It seems like the Sunday strips have a slightly different style than the dailies — particularly this one and the one where Sparkle socked Vera. The lines are thicker and less fluid and have almost a woodcut feel to them..Cool to see a classic Gould character and a Locher character come together. .With this TV show idea, it sounds like Team Tracy has found another clever way to bring classic villains’ faces into the strip!
Putty Puss! Glad to see the Team isn’t just bringing back characters from the “Golden Age” but more modern ones as well!Given the subject, could this story mark the return of — Vitamin Flintheart?
Dick: “I haven’t been a private investigator in years”. Tracy historians out there, has he ever been a P.I. that we know of? As we’ve seen in the backstory, he went from uniform cop right to the Major Crime Squad, right?
Clayface, a master of disguise, predates Putty Puss (created during the Locher era, not Gould) by more than 45 years. The version of Clayface that seemed to be made of clay first appeared in Batman comics in the early 1960s.
Regarding Tracy’s time as a private eye:.In a sequence that ran from 16 Aug 1982 through 3 Mar 1983, entitled “Who Shot Pat Patton?,” Pat, announces his impending retirement from his position as police chief, and his intention to write a “tell-all” autobiography in which he blows the lid off of municipal corruption. At about the same time, he fires Detective Johnny Adonis for corruption. Shortly after his announcement, and Adonis’s dismissal, Patton disappears and is found, by Dick and Sam, shot and apparently dying..Tracy, in his dual role as Chief of Detectives and commander of the Major Crimes Unit, takes personal charge of the case..At first..Carl Climer, the senior deputy chief, becomes, in Pat’s absence, the Acting Chief (and will almost certainly be given the job permanently if Pat dies). Climer’s always been jealous of Tracy’s reputation, and of the friendship Tracy shares with their mutual boss. So he decides to bring Tracy down a few pegs now that he has the conn. Je decrees that Tracy, as Chief of Detectives, will confine himself to the adminstrative tasks more appropriate to his rank. He also orders that the MCU be broken up and its staff dispersed to other duties throughout the department..Tracy decides he won’t stand for that. He resigns from the department, opens his own private detective agency. His first client is Toby Townley (now Mrs. Pat Patton), who hires him to find Pat’s would-be killer..Among the list of suspects, recently fired cop Adonis, two teen-aged nephews of Pat’s who the Pattons are now raising after the death of the kids’ parents, Toby herself, the “ghost” collaborator Pat would have been working on his memoirs with, and a host of others..Clearing Adonis of suspicion early on, Tracy offers to hire him as an operative in his agency. Together, in one of the very few whodunits ever presented in the TRACY strip, even as a comatose Pat fights for his life in the hospital, they work to find the person who shot Pat before s/he strikes again..Once that case is cleared up, Tracy is offered his old post back. He’s reluctant at first, and agrees to come back only as the commander of the MCU, with some phony-sounding title like “special consultant.” But before returning to the department, he takes on one more case, involving the haunting of the same house in which Itchy Oliver kept him prisoner, attempting to starve him to death. .After completing that case, he turns the agency over to Adonis (who presumably continues as a PI and is never again heard from) and resumes his work in official law enforcement. Eventually (apparently off-stage) he again agrees to accept the post of Chief of Detectives, despite the much-hated adminstrative desk work that position entails, and continues in that rank to this day.
According to Collins, the creator of Putty Puss, the character was influenced not by Clayface but another comic strip character: Anyface, an opponent of Fearless Fosdick. Great to see good old Harley back again though :)
Themesong did have a brief appearance in the first Putty Puss case, when Tracy and team were still trying to determine if the celebrity bank robber (previously appearing as David Letterman, Ronald Reagan, and even as the famous Sam Catchem) was the same individual or if it was the work of a group of impersonators. Putty Puss is known as the Man of a Million Faces…but he has at least as many voices. ;)
Clayface in 1963 version discovered a pool of chemicals while diving. Cave was dynamited but Clayface retuned but for much shorter time since the chemicals are artifical. Since then they reversed this like this change is permanent and he’s trying to find a cure—1990’s.
Vista Bill Raley and Comet™ almost 13 years ago
…and another new character!Welcome back margueritem!Good morning all…
solarrhino almost 13 years ago
Christmas Early sure looked a lot better yesterday…
johnrussco almost 13 years ago
Hey, VistaBill top of the morning to you sir! In panel 6 ole DT is looking dapper!
johnrussco almost 13 years ago
Did someone say that Margueritem went under the knife?
Tarry Plaguer almost 13 years ago
Something you may want to look at. I found it interesting at least.
billcor almost 13 years ago
thank god I’m glad I’m handsome & clean cut so I don’t fall into a life of crime like ugly people do
Michael Thorton almost 13 years ago
Why am I suddenly reminded of that Daffy Duck cartoon where Daffy pretends to be “Duck Twacy” and goes up against “Pickle Puss”?
Sisyphos almost 13 years ago
Yet another arch-criminal redux! Tracy’s platter is really full for Christmas! —And, yes, Christmas Early seems to be showing her age more today….
Puddleglum2 almost 13 years ago
Does she sort of look like Jane Russell, especially in the top right panel?
Mdstudio almost 13 years ago
It seems like the Sunday strips have a slightly different style than the dailies — particularly this one and the one where Sparkle socked Vera. The lines are thicker and less fluid and have almost a woodcut feel to them..Cool to see a classic Gould character and a Locher character come together. .With this TV show idea, it sounds like Team Tracy has found another clever way to bring classic villains’ faces into the strip!
