Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for September 30, 2012

Oh baby, swing that hammer!

Retik?!?

All this & a Davey Mylar monument…Wow! Way to build a story!!!

Are those contemporary Moon People? Poor Davey.

What the? Who is this couple?? Are they Moon Maid’s accomplices or caretakers?!?

Think she might be a little annoyed? “The reports of my demise some 40+ years ago were GREATLY exaggerated!”

A million things need to be discussed after reading this!!! I’ll start with the amazing last panel. The wild, beautiful eyes, the mask that reminds us of mystery, the creepy gravestones in the background, and the moon peering over it all. Fantastic job by Joe Staton! And to top it off, she speaks! Since there’s no one with her, it looks to me like she really does think she’s Moon Maid. Hey, I’m game for that!! In any case, I’m not going to argue with an angry woman with a sledgehammer! So much more to say, but I’ll stop here.

Moon Maid, Davey, Denny Colt…Is ANYONE really buried in Wildwood Cemetary?

Bill Doolin, inspiration for the Eagle’s Desparado. Near death anyhow, was he sold old by his wife so she could collect the reward, or was he already dead?

Okay, I did some quick research on Retik. He was Emporer of the Moon (an evil character) in the old Commando Cody serials!! Is this a hint that the man and woman are agents of Moon Governor? And is Moon Maid their boss, or vice versa?

I stayed up to see today’s strip, and it was more than worth it! It may be the most engrossing Sunday I’ve ever seen. Thank you, Team Tracy!!!

Retik = Kiter. He’s a bad check artist?

In the last panel, faux Moon Maid reminds me of angry Cindy Lou Who…

Agreed, this dame is ROCKIN’ it today!!

Here’s a pic of Retik, Emporer of the Moon from the 1950’s scifi serial, Commando Cody:

Only 116 posts yesterday…Can’t we do better?!!

Good morning all…

You want suspense, you got suspense!

Radar Men from the Moonaka Retik the Moon Menace

Wow.Davey’s headstone (no more mystery there!).A Commando Cody shout-out (loved that serial, saw it on TV when I was a kid).And a lady with considerable strength and those EYES!I’m begining to think this really is Mysta!Mike, Joe, Shelley, Shane and Jim – Fantastic stuff!So worth staying up!

SHAZAM!Thank you Team Tracy!

I hear you and wonder the same thing. If she’s NOT Mysta, she’s one seriously messed up chick. Kind of wondering based on the crazy eyes and weird speech in the last panel whether she may drugged and/or hypnotized? Still, she’s awfully cute! I love the little touches like her hair covering the base of her horns in the last panel. And even though she’s mostly in shadows, she’s positively GORGEOUS in that 2nd to last panel! Does comic art get any better than this?!?

Lots of things lie, honey. You can’t smash ’em all up with sledgehammers.

The stone says “Beloved wife and mother”. That is not a lie. The lie, to her, is that Mysta is dead. If she believes she is who she is, she will have to meet her “family” soon. That will be interesting.

Junior’s life is about to get very complicated!

You’ve said it well and have described the exact same feelings I’m having. Oh thank you Mike Curtis and Joe Staton for bringing back this great character, and for doing it with such care and beauty. Words fail me. You guys are

….awesome! (accidentally clicked Submit a bit early)

Not only am I not any more clear on ‘who" this angry vandal is, I’m not even sure now “what” she is! Could she be some kind of robot controlled by that evil-looking couple in the fast getaway car? And even if by comic strip miracle this really is Moon Maid (the real, original Mysta), she is seriously “messed up,” as they say. No decent person, terran or lunar, would destroy a cemetery memorial out of personal anger or confusion. It’s not all about “me,” Moon Maid (whoever/whatever you really are)!

Those are interesting eyes! I did not know Moon People had white pupils. That would get disconcerting after awhile.

I still doubt this is Mysta, but after seeing the last panel, I’m beginning to doubt my doubts. :) While I agree her behavior is inappropriate in one sense, even extremely so, I’m going to cut her some slack until we find out more about her identity. Definitely getting a creepy vibe about the couple in the car, though….

