Extra! Extra! Read all about it: Crime wave in third weekThe city can be dangerous. Tough going for the meek.The Midnite Mirror tells a tale of criminals and crooksTrigger demands full payoff. He will tidy up the books.Keyes delinquent once too often, the flame now grows too hotTo cross the Boss is suicide, thus 88 is shot.Laid low by the Triggerman at Tracy’s firm instructionCrossed a line he did not see, which led to his destruction.Down the street at Tracy’s suite Lizz is blonde and sassyShakes up drinks, laughs and winks, a peroxide gal so brassy.Trigger talks to Tracy, shares news of Keyes’ demiseA nightclub is the swag they snag, as Keyes was so unwise.Elsewhere at headquarters there’s more bad news for PoliceA man who’s wrinkled like a prune, weathered like an old valiseTold of the latest murder, of the corpse found on the streetChief Pruneface voices outrage. On his desk his fist he beats.No more shall ivories ring out with hot Jazz of cool KeyesViolence spreads now like the plague, a virulent, harsh disease.
The rest of the strip was fascinating…but, the last panel, PRUNEFACE?!! OMG!!! Have NO speculations, but I will continue to follow this with GREAT interest!
Well, there’s your answer to to who is Boss Tracy’s “moll.” It’s Lizz’s alter ego, also called “Lizz.”
Sydney will no doubt be pleased to see that Boss Tracy smokes.
The mention of “Arev Alldid” (“Vera” spelled backwards) rules out the idea that this mirror story is from the pen of Vera. It’s fine for him to make fun of Tracy, but there’s no way he’s going to make fun of himself.
Do we know the policeman guarding the door to the Chief’s office? The chief is obviously based on Pruneface (sometimes known by the code-name “Boche”), who first appeared October 23, 1942, and didn’t die until a reappearance in 1999.
.Good morning fellow DT fans!.Pequod summed things up nicely. Pruneface, no less! Lizz! Hubba, hubba! Arev Alldid! Will there be a tiny space for Vitamin Flintheart and Vista Bill in this unusual tale?
@SYDNEY PHILLIPSYou said yesterday,ME ? I’d rather see an interesting NEW FACE (like a Doubleup ) … (the way it used to be) . . . and then, start ‘speculating’ on the Crime he/she might be contemplating and how Tracy might deal with him/her ?
I’m starting to learn Mike’s M.O. when it comes to story structure. Some people start stories in the middle of the action and then go into flashbacks to explain what led to the action, for example, but Mike tends to follow the classic plot structure, starting with setting the scene, introducing the characters and locations. He often spends a lot of time on introducing us to the settings and characters before the real action starts.
We are just getting started on this story and thus, the story is not about the murder of 88 Keyes. This is all just setting the scene for a crime that will be committed when everything is all set up. The thing is that we don’t really know the setting yet. That’s going to take a while, but to me, there’s a lot of fun in the reveals as we go along. Five new characters have made their first appearance in today’s strip and a sixth one is unheard and unseen, taking to the Chief. It takes a while to do the setup properly.
It’s very possible that the actual criminal, when he or she appears, will be a new face but we need to learn the setting first.
I started thinking about this a few days ago. If all the good guys are evil, that must mean that we’ll see quite a number of grotesque looking good guys soon.
Am I the only one rolling his eyes at this concept and thinking it’s gonna end up a dream sequence with Pam Ewing waking up to find Bobby Ewing in the shower like on DALLAS?
A post of mine from yesterday: “Here’s a short list of members of the city’s ‘mirror’ police force: Flattop, Pruneface, The Brow, Itchy, and Breathless Mahoney!” One down, four to go! :)
Concerning the policeman outside the door of the Chief’s office, his face is drawn like a character from Gasoline Alley. Skeezix? Corky? (Like Reggie, he is not a mirror character.)Of course, I’m suggesting those characters when they were young, not the senior citizens they are today.
