Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for September 07, 2021

Good morning™, fellow readers!

While Wormy first appeared in 1949, and I think that 1949 currency would be difficult to spend, I think the robbery he is referring to took place in 2011. Wormy was the first old-time villain ever mentioned by the current Team Tracy, March 19, 2011, when Sam read about Wormy’s death in an armory fire.

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/dicktracy/images/c/ce/Wormy01.jpg

1. How can you smoke a cigar when you don’t have a mouth hole in you mask,

2. How can blondie get her ponytail through a one piece costume?

This drone of a story is heading to a crash landing!

Look, just because you’re a criminal mastermind doesn’t mean you can treat female co-workers in that sort of condescending manner!

This sounds like the first and most mundane use of the drone. Someone mentioned Asimov’s “The Dead Past” which I also thought about. Sooner or later it must occur to them to use it to dig up all kinds of dirt on enemies or any hapless victim. Any privacy would be gone.

Ponytail, finally…..10 years later, lol?

Good morning™, lost loot seekers !

Is there a statue of limitations on stolen money that had long ago been written off ?   Banks will lobby for perpetual rights to stashed loot even when it is many years been declared “gone for good”.

If the crooks get this one and start operation Sweet Recovery and if the Diet people can recreate a new time center machine with drone, from their collective memory, will they chase after the drone the crooks use ?

Stay tuned for Battle of The time Titans !

Probably not Doubleup post-speech therapy because his eyebrows would poke out of the mask.

I just remembered that many of the old Tracy villains had sons and daughters, and even grandkids.

Dutch Schultz buried a fortune when he was afraid the Feds the closing in, and was gunned down before revealing the location. People are still digging for the treasure which has never been found… Or, if the cash, gold, and jewels were found, the finder chose not to report it to the IRS.

Even if they steal the time drone, it would be useless without all of the accompanying equipment at Diet Smith’s lab.

So no one else has thought of this angle?

Money is the worst thing to steal from the past. Go back 25 years and stash some Apple stock, or 140 & buy an armload of VanGogh paintings he could barely give away. Oh, wait – will that affect the timeline?Who cares! Time machines for everyone.

“Oh, and incidentally, they pulled up some interesting footage of YOU? Like that blind date with Barney the dinosaur. Hehhehheh”

Wow, a hot hooded blond!

So I’m the only one who glanced at the 2nd panel and thought Mike had changed the gender of Ace?

1-RATFACE: That damn paperboy is just now getting around to delivering the Sunday paper!

2-QUEEN OF TARTS: Yeah, well maybe you should get around to paying the kid.

3-RATFACE: It’s a vicious circle all right – I don’t pay him so I get bad service so then I don’t pay him because I get bad service. Say. Is it laundry day – this unitard smells like BO and cheap cigars.

QUEEN: Nope. Remind me – why do we have only one set and why do we have to wear them around the house? Not even Batman does that.

RATFACE: Batman has Alfred. Look who I got.

QUEEN: JERK!

RATFACE: HARLOT!

Queen of Spades, eh? Not to be confused with Queenie, the Queen of Diamonds.

https://i.postimg.cc/SKJ4vxJx/queenie.jpg

Why are they sitting around in their “hideout” with their masks on? Probably not vaxxed yet….. ;-)

Ace makes a valid point in the last panel; there are any number of cases where none (or only part) of the loot from a robbery was recovered. Even if they stuck to robberies of bullion or precious gems, instead of currency, the Apparatus stands to make a fortune using the Time Drone. Unless, of course, Dick Tracy and the MCU throws a monkey wrench into their plans. It’ll be interesting to see how this scenario plays out.

The money’s wormy now, too.

Are bank robberies he is referring the equivalent of “cold cases”? Did the banks write the money off?

Well, well, well, what have we here the Queen and Ace of Spades…21st Century “Bonnie & Clyde”. If the Apparatus is going to be used to steal the drone, what makes her think they don’t have plans of their own.

Regarding the Queen if Spades’ ponytail… If I remember correctly… the Queen of Spades in the “Spicy and Specs” story arc also had one that was seen in the panel when she discovers that Spicy and Specs have escaped…

And the Apparatus also had a short haired woman member who smoked cigars in that arc…

Well,the new ACE seems to be young and athletically built;which would rule out quite afew suspects.

ANd stop calling the inside man at DIet Smith Industries a “mole”.Call him “snitch”,“stool pigeon”,or “traitor”.

There’s already a “Mole” in the strip,and he’s our pal!!

Finding out what happened to D. B. Cooper might be more lucrative than recovering the money he took.

(D. B. Cooper highjacked a plane, made it land and collected $200,000 in ransom. He made the plane take off again and bailed out somewhere in the northwest. Part of the money was found years later, but no one knows for sure what happened to Cooper or the rest of the money. Me, I think he died.)

I am guessing Ace’s mask has a mouth hole considering he’s smoking?

There’s been a rash of confessions at headquarters since Tracy started threatening toserve Gravel Gertie’s “turnip surprise” for dinner.

The Apparatus seem to usually have a guy in glasses:

Staton and Curtis rendition:

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/dicktracy/images/8/89/ApparatusGroup02.jpg

.

Fletcher and Collins rendition:

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/dicktracy/images/8/87/Apparatus01.jpg

When Diet Smith and the Moon Governor had industrialized and monetized the assets of Moon Valley, the Apparatus decided they wanted a “piece of the Moon Pie.” Here, we see them smoking and constantly playing cards in 1969, seven years after Tracy killed all of the 52 gang at their mesa and sent Little Notting to prison. This date is well before Little Notting (original Ace) somehow got out of prison and took over the Apparatus. The constant card playing of the Apparatus Board Members and the earlier 52 Gang makes it easy to conflate the two gangs and even moreso after Ace took over the Apparatus.

https://i.postimg.cc/nhmch84Y/Apparatus-playing-cards.jpg

I am a little curious as to why members of the Apparatus wear face coverings — when they’re around each other.

Queen of Spades may be a villainess, but she seems to be quite pretty, at least as far as we can see. She and Ace are sitting pretty, so to speak, as Ace conceives of ways to monetize the Time Drone. He is starting small, but may progress to bigger scores as he thinks on it….

Girl, tuck in the ponytail. You suppose to be concealing your Identity.

Hey,Batgirl’s red hair hangs out from under the cowl.