Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for April 16, 2014

Good morning all!

Ha!

Tracy calls on Diet Smith who has a tale to tellOf a fateful journey and a deep space trip to hell.News of Mysta’s recreation left Smith horrifiedHe bought out Ghote and flew the Coupe to be there by her side.A storm raged down on Wheaton’s farm, landing ’midst gunplayWith a plan to thwart the fiends and make them rue the dayThey sacrificed a human being to recreate Moon MaidBefore meeting a dreadful fate that rendered all debts paid.Never casting back a glance to see thieves at the helmAdjustment by remote control sets course to a new realm.In Smith’s dreams he hears their screams; to Tracy he tells allConfession eases burdens, at peace now with his call.Tracy just smiles, rises to leave, handcuffs stay in pocketDuplicitous doctors in outer space: that’s a job for Brewster Rockit.

Ie; I don’t arrest my friends….

Great Reference :)

Brewster Rocket…now the funny pages are connecting..but I gotta say..pretty unpredictable Mike & Joe, ya got us going here..

Tune in tomorrow when we’ll hear Dr. Ghote say, “MY SPLEEEN!”

Seeing as how Diet BROUGHT Ghote there in the space coupe, how on earth would he not consider it at least a possibility he WAS still on it? Break out those cuffs, Dick…

Good morning fellow DT fans

They’ve all gone to the Dork side of the Moon..

I still think that destroying the moon tech was a crime against humanity. Diet could have been another Zefram Cochrane.

So, the police are still looking for Ghote and Sail, but they’d like to know who else is looking for them. That’s a good question, because Ghote and Sail didn’t act on their own and there are some people who know for certain that they were on the coupe, but they never found out what happened to the coupe. Eventually, they too, will be apprehended if they don’t die in the commission of their next crime.

Dick is correct that outer space is outside the city limits and therefore outside his jurisdiction. It remains to be seen how he will launch a search for Annie, who is almost certainly way outside the city limits.

In his mind, Smith has confessed to a crime, (although he’s still hoping maybe Ghote and Sail didn’t sneak back onto the coupe), but Tracy sees no crime (as we discussed in yesterday’s comments) and besides, even if there were a crime, is not up to him. The Munro brother (I forgot which one) seems to have escaped the notice of anyone on the police side of things, but we will no doubt check in with the Black Hearts soon. They must have noticed that he went missing, along with the coupe and the other two.

Since Smith is still wondering whether the coupe occupants have turned up elsewhere, I think it’s very safe to assume that he had no method to rescue them or turn the coupe around.

That went down about as I figured it would….nicely done….wonder if we will hear something from NASA on here about a “meteor” hitting the Great Red Spot of Jupiter?

“We won’t arrest you Mr. Smith, where would we get our wrist wizards and other cool gadgets?

I am surprised by the confession. Absolutely not expecting that one. Perhaps this is the wrap up for the Moon Maid saga, at least the origins story. .Today’s panels are a great summary of yesterday’s comments..Looking for symbolism: Remember the name of the space coupe – the Sparkle Plenty!

Nice tie-in.

You have the remote Diet, just turn the ship around and bring them back. Oh wait, its probably outta fuel by now and the three on board are probably dead from lack of food and water!

Diet remains a crafty old codger. While confessing to his non-crime he is also pumping Tracy for information on the Ghote-Sail investigation. We all would like more definitive news on the fate of the space coupe, I think, but it may not be immediately forthcoming. Possible earth-bound foes of Diet Smith Industries or its eponymous head are another matter, however, about which Tracy might know something useful to the industrialist. But Tracy seems to indicate that the meeting is over, putting on his hat as if to leave….

SO Sail and Ghote will have the verdict “Death by Misadventure” Diet MAY be guilty of manslaughter, but its not premeditiated, and if he didn’t know about the occupants can he be held culpable?

Love when you reference other strips!!! Brewster Rocket, pure genius!!!