Now, concerning the panel with Lizz in it. Any clues from those paintings behind her? Note how Sam’s eyes are drawn in this panel to be, um, observant! LOL
This is indeed turning out to be an interesting and appropriate Halloween tale in the mold of “The Twilight Zone.”
My suggestion the other day that this could be a strip by Vera Alldid was made as a wise crack but this story is so “Bizarro World” that many took it seriously. Although the reference to Vera today took me slightly aback. It was pointed out that the artwork was too well done to be drawn by Vera and I concur.
As we see the appearance of villains from the past, I will say seriously that it appears today that the artwork is also reverting to an earlier “Chester Gould-like” style with pupil-less Lizz’s eye makeup and the officer’s button eyes.
That along with the period cars lead me to conclude that this is not the current time and place to which we are accustomed. And, a different time period leads me to suspect Diet Smith’s Project Blue Image and one of his self-admitted failures.
Diet had previously explained his experiments by stating that he was attempting to send cameras back in time and broadcast back to the present.
Perhaps Diet’s experiment not only travels through time but somehow accesses one of the infinite number of parallel universes scientists speculate exist. Perhaps what we are witnessing is a broadcast from one of those"mirror" universes.
At any rate, I think this is a rip-roaring Halloween story whatever the explanation turns out to be.
It’s “Dick Tracy on Earth-Three!” This is going to be fun!I wonder if Boss Tracy will be wearing a white suit and dark hat, since Sam’s green suit is purple here and Lizz is a blonde?
Pruneface in a police uniform is an odd sight indeed. Good to see blonde Lizz shake it, as distracted Sam dutifully reports back to Boss Tracy. Blonde Lizz has more fun, as we see below. She catches a cool breeze, having opened the window by tossing a villain through it.
Pruneface was a great villain. Credit where it is due: good work from Locher here. Thanks to Vista Bill Raley, cpalmeresq, Night-Gaunt49, Jonathan K., Neil Wick, Gweedo (nice!), Willy007, Chris Sherlock, JPuzzleWhiz and Ray Toler for the kind words. Very much appreciated!
Gweedo remarked,Maybe Vista Bill will be a horseback cop…-————————————————————————.Good morning Gweedo! I knew I could depend on you for support! Drop in for some spare ribs when you get a chance. Anytime after midnight is fine.
Suppose what we’re seeing is a dramatization, with actors wearing well-applied makeup? (Sort of like those “mystery cruises” where the crew stages a whodunit.) After all, we are approaching Hallowe’en, where people parade in costumes as they collect treats.____________________
If the action were set-bound, I’d be inclined to agree, but we’ve seen vehicles driving along, which seems to break that premise a bit.
[ Mind you, there did seem to be something a bit off about that car, as several here noted. ]
Timing is everything. Don Easton, the former-mountie-turned-author mentioned in the first panel, released the ninth book of his Jack Taggart series yesterday. That means there are eight sequels, the most recent of which is Art and Murder.
Night-Gaunt49 assured me,No matter what universe or VR program, you will be the same for us on TV or here.-—————————————————————————-.Well, that certainly brightened my day!
Hmm, something is amiss here, methinks. The cop who stopped our shadowed guest outside Chief Pruneface’s door (yet another surprise, along with Lizz the moll!) said “Hold it buddy! You don’t want to bother the Chief..”
“Hold it buddy??”
So this shadowed guest is a stranger to the cop, an unknown? Not the head of the MCU, who many are guessing and hoping, Flattop? Or some other from Tracy’s Rogue’s Gallery?
Could this be an origin story of sorts, like when our “good” Dick Tracy joined the force, but instead of Tracy, it’s the mysterious Rogue as a good guy?
Geez I leave to go on a little holiday and get married and suddenly Dick Tracy is not what I was reading before….did I step into an alter universe when I said I Do?
After reading all the comments I’ve come to the conclusion that this is not a real story, that is, it is not actually happening anyplace and is just someone’s fantasy. Yes, I believe it could be someone’s dream, or a book someone wrote, or a video game someone made up. I think It was done to be a reverse version of Tracyworld where everything happens backwards. It’s kind of like the concept DC used as imaginary stories or Marvel’s What If? series to explore alternate possibilities. I agree that no alternate world is involved here. I don’t expect this story will last long.
