Spot on Gweedo, They might as well have tried to convince him it was the Spanish – American war.But I’m sure some will serve up an absurd and unlikely explanation. Got to keep the deniability going.
What we’ve learned today is that The Chief finds the whole thing as unbelievable as we do. It doesn’t really make sense to him either, so maybe there’s just no use trying to explain it.
There were probably lapses, but Axel had the means to cover those up. And after all, don’t we all get brainwashed to an extent by just living? Some things we accept automatically as the way things are, some not so much.
Next week, during the “Lone Ranger”/ DT crossover story, Dick and the rest of the MCU are recruited by Abe Lincoln to join secret operator LR and his buddy Tonto, to take out Alley Opp, who has become a Confederate General, in the Civil war.
There’s nothing wrong with cross-overs, especially with “dormant” Tribune proprieties.^^NO, DT did fine without them the entire time Gould wrote it, for that matter, he almost always had a new villain for each story and usually killed them off in the matter of a few months; no crossovers and no recycled villains.
I’m with Chief Pat Patton. This sprawling story is too much to swallow whole without further explanation. There are lots of loose ends, some enumerated by commenters here already today. But I expect they will be left unanswered as we move on to further adventure. And that’s okay, even if it leaves us a little bit frustrated….
Tracy used that entire word balloon to tell us, the readers, what we already knew, and still left a lot of unanswered questions. But that’s okay. We all have to remember, this is fiction. And it’s comic strip fiction. We really don’t have to have all the holes plugged. Suspending disbelief goes along with reading the comics.
If their goals were explosives, to what end were the explosives to be used?! Obviously for terrorism? For the time and money used, they could’ve just bought a nuke weapon on the black market. I would’ve preferred a time wormhole since Punjab cape does similar feats
I’ve really enjoyed this story, and just want to give a big shout out to Joe, Mike and all concerned for successfully pulling it off, It was long and involving, and it felt terribly rewarding to see Annie, Daddy, Punjab, The Asp and Sandy in comics again.
I know this team can well handle any story and original characters they might care to create; that said, they did a swell and respectful job giving life to Harold Gray’s characters. I look forward with anticipation to whatever else the Tracy folk have in mind for the future.
I would politely add that while the unlikely — and crackpot — idea for a Tracy/Lone Ranger crossover playfully suggested by Mikeyj may be absolutely ridiculous, I can’t immediately get it out of my mind…
Over all this has been fun, but now I do hope we can get down to a serious Dick Tracy story. Word is that there will be a couple of weeks of catch up with what has been happening to various cast members, and that’s o.k. – Gould would sometimes pause between stories for light-hearted material, too. But then, let’s let Tracy be Tracy!About this story: Axel was clearly reporting to someone; who were his bosses on this? And he made the remark that he had a “buyer” for Tracy – what in the world did that mean, and why put it in if there will be no explanation or follow-up? “Loose ends” seems to be Mike’s style, and each writer must be true to his own way of story telling, but that aspect of the current Dick Tracy is becoming frustrating to me. However, there is much to enjoy also, so I will keep rooting for Team Tracy.
It’s pretty funny how many “disappointed” comments by various posters have been expressed already today over Tracy’s long, “I already knew that” explanation to Pat. I don’t disagree with the mood of the board today. I do find myself chuckling over the obvious hypocrisy of having to endure insults by some of these same posters whenever I express concerns over the strip. Oh well, no one ever said life was fair in Tracyville! LOL!
I hope Team Tracy doesn’t spend the next month with single panel monster word balloons trying to explain it away. Let’s move on. Mikey, you think we’ll have a Lone Ranger crossover, huh? Is this a “spoiler alert”? I wonder what the PC crowd will say, considering Tonto is a Native American and, offscreen, plays wide receiver for Washington?
So Professor Kenyon must be about 90, and could only be convinced to cook up his ‘secret sauce’ to save the country if the Nazis were coming.Okay.So Axel came up with the whole 40’s flashback idea.But instead of keeping it simple, he fell in love with the idea, and made it bigger and bigger.He even gave himself the starring role of newspaper editor and pseudo mayor.Finally, the whole plot had so many moving parts that it was bound to fall apart. Yep.He’s the Wile E. Coyote of Tracyville.
