Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for June 11, 2023

“Boss Tracy” is the villain of Adam Austin’s book

Adapted for the big screen, crowds sure did love the look

Of criminals as police, of cops as the bad eggs

Instead of serving to protect, they were cast as the dregs.

In Midnite Mirror opposites do populate the tome

Flattop a detective. The mean streets he does roam.

Pruneface, he was cast as Chief. Shaky was the Mayor

Catchem was a violent thug who’d shed blood on a dare.

Now he’s got a new one out, the title, Clocks Strike One

Violence, chaos, and mayhem! For readers it’s good fun.

Yet there’s a real-life mystery right in front of his face

“Susan” is really Sprocket and now nearing her disgrace.

“Have you read any books?”

WHEW!… looks like Susan won’t be the topic of discussion between the two of them… yet…

Happy Sunday, all you fellow snoozefest lovers!

The dialog is earth shaking!

Ha. Nice one Tracy.

Nice bicep muscle tone/definition appearing just below Tracy’s right t-shirt sleeve by Shelly. A small but nice detail by her.

Good morning™, everyone!

I came in late today — I got distracted. Neither Doctor Tracy nor Fire Chief Tracy sound very good.

“Hey, I remember when there was a comic strip with the original title ‘Plainclothes Tracy.’ That was a Tracy who was a police detective who was engaged in serious detective work against incredible larger-than-life villains with ingenious nefarious schemes & the stories were suspenseful & full of action, close escapes, & thrilling climaxes. I wonder whatever happened to that strip…”

Good morning™, men of many trades !

What more does Tracy have to say ?  He hasn’t read any of the books. Does he read any book by any who write in that vein ?  Now that that is out will the story change scenes tomorrow ?

Got to get the right job for the character. Dan Dare was originally going to be a space fairing priest. Space pilot being a bit more exciting…

Dick gets a chance to get even by locking up his barefoot lady, lol

Dick Tracy sticks to the comics page.

Jump’n Java, hmm this must be the flipside of Starbucks. Ideal beverage for all seasons..coffee.

If Tracy never read any of his books, chances are he would avoid the audio CD version of them as well.

I like Tracy’s honest answer, “No”!

“I’ve carefully avoided reading any your books. I don’t even want to think about them.”

“Forgive my asking, but if that is the case why did you seek me out today and ask if I could have a cup of coffee with you?”

“It’s hard to say. Every now and then I feel the need to be somewhere to set up a coincidence. I feel one coming on. Do you have something else to do this afternoon?”

“Well, I’m meeting my significant other for dinner. Would you like to have dinner with us?”

The late Judith Merril, my friend and the mother of modern SF, was described by J. G. Ballard as the strongest woman in a genre created by weak and ineffectual men. While not always true it certainly is true that those effectual on the page are ineffectual in real life. In real life Judy was strong.

Pimp Tracy.

so…No malice intended, jut a writer playing “What If.”

anh. I’m pretty sure it’s " even a cracked mirror is correct twice a day"

…or was it ‘step on a cracked mirror—-break your mother’s back’?

As in quite a few real life conversations, Austin used a lot of words but didn’t actually answer Tracy’s question. I’d like to see Tracy say something like:

“Write all the crime novels you want. My question is, why use my name? Why portray me as a crime boss, when I’ve devoted my whole life to fighting crime? Surely you can see how that would be offensive, mirror concept notwithstanding.”

Looks like Professor/Doctor Hugo Strange sitting in the background of panel 3….

then why are you bothered by it.

Read your book? It less agony if hit me own head with a hammer.

Total waste of a Sunday strip. No action . No plot advancement . Waste of Pleger’s art.

“Books? HA! Wimp stufff! I only read LOCK ‘N LOAD Weekly. Helpful little self-help magazine. Got some interesting ideas for peanut butter and guava sandwiches in there, and don’t get me STARTED on the Lonely Hearts column!”

Couldn’t Tracy sue him for defamation?