Gweedo assured me,I’m in your corner of the stable, Bill.and then he inquired,Okay, but whose ribs are they ?-—————————————————————-.Thanks for you assurance Gweedo!.The ribs? Not sure, but they are still moving so they must be fresh!
Not for nothing, but shouldn’t they change the year on the banner at the top of this page?
They should, but it takes time. Worse, though, they is usually an ad block in the right column promoting the 2013 win with a link to the blog post that announced it. That one is two years behind. I think they should promote all the years in the banner. I think that Shelley did the one that’s there now.
I guess we’re all down the rabbit-hole with Alice. Chief Pruneface is a hoot! Maybe this is part of a novel being written by Tracy or another central character of the real Tracy universe….
Pequod over 8 years ago
Extra! Extra! Read all about it: Crime wave in third weekThe city can be dangerous. Tough going for the meek.The Midnite Mirror tells a tale of criminals and crooksTrigger demands full payoff. He will tidy up the books.Keyes delinquent once too often, the flame now grows too hotTo cross the Boss is suicide, thus 88 is shot.Laid low by the Triggerman at Tracy’s firm instructionCrossed a line he did not see, which led to his destruction.Down the street at Tracy’s suite Lizz is blonde and sassyShakes up drinks, laughs and winks, a peroxide gal so brassy.Trigger talks to Tracy, shares news of Keyes’ demiseA nightclub is the swag they snag, as Keyes was so unwise.Elsewhere at headquarters there’s more bad news for PoliceA man who’s wrinkled like a prune, weathered like an old valiseTold of the latest murder, of the corpse found on the streetChief Pruneface voices outrage. On his desk his fist he beats.No more shall ivories ring out with hot Jazz of cool KeyesViolence spreads now like the plague, a virulent, harsh disease.
cpalmeresq over 8 years ago
The rest of the strip was fascinating…but, the last panel, PRUNEFACE?!! OMG!!! Have NO speculations, but I will continue to follow this with GREAT interest!
Neil Wick over 8 years ago
Well, there’s your answer to to who is Boss Tracy’s “moll.” It’s Lizz’s alter ego, also called “Lizz.”
Sydney will no doubt be pleased to see that Boss Tracy smokes.
The mention of “Arev Alldid” (“Vera” spelled backwards) rules out the idea that this mirror story is from the pen of Vera. It’s fine for him to make fun of Tracy, but there’s no way he’s going to make fun of himself.
Do we know the policeman guarding the door to the Chief’s office? The chief is obviously based on Pruneface (sometimes known by the code-name “Boche”), who first appeared October 23, 1942, and didn’t die until a reappearance in 1999.
AnyFace over 8 years ago
Blonde Lizz.
Vista Bill Raley and Comet™ over 8 years ago
.Good morning fellow DT fans!.Pequod summed things up nicely. Pruneface, no less! Lizz! Hubba, hubba! Arev Alldid! Will there be a tiny space for Vitamin Flintheart and Vista Bill in this unusual tale?
AnyFace over 8 years ago
Where’s Flattop …?!
Maximara over 8 years ago
Meanwhile on Earth-3…(comic fans will get the joke)
Vista Bill Raley and Comet™ over 8 years ago
Hmmm… who is the guy in the shadow at police headquarters?
Neil Wick over 8 years ago
@SYDNEY PHILLIPSYou said yesterday,ME ? I’d rather see an interesting NEW FACE (like a Doubleup ) … (the way it used to be) . . . and then, start ‘speculating’ on the Crime he/she might be contemplating and how Tracy might deal with him/her ?
