Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for September 08, 2009

To the tune of Lorne Greens “Ringo”

She lay face up in the center ring sand Clutching nothing in her hand Shot by someone, he knew she was dead He was a detective it has been said Not a spark of life in the strip was to be read “It happened” was all that was said by… Ringo Ringo, Ringo

He talked to him till we were blue in the face The days went by, nothing changed in its pace From the break of dawn to the setting sun Never moving, not a question for anyone Hour on hour we watched in boredom “It happened” was all we were to get from…Ringo Ringo, Ringo

Then one day we were put to a test The story moved, maybe a minute at best He said he was the law and the best by far But we knew different, he was a faded star All the life and blood had been drained “It happened”, came the refrain from…Ringo Ringo, Ringo

It’s been said Lochers next to none But his drawings lately are of no fun Coupled with plots and dialog that surely miss Readers are left only to twist Though the strip is such a bore We all come back for a little more of…Ringo Ringo, Ringo

The strip has shrunk in numbers throughout the land Given the touch of Dicks cold hand Then we’re told new blood is on the way Spam has been posted day after day Those who have the temerity to complain Will never again get to hear that lousy refrain from…Ringo Ringo, Ringo

WW, bravo, sir, bravo!

That elephant has such beady little eyes….

Dypak, I forgot the beyond annoying pop ups on the index page.

*

“Witness protection program? No, I’ve been in law enforcement my whole life, but I’ve never heard of this witness protection program you speak of!”

Panel Three:

Well one thing I’ll say in Underwear Girl’s favor is that at least she changes her underwear frequently; The last time we saw her, I believe her lingerie was black. The same may also be true of her hair, though I could be mistaken.

The blanket that’s draped over the elephant’s back, meanwhile, has shrunken dramatically since we last saw it.

Regarding the elephant’s surly demeanor: You’d be angry too, if your tusks had been ripped out.

Well done wndrwrthg!

I think the last panel just destroyed the last few days good work.

Are there still people in the audience? I suppose there must be since the girl on the elephant is still performing. I thought the rice crispies that were pouring out of the tent several weeks ago was the audience fleeing. The performers say they are scared. I say I’m confused.

Hmmm. Witness protection program? You mean the government program where you take on a new identity, relocate to some small, secluded location where you can be out of the public eye, and where you can be safe from predators by being reclusive? Ok, so you decided to hide out by running a circus and being out in front of thousands of people each night and traveling across the country…hmmmm….what made you choose this versus getting a slot in the CBS fall prime time lineup?

“I’m afraid for my life so I’m just going to ride this elephant around the big top until my nerves calm down.”

Being in the Witness Protection Program requires that I tell everyone of this fact

I think Locher should be in the Witless Protection Program, because if we ever get ahold of him….

Hey, Flight Suit, Larry, The Cable Guy, did star in Witless Protection.

PASTE UP PANEL ALERT !

Brozman (like another adolescent friend) is learning all of Locher’s “tricks” of the Trade —

The Elephant we see today will reappear in paste up form this FRIDAY (9-11-09)

While the perspective of the “tent” from 9-04-09 will be reused tomorrow in panel 3 … flags flying an all !

Score two more on the way to the Richard Locher Hall of ‘reproduction’ fame.

Meanwhile our friend “wndrwrthg” is moved to break into pointed and compelling verse. I’d say even better than the last !

What happens if nothing changes same story line Oct. 4th?

What happens? It’s the end…

…yawn…smack…

Is October 4th the day this conversation between Tracy and Ringo finally ends?

Well it’s good to see BASSMANBOB back, even if it’s not quite the old “bassmanbob” the one the Mattie encounter has now inflated into CAPS.

That’s one common denominator among Tracy fans of whatever stripe … . Gould’s magnatism pulls them back.

Ask Mattie ! He’s been through the “EXERSISE” more often than most !

Good to see you BASSMANBOB ! I’m smiling under my Dick Tracy hat.

PS Where is GROK ?

Sidney, can you give me again the link for the Dick Tracy strip preview? Thanks.

Welcome back BASSMANBOB. Missed you.

So let’s see - October 4th is an anniversary of the Gould strip. Dare we guess it’s actually going to be aknowedged?