Can't Sleep almost 13 years ago
Putty Puss! Glad to see the Team isn’t just bringing back characters from the “Golden Age” but more modern ones as well!Given the subject, could this story mark the return of — Vitamin Flintheart?
Ray_C almost 13 years ago
Christmas Early looks a bit Christmas Late this morning. Maybe the morning after…
sydney almost 13 years ago
puddleglum2
Jane Russel ? Agreed ! -But I’d think the well known body line of the actress blends much better with the version at the top left.
LittleRedDress almost 13 years ago
Keep in mind that Putty Puss was created by Chester Gould, not Max Collins. Can’t we get rid of this guy? How many appearances has he made, I wonder?
neonleon59 almost 13 years ago
Dick: “I haven’t been a private investigator in years”. Tracy historians out there, has he ever been a P.I. that we know of? As we’ve seen in the backstory, he went from uniform cop right to the Major Crime Squad, right?
coratelli almost 13 years ago
Wonderful classic style today.
chuck_henebry almost 13 years ago
I like the way panel 1 visually references the noir detective films that came out in the era when Dick Tracy was created.
Morrow Cummings almost 13 years ago
I’m no Tracy historian by a long shot, but I don’t remember him being a PI at all. Maybe I’m wrong…..
T4050 almost 13 years ago
Thanx Terry Plaguer for the background.
trimguy almost 13 years ago
You don’t like Putty Puss? How about Clayface? ;)
APersonOfInterest almost 13 years ago
BRAVO Team Tracy !!! Another pitch perfect Sunday strip !!!
mumbles almost 13 years ago
Of course Xmas looks old, she’s about 80. Give a girl a break, they can’t all look like Helen Mirren.
Buzza Wuzza almost 13 years ago
Putty Puss has always been crazy and is capable of anything.
billdi Premium Member almost 13 years ago
…or late for dinner!
Mdstudio almost 13 years ago
Clayface, a master of disguise, predates Putty Puss (created during the Locher era, not Gould) by more than 45 years. The version of Clayface that seemed to be made of clay first appeared in Batman comics in the early 1960s.
436rge almost 13 years ago
Wow. Christmas Early is back! Could Theme Song her adopted daughter be far away?
Butch70 almost 13 years ago
Aw’ Dick Tracy my comic book hero. Good show.
Weegel almost 13 years ago
Regarding Tracy’s time as a private eye:.In a sequence that ran from 16 Aug 1982 through 3 Mar 1983, entitled “Who Shot Pat Patton?,” Pat, announces his impending retirement from his position as police chief, and his intention to write a “tell-all” autobiography in which he blows the lid off of municipal corruption. At about the same time, he fires Detective Johnny Adonis for corruption. Shortly after his announcement, and Adonis’s dismissal, Patton disappears and is found, by Dick and Sam, shot and apparently dying..Tracy, in his dual role as Chief of Detectives and commander of the Major Crimes Unit, takes personal charge of the case..At first..Carl Climer, the senior deputy chief, becomes, in Pat’s absence, the Acting Chief (and will almost certainly be given the job permanently if Pat dies). Climer’s always been jealous of Tracy’s reputation, and of the friendship Tracy shares with their mutual boss. So he decides to bring Tracy down a few pegs now that he has the conn. Je decrees that Tracy, as Chief of Detectives, will confine himself to the adminstrative tasks more appropriate to his rank. He also orders that the MCU be broken up and its staff dispersed to other duties throughout the department..Tracy decides he won’t stand for that. He resigns from the department, opens his own private detective agency. His first client is Toby Townley (now Mrs. Pat Patton), who hires him to find Pat’s would-be killer..Among the list of suspects, recently fired cop Adonis, two teen-aged nephews of Pat’s who the Pattons are now raising after the death of the kids’ parents, Toby herself, the “ghost” collaborator Pat would have been working on his memoirs with, and a host of others..Clearing Adonis of suspicion early on, Tracy offers to hire him as an operative in his agency. Together, in one of the very few whodunits ever presented in the TRACY strip, even as a comatose Pat fights for his life in the hospital, they work to find the person who shot Pat before s/he strikes again..Once that case is cleared up, Tracy is offered his old post back. He’s reluctant at first, and agrees to come back only as the commander of the MCU, with some phony-sounding title like “special consultant.” But before returning to the department, he takes on one more case, involving the haunting of the same house in which Itchy Oliver kept him prisoner, attempting to starve him to death. .After completing that case, he turns the agency over to Adonis (who presumably continues as a PI and is never again heard from) and resumes his work in official law enforcement. Eventually (apparently off-stage) he again agrees to accept the post of Chief of Detectives, despite the much-hated adminstrative desk work that position entails, and continues in that rank to this day.
Aaron Mimura almost 13 years ago
According to Collins, the creator of Putty Puss, the character was influenced not by Clayface but another comic strip character: Anyface, an opponent of Fearless Fosdick. Great to see good old Harley back again though :)
Aaron
Aaron Mimura almost 13 years ago
@dakota_jones from yesterday
Themesong did have a brief appearance in the first Putty Puss case, when Tracy and team were still trying to determine if the celebrity bank robber (previously appearing as David Letterman, Ronald Reagan, and even as the famous Sam Catchem) was the same individual or if it was the work of a group of impersonators. Putty Puss is known as the Man of a Million Faces…but he has at least as many voices. ;)
Aaron
ReneTray almost 13 years ago
Clayface in 1963 version discovered a pool of chemicals while diving. Cave was dynamited but Clayface retuned but for much shorter time since the chemicals are artifical. Since then they reversed this like this change is permanent and he’s trying to find a cure—1990’s.
trimguy almost 13 years ago
One might also wonder if The Blank inspired Steve Ditko to create The Question.