Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for March 26, 2015

Venus!I was beginning to wonder if we were ever going to see her again.

All sorts of interesting questions raised today!

Card motif on the wall?

The “52” Gang?

Such mixed signals …

A rather revealing strip today. A few observations:

They are certainly not looking forward to the visit from the chief. As I was saying yeasterday, they haven’t been doing a good job, especially not with that expensive scheme to steal the space coupe. Apollo says that they are the ones who are going to be “dead-fish dead.” For their sake, I hope that’s metaphorical in their case, but it could be literal.

“He’s back from Europe.”“you could say that.”This makes me think that Mr. Bigg may not have been literally in “Europe.” If that’s the case, where has he been. I want to think he’s been in space, but if they have space travel capabilities, why would they even need to steal the space coupe.

Venus says that Melies knows why Apollo and she “are different.” I’m still trying to figure that out.

Is the phrase “Dead Fish Dead” a clue?

Lasered yacht?

Just barely got done posting about yesterday’s strip!

Good morning fellow DT fans!

Some interesting dialogue today. Panel 3 may be the most intriguing:Melies: “Personally, I don’t care if we ever see him again.”Venus: “Melies, remember yourself! You know why Apollo and I are different.”Melies is bitter…about his looks? And because Mr. Bigg altered his appearance somehow? I get from this the possibility that he, Venus and Apollo are all from somewhere else? If so, where is the somewhere else? How and why was their appearance altered? We’re going to be talking about this for awhile I bet.

Here’s the Ace of Spades, the ringleader and only surviving member of the 52 Gang (1962):

Europe ! ( Tongue in Cheek ) Jail The glamorous, twenties, jails for the big bosses ! ex: Capone !

(from yesterday)No one suspected Davey Mylar as Mr. Crime …

Of course, this strip is always full of surprises, so anything is possible, but it certainly would “turn the tables” if Abner turned out to be Mr. Bigg. I still don’t think it’s likely. It’s not his think to be flashing around money and wearing jewellery.

Actually, today’s strip proves that it can’t be Abner (I think) because Venus and Méliès know what Abner looks like and I presume they also know what Mr. Bigg looks like.

I’m guessing that it’s maxie zeus

Europe, Jupiter satellite? Have they a base there?

Notice that the fish-net pattern is only on the dorsal side of her legs and arms. It just seems a bit unusual to me.I see what you’re saying, but I think that’s just the light reflecting off her costume. Having seen Venus from all sides now, she seems to be wearing a fishnet body stocking, with a heart-covered, bustier skirt (though it seems she may have changed now to a black bustier).By the way, we’ve finally seen her left eye, which eliminates the theory she’s wearing an eyepatch. I recall some had speculated she might be wearing such a patch based on the first pic we saw of her face (at bottom):Also, the fishnet appears to run down the entire right side of her skirt, or at least it looks that way based on the third pic below. Slit skirt, humana humana.

Thanks AnyFace for reproducing those two Sunday Strips late yesterday.I am an admirer of both your and PQ’s contributions to this board. I know Blaze Rize is a ‘baddie’ but a minor ‘Miss Freckles’ crush has arisen and so have a couple of queries regarding her past.October 26, 2014 Sunday Strip: BB-Eyes is in Blaze’s apartment giving her no choice but to start working for him. In the third-last panel BB-Eyes says: "Back at Mr Crime’s hideout we used to wonder about your day job… Quite a variety of “Equipment” you have here, Blaze. Not my cup of tea but to each his own!" My Query: Exactly what is BB-Eyes implying about her?Sun January 25, 2015. BB-Eyes is ordering Doubleup and Blaze to get on with each other. Rebekah enters, states her name but adds that Doubleup calls her “Ponytail”. Doubleup asks: “Pretty isn’t she? ISN’T SHE?” to which Blaze replies: “Yep. Not my type though.” My Query: Exactly what is Blaze implying about herself?

Speaking of Batman, here is my theory about the identity of Mr. Bigg:I’ll explain another time my reasons for thinking it’s Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot….