And as wonderful as the art is today, the last two panels are INSANELY GREAT. The shadow pic of Moon Maid with one leg exposed is just, WOW. And the final panel is one of the best I’ve seen since the new team took over. Thank you Joe!

Wow… simply.. um… wow….

Is it her, or isn’t it? I think we have a real MYSTA-RY on our hands.

Whatever the truth of who this actually is, turns out to be, I’m going to toss in my feelings on the character.Back in New York, Dick Tracy was the cover comic on the Daily News[if I remember correctly]. We didn’t get the paper but I was able to read the Tracy strip on Sundays, just by passing a newsstand. What I liked was the science-fictional aspects of Moon Maid and the whole thing of this Moon culture.Sometimes we weren’t near the newspapers so I didn’t get a continuous sense of the story but what I saw I liked. There was something almost archetypal about Moon Maid. It was like she was more than just somebody’s idea of an alien woman. Instead she seemed to embody the real essence of the Moon. She was human in form and yet she had a natural laser, and antennae. She seemed to be too beautiful to be human, as if she existed in an atmosphere too rarefied, too pure for humans to survive in. I have no idea if she and her people could survive on the airless surface or not [I only got the story piecemeal]. I have mixed feelings about Gould. On the one hand his creativity broke through in a flash of genius and through the breech stepped this modern day Diana. He’d been introducing more and more science fiction aspects to his story. I was never a big “cops and robbers” fan, so you can imagine this side of the strip is what I really liked.On the other hand after the real Moon Landing all of this stuff was gradually eased out. And it almost seemed like Gould was trying to get away from something he now considered silly, and in light of the real Moon Landing, almost unpatriotic. It was like, “We’ve had our fun, playing with this, but the real Moon Landing, well, that’s real, and fantasy and imagination, there’s no real place for that in our modern world.”But the worst was yet to come: it’s not enough to let Junior’s alien wife fade into obscurity. She has to be gotten rid of, like Christian militants attempting to destroy any trace of Greece’s pagan heritage and mythology. Fletcher and Collins take over the strip and…well, do I have to write it out?Jay Maeder’s quote infuriated me, “Bumping off Moon Maid was the single most loving and reverential action any Tracy devotee could have taken, and if Collins never wrote another line he would still be living in memory for having done the strip this affectionate good turn.” I can’t even really comment on that, other to say I find that extraordinarily twisted and hideous.What I can say is that the current creators seem to be functioning out of a pure love for the characters in Dick Tracy and are finally having their say. And what they say is, “Moon Maid is too good a character to stay dead [or to have ever actually been dead in the first place!] and we’re bringing her back!”All I can say is, you’ve made me one happy Moon Maid fan!

I suspect it’s a clone.

Oh, Noes! She did it! Hmm… I’m suspicious, though. The two in the car look like 100% Earthers to me. I suspect we have a wanna-be Moonmaid Nutball on our hands and her two accomplices. She’s been doing good up to this point, but I think she is totally around the bend. This is going to be a rocky road for Honeymoon and her family. I hope she doesn’t go after Junior’s new wife… YIKES!

And yes, guys.She’s a very sexy girl.The kind you don’t bring home to Mama! o.O

She’s’ both heroic and slightly mad (but then so is anyone who dons a costume to fight crime) But I suspect this isn’t the real Mysta. However, I suspect Honeymoon and Sparkle are in for a lot of problems coming up…

Real Moon Maid or a clone, she’s “not from around here”. Those antennae growing out of her head are not standard Earth-issue headgear.

Superb artwork once again. The plot thickens!

I love it! Who are you going to believe, that stone or her eyes?

Is Davey really buried there?

Davey Mylar was a comic book fan who lived with his mother. He stumbled across the abandoned hideout of George Alpha, the original Mr. Crime. Craving excitement, Davey decided to re-activate Mr. Crime’s criminal organization, secretly running things from his home computer.

Davey enlisted Panda, an associate of Alpha’s, to assemble a group of Dick Tracy’s enemies. Using Lt. Teevo as an informant, Davey and Panda were able to stay one step ahead of the police.

Davey developed a crush on Blaze Rize, a member of his gang, and arranged a dinner date where he revealed to her his secrets. She was surprised, but did not seem impressed by or attracted to Davey. Later in the evening, they went to gang’s headquarters where Davey bonded with Double-Up over their mutual fondness for the comic book character Scarlet Sting.

