Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for August 16, 2009

I’m afraid you would need a better charge to convict Dick Locher

Re Crumbsnatcher’s tip: You mean I might find a $100 dollar bill in my change?

How many weeks will it be until we find out what the clue is? Or will this clue be utterly forgotten in the mad pace of this story?

Either the content of the first note changed since last week, or there are somehow three notes. This is getting even more confusing. If I count on change I could be surprised.

Gobsmackers Notebook makes absolutely no sense today.

I thought the original note said that someone will die? It didn’t say “URA dead man…” Once again continuity is non-existent. Plus it looks like someone wrote a text message using newspaper clippings. To quote someone near and not so dear to our heart, “Sigh…”

Only thing I can figure for the Timestoppers Cookbook is that “surprised” means “waylaid”.

And I think that lady is actually Della Cotessan.

Perhaps the note is being held by the criminal before sending it. (mailed? hand delivered?)

mrbribery, I think that you’re correct concerning Della’s last name.

Dypak, Got Uzi?

‘Perform?’ Fat ladies like Della don’t perform - they just sit there. Nice job dressing her in lingerie, there; obviously, this circus wasn’t insane enough before.

To comfort himself, Ringo has put on his favorite red latex coat.

I like how the note changes drastically between the daily and sundays. Maybe we’re looking at two different continuities, with different villains and everything! I love a good alternate universe story!

Panel 1: U R A lousy speller. Or an inconsistent chatspeaker. And I agree with barticle35 – is this the first note or the second? To quote Li’l Abner, things are once again getting “confoozin’ but not amoozin’.”

Panel 2: Ringo should quit the circus business and rent himself out as a scarecrow.

Panel 3: What kind of a circus has “troops” that consist mainly of sideshow freaks (something that the modern day circus no longer employs), one solitary bored-looking clown and a dead trapeze artist? Where’s the lion tamer? The stunt-cyclist? The fire-eater? And that nightmare-elephant is back in the background, except it’s pink now. Has somebody been drinking … ?

Panel 4: Man-Boobs give the (second? Third?) note to Ringo, who’s lost his mustache again, though it looks like he may have regained his hat. He must be a magician.

Panel 5: …aw, skip it.

Panel 6: Mr. Pops continues to look bored about the whole thing. From his expression, I don’t think he could care less about the “first big clue” DT claims he’s found.

A murder has just been commited Tracy is on the scene He actually calls for back-up They actually show up “It happened”! (_ _it also happens) Tracy reviews death threat Ringo receives another note Tracy gets his grubby hands all over it If the second note is what is pictured in the first panel Then presumably the murderer was still at the circus and had Tracy secured the scene they may have trapped him. Will Tracy question the bearer of the note as to who gave it to them? I hope they do not say it has a postmark.

Strip-to-strip continuity has always been pathetic enough. Now we have pathetic continuity within a single strip. We’ll see later this wek that the OPENED note in Panel 1 is the same one being held (sealed) by Barb Els (played by Jay Leno) in Panel 4, and which Tracy announces he’ll open in Panel 5. Sigh.

On another note, somehow Ringo found time to dye his eyebrows black for panel 1, and back to their Sunday Blue color by panel 2.

Sad, sad, sad.

Hey, not so fast! Not ALL of the troopers are unable to perform! Della can still eat. By the way, where is the hot dog vendor?

Pink elephant.

Who shuffled the pack of face cards? Today’s strip, looks almost like a “rerun” of last Sunday with the panels laid out in a different order.

If Grok got only one thing right, it was that progress comes only at a pace of one “tit-bit” per week. Compare the Sunday pages (Aug.9 and 16) The only substansive difference is, in the first Tracy is calling HQ for a Homicide team ON his … no, it looks more like a “pilot model” of a 1946 Wrist Radio, even the sparks suggest the battery is almost dead.To fool the Circus people Tracy wears his open “action” mouth to give the appearance of “crack of a whip”, alacrity …. they were about to find out otherwise ! And what’s NEW today ? Only the arrival of a “Note”, but NO Teevo !

In the daily strips, Communications expert Teevo appeared (Aug.7), wearing a Homicide badge.But Tracy dominated the communications and before you could shout …”RUN … it’s Jack the Elephant” ! –- Teevo had dissapeared ! It’s been TWO Sunday pages since then (ie. Aug.9 &16) and and Teevo hasn’t appeared in a Sunday yet (?)

With these shenanigans and Alzheimer type bloopers popping up, an oblivious Locher needs to jump into HIS strip and ask Ringo – “What Happened ?” He should have an answer by now !