Have thoroughly enjoyed this story, perhaps because I have always like the Annie character (the comic, not necessarily the movie). She wasn’t in our local paper (neither was DT) so I never followed her adventures from year to year. Still hope to see what happened to the Silos and the rest of the town folks. And what will happen to the island itself. Be fun to think it could continue as a town set in the 1940s settings. My mother just turn 100 and said she wished she was living back in that time period. They didn’t have a lot of money but people got by and had time for each other. Thanks Team Tracy for taking us back in time. And count me as one that enjoys the crossovers, especially with characters from strips no longer around. Uncle Walt of Gasoline Alley goes to visit the old cartoon home from time to time. Although I don’t want him to remain there, it is fun to see him visit with his (and our) old friends from the past. Again, thanks, Mike and Joe, for a fun trip.
Wondering what the average age of the readers here is? Being nearly 60 myself, I’ve enjoyed the cross-overs since I remember the comics. This was a fun romp for me. I look forward to reading it as part of my morning routine.Much like movies and such, I watch them for the entertainment value and a way to ‘get away’ from the stresses of the real world.I know they’re fantasy. They are there for my enjoyment, not for me to ‘pick apart’ every little perceived error.
It’s a wrap. I want to tell you all that its been a wonderful summer holiday in Simmons Corner. All of the Comments have been very entertaining. Its been a slice..
It was fun. Why shouldn’t Mike and Joe get to enjoy themselves? Up to now, the best version of Tracy I’d seen in years was another crossover, in Gasoline Alley.
This team likes to nod to the comic strips they so plainly love. Usually, they’re small nods (like Hot-Shot Charlie). I like the job they’re doing.
By killing off Axel, Tracy doesn’t have an obvious way to find out who he was working for. I wonder if he thinks Axel was working for himself. His description suggests that. It may take awhile to get to the uber-villain.
I’m an old reader but a new commenter (if there is such a word,) from Honolulu, and I would like to know if Annie willnow suddenly age normally into a woman from the child she was in the 1940’s. I realize that comic book characters age very slowly, otherwise Dick would be decrepit, but Annie shouldn’t be left at ten years old, as she was older when her strip was cancelled.
@tsull2121Interesting points.-I accept the bizarre looking villains just as I do B.O. Plenty’s scrawny neck, and Tracy’s hawk nose. More fantastic ones (like Putty Puss) I put into the same category as Mr. Freeze; ignore the science and enjoy the story.-Good analysis about Spider-Man. That’s exactly why I think he’s been so popular. Dick Grayson was always perfect, and wealthy, and Peter Parker was struggling with the same things the readers were (minus the super-villains). -I do disagree with the theory about Batman and his adversaries, but it’s a fun angle to view it from. (Might make for a good story, too!) -Blaze gave Davey’s mom all the money (at least that was implied), and she consoled the woman on his death.I hadn’t given any thought to how long the plot threads hung; has it been two years since Mr. Crime?As I recently said, I’m waiting for Blaze to re-enter the picture. She double-crossed Doubleup and shot him to save Davey, and I’m sure he’ll want payback.-It might be better if the stories were able to follow-up on the loose ends right after the story ends.For instance, If the next case were to have Tracy pursue a lead on Axel’s superiors. (They’re probably FBI jurisdiction though, given the use of federal land, and the kidnappings of Kenyon and everyone else.)But I think you see what I mean.-Gee, I’d forgotten all those moon people at Mysta’s grave. Wonder what they were doing? (Maybe opening the grave to get her DNA so they could clone her in Moon Valley Mk 2?)Just kidding, Tim! Honest! Mike wouldn’t do it! (I think.)
I read comic strips each day because I enjoy them. I am in an artistic profession and enjoy seeing the work of many of the current comic strip artists.
I read several comic strips each day. Some, like the gag-a-day strips, are quickly read and forgotten rarely providing me with a degree of humor that elicits more hilarity than say, a wisecrack from a friend or co-worker. I might snicker or roll my eyes but these strips are quickly read and quickly forgotten for me.
