And how does Testicle Chin know that this is connected to the D-cubed case? The readers have guessed that, but lucky him, Slacker Sam hasn’t been reading this strip.
Flight Suit, I know this doesn’t mean anything because this is Dick Tracy, but in the real world it would be a normal and sensible thing for a mother to call the cops when a strange man hands her child a huge amount of money. I expect that the real cops are looking for the guy as a probable child-molester.
The other three reports might have come from banks, or from suspicious business owners. Not many places can make change for a thousand dollar bill–or would want to. They’d suspect it was counterfeit.
Does that infer that Tracy is saying to Sam: “So what? People handing out thousand dollar bills doesn’t impress me.”
Wasn’t there some discussion previously of MISSING MONEY, some cash that disappeared? Doesn’t Thick Tracy get the connection between what Sam is saying and the case they’re (supposedly) working on? Or does Thick get all his info from the newspaper?
Panel-Panner, maybe even Doofus realizes that there is no evident connection between the K-notes and the D-cubed case.
I don’t recall the strip mentioning any missing money, although that could be the mind-numbing effect of this strip. At some point D-cubed was involved in a hundred-million dollar bank withdrawal, but nothing was said about any of it involving thousand dollar bills.
But if Mr. D’B withdrew cash, one would think that the police would know what denominations were given out. As someone else mentioned, the amount was so large that even if it was all $1,000 bills it still would be a pile of money.
Also, unless Thick thinks Sam is an idiot, challenging him with “So?” was an inappropriate response. If I was the writer, I would have just eliminated that word balloon and let Sam say his bit without challenge.
Panel-Panner, I agree that the police should know about the transaction. And Locher should have shown us that part of the investigation!
And you’re 100% right about Thick’s “So?” response. It’s no wonder the Nappingville PD is so inept, when a report is met with such surly discouragement.
Maybe tomorrow Slacker Sam will tell Doofus “While you were hitting on the widow, I investigated that hundred megabuck transaction and found that some of the money was paid out in the form of thousand dollar bills. The serial numbers were recorded and match the four bills reported so far.”
Sigh … it’s more likely that tomorrow the Police sign will grab Sue Doko and climb atop the Umpire State Building.
Old age has taken its toll
Pain creeps to his very soul
Surlily he snaps at Sam
That’s no way to treat that man
Churlish behavior seems the norm
On this fine (check local listings) Sept. morn
What a jerk, what an bleeep
Maybe he has a bad case of gas
It seems he no longer has what it takes
Or maybe someone pissed in his frosted flakes
A professional he no longer seems
That is something of now he only dreams
Oh, he longs for those days of yore
When the strip was filled with blood and gore
Bad guys died and women too
O’ those graphic images that Chester drew
But now it’s just talking heads and malformed hands
Nonsensical plots that no-one understands
The comments from the readers bring me here
They raise my hopes and bring me cheer
Great ideas they bandy about
Pity Locher won’t try them out.
Thanks Bill T, I like your plot ideas.
Gweedo M that pretty much nails it, but it’s Wild Turkey, not coffee.
Have a problem figuring out how D’B can satisfy his need for revenge (against those who stole his ‘know how’) by having to disguise himself as a FAKE beggar (?) Then, immediately ‘blow his cover’ by giving away (FAKE?) thousand dollar bills to helpfull kids (?)
Then, who provided a decomposed body with a FAKE tattoo to ID fool the (easily misled) police ?
I know Locher makes it all up as he goes along but this plot-line’s unrealistic and completely cock-eyed.
As of May 30, 2009 (2009 -05-30-2009), there are 165,372 $1,000 bills still being used. Most can probably be traced pretty easily since the Fed Gummint has been pulling them out of circulation since 1969.
Ah, TracyWorld…where thousand dollar bills are so prevalent that they evoke a “So?”
Sydney Phillips, I’ve wondered about the beggar disguise aspect, too. Why would D-cubed hide that way, and still give away huge, rare K-bills?
Maybe he’s a paranoid megalomaniac. He sees spies and enemies everywhere and has decided that the only safety lies in dropping off the radar–no credit or debit cards, no IDs of any sort, everything strictly cash. Maybe he even suspects the missus of plotting against him (and she does have a motive there; Dip Travesty really should check her out). Part of his insanity would be to watch his enemies crumble. He might give out the money in the belief that he is winning friends among the masses, and that he will draw the attention of (a) the police, who he will bribe into defending him, or (b) his enemies, who will see the weird money pattern, deduce it’s a sign of his presence, send henchmen to kill him–and have their henchmen knocked off by the clever superscientific weapons he’s invented.
