Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for May 05, 2014

This strip does keep us guessing! And keeps us on our toes!

So many loose ends being resolved (or, at least recognized)! And, Sam’s still without a cigarette!

We may yet find out what happened to Belle after the Broadway Bates story, learn if Abner Kadaver survived his concrete swim, and finally find out who that guy was that picked up Panda from his first day out of prison to take him to Mr. Crime (yeah, I don’t forget!)

This story arc has more layers than an onion. Loving it.

The nitrates live on, yea!

Still looking for Notta Chin Chillar & Purdy Fallar to be a part of some future story, unless their appearance was just for nostalgia sake!

Although you’d think they’d be noticed driving out of the water…..can’t Tracy bring ANYONE in, lol? (Nitrates, Kadaver, Rikki, Ghote, Sail, Mrs. Flattop…)

“CPALMERESQ” Maybe Sam is trying to quit andis using the E-cigarettes.

Well I hate to be a master of the obvious but then I think just about everyone already knew this revelation.

I think Dick’s about to be given a leave-of-absence to aid Warbucks and company into finding Annie.

Aw rats, I was hoping we’d see more of Venus today.

Good morning everyone.

I’m looking forward to DT/Annie!

I’m betting the Warbucks party has shown up in Patton’s office.

So, it seems that the Nitrates did escape somehow. It was certainly not a sure thing that they drowned as we last left them.

I wrote a whole bunch late yesterday in replies, so if any of you are interested, go back and look.

I wonder if the chief has had a demand from Daddy Warbucks. He seems a little perturbed.

I had a lot of fun last fall trying to guess Mysta’s true identity, and whaddya know, I actually stumbled on the truth. Now that Team Tracy has introduced another mystery female — the jaw-dropping Venus — I decided to dust off my Crimestopper’s decoder ring and put my detective skills to work again to discover her true identity. And, well, I’ve come up with a theory. You can read my musings at the below link. If you do read it, please don’t mention my guess in this forum. Some people don’t want to know. Shhhhhh.My Theory on Venus’ Identity

I’m surprised the Nitrates are still alive. I didn’t see that one coming. Meanwhile, Chief Patton seems upset with Tracy about something. Why?

Uh-Oh! Patton doesn’t seem happy! And did the Nitrates escape after all? The cops searched the whole lake but didn’t even find the car. Maybe we’ll see them again.

submarine

How big was that lake the Nitrate’s took a dive in? If it was a small lake, there would be no way they could have avoided being detected if they surfaced. To me, the one possible solution would be that the lake might have had a tunnel that could have led to another nearby lake or a surface exit. Other than teleportation, I can’t see how how they could have pulled a Houdini.

I am surprised that the Wonder Car was not found. We saw Sam and Tracy at the lake’s edge calling for the recovery team. We saw Tracy tell the Chief that he believes there is no chance that they survived, “No chance at all.” Tracy had learned from Lizz that the Nitrates were driving the Wonder Car. How is it that they were able to drive away under water and leave the lake undetected? Surely the perimeter would have been secured. Dennis O’Copper and others were in on the chase. It will be interesting to learn the particulars of their escape. It appears that there was very sloppy police work involved, and the buck stops at Tracy’s desk. Sprocket said she drove into the frozen lake so that Silver would never strike her again, adding another confusing element to the escape. To drive away, eluding roadblocks if there were any, does not preclude more abusive behavior on the part of Silver. I’m at a loss as to how they pulled a Houdini.

The new villainess Venus, could she be a renegade Lunarian in disguise? She seems to be interested in outer space, (her desire to acquire the last space coupe), and her flunky Melies has that horribly deformed head that looks like a lunar landscape. That might explain why she hides behind a screen. Too close a look might have revealed her secret?

Consider the timing fellows. Despite the flexible nature of time in DT land, it has taken a LONG time to drag that lake, which implies that it is a pretty big body of water. If it goes deep, or has a rough or debris strewn bottom, that would making dragging it a lot harder. In those circumstances, the fugitives would have quite a long time to get away in their adapted car. If they could travel underwater and had enough air (or a snorkel), they could wait until the following night to drive out anywhere along the shoreline.

Regarding yesterday’s strip:.So the perps who can’t steal a space coupe are now horsing around at the tracks?.Hey, diddle, diddle, the cat and the fiddle,.Wasn’t it a cow that jumped over the moon?