Other strips garner more of my attention. I read Dick Tracy because I just particularly have always liked it. I appreciate all that goes into both writing and illustrating a daily strip. It is a never-ending task that never lets up. The writer cannot have the luxury of a writer’s block. The show—‘er the strip—must go on. The next story must be told. No matter what, a comic strip writer must be creative every day to create every story.
With this constant grind and demand, obviously not all stories will be masterpieces. That holds true even for Gould. Some of his stories were sleepers and some will be forever remembered. The same holds true for every writer or artist who has worked on Dick Tracy. That said, each writer has his own particular style of writing. Some writers are more straight forward in their presentation. Some weave plots that are more complicated. Each has had their own strengths and weaknesses.
Should I be “outraged” if a particular story doesn’t meet my individual standard? While I do spend more time each day thinking about the DT plot and admiring the artwork than with the other strips I read (although I am a great admirer of Scanerelli), it has never become so important to me that I would find myself “outraged” by the plot of a comic strip.
Nor am I offended by the difference between what can happen in the Tracy universe as compared to what is possible in real life. I consider the three panels a day that I am presented with to be my escapist time. If Tracy can float around in a flying garbage can then Axel can recreate a 1944 village. In other words: As real life, DT is totally unbelievable and fantastic; as a comic strip, I look forward to my 3 panels a day with anticipation.
Do I have criticisms? Sometimes. Nobody’s perfect. I am frustrated that the stories do not always end cleanly. And, although I understand that the loose ends can lead to future stories, sometimes the duration between the loose end and when it’s finally picked up again is so long that I have forgotten the reference. Still to me this criticism is small. The proponents of strict realism should find the loose ends to their taste. In real life things rarely end cleanly. Even when police get convictions on a case, all of the facts and motives are rarely known.
I thought the Annie story was fun. It could have been less talky and more action could have occurred in panel (Axel cuffing Fritz-Ann). More tension could have been raised by having Tracy and Annie almost discovered by Axel while meeting in her clubhouse or peeping through the hole in the wall. The fight between Punjab, Asp, and Axel’s goons could have taken place in a Sunday strip where we could have had more panels of the big battle (I would have liked to have seen Joe’s rendition of a longer fight).
Still, the bottom line is, “Was I entertained?” And I have to answer, “Yes.” It wasn’t the best story but it wasn’t the worst and it kept me entertained and I enjoyed the crossover. What more do I want from a comic strip? Now on to the next story.
gweedo, i thnk you misunderstood what “my take” on batman is..let me try again
the official origin is that young bruce wayne is walking hoe with his parents after a play and take a turn down an alley into “the bad side of town” where his parents are mudered before his eyes. flash forward a few years to bruce becoming the pinnacle of perfect humanity and a multimillionairre yadda yadda.
my take is somewhat reversed. young bruce, seeign his parents murdered before his eyes, flips out and loses all his ties to sanity and goes bonkers, ending up committed to arkham because he is completely nuts.
over the years, bruce has escaped arkham many times, THINKKING that he is the hero of gotham, and he sees the joker, catwoman etc as the “villains intent on doing harm to gotham and the innocent citizens”.. but in REALITY bruce is the nutcase villain, donning the bat costume and creating the crimewaves etc.. and the joker, et al are the costumed HEROES that are returning him to arkham… each time the “villain is securely locked away” (in bruce’s view) its HIM in reality being returned to arkham and medicated… only when he shakes off his meds and breaks out again does he encounter the next villain and battles them.
the “end of the storyline” when the villain is defeated and batman saves the day is, in truth, bruce being committed all over again.
dick grayson, barbara gordon, jason todd, tim drake etc,, they’re all either inmates who escaped WITH him, or doctors, etc that “come to visit him” from time to time…alfred being his “most trusted friend” because in bruce’s damaged mind (he is still 12 and reliving his parents nurder) alfred is/was the one constant thing he could always rely on.
Next week, during the “Lone Ranger”/ DT crossover story, Dick and the rest of the MCU are recruited by Abe Lincoln to join secret operator LR and his buddy Tonto, to take out Alley Opp, who has become a Confederate General, in the Civil war.
If anyone can get the artists, franchise holders and dead President’s estate to work together on this it’s YOU ! ^^Thx… I see I typoed Alley Oop’s name, oops!