Sue Doko might have fallen into madness with him in a display of folie a deux. After all she does spend a lot of time in his warped little world with him.
This is a lame explanation. “Oh, he’s crazy” is a cop-out of an explanation. It explains nothing, really.
Now, do we really know it’s the actual D-cubed in the alley? Remember he’s invented a realistic 3-D projection system. That might be an illusion we see in the alley.
Ok our next step in the investigation is to have Sam go undercover as a ten year old boy and see if any bums give him large amounts of cash.. shouldn’t be too hard since he has been looking more and more like Howdy Doody these days.
Dick will hide around the corner, painfully holding his cell phone with his knuckles and reading the latest developments in the newspaper and ready to drop to the ground and cower at the first sign of action.
Drama and Action in the mighty Dick Tracy Tradition
(at least recently anyway)
If this passing of $1000.00 bills is still going on in Naperville, I want to visit that spot for a while. Maybe these bills have Adlai Stevensons picture on them . You remember him as beaten twice by IKE.
I once had a $1,000 bill that was left to me by one of my aunts. It was series 1934 and had Grover Cleveland’s portrait on the front. As all bills over $100 were dioscontinued in 1969, I should have sold it to a collector instead of depositing it. I probably could have made at least double face value for it.
In uncirculated condition, the $1,000 bill is worth at most $1,400. That’s the price a seller would charge; a collector would probably pay you less. The site comments that large denominations make a poor collection investment, and that you could make more money by depositing it in a savings account.
Many “collectibles” aren’t all that valuable in cash terms. Something has to be both rare and interesting to gain a high price. Pre-WW II comics are usually expensive because most of them were collected in paper drives during the war. Few survived.
It depends on the market. I checked with Harlan Berk, a very prominent coin and collectibles dealer in Chicago, and was told that at that particular time, there was a peak in collector interest and a shortage of willing sellers (this was quite a number of years ago) and that a doubling of its price was possible if it went at an auction. Straight-up sale at the time would have brought me between $1,500 - $1,700 back then. Alas, it was probably sent to the Federal Reserve Bank and destroyed.
woodworker318, I might tell the police. Certainly I’d tell them if a strange man gave the money to a child. Or if I had some reason to think that the money was the proceeds of a crime, or that the giver might be mentally impaired.
In the context of Thick Travesty, you have to remember that Homeless Guy/D-cubed may be giving away the money to attract attention. If he wants to attract the attention of the Nappingville PD … oh. Uh, if he wants to attract the attention of a competent police department, the way to do that is to behave suspiciously.
(Okay, Sam appears to behave competently today. I hope he’s on a roll and keeps it up.)
FLIGHT SUIT over 13 years ago
Yes, every time I’ve been given a thousand dollar bill, my first instinct has been to run to the police.
Bill Thompson over 13 years ago
And how does Testicle Chin know that this is connected to the D-cubed case? The readers have guessed that, but lucky him, Slacker Sam hasn’t been reading this strip.
leakysqueaky712 over 13 years ago
Flight Suit……….Dont you mean “From” the police??
I took your rep into consideration ;-)
margueritem over 13 years ago
I’d certainly run…
gillbillvolume1 over 13 years ago
and Sam failed to mention that said Thousand dollar bill was three times larger than normal and will dissolve your fingers if you touch it !
Lucky Timmy now he can afford that hand operation hes been needing
Dick says ” Holy Cow Mister… lets find that Bum get some cash for ourselves !”
Bill Thompson over 13 years ago
Flight Suit, I know this doesn’t mean anything because this is Dick Tracy, but in the real world it would be a normal and sensible thing for a mother to call the cops when a strange man hands her child a huge amount of money. I expect that the real cops are looking for the guy as a probable child-molester.
The other three reports might have come from banks, or from suspicious business owners. Not many places can make change for a thousand dollar bill–or would want to. They’d suspect it was counterfeit.
Panel-Panner over 13 years ago
Panel 1 - Tracy: “So?”
Does that infer that Tracy is saying to Sam: “So what? People handing out thousand dollar bills doesn’t impress me.”
Wasn’t there some discussion previously of MISSING MONEY, some cash that disappeared? Doesn’t Thick Tracy get the connection between what Sam is saying and the case they’re (supposedly) working on? Or does Thick get all his info from the newspaper?
Panel-Panner over 13 years ago
Panel 3: “Holy cow, mister!”
Boy, when it comes to today’s youth, Locher is groovy with the lingo, he’s a hepcat, daddy-o.
Bill Thompson over 13 years ago
Panel-Panner, maybe even Doofus realizes that there is no evident connection between the K-notes and the D-cubed case.