Wow, I just got back from Burning Man, and I find that skipping the strip for nine days makes its pacing work.

WHAT HAPPENED ? Every one wants to know since Locher introduced the line, Mattie too has been fanticicizing on what he’d like to see HAPPEN on Oct. 4

Ludwig, morrow, Carlo and the others will be dissapointed, it was simply –

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING !!!

(time out – “jtpozenel” can stop reading here - no wish to snap his attention span)

O’Reilly was right on what Obama “saw” in health care. He observed that ONLY Obama could SEE it ! Had he read the Oct 4 strip he might have said the same thing -

Only Mattie can “SEE” – It’s invisable to you and ME

All those “Sugar Plums”, The dasterdly new villain revealed, the action, the suspense etc, etc, just like in the old days. To US they WON’T exist. not even to Jeff (I suspect ?). I feel happy for Mattie ! What a thrill and privalidge ! While the rest us us can only SEE the same standing “still” scenario we’ve watched for three months (?)

I looked for the now famous signature with the small “e”, but surprisingly it wasn’t there, only the regular “Brozman” and “Locher” ones ? Guilty of a lack of “clarity” in communicating ?

So why then (?), as he had implied, would Mattie need “permission” to show his finisned art if no one else had a copyright on it ?

But then, I remembered the movie “The Invasion of the Body Snatcher (?) No ! I even postulated, Ghost writing/art (?) Was Mattie secretly “ghosting”? Yet, not the slightest clue was there in the strip, no Hansel “finger prints” anywhere, AND I used my Dick Tracy Spy glass too ! The strip was the usual dull, it lacked STYLE,

I’m sure MHP could have done a better job.

I’m dissapointed !

Then, I got a call from Judy and she reminded me of Tess’ Credit Card “scam” - - suddenly, it dawned on me - -

In local parlance, some call that play, “BIG-ING UP” themselves ! (?)

Dear Liam: Yesterday, I asked you about the practice of “spamming” on this hallowed site. I see it is still allowed. My neighbor is having a yard sale next month and asks if he can use your website to promote it? He even asked about sending you a “genius” fee. I said that would help.

With all respect,

Morrow

He should have asked Tracy if he had ever heard of fingerprints or handcuffs-Duh–Dick Tracy was a lot more fun to read in the 1950’s when Sparkle Plenty came along and Junior Tracy was the police sketch artist.

Welcome back BASSMANBOB!!!!! Great little ditty. Does something occur on OCTOBER 4,2009??????? Thank you Margueritem, Watcha and Sydney. That has been fermenting in my mind since they first introduced…Ringo, Ringo…Ringo. A belated thank you to you Sydney for Sunday, though that post has since been removed, why I cannot imagine. There are powers at work here that we can only marvel at. FLAG ALL SPAM. THIS SPACE FOR RENT!!!!! REASONABLE RATES!!!! BUY ONE GET NONE FREE!!!!!

That elephant sure has a scowl on its face.

BASSMANBOB.

If you keep that up soon you’ll get notice of “draft” to seve in the Dick Locher Praetorian Guard.

Unlike the strip of Oct. 4, two well known personalites are likely to sign it.

Conscripts are highly valued in every religion. With some luck, who knows a strip of original art may well come your way.

PS: Hope it’s not one with a “paste up” panel (?)

Is it 10-4 yet??

why is my comment in a rectangle??

BASSMANBOB

I know you’re in a private institution for treatment. Perchance could it be “Leafy Dale” ? Locher you may recall recomended it for “Don Quick Oatie” back in 2006

Back then he had a “thing” for Windmills but I hear he escaped again, and now his delusion is to write and draw the Dick Tracy comic strips. Between shock treatments did you hear anything ?

I hope the current Author’s are safe ! (?)

Well this sensless plot makes sure that the death of the trapeze girl happened for no reason. It’s as ridiculous as parading a witness that you want to hide in front of thousands of people every weekend, all over the U.S.

I keep trying to set my standards low enough to be able to appreciate the stories in this strip. Just like in limbo contests, DT keeps dropping the bar on me.

Matthew, posting the same comment every day is spamming. And since virtually every other post on today’s page has made some reference to October 4th, it’s clear the reminder about the date is not necessary.

In regards to your other comments, please continue to use the flagging function and “Contact Us” forms to bring offensive material to our attention.