The playing-card motif in the hideout only features one of the four standard suits. A suit whose standard color is red, but which is rendered here in a nonstandard color. I think that’s all the significance there needs to be to the decor.

I’m thinking what Venus means by “Apollo and I are different” means “you know why we’re not grotesques”

Good morning Tracy fans. What good comments today! And the past comics too! Have a beautiful day my friends.

hubba hubba

Mr. Bigg?Dead Fish Dead…TBC

He looks very “worldly” !!!

Outstanding strip today.

I’m also wondering about Venus’s line in the last panel: “Méliès, remember yourself! You know why Apollo and I are different.” It suggests to me that never seeing the boss again would be good for Méliès, but bad for Apollo and Venus. I wonder why that would be. This is wide open to speculation. I can’t see any kind of clue so far on that.

Reasons I believe Mr. Bigg may be Cobblepot (i.e., Penguin):1) The mystery about Mr. Bigg’s appearance suggests he is someone who will be recognizable to Tracy fans. 2) Penguin is a master of organizing and building criminal empires.3) The 1/5/2013 scenes I posted above reveal that Penguin wants to take revenge on Dick Tracy, and suggest that he may show up in Tracy’s city some day.4) The Blackhearts have already attempted to kill Tracy, consistent with Penguin’s desire for revenge.5) Penguin likes to have gorgeous women around him, like Venus.6) Mr. Bigg apparently has a distinctive and recognizable face, as BB-Eyes suggested in yesterday’s (3/25/2015) strip. This hints that Penguin’s face will be well-known to Tracy fans, too. (On the other hand, this may argue against Mr. Bigg being Little Notting, aka Ace of Spades, since Notting wore a mask until the end of the 52 Gang story and is virtually anonymous compared to other villains that have been suggested.)7) Mike Curtis recently announced that Notta Fallar will show up in the story soon. Months ago, when he was planning the strips we are reading now, he said he was using a song from “Batman Forever” (“Kiss Like a Rose”) as an inspiration for Notta’s story. If the Blackhearts story intersects with Notta, all of this may be a clue of some sort of Batman connection.8) The Sunday panel where we saw Mr. Bigg’s hand suggests he is a well-dressed man (white dress shirt and black suit). Penguin is known to be a very elegant dresser, and his iconic costume features a white dress shirt and black tuxedo.9) Both Joe Staton and Mike Curtis are huge D.C. superhero fans, and I’m sure it would be a blast for them to have a classic Batman villain fight against Dick Tracy. They set up this possibility two years ago by establishing the fraternal relationship between Broadway Bates and Penguin. Crossover stories have been done often since Curtis and Staton took over Dick Tracy, and a Penguin crossover would fit that pattern. 10) If Penguin/Cobblepot does show up in this story under those names, I have little doubt it would be with the express permission of DC Comics.Mr. Bigg being Penguin doesn’t answer every question, as for example why he was so interested in acquiring a Space Coupe. (Unless he is working with Moon Governor?) Other space-related mysteries would also need to be resolved.I have considered the likelihood of Mr. Bigg being Bribery, Intro, or Little Notting. I would be very happy indeed to see any or all of those characters in future Tracy stories, especially the first two. That said, it would be hard for some Tracy fans to accept that Bribery and Intro aren’t dead, even though their demise was never officially confirmed, and Little Notting is too Little Known to seem like a good fit as an easily-recognized Mr. Bigg.One other thought: Penguin likes to eat fish. Possible correlation to “dead fish dead”? Maybe not, but I thought I’d throw it out there.Anyway, that’s my theory. We’ll see if there’s anything to it.

It is important to get these wolf calls right !You’re right Gweedo! :) As I should have said, “Humina Humina!”

Several points about today’s strip:

Panel 2: In response to Venus’ question about Mr. Bigg coming back from Europe, Melies says, “You could say that.” To me, this implies that Melies thinks Mr. Bigg wasn’t in Europe.