Later that night, the Panda Talent Agency was the object of a raid by the combined forces of the Major Crimes Unit and the Tracy Agency. Davey and Blaze attempted to escpae, but Davey was shot. Believeing he was dying, Davey asked Blaze to deliver a package to his mother, but not to tell her about his double life. (July 17, 2012)

Source—-Wikia

Who benefits from this? Is this designed to attract the attention of The Governor & moon government? (although little concern was shown by either for the mortal remains or the funeral ceremony) Is this a ploy to get Smith Enterprises involved back w/ profitable Earth> moon trade?

Also…what’s driver wearing beneath overcoat? Doesn’t appear to match moon garb but it is some sort of symbol. Just hope it’s not some crazy moon cult thing!

The symbol or emblem on today’s Retik seems similar to the pendant on Retik from the Radar Men From The Moon 1950’s serial.

Good Morning Detectives! I know I’m buried deep in the comment pile today, and nobody will probably read this as a result, but I have to wonder…..

I thank Stagger Lee for the point of reference on this with his showing Moon Maid’s 1978 death in his post yesterday. So, I have to ask this question: with the amazing powers she has at her disposal, and her “alien” physiology in spite of her human-like appearance, do any of us REALLY believe a mere explosion would truly kill her?

She’ll probably go after the Tracys for “abandoning” her after that explosion, thinking they deserted her in her time of need. That explosion obviously injured her, disfigured her face, but she obviously survived it.

Anyway, that’s my two cents.

Moon, I think you hit the nail on the head!

Best.Tracy.Sunday.Ever.Or at least since the new team took over!!

i notice nobody commented on the pic in panel two.. that exceptionally ODD LOOKING “car” in th cemetery. is THAT the car that the two henchmen are waiting in? if so, it DEFINITELY doesnt look “terrestrial” to me.

So who is this Davey Mylar ?

Wow, and I thought I was a nerd! ;-)If only Dick Locher knew all he had to do was bring Moon Maid back to be a hero!

Her eyes look a little hypnotized.

Who’s the girl in the car with Nixon?

All I know is that this is like a dream come true. I hope it truly is Moon Maid. I have missed this character so much. I have thought it out, if it’s her, it would be nice for Tracy to call on her to help solve cases once in a while. Since Junior is happily married to Sparkle, what will happen there? I hope that Team Tracy allows Moon Maid to return to the strip, and that this isn’t an imposter.

I really think this is someone who’s been deluded into thinking she’s Moon Maid.Something I’ve been wondering: Was Moon Maid’s name always “Mysta?” I have a 1990 trade paperback titled “The Dick Tracy Casebook,” which includes “Big Boy’s Open Contract” by Collins and Fletcher—the 1978 arc in which Moon Maid is killed by a car bomb meant for Tracy. The only time she’s ever referred to as anything other than “Junior’s wife,” “my wife,” “his wife,” etc., it at her funeral when Diet Smith shows up to tell Tracy that her father has decided to break off contact with Earth. And Diet calls her “Moon Maid.” Nobody ever calls her by her name and her tombstone isn’t shown—at least, the side that would have her name on it.Is the name “Mysta” a nod by Mike and Joe to “Mysta of the Moon,” a series that ran in Planet Comics in the 1940s?

Is that Thor’s Hammer?

It makes sense that it is Mysta,with the mask. I think the mask is to hide the damage done to her face. I wonder if she will meet up with Junior.

Retik? The Moon Menace??(Next episode: Marex and Narob)

Could Moon Maid be in WITSEC, or is she a clone?

Concerning the quote from Jay Maeder’s book referenced above by FENRISULFR and Peqoud77:There are those of us who understood what he meant. Up until the “Moon Period”, Dick Tracy was a DETECTIVE strip, with elements of creative science. Chester Gould seemed to take a sudden left turn when he introduced the Space Coupe. When he actually had his characters go to the moon, it was not the same strip anymore. And besides, it didn’t make sense. If the Earth had really had contact with an alien civilization, would it be a city police detective that would be put in charge of the whole business? It would not. It would involve World Governments and Military and who knows what else. But here we had Dick Tracy flying back and forth to the Moon while the rest of the World pretty much ignored the whole thing as if nothing extra- ordinary were even happening. All Mr. Maeder was saying is that Collins tried to bring the strip back to what he (Collins) knew and loved as a kid.Obviously most of today’s fans disagree with that,and enjoy all this Moon Maid excitement. I’m just along for the ride at this point, because the new art is great. But I do miss a good solid detective story with clues and chases.