So not a modern story with the LR’s descendant the Green Hornet? I am using him and Kato with my Alternate Alley Oop.^^No, this story takes place on the Civil War planet which was discovered by Diet Smith in his new Space Coupe, powered by used atomic toilet paper.
would think he would welcome the publicity, as long as he is not made to look like a tonto. ^^Tonto is just 90 minutes from here…. oh wait, that’s Toronto.
And with Batman he dealt with the regular kind of criminal from time-to-time, but he really was needed for the bizarre super criminals who the police just can’t handle. A nod to Dick Tracy to be sure.^^Batman creator Bob Kane was notorious for his plagiarism of other’s work; it never surprises me how much of a resemblance there was, between the Penguin and Broadway Bates.
@tsull2121:WHEN was it that we saw those UNEXPLAINED MOON PEOPLE hovering over mysta’s (legit) grave?
In my opinion, that scene was meant to bring closure to the moon era once and for all. We know that the moon people are not in Moon Valley anymore, but this told us that they are still alive, somewhere in the universe, that they remember Mysta, but they were paying her last respects by coming to visit her grave one last time.
Diet Smith had all the moon paraphernalia destroyed, so that really marked the end of the moon stuff and we had learned that Mysta Chimera really was not Moon Maid after all. The appearance of the moon people was a fitting and respectful end to the entire moon era.
I actually like Tracy’s 105-word “monologue” today. It’s true that it doesn’t tell us anything that we didn’t already know, as long as we were reading all the strips since this story started. The fact that it’s wordy speaks to the fact that the whole scheme was ridiculously elaborate and the story was incomprehensibly complex. I think the authors of the strip are acknowledging that. I imagine the entire speech by Tracy, spread over the two panel today, as being spoken rapidly, essentially without him even taking a breath.
Some people just don’t get the concept of a shared universe. All Mike has done was to bring to the comic a time homered tradition of cross overs going back to comic books and the 1940s. Perhaps today more than ever with most of the Tribunes classic characters are dormant, the organic use of them in the strip, may it be Annie or Hotshot Charlie,etc is not out of place. They have not been shoehorned or are out of place. Mike is not a hack and their use,even if cameos have been well done.
This is the same strip which has science fiction elements, and the lead character has a granddaughter who is have moon person, so cross overs we more realistic.
This is not Gould’s Tracy, this is Mike and Joe’s Tracy which is built upon what came before!and freshened the strip and made it popular again. Papers are picking up the strip again
cpalmeresq over 9 years ago
And, there you go!
cpalmeresq over 9 years ago
For everyone looking for closure, it starts here!
doctor075 over 9 years ago
Chief!You used to be Tracy’s partner,you know better than that!:>)
W H H over 9 years ago
Oh come on Tracy, you’ve spent your entire lengthy word balloon telling us all what we already know.
Ashmael over 9 years ago
For those who lived in an oceanic island without Internet connection the last few months?
W H H over 9 years ago
Spot on Gweedo, They might as well have tried to convince him it was the Spanish – American war.But I’m sure some will serve up an absurd and unlikely explanation. Got to keep the deniability going.
Neil Wick over 9 years ago
What we’ve learned today is that The Chief finds the whole thing as unbelievable as we do. It doesn’t really make sense to him either, so maybe there’s just no use trying to explain it.
coldsooner over 9 years ago
Apparently he wasn’t that hot at containing explosives either!
rshive over 9 years ago
There were probably lapses, but Axel had the means to cover those up. And after all, don’t we all get brainwashed to an extent by just living? Some things we accept automatically as the way things are, some not so much.
William Weedman over 9 years ago
Maybe, just maybe Tracy will wake up in bed and say “Tess, I just had the most amazing dream…” It plugs all the holes.
Mikeyj over 9 years ago
Next week, during the “Lone Ranger”/ DT crossover story, Dick and the rest of the MCU are recruited by Abe Lincoln to join secret operator LR and his buddy Tonto, to take out Alley Opp, who has become a Confederate General, in the Civil war.
Mikeyj over 9 years ago
@Mikeyj
There’s nothing wrong with cross-overs, especially with “dormant” Tribune proprieties.^^NO, DT did fine without them the entire time Gould wrote it, for that matter, he almost always had a new villain for each story and usually killed them off in the matter of a few months; no crossovers and no recycled villains.
artheaded1 over 9 years ago
Even with some holes in the “logic”, this has been a fun romp to 1944 and back with Annie!
