Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for October 20, 2021

Wonder who’s beneath the debris? ✨

Straight out of Star Trek. Have we seen the wrist wizard doing that before?

Ah come on, no way an old fart like Tracy has the super human strength to move a collapsed building with his bare hands! That’s way too unbelievable, even for a comic strip!

Stick to things that are belivable, such as time travel drones and laboratory created moon people!!!!

This story is nowhere near finished. It’s going to take a while to find all the survivors and victims. Dick ‘n’ Sam don’t even know what caused the explosion yet. In fact, the one person who knew is most likely dead. I wonder if the time machine has something like a “black box” which would have all the information they’ll need to figure it out, something Eliot couldn’t sabotage?

Now suppose whoever’s under the debris was ripped out of the past by the drone’s explosion. A classic villain who Tracy can’t arrest because they’re legally dead. A historical figure who must be returned to the past to finish their most important action. But would anything screw up Tracy et al’s lives more than the original Moon Maid, pulled out of that exploding car into the future?

I’m imagining for the next several weeks, the current Ace of Spades is going to panic. His big cash cow is now gone, and there may be evidence from this disaster that will lead back to him…

Good morning™, recovered lost personnel !

Prepare for the emergence of Flattop. It may just be another S.I. employee and it will be a few more panels before we find out that Eliot is an ex person.

Can’t wait to see what they find out about the Rose.

Does anyone know where Diet Smith lives at in his complex?

I may be in a minority, but I’m really enjoying the extended nature of this disaster and recovery sequence. There are plenty of opportunities for major plot twists here, and it’s good to savour the possibilities as it all plays out gradually, rather than a single strip “Everyone is safe except Fred and the X machine” type summary. Also, the drawing has been really good.

Hopefully it’s NOT Mysta—She’s been through quite enough lately. My guess is Eliot too

Is this one of the two security guards who was there with Rose? If so, and there are only heartbeats for two people (one of them this guard) then either the other guard or Rose was disposable.

This is playing out very well. I have no idea what’s going to happen next; each day is a surprise. The strip has immediacy and suspense and mystery again. Well done.

That said, given the recent anniversary of the feature, I had half expected that the “time drone” narrative would lead to some sort of detailed revisiting of Tracy’s origin. I was a little afraid of an old DC Comics-like scenario: DT would have been thrown back into the distant past to meet the young would-be “Plainclothes Tracy” at the start of his career; the older detective (understandably concealing his identity) would somehow befriend the tyro cop and work with him to solve the murder of Tess’ father! Maybe it would all turn out to be a dream! This might have actually worked passably, with Joe doing a loose impression of Gould’s 1931 art style, but it’s an old hat idea, and I’m glad they didn’t try it.

Anyway, I’m quite impressed by the strip in recent days. The art and storytelling has been of a high order.

It occurs to me that this disaster could’ve been avoided by having some comparatively simple code that would not allow the Time Drone to be sent beyond say, Current Time minus 1 second or such. Diet isn’t much on safety apparently.

1-WRIST RADIO: I HAVE LOCATED SIGNS OF TWO PEOPLE. BEEP.

DT: Yikes. I didn’t know this thing could do that. Say something else!

2-GOATEE GUARD: Help…please…I can’t find my right arm…

DT: Ugh. It’s bent up awkwardly on your neck…I think I’m gonna be sick…

GOATEE GUARD: Oh. There it is. Ahhh, FIXED IT. FOLLOW ME!

3-DT: Quick! Get a picture that makes it looks like I’m lifting a heavy steel girder!

GOATEE GUARD: We got no time for that. Look! There’s…I wanna say Eliot but it could be Diet. Maybe Goggles Guy. Not Rose though. It’s definitely not Rose.

DT: Do you see a Calmgar (patent pending)?

( Oh, left a couple of additional posts on yesterday’s long thread, replying to replies that I didn’t see till just now.) ✨

I wonder…wonder…who…………..

Yeah, if he was knocked unconscious he is not okay! I know it’s a movie/tv/comics standard cliche or whatever, but people get knocked out, wake up, rub their head, then say “I’m okay” and then go off running. No biggie!

Sweet other of blue cheese?! Could it be Smith? (Personally, I’m holding out for Daisy Dugan, unearthed at LAST!) <don’t hurt me!>

When Diet Smith builds the next Time Drone he’ll have to send it back to see what happened to this one.

Two men….all that debris to move….both will be reaching for back rubbing ointment and have sore muscles.

Was Mystra able to escape the chaos and destruction?

Looks like Rose clobbered her lone guard and got the heck out of Dodge.

The plot calls for a “turn State’s Evidence to save own neck” person,and she’s elected.Otherwise,how will public suspicion be thrown off Diet Smith?

Elliot thought he was O.K> until he woke up in a garage in the 2100 block of North Clark Street

Huge explosions can cause a lot of damage.

Wait, where’s Neil?. Who’s gonna tell us what we just read? BTW, the Mole’s under there, it’s his new home

If the events of the Max Collins story where Diet got kidnapped by Breakdown(his ex-security chief),Diet has another huge plant in California.

So he may not be ENTIRELY wiped out by this,

As the explosion or explosions (plural) settle, rescue operations begin, at least on scene with Tracy and this Security guy, recovered from having been knocked out. Apparently the Tracyville Fire Department and other Emergency Services have not yet arrived (at least, we haven’t seen them).

My expectation is that Tracy and Security-with-mustache will rescue Black Security, who had also been knocked out, this enabling Briar Rose to escape [3rd time I’m saying this here today].

As others have noted, let me also add that action and art have been top-notch this week….

Call in Doc Wonmug to consult on the bug issue.

Over 150 comments today. Lots to talk about.