Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for June 19, 2021

How do think that’s pronounced? “Ar-KIVE-ul”, like the word, or “Arch-eh-val”?

Are we supposed to be drooling at the mouth over these old-timers?

Wonder if Ms. No Chin has a name???

“Oh, Min!”

Hmm. Could a certain someone previously involved in forging cinematic collectibles be returning with a lower-tech racket?

Good morning™, historians!

Well, at least our person of interest has a surname now.

The Gumps was so popular that other newspapers wanted to run it and it is largely credited for the creation of the Chicago Tribune — New York News Syndicate. That’s Andy Gump in the middle (no copyright problems using him).

The guy in the third frame is an altered version of Flash Gordon that they apparently could not get permission for. The creator’s name “Raymond Axel” is Flash Gordon creator “Alex Raymond” with the letters rearranged. King Features had Raymond create Flash Gordon to compete with the Buck Rogers strip (syndicated by the John F. Dille Co.) after they tried unsuccessfully to get the rights for John Carter of Mars from Edgar Rice Burroughs. United Features Syndicate finally released a John Carter strip seven years later.

I wonder if “Mr. Archival” has been featured on “Collector’s Call” on MeTV or ever will be?

I’m going to take a page from another commenter:Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…..

Good morning™, comics store vendors !

A lady who dishes up space fi is my kinda gal. Looks like mister rugged has his hands full with Big Bird or more likely, they are doing a promo shot and no one is getting hurt per no blood on that blade nor action lines indicated by the sword; and no prehistoric Jonny Quest type bird sounds, with that discordant theme music a poster on one of these strips seems to bring up with some regularity lately.

Only an original, Fearless Fosdick would get me excited.

Wow the different comics I have never heard about before!

Why the mixture of real and fake? The Gumps were a real comic, so why not just say “Alex Raymond” for the other one? Are Joe and Mike just messing with us?

I presume “Castaway on Jupiter” is an oblique reference to Burroughs’ “John Carter of Mars.”

Looks to me like a lot of unopened envelopes on the shelves in panel 1. Does this guy open his packages or are they counterfeits that he is preparing to send out?

1-LOLA: Looks like another package from your friend, Donut Ben, Mr. Lee.

STAN LEE: GIMME THAT! No wonder my movies are doing so much better than the comics. Stupid kids these days can’t read…oh…

2-…Looks like more submissions from freelance comic writers. Let’s see. This one is called CHIN LEE, KARATE MASTER AND DOGHOUSE COIN BANK BUILDER Hmmm, pass.

*3-This one looks more promising. Muscular like my Marvel heroes. A big sword. Hmmm, not sure about that pornstache. What’s this called?

LANCE LOINS AND HIS SWORD OF PLEASURE Maybe not exactly a good fit for us but definitely worth a thorough read!

Joe and Mike must have run out of story ideas? So they throw these old timers at us asa nostalgic gag!

“Archival?” Ohhhhhhh, bru-THER!!!

While a specific comic-con or cosplay event have not been mentioned, we’ve sure captured the look and feel!

Well, if you have a sense of nostalgia for classic comics, you would find these very interesting, if not downright exciting.

Poor copies of the originals. I see Snoopy’s dog house needs a coat of paint and repair to take out the coin slot.

Well, with today’s sci-fi themed 3rd panel we’re starting to see the stirrings of a possible story linking the Mr. Archival storyline & the Vera Alldid/Mysta storyline.

Did anyone else notice that the assistant is wearing gloves? The mark of a true, conscientious handler of rare art.

Happy Juneteenth!

The President’s dog, Champ, died this morning at the age of 13. I know what it’s like to lose a favorite pet. My sympathies to the Bidens.

So far, Mr. Archival and his lovely assistant, Gloves, have done nothing illegal or even unusual.—unless you consider Archval’s taste in comics unusual. But as a collector as much for monetizing his holdings as for cherishing them, he could, I suppose, do or have done something to anger his rival Mustache Guy. Maybe the latter has a purer love of comics for their own sake?

Ye gods! What a bunch of lame do-gooders so far in this story! Someone do something bad, PDQ, please!

I guess another unseen message on the envelope was handle with care. Maybe she wears gloves to prevent smearing the drawings.