Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for November 20, 2011

Good Evening All …

OK, I’m a tad confused. It appeared that Vera was going to be done in at Cue Ball’s. What was the point of drugging him then?

Perhaps the drug in his club soda was intended to produce erratic behavior which could cause Vera to be his own undoing?

Wow! Today’s sequence is great! Sparkle whacks doped Vera, Honeymoon calls Sam, who arrives double-quick! Love it. But, yes, Vera’s drugging is fuzzy in more ways than one, unless Cueball simply wanted the cops to bust him….

Good morning all…

Good Morning, VB!

Wow, Sparkle packs quite the wallop! She’s a Plenty, all right.

Love the tribute to Fabian, Mr. Doherty.

Good morning to you too VB. Now back to the story line. That must be a very slow acting mickey finn they put in Vera’s fizzy water.

Slow acting mickey finn? Oh, I don’t think so. We’ll find out what “they” did with Vera (and his fingerprints?) during his “lost weekend.”

The plot thickens…

Team Tracy … Joe Stanton, Mike Curtis, Shelley Pleger, Shane Fisher and Jim Doherty … continues to create the world’s best daily strip.

Jewel?

Does anyone think the leer on Vera’s face in panel 5 is kinda “pre-rape”-ish? That makes Sparkle’s punch a nice preemptive act of self-defense… which would mean an ugly law suit in a more “slice-of-life”-style comic strip.

Great exposition today between Sparkle and Vera. And Sam’s comment on Vera’s defunct comic strip is classic! Go Team Tracy!

Way to go, Sparkle! You don’t mess with a Tracy, even one by marriage. And good going to you, too, Honeymoon. She’s one on the ball girl.

@Night-Gaunt49.as per your comment yesterday ;.In the William Dozier pilot, Ray MacDonnell played DICK TRACY . Now if I could just find something other than this intro. But, it is another cool song by The Ventures !

Sparkle may have a career in MMA with a shot like that!

“Hit ’im again, Mom!” You tell ‘em, kid! The weasel deserved it!It’s a great climax to this week’s family themed strips, pulling the plot strings nicely together.

It just occurred to me that both of Sparkle’s husbands have been artists.

Invisible friends, heh, good one Sam. I like the possibilities of Vera, always getting into trouble as a sympathetic character, now doing so as an unsympathetic one. Great story line!

I don’t see what Vera did to deserve to be hit. Sparkle comes accross as violent and unreasonable. I hope this is explained somehow.

Well that Wrist Wizard sure does come in useful on the right hand.And must add that it’s a great profile of the wearer who is fast becoming my FAVORITE Dick Tracy character as Joe Staton insightfully draws them.

Honeymoon is not a good character. She’s a blood-thirsty girl. I don’t like it.

Mr. Noonan,.Re your question below:.“. . . what religion are the Tracys?”.Tracy’s background is Scottish, which would indicate some form of Presbyterianism. OTOH, Gould’s grandfather was a Methodist clergyman. In a short story I wrote for the PLAINCLOTHES website, I had Tracy declare for Presbyterianism, but if I had the chance to rewrite, I might make him Methodist. Still, Tracy’s always seemed to me to be, at heart, a Calvinist,and Presbyterianism is a much more Calvinistic tradition that Methodism..Tess has always struck me as Episcopal, someone not Catholic, but, nevertheless, more comfortable with ritual, formality, and tradition than Tracy, and someone who is decidedly not a Calvinist..I’d guess that Dick Jr., having been fostered by Tracy before Tracy and Tess got married, followed the faith tradition of his adopted father rather than his adopted mother. Bonnie was likely inducted into her mother’s faith..Sparkle, reflecting her hillbilly roots, as well as her own musical career (many C&W artists also sing gospel), is probably Baptist or some heavy duty evangelical denomination. Adulthood may have moderated this to a degree, and she may just regard herself as a non-denominational protestant, equally comfortable attending the Calvinistic services of her husband and father-in-law, the more flamboyant services of her mother-in-law, or the “old time religion” of B.O. and Gertie. Honey and Jewel/Sparkle Jr. probably reflect this more inclusive approach..Rounding out the rest of the cast, Pat and Chief Brandon, being Irish, are probably Catholic (though how faithfully they practice is anyone’s guess). Lee’s probably Baptist. Johnny Adonis is likely either Greek Orthodox or a Catholic practicing in the Greek rite..Vitamin Flintheart, based, as he is, on John Barrymore, is probably a non-practicing Catholic.

Good planning on Honeymoon’s part…Sam to the rescue! I’m hoping we don’t end up with Vera DOA in police custody…although a tox screening will clear all our beloved favorites. By the way, that Bob Fabian profile is awesome!.