Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for May 10, 2015

Fontane he was a friend of mine, he wore a goofy hatA lilting lovely baritone, a crazy singing cat.He loved the ponies at the track, he cleaned up as a bookieYet to the darker side of vice he surely was a rookie.So sad to learn he took a fall, ‘tis hard to lose a palJoe, pour a round and raise a glass, as we sing “My gal Sal.”Here’s to justice for Fontane, may his killer fall as wellWhat goes around shall come around: a killing or cold cell.Time to pour another, Joe. We’re drinking to our friendThat bug-eyed, crazy singer, not deserving of his end..Elsewhere, at the bookie joint, it’s Doubleup againRuns into Sam and Tracy, let the fireworks begin.Doubleup in pinstripes, out on bail he’s free to scoffTracy, he lays down the law: today all bets are off.Doubleup just smiles, as he eases out the doorOnce the bloodshed’s started there tends to be more gore..

First depiction in today’s strip of DoubleUp and the last one…How sinister looking can you get?!!

Definitely an upgrade, AN UPGRADE.

A beautiful rendition, Pequod77!May I also add a "Happy Mothers’s Day to all!

Sparkplug is doing surprisingly well in the betting.

Awesome as always, Pequod77. I love the little tributes that Team Tracy slips in every so often, and not just the Jackie Gleason tributes. Sparkplug & B. Google? Lovin’ it.

So… “repeating rumors.” is he? He isn’t so great at coming up with a believable story. I’m sure that Tracy and Sam don’t believe a word of it. Besides that, I don’t really think he found out anything by going in. Well, maybe he found out that Jimmy isn’t there anymore.

Hmmmm. I wonder what Doubleup is up to? Up to?

I’ll have you know, Sir, that as much as I loved my mother, that apron was my Dad’s! (And he was proud to wear it to help out!)

Ah, JG as Joe the Bartender…always loved that bit.

Good morning, DT fans!Double Up is a double liarBut he won’t get farHe may have predictedHis own fate If of Jimmy he doesn’t beware

It’s not so smart to taunt Tracy, DoubleUp! Not so smart!

Good morning fellow DT fans and a host of poets!

Is this a hint that Jimmy is gonna get hurt? Get hurt?

He says he could get hurt. Not if he hurts Jimmy first.

“Sounds like trouble, I could get hurt…”

Way to go. Doubleup. Set up Tracy as your witness for a self =defense plea should you have to take Jimmy out….

you do you do

Morning, Tracyville!

Okay, correct me if I’m wrong, I’m wrong. But doesn’t visiting a bookie joint violate the terms of his probation? His probation?

Blest Sunday morning and Happy Mothers Day. ___________And a special good morning to Gweedo the Poet.___________Eldo, Another excellent poem!___________Be happy and healthy my friends.

Come on, Sparkplug!!!

Happy Mother’s Day. Mother’s day..

Someone correct me if I’m wrong but I thought of you was free on bail, there were certain things you couldn’t do and gambling was among them. Among them.

Excellent verse, PQ. Looks like your competition faded away. Can’t wait ’till next Sunday!

A recent mention of Haf-and-Haf has got me thinking that some day they need to get him and Doubleup together. Together!

Can anyone find significance for the names of the horses or jockeys? Sparkplug was an old comic horse from Barney Google.