Meanwhile, back in the daily strips after bro’ “T!T Tracy” scared the “slick” out of Teevo and he left at top “mph”speed, young Warhol now has more shoveling to do ! Come to think of it, pity the shoveling kid wasn’t here earlier to help, before we had that boisterous tantrum and resignation

You have to wonder how seriouly to take Jeffrey and MPH Hansel’s “info”. They told us that it was a strict TMS mandate to REPEAT all the daily action on Sundays. Why should “Sunday” only, readers be left to think Teevo never arrived ?

When you compare the verbal function Teevo has in the strip TO, the zesty, verbal activity Mattie carried out on this board, with message “bullets” it’s easy to conclude that our little “Magpie” manufacturer was the obvious Locher inspiration for “Communications” man - Lt. Teevo

They have so much in common … even “running away” !

Covering the denominations on the change while trying to count it? You could be suprised because you are a complete dumb-@#$.

There’s no people, Like Show People, They smile, when they are shot.

The bikini girl riding the elephant in Panel 3 appears to be a normal human being. She even has arms long enough to reach her butt.

I predict she will be killed next. (I haven’t been looking ahead. I don’t want to spoil the suspense. I don’t mind others looking ahead and mentioning what they see in the comments, though – that’s just hints of what is to come.)

-Cougar :{)

Re: counting your change – Huh?

Crime Stoppers is confusing to say the least!!! I suppose calling them “troops” is ok, I always thought it was “troupe”, but that’s a small gripe!!!

Someone please remove the “Death stalks the circus” tag. Replace it with “Police incompetence stalks the circus” or “A ridiculous storyline stalks the circus”.

I always like “Kerry Drake” and “Steve Roper”

flightsuit asked : “Um, wouldn’t it be respectful to at least close the Circus long enough to mourn the dead? Like maybe take a day off?”

That presupposes that Locher allocates enough “time” to contemplate what would normaly happen in a similar, real life situation. He has two jobs, he’s a busy man !

Allocated time doesn’t allow for consideration of all those civilized nicities. Apparently, the strip is done like a Speedy Gonzales’ procreation exercise – “Wham! Bam! Thank you M’am”! Nice ball, that’s all”

And that’s why the strip is always “pregnant” with bloopers !

I’m going to go count my change right now! (Those coffee cans full of pennies in the closet are going to be bleeep though.)

Barb Els???

Take a day off??? But at the current pace of one minute per day (and nothing on Sunday), that would be 1440 daily strips, 240 weeks, over 4½ years with NOTHING HAPPENING!!! Even the syndicate wouldn’t stand for that.

Of course it SEEMS like something happened today, on a Sunday: we got to see the latest note. But that’s only an illusion of something happening – it will have to be repeated sometime during the coming week.

-Cougar :{)

P.S. Remember about the secretary dropping the strips and failing at trying to put them in order? Looks like each panel of today’s strip was on a separate page….

:{)

DON’T DO IT jtpozenel!!!!

You could be SURPRISED!!!

:{)

The little boy is missing.

LAW & ORDER NARRATOR

In the GoComics justice system, Dick Tracy, apparently enjoying a day off watching the circus with his family, now is stuck in the middle of a murder investigation. Now we must endure endless circus-type nicknames & the appearance of the mastermind, who has an axe to grind against all circuses, until Dick Tracy, with little of no clues to work with, solves the murder, then is left with the biggest mystery of all………..

Did Tess take the car keys?

THESE ARE THEIR STORIES

DUN DUN

For hours of amusement: Print out today’s strip, cut it up into panels, and see if you can reassemble the panels into an order that makes sense.

No fair putting two wide panels next to each other, or two narrow ones – your re-ordered comic must fit into the same space as the original.

-Cougar :{)

P.S. If you don’t have a printer you can do the same thing in Photoshop.

:{)

“Sideshow Freaks” ?! You need to visit “Under The Big Top”!

Guys, maybe a new writer coming soon!!! This is not a joke!!

What? Tell us more!

Troops is not a word! Trooper is singular, and troop is the plural.

Carlo Coratelli said, about 1 hour ago

Guys, maybe a new writer coming soon!!! This is not a joke!!

Carlo, do you know something? Tell us please.

Oh Please Carlo…let it be true!

“Barb Ells” played by Jay Leno…. Good one Neonleon!!!

Say, flightsuit, would you be interested in a job as a secretary with the syndicate? :>

Carlo, give us your news!!!