Liam, why are my comments in this rectangle?? Just curious, since no one responds.

RichardT,

Loosely, this sory is 1) A Crime and 2)Tracy stands in a ring with one “tit-bit” (thanks Grok) of information nudging the story forward each week. Mostly, litle “dead end” items of no account. There is no other discernable movement!

Then after several weeks of the same thing over and over we have “SUMMING UP TIME”, like in a Court of Law - - we’re about there now an we’ll HEAR what happened – what we’ve wanted to know now for several weeks.

Then, you’ll find it’s Barb Els who did the killing, (and hear this), to PREVENT the now dead Louise from killing Ringo, because she Barb wanted to do it herself. I’m still rolling over laughing at this simplistic nonsense.

That’s not all, the whole Circus are THE bunch of Crooks looking to kill Ringo and that’s EXACTLY where he was HIDDEN by the FBI in their witness protection program ;-P

TMS should investigate how a story, so “ba-ba baby” ridiculous like this one, ever got into the Dick Tracy strip.

OK, I have received a response from uClick Support regarding the disappearance of my comments! I am told that my previous account, “flightsuit,” (all one word) was removed because I had posted defamatory comments. I don’t believe I’ve done so, but I gotta give The Powers That Be some credit, ‘cause they advised me to keep this in mind when posting under my new “Flight Suit” (two words) identity.

This means they’re aware that I did a sneaky little end-run around their system, and they’re being cool about it. That says a lot, ‘cause many other administrators of Web communities would not be at all tolerant of such behavior.

So thank you, uClick/GoComics for being cool!

PS: Mumbles, your comments are inside a rectangle because they ran out of trapazoids.

I request that every time Ringo says’ It Happened!” it be deleted cuz I think it is spam.

Flightie - Maybe it was the people over ar FBOW who were complaining about you?

mumbles – Your comments are in a rectangle because you made them. On my computer the comments that I made show up in the rectangle.

Sigh…

Mattie, civil rights and equal rights do not exist on this board. Even the right to free speech does not exist as this is a private forum. What you seek is control, and you try to do so by seeking to play a victim. You are not being unfairly discriminated against, as other posters have been, seemingly at the instigation of a certain party. If comments are posted daily that vilify the quality of the art and story here, that is fair game as we the consumers are commenting on the product being presented. As consumers we have that right at least.

Unbelievable, while Tracy’s circus is dying a slow death, the comment section is a three ring circus in full swing!

Dear Liam,

If anybody posts comments about me which are “designed to be offensive, derogatory and defamatory,” I ask that you please do NOT delete them.

Maintaining a free and open dialogue, and fostering an atmosphere of lively debate, are far more important than protecting my delicate sensibilities.

Thank you Liam!

Sigh…

Folks of the discussion board: I would like to take this opportunity to introduce to you a past director of the Dick Tracy Museum, Mr. Matthew P. Hansel (Jr., isn’t it?). All rise. Welcome, Matthew!

Here I am late posting again….this time I was at the dentist getting the 2nd part of a root canal. Actually was easier to tolerate than the strip today. But hark! Could it be the FBI chick saying “excuse me gentlemen”?? Talk about suspense!!!! Oh!! that was just a jolt of pain from my poor suffering tooth. At least that is keeping me awake.

HE’S BAAAAAAAAAAAACK!

Hey now, I don’t think we’ve covered this witness protection thing in enough detail. There may be one or two Americans over the age of six who are unfamiliar with it. I think it might help to spend a week or two covering the details of one of the most well known police programs in history, three panels at a time. No need to rush anything, now is there. It’s not like we have a deadline or anything. Slow and steady wins the race!

Bassman, welcome back! Now where is Grok?

Shstrng, I can’t imagine what I might have said that would have upset the FBOFW cultists, other than pointing out that Ellie is a complete failure as a mother and wife.

Heh, heh…

MPH: No, it is not necessary to post offensive, derogatory and defamatory comments in order to maintain a free and open forum. It is, however, necessary to have a very high threshold for what you’re going to call offensive, derogatory, and defamatory.

It also helps if you have a sense of humor about yourself and others.

The one thing which all crazy people have in common is that they lack the ability to perceive themselves as others see them.