Now to see if there’s a Brewster Rockit strip where he attempts to solve the mystery of the Space Coupe! (I don’t hold out much hope, given Brewster’s kind of a dope.)

Well, not only is this probable negligent homicide (or manslaughter, whatever the charge is), but now there’s a conspiracy charge for Dick Tracy as well. When has being out of his jurisdiction stopped him before?

When Diet lands the Space Coupe he opens the door and immediately asks Tracy about Moon Maid. Tracy takes Smith to her. There is no evidence that the thieves are seen entering the Coupe. When Tracy tells Smith that the Coupe is drifting, Smith uses the remote control to send it to deep space, which he now reveals was his intention upon leaving Smith Industries. ..While the thieves briefly have control of the ship, Diet’s remote soon overrides their commands. It seems Smith has finally been honest with Tracy, months after the fact. Did Diet suspect that thieves would try to Sail away with his Space Coupe? He told Ghote that he knew the Coupe was what they were after. Still, the strip shows that Smith is focused on Mysta once he lands. There is no evidence that the thieves were seen entering the Space Coupe. I see no crime. I detect no conspiracy.

Brewster Rocket eh? They’re dead.

If the Space Coupe “Three Amigos” connect with THAT crackpot, they’re not only in deep space,,,,they’re in deep doo-doo!! Chuckle! CHUCKLE!!

“Out of his jurisdiction”??? If you steal a car, the crime occurs WHERE you stole it, not where it ends up. Likewise, when you send a vehicle into space without making sure the person you brought with you has left it….. Mr. Tracy, you are but an officer of the law, not a judge and jury as well….

Got to consider the possibility this “conclusion” was a result of readers clamoring for one months back…..if so, great….and now…..DON’T KILL OFF ABNER KADAVER, DON’T KILL OFF ABNER KADAVER, DON’T KIL…….

A Dick Tracy/Brewster Rocket crossover? Inspired!

“Was there ever a reveal (beyond speculating) as to how they got Mindy to “do” this ?”Mindy was kidnapped (as Diet strongly implies in the 10/14/13 strip), so she was not a willing subject for Ghote’s experiments. I imagine this is a big reason why Diet was so horrified to learn the truth about her.

Well, I wonder if Mike and Joe intended the “Brewster Rockit” reference to be a joke Tracy is making, like when he told Vera Alldid his favorite comic strip was “Fearless Fosdick.” OR, is there a Brewster Rockit in the Tracy universe, along with Daddy Warbucks, Annie, Mary Perkins and Hank from Brenda Starr?About Tracy’s “jurisdiction” – I’ve wondered about that before. He certainly is supposed to be a city cop, and that’s how he started out, but it wasn’t long before Gould had him on farms, up in the mountains, etc. As time went on, he traveled farther and farther from the city in pursuit of villains. He went down to the Texas oil fields to investigate a corpse in a dry well hole, and the local sheriff didn’t seem to have the necessary equipment to do the job, so they sent back to “the city”. He’s been to Hawaii and even to Cuba, and the first Space Coupe hijacking took him to a remote mesa in South Dakota, where he parachuted in all “James Bond” and went undercover as one of the crooks. An argument could be made, I suppose, that he was in cooperation with the local law enforcement in each case, but “the city” must have one huge travel budget for it’s detectives!Of course, “the city” itself seems to move around a bit. It is near something called “the North Woods”, it is near mountains, it is near an ocean, it is basically Chicago, but sometimes they communicate WITH Chicago. This used to drive me crazy when I first got interested in the strip, but I decided it was all part of the fun of reading Dick Tracy. (Although I freely admit, policing the Moon was (and is) over the top for me.

Wouldn’t it be interesting if the two Doctors caught the hypnotic eyes of the Selenites and they saved them? It would be a shock inducer for sure.

Yes, it would be a shock. I was saying that that would be the only way they could be saved for many months, but I think that the possibility is very remote. I don’t expect that anything like this happened.

I didn’t take it as a prediction. It would be a surprise if it happened, but I’m pretty sure we’re not meant to think that it could.