Tracy spends too much time trying to solve crimes, writing reports on those efforts, plus testifying in court, to want to read about fictionalized crime.

“Mirror, Mirror”

Love the shading and the evil twin look on Tracy in Panel 5.

The Sunday strip gives Shelley more of an opportunity to show us the coffee shop and the different times reflected in it. The name “Jumping Java” and the swing dancers in the picture gives a 30’s and 40’s feel. The vinyl records could be anytime up through the 1980’s and are making a comeback. We also see laptops, which were most popular in coffee shops 10-15 years ago and are still used some that venue, have been replaced by the cellphone, as seen in the last panel. Even though in yesterday’s strip I got the impression that Tracy and Austin were ordering from the register (with the menu display shown), today I wouldn’t be surprised if a waitress came by to offer a refill. Nice job!

Great images today. As for the story line……

I really admire Shelly’s art work here……excellent!

“No. I’m waiting for the free copies to come, along with my checks…”

1-DT: OK, so I got your extortion note. Are you trying to ruin me because I made a public stink about your crappy writing?

2-ADAM AUSTINPOWERS: I don’t want to ruin you! I just want your money. It’s not my fault that one of the Tracy quadruplets…

3-…TURNED TO A LIFE OF CRIME!

4-…Your other brothers,Dr. Rick Tracy and Fireman Blaze Tracy paid big money to stop me from revealing that Taint Tracy is related to them. So when can I expect your “contribution”?

5- YOU FOOL! I AM TAINT TRACY DISGUISED AS GOODY TWO SHOES DICK! Now gimme that dough my other sucker brothers gave you or someday soon, when you least expect it…

AUSTINPOWERS: Yeah, yeah. I should’ve known immediately when you showed up without a suit, hat and rain coat. So…will you take a check? TAINT: Heh heh. I REALLY AM DICK. Wait. I think. ARRRGHHH! WHICH ONE AM I? AUSTINPOWERS: What? DICK/TAINT: What?

Dick Tracy is certainly well known, very well known, prompting artists to borrow from him in their work. And Dick Tracy expresses his annoyance at how artists depict him. I wonder what detective David Toschi thinks of the character “Dirty” Harry Callahan based off of him.

Crime boss Tracy? I like it!

With Tracy’s schedule, I’m surprised he has time to relax and have a coffee, much less time to read one of that author’s books!

Tracy doesn’t need to read any of the Austin “Boss Tracy” novels to know they denigrate him and his law enforcement dedication. Any review seen or heard would suffice to tell him that and spare him the wasted time reading the bilious, cheap rip-off of his identity. An ethical, moderately talented author could write a crime novel without having to drag the top cop in Tracyville through the mud. Austin is just trying to cash in on Tracy’s name-value. At the very least, it’s a kind of identity theft-for-profit, quite possibly actionable since done without Tracy’s consent. Our hero needs to consult a top-flight lawyer if he wants to get any satisfaction from the overly smug Adam Austin….

Hmm. Mirror Universe Tracy.

Ah, forgot to update y’all…went to urologist Friday (8:30am) and I wasn’t able to get an xray done prior because there was no prescription for it…but I told the dr that the two stones I’m 99.99999% POSITIVE were the last because there was no pain or bleeding after mick and Keith were evicted (waaaaay back on may 1st) so he told me that they were calcium stones, and that “the goal is 80 ounces of fluid a day” to which I replied “I’ve been drinking 40 ounces of water and 40 ounces of cranberry juice first, then lemonade since December when I went to the emergency room”… so apparently I’m right on track, tho he suggested I cut back on sodium

Tracy what about letting bygones be bygones?

In other words,the books were an ACCIDENTAL success and hekept writing for the money.And libel is tough to prove these days.

Well,Dick can alwAYS WRITE A BOOK ABOUT aDAM aUSTIN.

New Tracy baddie! Scratch ’N Sniff. Fondles all the items in the bakery and then puts them back. NOT good for fresh bread or anything with icing.