Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for January 11, 2014

Love that classical Flintheart expression in the last panel!

Interesting…..wonder what the actual crime will be in this timeline – copyright infringement?

If only Dick Tracy would save the solar system from evil and not just in the city he lives in.

Someone found a print of Flintheart’s debut in Captain Video, quick call the cops!

More long-lost (or thought to be) film. Interesting.

Maybe this is the Satellite MCU Sub-Station in Colorado. That would explain the smoking. The sign on the door says “Mile-high Crime Unit”.

TV or radio?

Vitamin debuted in the Captain Video Show? That’s a retcon. In his first appearance in the strip, during the Flattop sequence (a few years before CV aired) he was already a well-established thespian (not to mention middle aged).

Tell us more about your Captain Video debut, Vitamin. We’d love to hear you expatiate dramatically! Besides, the next strip is a Sunday’s, so a little fluffy filler would not be out of place….

Vitamin should have checked YouTube.Captain Video ep5

Yeah, Captain Video was broacdcasted in the years 1949 to1955. Iwas born in 1956. No wonder I don’t remember it. Probably it was never broadcasted in Italy.

Flintheart’s job was to keep the arms flapping on the space octopus, and to hold up a candy bar during the ads.

So “someone” has found a print of Vitamin Flintheart’s Captain Video debut? Sounds like Abner Kadaver is still alive.Will Abner, Rikki, Silver and Sprocket be teaming up? They all share an interest in film.

Every once-in-a-blue moon, I catch one of the old sci-fi serials on TV and I love the really low budget rocket take-off scenes. The filming set is usually a 10 × 12 room, with the back end of a rocket showing to hide the saw horse holding up the front end. The characters always have aluminum foil helmets and lots of cake glitter on their uniforms. When they climb in the rocket, someone offstage discharges a fire extinguisher into the contraption to simulate blast off. Gas was 15 cents a gallon and no one had any problems. Twas a good time to live.

I loved watching Rocket Man and Commando Cody when I was a kid, so I’m enjoying the references to old scifi serials. For those who may not realize it, a character named Retik (Ruler of the Moon) was a Commando Cody villain, and this was the obvious inspiration for Moon Maid’s friend who goes by the same name. Roy Barcroft played Retik in the original serial, pictured at the top left of this classic movie poster:

I guess he did “Captain Video” after the “Vista Bill” movie series.

Re: Saving the Solar System constantly: Oh yes he did he did he diddy-diddy-did DID!!

I remember “Captain Video” with AL HODGE and DON HASTING as the Video Ranger. It was the first Space Opera I ever saw and was the precursor to “Tom Corbett, Space Cadet”, “Space Patrol” Rocky Jones, Space Ranger", “Captain Z-Ro” , “Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers” and much later “Star Trip” or “Space Trek” or something like that.

I, too, have fond memories of Commander Cody. I would like to see Vitamin do the Armadillo Stomp.

Anyone hear from Vista Bill? Have not seen comments from him last few days.Hope all is well.

One of Clayton Moore’s first entrances was as a bad guy in the great serial “The Crimson Ghost” around 1948/1949.

morrow: Mile-high Crime Unit? Make that the Mile-high Cannabis Unit!.Of course, what is Richard going to do once they make everything legal?

Vitamin!!!

If you look up you’ll see my little joke flying over your head. While Commando Cody was a bit before my time, Commander Cody & his Lost Planet Airmen hit the sweet spot on my turntable. I do believe his stage name and band indicate he was a fan of those old sci-fi serials. Sam remembers Captain Video and may well help save the solar system from evil. I could see Mysta helping out as well…

COMMANDO CODY was the character in the movie serials, COMMANDER CODY was the musical band. A little difference in rank/title/name maybe why the joke went awry.

Let us pity the bug as we shuffle our feet, shake our tail feathers and raise a toast to Commander Cody, Commando Cody, Team Tracy and Chester Gould. JPuzzleWhiz, please be the designated driver as we head on down the highway in that Hot Rod Lincoln.

Clayton Moore’s first movie “credit” as Clayton Moore was in 1940 in the western movie Kit Carson. He had appeared in several movies either unaccredited or under a different name as far back as 1937. His first appearance as The Lone Ranger was in 1949. Our local PBS station has a show Saturday mornings featuring a B movie from that time frame along with a chapter of a serial. The current serial is from 1948, the Return of Frank and Jesse James, and has Clayton Moore playing Jesse James. The female lead was a Noel Neill aka Lois Lane.