Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for September 24, 2011

Good morning all…

Yea! Flattop’s back! He’s a favorite of mine!

I can’t believe I got up outta bed to be the first to see today’s installment!

Is Flattop suggesting his mother had an affair with the “milkman???? Should his brother really be called -” Half & Half"

Fantastic story unfolding. I can’t wait to see the rest of Sam’s recollection.

I recall the police officers in Gould’s story having diagonal stripes on their pants when they were in uniform. Although, this predates the beginning of Plainclothes Tracy and all…

Jerry’s down. So, I think, are the two baddies left behind by Flattop and Blowtop. —Let the flashback continue!

What a way to bring in the Jones Boys! Woo Gosh!! Epic storytelling for the win.

Wow! Flattop in the flashback.

Ah! The classics. Speaking of which, here’s a link to “Dick Tracy in B Flat”, featuring Bing Crosby as Dick Tracy, Bob Hope as Flattop and Frank Sinatra as Shaky: http://jack_benny.podomatic.com/entry/2011-09-23T23_12_58-07_00

My favorite part is the scene between Judy Garland and Bob Hope.

But back to today’s strip: I’m so relieved they didn’t revive Flattop. He is dead, dead, dead. Flashbacks are just fine.

Flattop! Blowtop!Woo Gosh! Can this strip get any better?(Maybe I outta ask mom…?)

When they get Jerry to the morgue, they’re going to find a red shirt under his police uniform…

Just a note, my wife Carole came up with the name for Flattop’s mother.

Dick Tracy’s history being rewritten….why do they have to do that instead of just moving FORWARD with Tracy’s timeline? Why mess with what was perfect to begin with? First DC Comics and now this. I can’t stand it! What’s the freaking purpose???

Thank you for remembering Flattop, my all time favorite!

BEST FLASH BACK EVER!!!

A couple of points..First, regarding Tracy’s having been in uniform being a violation of Gould’s original story..In the audition strips Gould sent Capt. Patterson, Tracy was already the Chief of Detectives. Patterson told him to make him a civilian at first, who joins the police force to get Emil Trueheart’s killers and to rescue Tess from her abductors..Gould did as he was told, but he left himself an out. Or at least he left an out (whether this was intentional on his part or not) to his successors..When Brandon offers Tracy a position in the Detective Bureau, he does NOT say, "How would you like to join the police department?’ but rather “How would you like to join the Plainsclothes Squad?”.This could be interpreted as offering him an immediate position as a detective. But it could also be interpreted as meaning that Tracy was already a cop, and that Brandon was offering him a promotion..The second interpretation is closer to how it would have happened in real life. Even in 1931, there were very few major city police forces in which someone could start out as a detective without putting in some time in uniform..And after all, since Brandon was already aware of Tracy’s potential in law enforcement because of his recognizing “Pinkie the Stabber” in drag in that very first, complete in twelve panels, Sunday story, is it so hard to believe that he might have tried to recruit Tracy at that time, and that the “Tracy Meets Big Boy” daily story might not be taking place some years later?.As for automatics vs. revolvers in police work, there were individual cops who carried weapons like the Colt 1911 .45, or the Browning Hi-Power 9mm. In its early days, probably because they could get them from military armories, the FBI armed its agents with .45’s..Revolvers were NOT the preferred weapon because they were less powerful (the .357 Magnum was introduced in the ’30’s by S&W), or more accurate (I’ve seen people shoot top scores with semi-autos; used properly they can be MORE accurate than revolvers), but because they were low-maintenance compared to semi-autos, and were less expensive. .Also, they were easier to train with. The most common police revolvers, the S&W Model 10 .38, and the Colt Police Positive .38, were both double action, while the .45 and 9mm autos then available were single-action, which meant they either had to be carried cocked and locked, or that the shooter would have to take the time to pull back the hammer before squeezing off a shot, at least for the first round..The introduction of semi-autos that were double-action on the first shot was the beginning of the end of revolvers as the most common sidearm in US law enforcement.

My one quivle is that there is no impetus for Flattop to go questioning his brother’s legitimacy. Now, if that there had first been talk about how he wouldn’t have abandoned their men…

@dakota_jonesIt’s not entertainment when the so called entertainment industry can’t come up with anything original anymore. All they seem capable of doing is rehashing old things with “remakes”. Not a creative brain in anyone’s noggin anymore it seems.

HI FANS—-YOU ARE ALL RIGHT—THE ART WORK AND PLOT LINES JUST GET BETTER AND BETTER!!

Just wanted to give major kudos to the new team for doing such excellent work on this strip. Really, really pleased.