Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for February 06, 2009

Dick, does it smell like fuel, perhaps?

Lousy hand alert!!!

Locher is skimping on backgrounds these days.

Tess, something smells funny.

B.O. Plenty?

I have no idea what actual crime has been committed. Except for negligence by the authorities by not checking out the cause of an exploding house.

Backgrounds? Nope.

What speed! From discovering the perfume, to enlisting the wives, and about to go on line. Bottles came from where?

Could Dick L. please stop this strip and sell the rights or whatever to somebody who might care?? Dick Tracy has become his personal joke. I am not an artist by any means, but I could draw this strip better and with better story lines and villians! He apparently does not care at all about the quality. Dicks profile in the second panel looks like Mrs. Pruneface, and he looks like a chinese hippie in the third. Somehow, I think he never really liked Dick Tracy to begin with and this is his personal revenge on all the true fans. Too bad for us!

…Oh, Locher did NOT just use that lame joke.

No. Just no.

Okay, in one panel Tess’s ears are sticking out a bit, but in the next panel they’re gone and an erring is floating next to her head.

Professor Xavier? Yes, I’ve spotted a second mutant. Yeah, it’s the Dick Tracy strip again. Oh, you have standards? Nevermind. Thanks for your time. Bye.

Tess went from making a perfume, to making a line of mens’ cosmetics that may or may not include good, sweet soap, to making a cologne, to making a perfume again. Glad she finally decided.

Dick Tracy totally does look Asian in Panel #3, good point guys.

Tess was amazed!!! Not only did she have her own line of perfume but the product also acted as an adhesive! “Wow, look at the way I can hold onto the bottle with just my two itsy bitsy fingertips”! Tess felt like Spiderwoman! She couldn’t contain her glee “Dick, just think – my own personal perfume about to go on line”. Dick just stood there grinning, knowing Tess would get his silent message in a moment. Tess thought it would be good to have a Guinea Pig to test the perfume on. “Who else other than Dick would benefit from something that smells nice” she reasoned. “Want to try the final product”? Dick was insulted! Was Tess trying to tell him something? “Not me”! Dick felted the need to fight back by insulting the perfume! “Tess, something smells funny”. Dick, seeing Tess walk away crying with the perfume bottle still attached to her two fingertips felt bad he couldn’t control his anger. “I’ve got to get control of my life again”! He determined while reaching into his pocket to retrieve the business card he carried with him. Dick read the card out loud. “Hansel Meditation and Self-Control Center – We bring the PEACE out of you”. Tracy knew he needed to call today.

BB

BACKGROUNDS? BACKGROUNDS? WE DON’T NEED NO STEENKING BACKGROUNDS!

HANDS DRAWN SEMI-ACCURATELY? HANDS DRAWN SEMI-ACCURATELY? WE DON’T NEED NO STEENKING HANDS DRAWN ACCURATELY!

My new Reminisce Magazine has an old Dick Tracy Sunday strip in it from 1947, the birth and naming of Sparkle Plenty with blonde hair down to her hips. There’s old B.O. hanging up diapers on the clothesline at the corner of Celestial Place and Ecstacy Drive, and Gravel Gertie in bed admiring her daughter. There’s even a spread in “Glance” magazine about Sparkle. Dick & Tess are there to see the baby, of course. And, yes Dick had those bushy eyebrows, even in 1947. They were just less noticeable because of his hat. Unfortunately, the strip is only in the print version of the magazine, not online, so I can’t share.

No power in my house for 10 days due to the ice storm and what do I find when I get back? Dick is just now starting to get the idea that something is wrong? I’ve had alot of time to figure this one out. Not long ago the kid on Gasoline Alley developed an engine that could run for 100’s of miles on a gallon of gas. I think he’s in collusion with Dr. Noll and they’re out to create an alternative fuel which will collapse the world economy. Oh, wait, George Bush beat them to that already.

Mattaden65 says:

Could Dick L. please stop this strip and sell the rights or whatever to somebody who might care?? Dick Tracy has become his personal joke. I am not an artist by any means, but I could draw this strip better and with better story lines and villians! He apparently does not care at all about the quality. Dicks profile in the second panel looks like Mrs. Pruneface, and he looks like a chinese hippie in the third. Somehow, I think he never really liked Dick Tracy to begin with and this is his personal revenge on all the true fans. Too bad for us!

The rest of these folks won’t likely respond to your rather cavalier post, but I’ll take a crack at it. With all due respect, Mattaden65, I challenge you to produce a month worth of samples and submit them to TMS, using the size constraints that are in place (not even considering the “hand-cuff” editorial constraints DL faces from TMS which will follow IF you succeed). It is very easy to criticize (we’re old pro’s at it here), on the one hand, but to make broad claims that you can improve upon it – good luck. I’ve tried my hand at it and it is much more of a challenge than you might think. Ask BassmanBob here – it is HARD WORK just to draft his daily “behind the scenes” story here everyday, which he handles masterfully. If you can do better, than by all means, do it. You’ll find us all very pleased if you can. Otherwise…

Also, folks here know very well that DL is just a “seat-warmer,” basically, for the syndicate (who owns the rights and license to Dick Tracy). He’ll retire at some point and TMS will find another creator to take over.