I’m starting to learn Mike’s M.O. when it comes to story structure. Some people start stories in the middle of the action and then go into flashbacks to explain what led to the action, for example, but Mike tends to follow the classic plot structure, starting with setting the scene, introducing the characters and locations. He often spends a lot of time on introducing us to the settings and characters before the real action starts.We are just getting started on this story and thus, the story is not about the murder of 88 Keyes. This is all just setting the scene for a crime that will be committed when everything is all set up. The thing is that we don’t really know the setting yet. That’s going to take a while, but to me, there’s a lot of fun in the reveals as we go along. Five new characters have made their first appearance in today’s strip and a sixth one is unheard and unseen, taking to the Chief. It takes a while to do the setup properly.
It’s very possible that the actual criminal, when he or she appears, will be a new face but we need to learn the setting first.
blunebottle over 8 years ago
This is almost like an episode of Bizzaro Superman!
EvilHenchman over 8 years ago
Pruneface is Chief of Police? I thought it would be Big Boy, unless he’s the version of Diet Smith in this universe.
Yngvar Følling over 8 years ago
I started thinking about this a few days ago. If all the good guys are evil, that must mean that we’ll see quite a number of grotesque looking good guys soon.
AnyFace over 8 years ago
This is perilously close to a “Treehouse of Horror” episode …
orbenjawell Premium Member over 8 years ago
Parallel universe!! Whoo-hooooooo!! LOVE IT!! “Arev” Alldid?? Kak! Gag!! Kinda like Fredo Corleone could actually run a casino, eh?
PatrickDC202 over 8 years ago
Am I the only one rolling his eyes at this concept and thinking it’s gonna end up a dream sequence with Pam Ewing waking up to find Bobby Ewing in the shower like on DALLAS?
jrankin1959 over 8 years ago
“Not again”? Now, this is really getting interesting…
TracyFan 65 over 8 years ago
I’m still holding out for Bribery as mayor. (With Miss Deal as his secretary, of course.)
seanyj over 8 years ago
LOL! This is too funny! Tracy, Sam and Patton are now gangsters and Pruneface is chief of police? Who are the top two detectives? Flattop and Itchy?
MaryWorth Premium Member over 8 years ago
Great… bet Sparkle Plenty is a stripper now and her Dad B.O. brews meth.
LouW over 8 years ago
Who’s been eating the rarebit?
Don Bagert Premium Member over 8 years ago
A post of mine from yesterday: “Here’s a short list of members of the city’s ‘mirror’ police force: Flattop, Pruneface, The Brow, Itchy, and Breathless Mahoney!” One down, four to go! :)
Don Bagert Premium Member over 8 years ago
Concerning the policeman outside the door of the Chief’s office, his face is drawn like a character from Gasoline Alley. Skeezix? Corky? (Like Reggie, he is not a mirror character.)Of course, I’m suggesting those characters when they were young, not the senior citizens they are today.
Don Bagert Premium Member over 8 years ago
Now, concerning the panel with Lizz in it. Any clues from those paintings behind her? Note how Sam’s eyes are drawn in this panel to be, um, observant! LOL
Ray Toler over 8 years ago
This is indeed turning out to be an interesting and appropriate Halloween tale in the mold of “The Twilight Zone.”
My suggestion the other day that this could be a strip by Vera Alldid was made as a wise crack but this story is so “Bizarro World” that many took it seriously. Although the reference to Vera today took me slightly aback. It was pointed out that the artwork was too well done to be drawn by Vera and I concur.
As we see the appearance of villains from the past, I will say seriously that it appears today that the artwork is also reverting to an earlier “Chester Gould-like” style with pupil-less Lizz’s eye makeup and the officer’s button eyes.
That along with the period cars lead me to conclude that this is not the current time and place to which we are accustomed. And, a different time period leads me to suspect Diet Smith’s Project Blue Image and one of his self-admitted failures.
Diet had previously explained his experiments by stating that he was attempting to send cameras back in time and broadcast back to the present.
Perhaps Diet’s experiment not only travels through time but somehow accesses one of the infinite number of parallel universes scientists speculate exist. Perhaps what we are witnessing is a broadcast from one of those"mirror" universes.
At any rate, I think this is a rip-roaring Halloween story whatever the explanation turns out to be.