Panel 2, continued: In response to Melies’ remark, Apollo finishes his statement by saying, “We’re dead fish dead!” We’ve heard Venus use the phrase “dead fish dead” before, so it may have some meaning to the Blackhearts. What, I don’t know.

Panel 3: Venus tells Melies to remember himself. Not sure what this means.

Given Venus’ and Apollo’s respective names and Melies being a reference to “A Trip to the Moon”, I have to wonder if Mr. Bigg either has some sort of connection to the Moon People or is, perhaps, one of them.

My thoughts turn to the long-“lost” Dr. Zy Ghote and his colleague, Dr. S. Tim Sail, who are commonly presumed to have perished aboard the errant Space Coupe. Or perhaps some member of the alleged sometime-patron Ozone family would fit the parameters, also, for Mr. Bigg.All this, however, is mere speculation.Today’s strip raises far more questions than it answers, with its ambiguous remarks about Europe (or not), Venus and Apollo being “different” (as though Méliès isn’t!), and the seemingly unwanted return of the Blackhearts’ kingpin. It’s all fraught with potential for future exposition but leaving us dazed and confused today….

What a plethora of great comments today! Keep those comments coming fellow DT fans.

Gee, Mike and Joe could pull a heck of an April Fool’s joke on us and have Mr. Big walk in and have it be……..Dick Tracy, lol

“Well, Willy, we should be “proper” in our address of the female of the species”You got that right, Gweedo! Plus I’m a sucker for redheads in fishnets!

And blondes, and brunettes….

Oh, and it’s spelled Humina Humina.

I got the meaning from the context, but I went to look it up in Urban Dictionary to be sure and I actually found “humana, humana” there. The only thing is that I didn’t clue in to how it is pronounced that way. Now, I get it.

They should go arrrooouund the block to avoid the construction site.

But what about the poor deprived construction workers?

Hmmm, it’s not letting me embed YouTube videos anymore. Anyway, you can always search them if you’re really curious.

You can still drop the addy here.

Here are the links I was discussing. I’m sure there are lots of Honeymooners episodes with such phrases, too, but I don’t have time to locate one inside an episode.Hummina Hummina Hummina (American Dad)Hamina Hamina Hamina Hamina (Spongebob)Probably someone abused the very generous html permissions to do something undesirable. It’s too bad. We had very useful capabilities in these comment areas.

You say toe may toeI say toe mah toeYou say humminaI say hamina….

Since the cards are all hearts — black hearts — maybe it’s a “13 Gang.”

The Bold

The gang is assembled, waiting to hearWho will receive praise and who will know fearSuccess they have had but it never is enoughThe boss is demanding and his punishment toughFor those who have tried to end his regimeHave quickly encountered a fat lady singHe baffles thier plots with impossible movesDefying all logic he shakes and he grovesAlone he has caused a great fear to take holdFor no one would dare cross Sydney The Bold!

The gang is assembled, and they’re waiting to hearWho will receive praise and which one’s will know fearSuccess they have had but it never is enoughThe boss is demanding and his punishment toughFor those who have tried to end his regimeHave quickly encountered a fat lady singHe baffles thier plots with impossible movesDefying all logic he shakes and he grovesAlone he has caused a great fear to take holdFor no one would dare cross Sydney The Bold!

The gang is assembled, and they’re waiting to hearWho will receive praise and which one’s will know fearSuccess they have had but it never is enoughThe boss is demanding and his punishment toughAll those who have tried to destroy his regimeHave quickly encountered a fat lady singHe baffles thier plots with impossible movesDefying all logic he shakes and he grovesAlone he has caused a great fear to take holdFor no one would dare cross Sydney The Bold!

The gang is assembled, and they’re waiting to hearWho will receive praise and which one’s will know fearSuccess they have had but it is never enoughThe boss is demanding and his punishment toughAll those who have tried to destroy his regimeHave quickly encountered a fat lady singHe baffles thier plots with impossible movesDefying all logic he shakes and he grovesAlone he has caused a great fear to take holdFor no one would dare cross Sydney The Bold!

why are they different.