With the Nitrates’ unexpected survival, I guess we’re moving into a new phase..Suddenly, Li’l Abner’s alleged survival becomes all the more credible. Seems like baddies can’t really die..Except for oily named henchmen and throw away Annie characters..Maybe..Maybe we’ll see Kolossal again, with a new set of bags under his pupil-less eyes..Saddlebags.

I’m waiting for Blaze Rize to rise.

Y’know, maybe the Nitrates will turn up shortly -Kolossal Pictures might have been the place where the phony “vintage” films were made!

When the Nitrates do surface, I’m sure Sprocket will be the one in charge.

I Love the Changes and Twists…Dick Tracy Rocks..

I never had a doubt the Nitrates survived. Now the only problem I have is that we may never know what modifications they had on the car to drive underwater and ecsape notice (the car was a fifties style one of a kind) after they did get out. Much like Abner Kadaver dying his way out of prison.

OK let’s keep it real,,,How many really thought the Nitrates were fish food?

StillDaMatt, exactly why do you get a bunchie when you see the word “troll” in print? As Shakespeare said, “Methinks thou doth protest too much.” Good thing you don’t fish from a boat pulling the bait!

Maybe Lena will show up for some Angus burgers!

We’re a-waitin’ fer ya, Gweedo! As you see, PQ blew the troll whistle and stirred it all up. But that’s ok, Pequod; most folks are unaffected by the English language. Some, however, get “offended” pretty easily and start the “outrage” act. It’s kind of like the trained seals at Marine World, you whisper “herring” and hold a dead fish out, and they do back flips.

Tracy was giving his opinion, not making a statement of fact. There’s a big difference.

Exactly right. Tracy was giving his opinion. From his viewpoint, it didn’t look like there was any chance of escape, but Tracy doesn’t know everything, despite his decades of experience as a detective. He left the final determination to the recovery team — it’s just that he didn’t hold out much (if any) hope for their success in rescuing the criminals.

“Dennis O’Copper”…could that be a take-off on the character from the the 1960 DT cartoons, Heap O’Calorie?

No, I think it’s just a take-off on the stereotype that all cops are Irish. This was particularly true of New York, Boston, and even Chicago at one time. According to the article at TVtropes.org, five-sixths of New York’s police force was Irish arond 1900. Dennis O’Copper is a long-time recurring character in the Dick Tracy strip, first appearing in 1942, pre-dating the cartoon series.

I strongly favor the unexpected, unusual, unlikely and fantastic in comic strips, so am not at all opposed to the escape of the Nitrates. It seems unlikely that the car could maneuver on a soft, muddy lake bottom. It seems unlikely that a dive team wouldn’t have rather quickly determined that the car was no longer where it went in to the frozen lake. It seems unlikely, however large the parameter of the lake, that the Wonder Car could have gone far undetected once it emerged from being submerged. Tracy and Sam knew the car was equipped with extras, so it seems unlikely that they would have called it a night before the dive team had news to report. Tracy gave the Chief his opinion from the edge of the lake, while looking at the hole in the ice where the Wonder Car entered the water. It seems unlikely that road blocks would not have been in place to stop the Nitrates from leaving the area. Tracy was a bit lax, I’d say. Still, I like that Tracy is not infallible. He is a superior detective, not a super-hero. Here’s to more of the unexpected, unusual, unlikely and fantastic in Dick Tracy. May a future big surprise involve the appearance of the Moon Governor paying a memorable visit to Mysta. .I find Willy007’s theory to make perfect sense, which is to be expected. Team Tracy has repeatedly shown that, as with the Wonder Car, they make excellent use of the rich history of the strip, even as they make it their own.

I am not surprised at the possibility of Sprocket NItrate, and maybe Silver if she didn’t kill him, having eluded the police at the lake. Maybe the bottom-crawling car entered a large fresh-air cave that opens off the lake below water level, and from there escaped whatever perimeter police might have been able to establish (completely surrounding even a medium-size lake would be difficult).As for what might be on Chief Patton’s mind, we’ll have to wait and see….

Uh-Oh! The Chief doesn’t look happy.

My Random Thoughts:1) I think the Flattop Jr car had a submarine option and was able to go wherever they wanted to take it. I think Sprocket intended this all along but just wanted to throw a big scare into her brother first. Maybe she got a promise from him never to hit her again and then activated the sub motor.2) I love Venus. I hope we see a lot of her and it never stops. That is all.3) The plan for a new Notta Fallar story is incredibly exciting to me. I find the whole Lunar Era very intoxicating and Notta is one reason for this. Bring it on!4) I’m thrilled that 24 is back on the air!