Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for May 17, 2013

THAT is the Gazillion Dollar Question!

We are all waiting for the answer….

That is for sure!

Are they in the SUV?

Yes.

Who are those “lunarites” anyway? They’re not aliens, can breed with humans. I think they were mutants reclocate on the Moon, part of an experiment of which surely Diet Smith was cognizant, at the very least!

Who are those “lunarites” anyway? They’re not aliens, can breed with humans. I think they were mutants reclocate on the Moon, part of an experiment of which surely Diet Smith was cognizant, at the very least!

I admit I’m rooting for Mysta in this love triangle. But it’s harder to do that after seeing today’s strip.

“go look in the mirror honey, and compare….then you tell me” laughs Junior….

…..since there’s absolutely NO need to ask him that yet…..she is putting him on the spot needlessly…..wait until you know theres a problem for sure…

Of course, if it was Flattop instead of Junior, he’d try to keep them both, lol

Yes.

We’ve all been wondering this for some time; even, I think, the Moon Maid fanatics among us. Now Sparkle has brought The Issue out into the open; one may hope that she and Junior will be able to talk it through calmly and with clear reasoning…. Before the car that seems to be following them does something dangerously drastic.

Great strip and great question.

Sparkle’s insecurities put Junior on the spotThe rumors and the sightings remind him who she’s notAs does his oldest child, so favoring her motherThat not a day goes by he’s not reminded of anotherTime in life extraordinary, moon and earth aligned Married to another: exotic, wild and kind.He’s resisted having hope that the rumors could be trueShould Mysta have survived the bomb what exactly would he do?The bomber was a vile thing, not worthy to draw airJunior left to mourn the loss of his beloved one so rare.Despite her corny songs, Sparkle was a good wifeHe knew she deserved better than to live a borrowed life.Mysta was a mystery, for years he’d mourned and grievedSince the sightings started, he’d not dared to believeRecovery was feasible for her formidable raceIncreasingly he longed to be wrapped in her embrace.So the car falls silent; what more can be said?Junior finds he lives in hope that Mysta is not dead.

Go to Comics Kingdom and see the coloring by the King Features colorist … IMHO it helps depict the automobiles a bit clearer.

I’ll dump you of course. Why?

EZ! Junior moves to Utah, and you all know the rest!

One thing’s for sure. Being fearful, insecure and jealous isn’t going to help Sparkle’s case.

Uh-oh. The laws of Comic Strip Quantum pretty much guarantee that the act of asking an uncomfortable question like that will lead directly to it being answered in an uncomfortable manner.

@CharlieBriggs from yesterday:

I’m with you – it was the whole Moon Period that caused me to lose interest in the strip way back in the 60s. That, and the fact that the Beatles came along and my interests turned to music. But, I reconnected with the strip in the early 70s, and I started to collect reprints of Chester Gould’s best 40s and 50s work when I returned from the Air Force.Now, because I am really a fan of Dick Tracy since my teens, I am along for this ride, and hoping that I can enjoy this story, but also hoping that future stories return to the urban detective “flavor” of Gould’s best work. And, the art these days IS very good.

Joe and Mike,

Love the use of the word “soporific” in panel 1. My wife and I were reading a Peter Rabbit story to our kids about a month or two back that used soporific in it, and as educated as we are (Ph.D. and MBA), neither of us had heard the word before. Two thumbs up to you.

Well, Mysta was legally dead—they had a BODY, remember? It’s not like she went out for a smoke and never came back. So, really, Junior and Sparkle’s marriage is legal and valid. It’s going to be terribly awkward and painful for all concerned, but at least it’ll probably be handled better than the Wally-John-Becky triangle in “Funky Winkerbean.”

If Jr. is driving in the city, the cops will be pulling him over to give him a speeding ticket. How fast is he going?

That was an incredible strip, gentlemen. One of your best yet.

I love it when art, mood, and story all come together like this. Homerun by Curtis and Staton.

Some are commenting today that in 1978, MM was splattered all over the place — or was she?

Truth be told, we never saw a body — and the casket that was buried was closed — for nearly 35 years, we all assumed these were off-panel events.

Or were they?

After my harangue yesterday let me counter w/ this— Today’s strip is EXACTLY what Mike & Joe do right.

Good afternoon everyone…

I’ve been punked! I suppose it’s fitting! LOL!!! Just in case I’m forced to take an unwanted “Vacation” I’d like everyone to know it’s been a blast! Timmy. It’s always been in fun, you’re a good sport! See you later?

S.I.T.O.A.N.M.I.

Surf City, two girls for every boy.Bigamy time!

Another of her powers. She can talk and smooch at the same time.

Dr. Ghote and Dr. Sail, apparently still on their way to remove Mysta’s bandages will probably do so on Sunday. Whether WE will see her face or not is another question. Gould kept everyone waiting for a couple of weeks before showing her face. All that was seen of her was the back of her hair laying in a hospital bed. All of the characters in the strip discussed her while the audience awaited in suspense of what she would look like.

What will this Mysta look like?

Here is a drawing of Moon Maid by Gould. From the long neck and rounded eyes to the eyebrows and pointed chin, Gould created a character that was exoticly alien.

Well, today in Dick Tracy, Sparkle asks the big question, “If this is the real Mysta, what happens to our marriage?”

Subtle as napalm.

Some have asked, isn’t this a bit early to ask, given that we don’t really know this is the real Mysta, at least just yet? (Although, for us readers, enough clues have been given that it is unlikely this Mysta will be a fake or a clone)

As the lawyers out there will be quick to point out, Sparkle has nothing to worry about. The laws of the land were complied with when Junior married Sparkle.

Which is why Mysta is likely to end up as the proverbial “chopped liver.” Which is too bad.

This is the question I was hoping to see addressed: What about the person mistakenly declared dead, through no fault of her own. (This isn’t the Pennsylvania woman who ran away eleven years ago, recently turning up in Florida)

And whether Dick Tracy is the correct venue to explore this issue, nevertheless, Mike and Joe have put it “front and center,” and have done so much earlier than I expected in this story arc.

One good question, asked by others, as well: Why is Sparkle asking this question so early? It’s not like Mysta is on their doorstep, asking to move back in. And given the story line so far, Mysta has had ample opportunity to do just that!

I stand corrected in one of my earliest assessments of Mysta’s situation, in which I thought she was being held prisoner by Sail and Ghote.

From experience, I can tell you that death does not kill love. In a perfect world, it shouldn’t.

Although, most of the time, death means the loved one won’t knock on your door anytime soon.

On a lighter note:

Why don’t Mike and Joe bring back “Sawdust”?

Or, are they saving it because “Sawdust” is going to be the way Dick Tracy or Junior will figure out that Mysta is for real?

And thanks to Ray Toler, who seems to say what I want to say, a whole lot better than I do!