Paul1963 over 8 years ago
It’s “Dick Tracy on Earth-Three!” This is going to be fun!I wonder if Boss Tracy will be wearing a white suit and dark hat, since Sam’s green suit is purple here and Lizz is a blonde?
Neil Wick over 8 years ago
Suppose what we’re seeing is a dramatization, with actors wearing well-applied makeup?
If that is the case, maybe we’ll find out something on Halloween. It’s true that this is a costume time of the year.thunderbearr over 8 years ago
“AARGH!! Not again! 88 Keyes is dead!”
“That’s the third time this week!”
Pequod over 8 years ago
Pruneface in a police uniform is an odd sight indeed. Good to see blonde Lizz shake it, as distracted Sam dutifully reports back to Boss Tracy. Blonde Lizz has more fun, as we see below. She catches a cool breeze, having opened the window by tossing a villain through it.
Pruneface was a great villain. Credit where it is due: good work from Locher here. Thanks to Vista Bill Raley, cpalmeresq, Night-Gaunt49, Jonathan K., Neil Wick, Gweedo (nice!), Willy007, Chris Sherlock, JPuzzleWhiz and Ray Toler for the kind words. Very much appreciated!
corpcasselbury over 8 years ago
I’m waiting for Rod Serling to appear, since this is obviously The Twilight Zone!
Durak Premium Member over 8 years ago
So this is Star Trek’s mirror universe? Talk about cool!
Vista Bill Raley and Comet™ over 8 years ago
Gweedo remarked,Maybe Vista Bill will be a horseback cop…-————————————————————————.Good morning Gweedo! I knew I could depend on you for support! Drop in for some spare ribs when you get a chance. Anytime after midnight is fine.
abdullahbaba999 over 8 years ago
Good Sunday Morning, All…this is downright multidimensional…Joe & Mike are the Best!!!
AnyFace over 8 years ago
Suppose what we’re seeing is a dramatization, with actors wearing well-applied makeup? (Sort of like those “mystery cruises” where the crew stages a whodunit.) After all, we are approaching Hallowe’en, where people parade in costumes as they collect treats.____________________
If the action were set-bound, I’d be inclined to agree, but we’ve seen vehicles driving along, which seems to break that premise a bit.
[ Mind you, there did seem to be something a bit off about that car, as several here noted. ]
AnyFace over 8 years ago
By the way …
… the plastic straps around the “Midnight Mirror” bundle today are definitely modern-era plastic straps.
Make of that as you will.
Chris Sherlock over 8 years ago
*He come groovin’ up slowly… *-————————————————————-
Russell Sketchley Premium Member over 8 years ago
Timing is everything. Don Easton, the former-mountie-turned-author mentioned in the first panel, released the ninth book of his Jack Taggart series yesterday. That means there are eight sequels, the most recent of which is Art and Murder.
AnyFace over 8 years ago
The Many Faces of Pruneface:
Early appearance, 1943 …
From The Dick Tracy Show …
Makeup test, for the proposed 1960’s live-action series …
Autographed publicity shot, from Warren Beatty Movie …
AnyFace over 8 years ago
Got any special plans for the big day, Bill?
jonahhex1 over 8 years ago
ZOUNDS – Pruneface is CHIEF OF POLICE? This is gonna be fun.
overtop over 8 years ago
This is like the old arc about “Tracy’s Wartime Memories” all the oldies but baddies will be given cameos at least.
rocketranger2 over 8 years ago
yep, like I said, mirror universe.
(But why no beards? Spock had a beard in his.)
Can't Sleep over 8 years ago
Considering Tracy’s silhouette, I don’t think he has a beard. But Tracy did have a mustache back in the 70’s…
AnyFace over 8 years ago
“Midnight Mirror” could be a Virtual Reality Game, as I think a few people had suggested.
