Oh yes -there’s also some kind of funny business involving the clock tower at the renovated property, with Jr. Totten apparently trying to keep his Dad unaware of what’s going on there.
In order to remind myself what this story was all about (because, honestly, I couldn’t even remember that there had been a murder, which brought Tracy and team into it) – I went back and read it all from the beginning in one sitting. I have to admit, reading it all as if it were the first few pages of a graphic novel, rather than a daily strip, it’s fairly interesting.
A lead-in featuring the buildings and architecture of Tracy’s City, leading to the focus on one area of the City being renovated by the Totten organization. Then an apparent jump to a turn stile jumper, who turned out to be carrying fake IDs linking him to the Totten group. When he was killed under very suspicious circumstances, and the Transit Authority called the police for help, Tracy and team were called in. Since the Totten name was their only lead, they started looking into their activities, and also ran down the identity of the dead man, who turned out to be a freelance explosives bad guy! And now Sam has uncovered some WWII background on the Totten name. (There you have it – our story so far.)
The first of the family to come to America was shown in the last panel of one of the Sunday strips arriving alone, with one suitcase in his hand, on a dock. The caption said he was a “displaced person”. So there was at least as strong implication that he arrived almost broke.
Agreed. if I hire a craftsman for work in my house, it’s because I don’t have the skills to do the job. But I would certainly have a legitimate right to complain if they did a poor job.
99.9% of those boxes can be broken open by sneezing hard.
I’m really sorry to learn that! Our Fire Dept/Rescue Squad offers a similar lock box arrangement so they can get in if you call 911 and are unable to get to the door, without busting down your door. Now I don’t know if that’s such a good idea after all.
Yesterday, in the first main panel, where Tracy and Sam are standing together, the art is about perfect. The grim, closed mouth is exactly right. But in the lower left panel, where Tracy is shown close-up, there is something off about the shape of his mouth.
For some reason I can’t remember this one from the first time. Anyway, the art is pretty good, except the way he draws Tracy’s mouth. But interrupting the regular continuity mid-stream like this is a generally very bad idea, unless it simply couldn’t be helped.
We talk about the “celebrated villains” in Dick Tracy. But within the strip, they’re not “celebrated” – they’re crooks. Most are just plain evil, though occasionally there has been a story where someone just made bad choices (like Tonsils). But in any case, why would there be a whole club dedicated to “celebrating” them? The whole concept is kind of dumb, actually.
The fake “Flattop” said as much on day 2, actually. The only new information is that the club members are “professionals”.
Using the term “professionals” in this way has always sort of irritated me; it means doctors, lawyers, stock brokers, etc. But anyone who gets paid for using their skills is a pro, in my opinion. I was a professional printer. Plumbers, carpenters, musicians, heavy equipment operators – they’re all professional.
Oh yes -there’s also some kind of funny business involving the clock tower at the renovated property, with Jr. Totten apparently trying to keep his Dad unaware of what’s going on there.