Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for September 05, 2021

Smith a sharp dresser, holds a packed presser. Claims he has big news

Unveils his Time Drone. The public is shown antiquated views.

Might glimpsing the past bring wisdom at last? Is Smith just blowing smoke?

Reporters need air. Fumes flow everywhere. Time is not a joke.

Sam asks, “Is it real? How does it feel to see Flattop alive?”

Tracy just shrugs, “I’ve faced tougher mugs and managed to survive.”

Elsewhere, a rat wishes to chat. Approaches Apparatus

Visions of gold. Mole now grown bold. His words are never gratis.

Power and greed. Insatiable need to profit from the theft

Of others’ hard work. In the shadow he lurks. Smith shall be bereft.

Good morning™, everyone!

So Tracy does see the danger of this front page news! Sure enough, the new Ace of Spades and his assistant (with her phone receiver that looks too big) are hard at work planning their heist.

It’s nice to see the Time Drone with its proper green and red lights again.

Good morning™, Bold announcers !

You mean to tell me that a place that does such ground breaking development doesn’t have secret hidden cameras about the complex ?  Everyday businesses have better surveillance. Secret video with audio would soon expose this enemy within.

Get with the times, Smitty !!!

Who is the mole? Goggles Guy? Lady With Ponytail? Someone we haven’t seen before? About the only people who don’t merit suspicion are Smith and Mysta. I wonder how many employees at Smith Industries knew about the drone before its public reveal.

Apparatus ’ girl say “Mole at Smith industries” louder! Even at the Apparatus security is lousy!

I wonder if the secretary if thats what she truly is, is a member of both the Apparatus and the 52 Gang? Might she be similar to the Queen of Spades? And where are the rest of the Ace of Spades 52’s?

Guessing the Ace’s mole is a female and is possibly the Queen of Spades in disguise.

Inside job, ah-ha!

Strip is very colorful today, like!

Evil indeed. Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk have already developed plans for mass-marketing the drone in China.

Why hurry the press release? Work a couple months gathering evidence before you announce the d*mn thing and release the news the same day as police round up every organized crime gang in the world while the press conference is going on… Oh, wait… That would make sense. Never mind.

Great images again today . And real pretty ladies , plus the Drone is cool also .

That’s one huge phone in her hand! When did they get yellow MCU cups,?

Oh well folks, I understand I can be a Lookey Lou at times but this is not the direction I had hoped this story would take. I prayed we could visit with the Moon Gov and crew with this latest invention. You can do a gangster and a bad guy storyline any day. Thank you very much!

Is it just me, or, does Liz look..different, in todays strip. Maybe those days acting as the chief are catching up to her. Can’t be her work with the squad, haven’t seen her, or, Lee Ebony in a while.

As Maxwell Smart might say, “That’s the second largest phone I’ve ever seen!”

Which is why it was stupid to announce it on the news. It should have been kept secret.

The mask is an artistic cop-out. I wanna see a face.

Of course, he’s got a “mole” at Diet Smith’s factory?

1-DT: You two can read the newspaper online like a couple of nerds if you want but I’ll stick with the kind my dad and grandpa would’ve read if they had learned how to read.

2-SAM: Yeah well we also get to read all the comics we want on GoComics. AND they’re IN COLOR! (Not always colored to our satisfaction though…)

DT: SO…ummm…uh… IF WE RUN OUT OF TOILET PAPER, I CAN USE THIS! AND I CAN MAKE A HAT IF IT RAINS. GAME, SET MATCH – TRACY!

3-AN UNWANTED COMMERCIAL FOR SOME MEDICINE THAT DOES SOMETHING…

4-DT: Time Travel Device. Hmm. Where have I seen that before…?

5-RED: Anybody here know a “Mr. Mole”? It might be Ms. Mole – the voice is kind of high. It’s hard to tell on the phone sometimes. That’s always embarrassing when I get that wrong. I always tell the person I’m hard of hearing when I make that mistake. One time…

RATFACE: Just gimme the phone! RED: HARUMPFFF! Well keep it short! I got a basket of walnuts to crack!

Not just organized crime, but how many nations would love to get their hands on this thing?

It’s nice that the print edition of The Daily is still a major news source in Tracyville (sadly, so unlike Chicago, where the two “big” dailies are both suffering). And Tracy is spot-on in the penultimate panel , if a bit oversimplified. There would be problems with the Time Drone even if Organized Crime were not involved. Advancing Science would not be so lily-pure a path, either….

that’s so yesterday’s news

tell him i’m speaking to the gopher at jones manufacturing

Still getting the feeling that the climax of this story (if it has one) will be Flattop vs. Tracy.

Chekhov’s goon, anyone?

Maybe she’s holding it at arm’s length toward the viewer.

Okay Tracy,sees the trouble ahead in advance.Too bad Smith didn’t.