AnyFace over 8 years ago
Maybe the Control Voice from Outer Limits, Vic Perrin, intoning the opening or closing credits.____________________
It’s still a great opening sequence
AnyFace over 8 years ago
Vic Perrin also voiced a rather iconic character here
Vista Bill Raley and Comet™ over 8 years ago
Night-Gaunt49 assured me,No matter what universe or VR program, you will be the same for us on TV or here.-—————————————————————————-.Well, that certainly brightened my day!
admwrlk Premium Member over 8 years ago
So, who’s dreaming?
HAL69 over 8 years ago
Love the poetry, Pequod! Thank you!
Hmm, something is amiss here, methinks. The cop who stopped our shadowed guest outside Chief Pruneface’s door (yet another surprise, along with Lizz the moll!) said “Hold it buddy! You don’t want to bother the Chief..”
“Hold it buddy??”
So this shadowed guest is a stranger to the cop, an unknown? Not the head of the MCU, who many are guessing and hoping, Flattop? Or some other from Tracy’s Rogue’s Gallery?
Could this be an origin story of sorts, like when our “good” Dick Tracy joined the force, but instead of Tracy, it’s the mysterious Rogue as a good guy?
William Weedman over 8 years ago
Geez I leave to go on a little holiday and get married and suddenly Dick Tracy is not what I was reading before….did I step into an alter universe when I said I Do?
Jerryjohn52 over 8 years ago
After reading all the comments I’ve come to the conclusion that this is not a real story, that is, it is not actually happening anyplace and is just someone’s fantasy. Yes, I believe it could be someone’s dream, or a book someone wrote, or a video game someone made up. I think It was done to be a reverse version of Tracyworld where everything happens backwards. It’s kind of like the concept DC used as imaginary stories or Marvel’s What If? series to explore alternate possibilities. I agree that no alternate world is involved here. I don’t expect this story will last long.
Tommygunner over 8 years ago
One panel did it. I’m convinced. Bring back Blonde Lizz!
Neil Wick over 8 years ago
What if Boss Tracy has a certain style of mustache, thus making him…FOSDICK Tracy?
I don’t think Vera Alldid would approve of that.Vista Bill Raley and Comet™ over 8 years ago
Gweedo assured me,I’m in your corner of the stable, Bill.and then he inquired,Okay, but whose ribs are they ?-—————————————————————-.Thanks for you assurance Gweedo!.The ribs? Not sure, but they are still moving so they must be fresh!
Neil Wick over 8 years ago
Not for nothing, but shouldn’t they change the year on the banner at the top of this page?
They should, but it takes time. Worse, though, they is usually an ad block in the right column promoting the 2013 win with a link to the blog post that announced it. That one is two years behind. I think they should promote all the years in the banner. I think that Shelley did the one that’s there now.Sisyphos over 8 years ago
I guess we’re all down the rabbit-hole with Alice. Chief Pruneface is a hoot! Maybe this is part of a novel being written by Tracy or another central character of the real Tracy universe….
trimguy over 8 years ago
Mirror universe? All it needs is Spock with a beard ;)
Pequod over 7 years ago
Extra! Extra! Read all about it: Crime wave in third week
The city can be dangerous. Tough going for the meek.
The Midnite Mirror tells a tale of criminals and crooks
Trigger demands full payoff. He will tidy up the books.
Keyes delinquent once too often, the flame now grows too hot
To cross the Boss is suicide, thus 88 is shot.
Laid low by the Triggerman at Tracy’s firm instruction
Crossed a line he did not see, which led to his destruction.
Down the street at Tracy’s suite Lizz is blonde and sassy
Shakes up drinks, laughs and winks, a peroxide gal so brassy.
Trigger talks to Tracy, shares news of Keyes’ demise
A nightclub is the swag they snag, as Keyes was so unwise.
Elsewhere at headquarters there’s more bad news for Police
A man who’s wrinkled like a prune, weathered like an old valise
Told of the latest murder, of the corpse found on the street
Chief Pruneface voices outrage. On his desk his fist he beats.
No more shall ivories ring out with hot Jazz of cool Keyes
Violence spreads now like the plague, a virulent, harsh disease.