Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for December 28, 2009

Hey Tracy, I have an unusual request. I need you to head up the worthless investigation into the reincarnation of Telly Savalas becoming a violin thief. The whole thing won’t make any sense and you’ll wonder why I ever called you but I need you to do it anyway. Lt. Teevo and Sam Catchem are out with H1N1 virus and there’s no one left here to take these bogus calls.

Thanks for being a team player Dick.

ridenslide65, I think you’ve pretty much nailed it.

Don’t assume this phone call isn’t personal. Maybe she’s about to go out on a limb and finally confess to Dick the fact that she wants to act out her long-standing Funny Dead Duck fetish?

What’s that instrument Telly is holding on his knee in the 2nd panel? A mandolin?

An instrument! … and here I thought it was a wall spoon.

Hey I didnt know Danny De Vito was in this comic!!!

I thought Telly was holding a shovel…

And I see the tuning pegs in the toy fiddle are still in the neck and not the scroll of the instrument in panel one.

“Tracy, I have an unusual request.. a new writer”

Isn’t panel 1 a “paste up” copy of panel 2 from Saturday (12-26-‘09) ?

They look the same to me. Violin at same size, similarly positioned, and thumb bent at identical angle on fret board. Then, all the line counts from the face shadow and cheek smile remain unchanged, as are the matching fold lines on the jacket sleeves.

Lesson one came as I recall, with Sunny Dell Acres, and “Brozman does learn fast from this ”master” of repetition.

Elsewhere, my worry is, that Matty Square is so “enthralled” he’ll pick up the same sour habits. They’re always the easiest to include and already the Square’s complaining about his heavy (unpaid) 2 strip production schedule

That could make for a bad start in the industry, and noteworthy, not everyone is less alert or unattentive on these things as those guys at TMS These “short cut” transgresstions seem to sail right under their Radar screens with a knowing “smile” from DL and a pass tag of “artistic license”.

Perhaps they don’t see original work only photocopies sent to them

.

ridenslide 65,

It isn’t finished yet, but you have summed up this phone sequence and the attendant “crapo” that passes for Dick Tracy with classic exactitude and humorous mimicry

It seldom, if ever, comes much better.

“Chris Chendo!” Ahh—ha ha ha!! I just got it!! When will we see Al Legro, Sarah Nade, and Polly Phony? I hope the next plot involves Tess taking Dick out on Father’s Day for a relaxing evening at a Middle Eastern restaurant. So many possibilities…my mouth is watering already.

Ooooh, the possibilities from the third panel! I’m surprised she didn’t text him. She wants to get him on Facebook……. fast!

Flight Suit said, about 8 hours ago Don’t assume this phone call isn’t personal. Maybe she’s about to go out on a limb and finally confess to Dick the fact that she wants to act out her long-standing Funny Dead Duck fetish?

Hey Flight Suit - It MAY be personal. I think she’ going to ask him for a foot massage. She never liked Tess anyway.

Rich

Locher’s rehash comes back to bite Tracy in the butt:

“Tracy, I have an unusual request…GET TO WORK YOU BUM, WE’VE CALLED YOU THREE TIMES IN THE LAST WEEK!!!

I love the detail work on the wanted poster.

“Chris Chendo”… I love it!

“Tracy, I want you to pretend you’re a cop and show up once or twice at the station…”

Just when you think it can’t get any worse………at least we had the pig on wheels.

Jake…we’ve just begun to explore. There’s Tim Ber. (Yeah, I know it’s “timbre” but “Tim Bre” won’t sound out right.)

N7326 Foxtrot said, “Just when you think it can’t get any worse………at least we had the pig on wheels.”

And the pig on wheels will not be forgotton!

Chester Gould is indeed rolling over in his grave

I didn’t know there is a violin and a viola found out from a friends daughter who plans a viola not sure how it’s spelled. Also for violin’s there becoming more sufficitcated and electric. There is a women’s group who sing like angels and plays one. I think their called Gothic not sure? Also not sure what the difference between the insturments are?

I have an unusual request… push my eyes back closer together. And get me a REAL cell phone.

ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz……………

Tracy, we have a job for you! No, I haven’t forgotten you’re brain-damaged, can’t tell your hallucinations from reality, things keep shrinking and growing and shrinking again like Alice in Wonderland, violins turn into ukuleles and then into banjos – but this is a job that suits your talents!

See, it’s one of those he says/he says domestic dispute kind of things, no witnesses, no way to tell who’s the big liar, just he says/he says. They had a big fight, no witnesses, father says son stole his fiddle, no doubt son will say he didn’t or it’s his or father smashed it on his head or something – everybody’s got a story and there are no witnesses to any of it. Ends up the son runs off, with or without fiddle, stolen or not. Father calls 911, says, “Find my son – so I can kill him!”

Naturally we can’t be accessories to murder, but we don’t want to tell him to go jump in the lake either, so … we’ll put you on the job! The father’ll think we’re taking his complaint seriously, the son won’t be endangered, you’ll get to be a detective again (kinda) – everybody wins, nobody loses! :D

-Cougar :{)

kab2rb : The viola is larger than the violin and thus has a deeper timbre. It makes a more mellow sound. I think their range of pitch is nearly the same, though.

She wants to know whether Dick happened to get Barb Els phone number.

An unusual request eh?