Vista Bill Raley and Comet™ over 9 years ago
**Good m
jz27wk Premium Member over 9 years ago
No, Tracy is not making it up. It was Mike and Joe who made it up.
Sisyphos over 9 years ago
I’m with Chief Pat Patton. This sprawling story is too much to swallow whole without further explanation. There are lots of loose ends, some enumerated by commenters here already today. But I expect they will be left unanswered as we move on to further adventure. And that’s okay, even if it leaves us a little bit frustrated….
Vista Bill Raley and Comet™ over 9 years ago
Good morning fellow fans!
I really enjoyed the Annie crossover.
davidf42 over 9 years ago
Tracy used that entire word balloon to tell us, the readers, what we already knew, and still left a lot of unanswered questions. But that’s okay. We all have to remember, this is fiction. And it’s comic strip fiction. We really don’t have to have all the holes plugged. Suspending disbelief goes along with reading the comics.
jrankin1959 over 9 years ago
“Chief, seriously… what genre do we all live in? Hm?”
tsull2121 over 9 years ago
See.. even Pat Patton has a hard time believing the story
BiggerJ over 9 years ago
All this needs is Mike Curtis showing up with a skull-topped cane saying ‘For those who came in late!’
PatrickDC202 over 9 years ago
If their goals were explosives, to what end were the explosives to be used?! Obviously for terrorism? For the time and money used, they could’ve just bought a nuke weapon on the black market. I would’ve preferred a time wormhole since Punjab cape does similar feats
avenger09 over 9 years ago
GWEEDO! Careful what you say or I’ll have to start calling you little Gweedo! LOL!
Outcault Premium Member over 9 years ago
I’ve really enjoyed this story, and just want to give a big shout out to Joe, Mike and all concerned for successfully pulling it off, It was long and involving, and it felt terribly rewarding to see Annie, Daddy, Punjab, The Asp and Sandy in comics again.
I know this team can well handle any story and original characters they might care to create; that said, they did a swell and respectful job giving life to Harold Gray’s characters. I look forward with anticipation to whatever else the Tracy folk have in mind for the future.
I would politely add that while the unlikely — and crackpot — idea for a Tracy/Lone Ranger crossover playfully suggested by Mikeyj may be absolutely ridiculous, I can’t immediately get it out of my mind…
Ken in Ohio over 9 years ago
Over all this has been fun, but now I do hope we can get down to a serious Dick Tracy story. Word is that there will be a couple of weeks of catch up with what has been happening to various cast members, and that’s o.k. – Gould would sometimes pause between stories for light-hearted material, too. But then, let’s let Tracy be Tracy!About this story: Axel was clearly reporting to someone; who were his bosses on this? And he made the remark that he had a “buyer” for Tracy – what in the world did that mean, and why put it in if there will be no explanation or follow-up? “Loose ends” seems to be Mike’s style, and each writer must be true to his own way of story telling, but that aspect of the current Dick Tracy is becoming frustrating to me. However, there is much to enjoy also, so I will keep rooting for Team Tracy.
avenger09 over 9 years ago
It’s pretty funny how many “disappointed” comments by various posters have been expressed already today over Tracy’s long, “I already knew that” explanation to Pat. I don’t disagree with the mood of the board today. I do find myself chuckling over the obvious hypocrisy of having to endure insults by some of these same posters whenever I express concerns over the strip. Oh well, no one ever said life was fair in Tracyville! LOL!
Morrow Cummings over 9 years ago
I hope Team Tracy doesn’t spend the next month with single panel monster word balloons trying to explain it away. Let’s move on. Mikey, you think we’ll have a Lone Ranger crossover, huh? Is this a “spoiler alert”? I wonder what the PC crowd will say, considering Tonto is a Native American and, offscreen, plays wide receiver for Washington?
Can't Sleep over 9 years ago
So Professor Kenyon must be about 90, and could only be convinced to cook up his ‘secret sauce’ to save the country if the Nazis were coming.Okay.So Axel came up with the whole 40’s flashback idea.But instead of keeping it simple, he fell in love with the idea, and made it bigger and bigger.He even gave himself the starring role of newspaper editor and pseudo mayor.Finally, the whole plot had so many moving parts that it was bound to fall apart. Yep.He’s the Wile E. Coyote of Tracyville.