Also, DL worked as Chester Gould’s assistant from 1957-1961, and, on Gould’s high recommendation, took over for Rick Fletcher in June, 1983. He’s been around for a little while. No disrespect, but your post reveals that you don’t seem to know much about the strip or its’ legacy.

I respect your opinions, Mattaden65, but your cavalier statements about doing it better is nothing more than empty rhetoric, it seems to me.

HE CLAIMED IN HIS POST THAT HE CAN DO BETTER. Did you even read what he posted?

I didn’t suggest that nobody can criticize, but to CLAIM they can do better – not the same thing at all.

Where have I blindly defended DL or made gushing claims of adoration? If anything, I’ve chosen not to discuss much about him or his work. That’s fair game, otherwise, you must have me confused with someone else. How about folks “blindly” attacking DL without knowing all the facts? Cuts both ways, but I choose to be objective in my comments.

I respect EVERYBODY’S right to express their opinions, regardless of whether I agree with them or not. I would NEVER say anything of the sort and I’d like to know where you think I stated such a thing, notnormanchubsyubsy. I would suggest that you back up YOUR accusation with some FACTS before you attack me for not respecting other people’s opinions. Your charge is without merit. Gimme a break!

Hey, Liam – Apparently I’ve been stripped of my right to express my opinion! I get attacked.

Can anyone give me a toon time line from the night of the explosion until todays strip? How is the CIA agent to receive information in his computer search of doc/prof. Noll if there was no investigation of the explosion? And let us not loose sight of the fact that it was the doc who proposed the perfume scheme to Tess (I know the artist has).

Ohhh, a little bit of excitement today. Yeah!

Mattaden65, without providing proof of your ability, Jeff is correct that your statement is “empty rhetoric” rhetoric   Pronunciation [ret-er-ik] Show IPA Pronunciation –noun

(in writing or speech) the undue use of exaggeration or display; bombast.

Jeff, your response to Mattaden65 shows that your statement, “I respect your opinions, Mattaden65” is more “empty rhetoric” then you realize.

NotNormanChubsyUbsy, your comment to Jeff, “That is an asinine thing to say” is not valid by definition. asinine Pronunciation –adjective

foolish, unintelligent, or silly; stupid: “It is surprising that supposedly intelligent people can make such asinine statements”

Mattaden65 DID state that he could do better then Locher. Jeff was responding to that. Mattaden65 lifted himself(herself?) above critic and onto equal plain with Locher.

Jeff, your whining to Liam is childish( sorry but I think it is ).

I.M.H.O. the only person on this board that I know of who has the ability to take over the strip is Matthew. He HAS provided proof of this in the past.

OK, I’m braced for the counter blows! :-)

Peace.

BB

No counter blows from me, Bob. I will point out, though, that I stated (twice) that I respect Mattaden65’s opinion. I DO respect his/her opinions – I only pointed out that his lofty claims of creative superiority were empty, Bob.

I felt NotNormanChubsyUbsy’s attack was undeserving and below the belt. Liam, as you know, stated he wants folks to feel comfortable stating their opinions, regardless of what they may be. Attacks like these will prevent anyone who might disagree to feel “comfortable” participating here. My point of making mention of this to Liam was only for this purpose. Peace back atcha!

I, too, wouldn’t mind Mattie doing the strip. Knowing MPH as well as we all do here, I’m sure he has the vaccuum line already attached. He’s shown us some of his stuff, and it is a heckuva more like what we grew up with than DL is doing. And you know what the best part is??? We’d be IN CONSTANT TOUCH WITH THE WRITER! - because he is never more than 20 minutes away from the posts here! Then, he’d have liscense to call us “fanboys”.

Wise observation in the third panel! Hmmm…… smells like the 87 octane gas I put in my car this morning. (Charlie Chan: call Number one son)

I think the storyline with you jokers is far more interesting then the Dick Tracy storyline.

Hey Morrow, I bet if Matthew took over the strip a lot of Tracy’s villians would have VERY familar names!

Whatever.

I don’t communicate in the barbaric manner you suggest. If I intended to say what you suggest I meant, I would have said it.

This site serves me only as an entertaining distraction…one that I grow weary of with each passing day. I don’t care enough to put up with this continued BS, so, as much as I will miss some of the decent contributors here, I’m done trying to have a rational conversation here. For awhile there, I had hope, but now I just don’t care. See you in the funny papers, as they say.

BB, you are dead on it! We’d recognize a bunch of baddies. Ludwig the Louse; Judy the Ho; bASSman; no telling what I’d be, though. Maxine and The B** from Billings would be next. But you know what? I’d welcome the change. Mattie would then have a job and not have time to post 58 times in a single day (count ‘em). And, the days of Tracy the Wuss will be over!

Hey! I’m a Louse!!! Hooray!!!

Tracy’s profile in the second panel looks like Robo-Tracy to me.

Dr. Kersten, Mr. Hansel?

Hey Morrow, my namesake already IS a DT villianess – she’s Stooge Viller’s sister and nearly as crooked as he was. And I don’t believe she’s ever been brought to justice, unlike her luckless sibling…