!

Hey man, that dang ol’ Barb Els, dang ol quit lookin’ like dang ol’, dang ol’ Boomhauer, tell you what!

The only thing new in today’s strip is the “Rowllll” and the “Snarl”. The rest is rehash of the rehash.