Starman1948 over 9 years ago
Good morning DT and Annie fans. What an explanation!
Larry L Stout over 9 years ago
Have thoroughly enjoyed this story, perhaps because I have always like the Annie character (the comic, not necessarily the movie). She wasn’t in our local paper (neither was DT) so I never followed her adventures from year to year. Still hope to see what happened to the Silos and the rest of the town folks. And what will happen to the island itself. Be fun to think it could continue as a town set in the 1940s settings. My mother just turn 100 and said she wished she was living back in that time period. They didn’t have a lot of money but people got by and had time for each other. Thanks Team Tracy for taking us back in time. And count me as one that enjoys the crossovers, especially with characters from strips no longer around. Uncle Walt of Gasoline Alley goes to visit the old cartoon home from time to time. Although I don’t want him to remain there, it is fun to see him visit with his (and our) old friends from the past. Again, thanks, Mike and Joe, for a fun trip.
thunderbearr over 9 years ago
Wondering what the average age of the readers here is? Being nearly 60 myself, I’ve enjoyed the cross-overs since I remember the comics. This was a fun romp for me. I look forward to reading it as part of my morning routine.Much like movies and such, I watch them for the entertainment value and a way to ‘get away’ from the stresses of the real world.I know they’re fantasy. They are there for my enjoyment, not for me to ‘pick apart’ every little perceived error.
That’s my $.02 worth.
Now get off my lawn.
abdullahbaba999 over 9 years ago
It’s a wrap. I want to tell you all that its been a wonderful summer holiday in Simmons Corner. All of the Comments have been very entertaining. Its been a slice..
Kip W over 9 years ago
It was fun. Why shouldn’t Mike and Joe get to enjoy themselves? Up to now, the best version of Tracy I’d seen in years was another crossover, in Gasoline Alley.
This team likes to nod to the comic strips they so plainly love. Usually, they’re small nods (like Hot-Shot Charlie). I like the job they’re doing.
Jelfring Premium Member over 9 years ago
By killing off Axel, Tracy doesn’t have an obvious way to find out who he was working for. I wonder if he thinks Axel was working for himself. His description suggests that. It may take awhile to get to the uber-villain.
mumbles over 9 years ago
Sure Dick, that explains everything. Where’s Gruesome? And where are Dicks dress blues?
mumbles over 9 years ago
Avenger, you are right. A huge change in the tenor of the comments, albeit 3 months too late.
tsull2121 over 9 years ago
Night Gaunt, i’d PROBABLY do a better job editing than whoever is doing it at the Trib
Okinawan Ace over 9 years ago
I’m an old reader but a new commenter (if there is such a word,) from Honolulu, and I would like to know if Annie willnow suddenly age normally into a woman from the child she was in the 1940’s. I realize that comic book characters age very slowly, otherwise Dick would be decrepit, but Annie shouldn’t be left at ten years old, as she was older when her strip was cancelled.
Can't Sleep over 9 years ago
@tsull2121Interesting points.-I accept the bizarre looking villains just as I do B.O. Plenty’s scrawny neck, and Tracy’s hawk nose. More fantastic ones (like Putty Puss) I put into the same category as Mr. Freeze; ignore the science and enjoy the story.-Good analysis about Spider-Man. That’s exactly why I think he’s been so popular. Dick Grayson was always perfect, and wealthy, and Peter Parker was struggling with the same things the readers were (minus the super-villains). -I do disagree with the theory about Batman and his adversaries, but it’s a fun angle to view it from. (Might make for a good story, too!) -Blaze gave Davey’s mom all the money (at least that was implied), and she consoled the woman on his death.I hadn’t given any thought to how long the plot threads hung; has it been two years since Mr. Crime?As I recently said, I’m waiting for Blaze to re-enter the picture. She double-crossed Doubleup and shot him to save Davey, and I’m sure he’ll want payback.-It might be better if the stories were able to follow-up on the loose ends right after the story ends.For instance, If the next case were to have Tracy pursue a lead on Axel’s superiors. (They’re probably FBI jurisdiction though, given the use of federal land, and the kidnappings of Kenyon and everyone else.)But I think you see what I mean.-Gee, I’d forgotten all those moon people at Mysta’s grave. Wonder what they were doing? (Maybe opening the grave to get her DNA so they could clone her in Moon Valley Mk 2?)Just kidding, Tim! Honest! Mike wouldn’t do it! (I think.)