I don’t recall the strip mentioning any missing money, although that could be the mind-numbing effect of this strip. At some point D-cubed was involved in a hundred-million dollar bank withdrawal, but nothing was said about any of it involving thousand dollar bills.
Bill Thompson over 13 years ago
Panel-panner, it should be obvious, Homeless Guy has just handed some money to a Hindu!
Panel-Panner over 13 years ago
BillThompson:
But if Mr. D’B withdrew cash, one would think that the police would know what denominations were given out. As someone else mentioned, the amount was so large that even if it was all $1,000 bills it still would be a pile of money.
Also, unless Thick thinks Sam is an idiot, challenging him with “So?” was an inappropriate response. If I was the writer, I would have just eliminated that word balloon and let Sam say his bit without challenge.
Bill Thompson over 13 years ago
Panel-Panner, I agree that the police should know about the transaction. And Locher should have shown us that part of the investigation!
And you’re 100% right about Thick’s “So?” response. It’s no wonder the Nappingville PD is so inept, when a report is met with such surly discouragement.
Maybe tomorrow Slacker Sam will tell Doofus “While you were hitting on the widow, I investigated that hundred megabuck transaction and found that some of the money was paid out in the form of thousand dollar bills. The serial numbers were recorded and match the four bills reported so far.”
Sigh … it’s more likely that tomorrow the Police sign will grab Sue Doko and climb atop the Umpire State Building.
LudwigVonDrake over 13 years ago
So? People hand out thousand dollar bills every day.
Sigh…
JCFremont over 13 years ago
Crimefighters Textbook: Being handed thousand dollar bills by bums bandying about large amounts of cash? Run to the police.
Oh, and holy cow, mister!
neonleon59 over 13 years ago
Panel-Panner said, ” If I was the writer, I would have just eliminated that word balloon and let Sam say his bit without challenge.”
If you were the writer, we wouldn’t be in the mess we’re in!
veldy over 13 years ago
We’ve had 4 reports of a bum giving a kid a K note(one panel needed)
wndrwrthg over 13 years ago
Old age has taken its toll Pain creeps to his very soul Surlily he snaps at Sam That’s no way to treat that man Churlish behavior seems the norm On this fine (check local listings) Sept. morn What a jerk, what an bleeep Maybe he has a bad case of gas It seems he no longer has what it takes Or maybe someone pissed in his frosted flakes A professional he no longer seems That is something of now he only dreams Oh, he longs for those days of yore When the strip was filled with blood and gore Bad guys died and women too O’ those graphic images that Chester drew But now it’s just talking heads and malformed hands Nonsensical plots that no-one understands The comments from the readers bring me here They raise my hopes and bring me cheer Great ideas they bandy about Pity Locher won’t try them out.
Thanks Bill T, I like your plot ideas. Gweedo M that pretty much nails it, but it’s Wild Turkey, not coffee.
coratelli over 13 years ago
Good, but not great, strip today.
Clevite Kid Premium Member over 13 years ago
Thick Twacy, I kinda like that moniker for him.
Morrow Cummings over 13 years ago
Sam shoulda told Macy that free donuts were being given out. Then, Sam woulda been left looking at a vapor trail, with Macy on the hunt!
Can you imaging how long that bum’s briefcase would last in the Police Property Room? If it even got there, at all?
sydney over 13 years ago
Have a problem figuring out how D’B can satisfy his need for revenge (against those who stole his ‘know how’) by having to disguise himself as a FAKE beggar (?) Then, immediately ‘blow his cover’ by giving away (FAKE?) thousand dollar bills to helpfull kids (?)
Then, who provided a decomposed body with a FAKE tattoo to ID fool the (easily misled) police ?
I know Locher makes it all up as he goes along but this plot-line’s unrealistic and completely cock-eyed.
Seems we have a FAKE writer fo rthe strip
DatBigGuy Premium Member over 13 years ago
As of May 30, 2009 (2009 -05-30-2009), there are 165,372 $1,000 bills still being used. Most can probably be traced pretty easily since the Fed Gummint has been pulling them out of circulation since 1969.
Ah, TracyWorld…where thousand dollar bills are so prevalent that they evoke a “So?”
SimonPenn over 13 years ago
Another EXCELLENT Dick Tracy comic strip. Wonderful to see Locher’s most favorite team of Dick Tracy and Sam Catchem. Classic!
Really enjoying this Brand New D’Buckworth Mystery! Fun Stuff!
Just a WONDERFUL comic strip. Keep up the GREAT work!