The horse, Pie, is from National Velvet (1944). Elizabeth Taylor stars with Mickey Rooney, who plays the jockey, Mi Taylor. Are those bets on the Grand National, England’s greatest racing event? Next week’s second leg of the Triple Crown, The Preakness? More likely a race running at Arlington Park, a 45 minute train ride from downtown Tracyville. Doubleup does not look like a Blackheart with which to trifle. He is not there for double trouble, but Jimmy best be moving quickly and quietly, if he doesn’t wish to end up like Cork and Fontane. .Tracyville is many things. Once again, Team Tracy takes us to a variety of locations: the Blackhearts’ headquarters, Notta’s home, Toad’s school, Jimmy’s office, the MCU, Tracy’s home, underground on the tracks with Owen, in the 1924 Robbing the Rails story within this story, and with the Mole, the City Library, Lake Pratchett and now the bookie joint. I like the use of the wide range of settings. .I recall watching The Jackie Gleason Show as a kid. The camera took you skimming over the water, headed for Miami Beach, where the show was taped. “The final sketch was always set in Joe the Bartender’s saloon, with Joe singing “My Gal Sal” and greeting his regular customer, the unseen Mr. Dennehy (actually the TV audience, with Gleason speaking to the camera). During the sketch, Joe would tell Dennehy about an article he had read in the fictitious “American Scene” magazine, holding a copy across the bar. It had two covers: one featured the New York skyline and the other palm trees (after the show moved to Florida in 1964). Then Joe would bring out Frank Fontaine as Crazy Guggenheim, who would regale Joe with the latest adventures of his neighborhood pals and sometimes show Joe his current Top Cat comic book. Joe usually asked Crazy to sing—almost always a sentimental ballad in his fine, lilting baritone” (Wiki).

Thanks to cpalmeresq, Neil Wick, JoviusGM, Night-Gaunt49, Gweedo, VistaBill, Willy007, John Russell, Ray Toler, JPuzzleWhiz and Morrow for the kind words. Very much appreciated.

No one is gonna ask me of course … but I’ll say it anyway … even though I know they don’t care what I think … If the syndicated comic strip “DICK TRACY” wishes to attract a younger readership (and IMHO they must if they hope to survive) the character references should skew younger … Try lampooning a member of the cast of “THE BIG BANG THEORY” or “THE WALKING DEAD” or even “GOTHEM” … No younger reader knows who Crazy Guggenheim is (was) or even Jack Gleason. I LOVE old comic strip, movie and TV references … but I’m 75 years old. Who’s gonna be reading this strip in 20 or 25 years?

Yeah, they should. That would certainly boost DT’s numbers among younger readers.

Of your poems, Pequod, to quote the late great Jackie Gleason, “how SWEET it is!”

DoubleUp is being rather bold, taunting Tracy. But after that little chat, Tracy will be on more on the alert. The gold heist. the bookie killings, DoubleUp’s rumor-mongering, rumor-mongering…someone’s going to trip!

Jimmy is the one who’s likely to be hurt when and if the Blackhearts find him. Doubleup knows how to use a whip…use a whip.

@Pequod76: I too remember watching the Jackie Gleason show as a kid. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Be well my friend.

While Frank Fontaine is best remembered today for his Crazy Guggenheim character for Jackie Gleason one of his first exposures to the public was on Jack Benny’s radio show playing John L.C. Savony, a bum who asked Jack Benny for a cup of coffee. In a fit of amazing (for Benny) generosity Jack gave him a 50 cent piece…the smallest coin Jack had. It became a running gag and Fontaine as Savony became a recurring character on the radio show and later on his TV show.

Fontaine was the father of 11 children. He died at age 58 of a heart attack after doing a benefit stage show in Spokane Washington. He was given a $25,000 check which he was going to donate to the Heart Association. You can see Frank on an episode of What’s My Line here: https://youtu.be/ne9RcXwsjkU

So we start National Police Memorial Week by losing two officers in Mississippi, right after burying an officer from NYC. How terribly ironic.

Fontane he was a friend of mine, he wore a goofy hat

A lilting lovely baritone, a crazy singing cat.

He loved the ponies at the track, he cleaned up as a bookie

Yet to the darker side of vice he surely was a rookie.

So sad to learn he took a fall, ‘tis hard to lose a pal

Joe, pour a round and raise a glass, as we sing “My gal Sal.”

Here’s to justice for Fontane, may his killer fall as well

What goes around shall come around: a killing or cold cell.

Time to pour another, Joe. We’re drinking to our friend

That bug-eyed, crazy singer, not deserving of his end.

Elsewhere, at the bookie joint, it’s Doubleup again

Runs into Sam and Tracy, let the fireworks begin.

Doubleup in pinstripes, out on bail he’s free to scoff

Tracy, he lays down the law: today all bets are off.

Doubleup just smiles, as he eases out the door

Once the bloodshed’s started there tends to be more gore.