Ray Toler over 9 years ago
I read comic strips each day because I enjoy them. I am in an artistic profession and enjoy seeing the work of many of the current comic strip artists.
I read several comic strips each day. Some, like the gag-a-day strips, are quickly read and forgotten rarely providing me with a degree of humor that elicits more hilarity than say, a wisecrack from a friend or co-worker. I might snicker or roll my eyes but these strips are quickly read and quickly forgotten for me.
Other strips garner more of my attention. I read Dick Tracy because I just particularly have always liked it. I appreciate all that goes into both writing and illustrating a daily strip. It is a never-ending task that never lets up. The writer cannot have the luxury of a writer’s block. The show—‘er the strip—must go on. The next story must be told. No matter what, a comic strip writer must be creative every day to create every story.
With this constant grind and demand, obviously not all stories will be masterpieces. That holds true even for Gould. Some of his stories were sleepers and some will be forever remembered. The same holds true for every writer or artist who has worked on Dick Tracy. That said, each writer has his own particular style of writing. Some writers are more straight forward in their presentation. Some weave plots that are more complicated. Each has had their own strengths and weaknesses.
Should I be “outraged” if a particular story doesn’t meet my individual standard? While I do spend more time each day thinking about the DT plot and admiring the artwork than with the other strips I read (although I am a great admirer of Scanerelli), it has never become so important to me that I would find myself “outraged” by the plot of a comic strip.
Nor am I offended by the difference between what can happen in the Tracy universe as compared to what is possible in real life. I consider the three panels a day that I am presented with to be my escapist time. If Tracy can float around in a flying garbage can then Axel can recreate a 1944 village. In other words: As real life, DT is totally unbelievable and fantastic; as a comic strip, I look forward to my 3 panels a day with anticipation.
Do I have criticisms? Sometimes. Nobody’s perfect. I am frustrated that the stories do not always end cleanly. And, although I understand that the loose ends can lead to future stories, sometimes the duration between the loose end and when it’s finally picked up again is so long that I have forgotten the reference. Still to me this criticism is small. The proponents of strict realism should find the loose ends to their taste. In real life things rarely end cleanly. Even when police get convictions on a case, all of the facts and motives are rarely known.
I thought the Annie story was fun. It could have been less talky and more action could have occurred in panel (Axel cuffing Fritz-Ann). More tension could have been raised by having Tracy and Annie almost discovered by Axel while meeting in her clubhouse or peeping through the hole in the wall. The fight between Punjab, Asp, and Axel’s goons could have taken place in a Sunday strip where we could have had more panels of the big battle (I would have liked to have seen Joe’s rendition of a longer fight).
Still, the bottom line is, “Was I entertained?” And I have to answer, “Yes.” It wasn’t the best story but it wasn’t the worst and it kept me entertained and I enjoyed the crossover. What more do I want from a comic strip? Now on to the next story.
Ray Toler over 9 years ago
Your speech had a nice clean ending.Thanks, Ray !______________________It was almost as long as Tracy’s speech today.
tsull2121 over 9 years ago
gweedo, i thnk you misunderstood what “my take” on batman is..let me try again
the official origin is that young bruce wayne is walking hoe with his parents after a play and take a turn down an alley into “the bad side of town” where his parents are mudered before his eyes. flash forward a few years to bruce becoming the pinnacle of perfect humanity and a multimillionairre yadda yadda.
my take is somewhat reversed. young bruce, seeign his parents murdered before his eyes, flips out and loses all his ties to sanity and goes bonkers, ending up committed to arkham because he is completely nuts.