OldTracy over 13 years ago
The oversized letters in Tracy’s “SO?” indicates that Tracy is probably thinking “Sam, you are a nincompoop”.
Bill Thompson over 13 years ago
Sydney Phillips, I’ve wondered about the beggar disguise aspect, too. Why would D-cubed hide that way, and still give away huge, rare K-bills?
Maybe he’s a paranoid megalomaniac. He sees spies and enemies everywhere and has decided that the only safety lies in dropping off the radar–no credit or debit cards, no IDs of any sort, everything strictly cash. Maybe he even suspects the missus of plotting against him (and she does have a motive there; Dip Travesty really should check her out). Part of his insanity would be to watch his enemies crumble. He might give out the money in the belief that he is winning friends among the masses, and that he will draw the attention of (a) the police, who he will bribe into defending him, or (b) his enemies, who will see the weird money pattern, deduce it’s a sign of his presence, send henchmen to kill him–and have their henchmen knocked off by the clever superscientific weapons he’s invented.
Sue Doko might have fallen into madness with him in a display of folie a deux. After all she does spend a lot of time in his warped little world with him.
This is a lame explanation. “Oh, he’s crazy” is a cop-out of an explanation. It explains nothing, really.
Now, do we really know it’s the actual D-cubed in the alley? Remember he’s invented a realistic 3-D projection system. That might be an illusion we see in the alley.
gillbillvolume1 over 13 years ago
Coming Attractions !!!
Ok our next step in the investigation is to have Sam go undercover as a ten year old boy and see if any bums give him large amounts of cash.. shouldn’t be too hard since he has been looking more and more like Howdy Doody these days.
Dick will hide around the corner, painfully holding his cell phone with his knuckles and reading the latest developments in the newspaper and ready to drop to the ground and cower at the first sign of action.
Drama and Action in the mighty Dick Tracy Tradition (at least recently anyway)
Araldite over 13 years ago
Holy Cow, Dickman
OldTracy over 13 years ago
Today’s thousand dollar winner is actually Tracy’s secret illegitimate son. They both have deformed hands.
gillbillvolume1 over 13 years ago
yea if that kid has a short arm growing from the center of his chest the hes Tracy’s boy alright !
Fusnr over 13 years ago
If this passing of $1000.00 bills is still going on in Naperville, I want to visit that spot for a while. Maybe these bills have Adlai Stevensons picture on them . You remember him as beaten twice by IKE.
runar over 13 years ago
I once had a $1,000 bill that was left to me by one of my aunts. It was series 1934 and had Grover Cleveland’s portrait on the front. As all bills over $100 were dioscontinued in 1969, I should have sold it to a collector instead of depositing it. I probably could have made at least double face value for it.
idarke over 13 years ago
And if the kids don’t pay those thousand dollar bills by Friday, homeless guy’s gonna start breakin’ some arms!
Bill Thompson over 13 years ago
runar, I looked it up:
http://currency.ha.com/c/ref/worth.zx
In uncirculated condition, the $1,000 bill is worth at most $1,400. That’s the price a seller would charge; a collector would probably pay you less. The site comments that large denominations make a poor collection investment, and that you could make more money by depositing it in a savings account.
Many “collectibles” aren’t all that valuable in cash terms. Something has to be both rare and interesting to gain a high price. Pre-WW II comics are usually expensive because most of them were collected in paper drives during the war. Few survived.
goodyart over 13 years ago
Does all this mean that we are on the edge of our seats waiting for the next exciting installment?
runar over 13 years ago
It depends on the market. I checked with Harlan Berk, a very prominent coin and collectibles dealer in Chicago, and was told that at that particular time, there was a peak in collector interest and a shortage of willing sellers (this was quite a number of years ago) and that a doubling of its price was possible if it went at an auction. Straight-up sale at the time would have brought me between $1,500 - $1,700 back then. Alas, it was probably sent to the Federal Reserve Bank and destroyed.
woodworker318 over 13 years ago
If you were given a $1000.00 bill, would you run and tell the police? There is nothing illegal about giving them away.
Bill Thompson over 13 years ago
woodworker318, I might tell the police. Certainly I’d tell them if a strange man gave the money to a child. Or if I had some reason to think that the money was the proceeds of a crime, or that the giver might be mentally impaired.
In the context of Thick Travesty, you have to remember that Homeless Guy/D-cubed may be giving away the money to attract attention. If he wants to attract the attention of the Nappingville PD … oh. Uh, if he wants to attract the attention of a competent police department, the way to do that is to behave suspiciously.
(Okay, Sam appears to behave competently today. I hope he’s on a roll and keeps it up.)