The last panel is truly a work of art. The closeup of those beautiful moon eyes, the extreme emotion on her face, the electricity in her eyes, the jagged word balloon wrapped around her angry complaint, the graves to the side, and the moon over it all. Awesome.

And speaking of detective stories, there is still a loose end with Davey . When Dick Tracy and company raided Mr. Crime’s hideout, they knew through Little-face who to expect. When they found an extra body (Davey) they would not have known who he was or what he was doing there. You would think they would have done follow-up to try to figure that out. Now we find that he is buried by his mother, and there is no apparent mystery about it.

And about those moon eyes—they’d be very hard to fake. You can explain away the horns, the electricity, the perfect body, the thigh high boots, all that. But sorry, those big moon eyes that look just like Honeymoon’s, and especially the crazy look they take on when they get angry….let’s just say I’d have an easier time thinking she’s an android than a wigged out human imposter. And I think based on the visual evidence it’s even easier to say this is a moon woman, and most likely Mysta. My take on that.

Whoa.

Diet Smith, you might want to warm up the Magnetic Moon Coupe. Could need it in the near future.

i must not be the only one who thinks this is a really great strip. #100 wow.

I have. I think it’s a real possibility. That way she could both Mysta and NOT Mysta at the same time.

Someone mentioned the vehicle. The inside looks normal. The outside looks like The Chariot from Lost In Space.

She appears to be angry at what she sees as a monument to a lie. The lie of Mysta’s death has been destroyed. Bravo.

Wow! 113 posts and counting. And it isn’t just the volume that’s so impressive, it’s the quality and depth. Lots of theories, admiration, rejoicing, predictions, and praise for the delightful moon chick.As for me, I can sum up my response to the events of the last two days in five words:LONG LIVE THE ALIEN HOTTIE!!!!!!!!!!

Something is up with the obscured face. It’s not like it covers enough to hide Moon Maid’s identity if she’s actually Moon Maid…unless it’s NOT Moon Maid. Then it covers enough to lead one to believe it is Moon Maid. Ow. Now my brain hurts.

I’m going to climb out on a limb and say, “Here’s what happened…”This is Moon Maid, the original. She was in the car, but the explosion didn’t kill her – she’s darn near invulnerable to heat and explosive force. (I said this before)She may have been blown clear, or pulled herself from the wreckage, but either way, she wasn’t seen by the Tracys (the flames obscured her).(Here’s the new part.) The two in the car – Retik and his companion – may have found her. They would have recognized her – those eyes and horns are pretty distinctive. It would have taken time for her to recover, and for them to take advantage of her by feeding her false information. She probably had a concussion was touch-and-go for a while after the blast, so they were able to convince her the Tracy’s weren’t concerned about her, hadn’t gone looking for her, they had been using her, etc. etc.And now they’re getting ready to use her powers. So they let her vent her anger by smashing the headstone erected “to fool the public into thinking they were concerned about her.”And now they’re getting ready for their job…And their target might be Diet Smith.Comments?

All I can say is, read the Sept. 10 strip again. Tracy & Junior all of the characters would have known if something was amiss.

It looks to me like the driver of the vehicle also has antennae on his head obscured by the rear view mirror.

I said, 23 hours ago (tongue firmly in cheek): “Only 116 posts yesterday…Can’t we do better?!!” Looks like we could!Love the enthusiasm for Team Tracy! They deserve it!

Or a clone.

There is an in joke here most of you might have missed. The driver’s name is Retik, and that was the name of the ruler of the moon in the cult serial, RADAR MEN FROM THE MOON. That is the one where the hero was Commando Cody.

This reminds me of when Dead Man smashed his own gravestone in Brightest Day.

This new Moon Maid means business!