over the years, bruce has escaped arkham many times, THINKKING that he is the hero of gotham, and he sees the joker, catwoman etc as the “villains intent on doing harm to gotham and the innocent citizens”.. but in REALITY bruce is the nutcase villain, donning the bat costume and creating the crimewaves etc.. and the joker, et al are the costumed HEROES that are returning him to arkham… each time the “villain is securely locked away” (in bruce’s view) its HIM in reality being returned to arkham and medicated… only when he shakes off his meds and breaks out again does he encounter the next villain and battles them.
the “end of the storyline” when the villain is defeated and batman saves the day is, in truth, bruce being committed all over again.
dick grayson, barbara gordon, jason todd, tim drake etc,, they’re all either inmates who escaped WITH him, or doctors, etc that “come to visit him” from time to time…alfred being his “most trusted friend” because in bruce’s damaged mind (he is still 12 and reliving his parents nurder) alfred is/was the one constant thing he could always rely on.
does that make sense?
K M over 9 years ago
Haven’t been following the story line, have you, Chief?
Mikeyj over 9 years ago
Next week, during the “Lone Ranger”/ DT crossover story, Dick and the rest of the MCU are recruited by Abe Lincoln to join secret operator LR and his buddy Tonto, to take out Alley Opp, who has become a Confederate General, in the Civil war.
If anyone can get the artists, franchise holders and dead President’s estate to work together on this it’s YOU ! ^^Thx… I see I typoed Alley Oop’s name, oops!
Mikeyj over 9 years ago
@Mikeyj
So not a modern story with the LR’s descendant the Green Hornet? I am using him and Kato with my Alternate Alley Oop.^^No, this story takes place on the Civil War planet which was discovered by Diet Smith in his new Space Coupe, powered by used atomic toilet paper.
Mikeyj over 9 years ago
would think he would welcome the publicity, as long as he is not made to look like a tonto. ^^Tonto is just 90 minutes from here…. oh wait, that’s Toronto.
Mikeyj over 9 years ago
Do such crossovers bother you too?^^Yes, I despise crossovers, I am not reading LOA, I am here to read DT, one of my all time faves, period.
Mikeyj over 9 years ago
And with Batman he dealt with the regular kind of criminal from time-to-time, but he really was needed for the bizarre super criminals who the police just can’t handle. A nod to Dick Tracy to be sure.^^Batman creator Bob Kane was notorious for his plagiarism of other’s work; it never surprises me how much of a resemblance there was, between the Penguin and Broadway Bates.
Neil Wick over 9 years ago
@tsull2121:WHEN was it that we saw those UNEXPLAINED MOON PEOPLE hovering over mysta’s (legit) grave?
In my opinion, that scene was meant to bring closure to the moon era once and for all. We know that the moon people are not in Moon Valley anymore, but this told us that they are still alive, somewhere in the universe, that they remember Mysta, but they were paying her last respects by coming to visit her grave one last time.Diet Smith had all the moon paraphernalia destroyed, so that really marked the end of the moon stuff and we had learned that Mysta Chimera really was not Moon Maid after all. The appearance of the moon people was a fitting and respectful end to the entire moon era.
Neil Wick over 9 years ago
I actually like Tracy’s 105-word “monologue” today. It’s true that it doesn’t tell us anything that we didn’t already know, as long as we were reading all the strips since this story started. The fact that it’s wordy speaks to the fact that the whole scheme was ridiculously elaborate and the story was incomprehensibly complex. I think the authors of the strip are acknowledging that. I imagine the entire speech by Tracy, spread over the two panel today, as being spoken rapidly, essentially without him even taking a breath.
retropop over 9 years ago
Some people just don’t get the concept of a shared universe. All Mike has done was to bring to the comic a time homered tradition of cross overs going back to comic books and the 1940s. Perhaps today more than ever with most of the Tribunes classic characters are dormant, the organic use of them in the strip, may it be Annie or Hotshot Charlie,etc is not out of place. They have not been shoehorned or are out of place. Mike is not a hack and their use,even if cameos have been well done.
This is the same strip which has science fiction elements, and the lead character has a granddaughter who is have moon person, so cross overs we more realistic.
This is not Gould’s Tracy, this is Mike and Joe’s Tracy which is built upon what came before!and freshened the strip and made it popular again. Papers are picking up the strip again
Neil Wick over 9 years ago
A list please !
I wrote my reply before I saw yours, but as you can see, we’re asking the same question on that claim.