Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for August 08, 2016

.Good morning all!.Let the battle begin! The cast: Abner, DT, the ‘farm boy’ and our own Gweedo! For those of you that tuned in late. The ‘farm boy’ will yodel the winner’s name with Gweedo humming along and a-stompin’ his foot! Enjoy the show!.

Maybe it’s the use of so much photo reference, but Joe’s art continues to look a bit different to my eye.

Is he deliberately evoking the works of Sydney Paget …?

I’m with Tracy.

Gweedo cheerfully greeted,And a good morning to you, Vista Bill !-—————————————————————————————.Good morning Gweedo!.

Abner is wearing a mask, right? I remember that a mask was shown lying around when someone had a word with Rikki. I am not sure but I think it was BB Eyes whom Rikki was talking to.Was there an instance in the past when Abner’s real face was shown?

It is a Good morning to Diiiie !!!

Neither one of them is going to die easily! As Abner says, it is not simple. This could take a while.

I think i know where this is going (and if you’ve read “Sherlock Holmes” stories you know as well).;-D

Ken in Ohio said, about 4 hours ago (yesterday)Mostly, for almost forty years, he just kept new villains and new stories flowing along, one after the other.it is my humble opinion that today’s creative team would do well to follow Gould’s formula in this regard.

I second that opinion. Gould is the one that established this strip which has lasted longer that almost every strip of the era when this started. Gould had soon villains that continued for a while, but none of them came back over and over again.

The Falls didn’t get Sherlock, some say they didn’t phase Moriarty. Per LEOG -

“… The two fought to the death, and the unarmed Holmes threw Moriarty off the waterfall onto the rocks below. Moriarty somehow survived, though badly injured, and was saved by Campion Bond and Colonel Moran. Moriarty sent Moran off to kill the detective by burying him under boulders, and expressed to Bond that he was surprised that Holmes never realised Moriarty was actually a government agent.

After Reichenbach, he was recalled to Military Intelligence command at Vauxhall Cross in London. He quickly rose through the ranks to become the Director of MI5, despite objections by Mycroft Holmes. Meanwhile, his criminal empire was maintained by underlings such as Moran. … ”

“If you want to meet, just call me!” said Tracy. “We could meet for a coffee, maybe even do lunch. You could tell me all that is bothering you, Abner. Who knows, maybe a good chat would help you sort out some issues. What do you say?”

.Breaking News: Death Coach Rushes to Fearful Place!.

Dick Tracy is NOT a happy man when it comes to Abner Kadaver

Ken in Ohio is right. Multiple story lines, even more villains, cross overs to other strips….Poor Gould. If only he had done these things, what a legend he could have been. And it’s surely easier than coming up with new characters every three or four months.

.As Gweedo’s suggested, ‘Farm Boy’ will yodel the battle as it occurs….

I assume Tracy is unarmed, being the way Europe is now.

The final showdownNo more fitting place for itThe thorn guards the roseOne homeward bound other soakedFinish fight from long ago

Kadaver is Tracy’s arch-nemesis?

Well, Abner has a bit of an inflated sense of his own self-importance, that’s for sure. Remember, that he is convinced that he is the one who can kill Tracy after all the others have failed. (Rikki is not so confident, as we’ve seen.)

Gweedo complimented,How did you get the lettering and music graphic to go ?-—————————————————————————.**Gweedo, that was a “middle of the night quickie”. The letters are Harold’s Fonts’ “Melody Maker”: http://haroldsfonts.com/portfolio/melody-maker/and the modifcation was done with Serif Draw.

Gweedo questioned,That is your real face, is it not, Bill ?-—————————————————————————.All 81+ years of me, Gweedo!

Uh, Abner? You’e ticking off the detective – not smart…

Gweedo wittingly anticipated,Thought there might be an even better looking you under a mask, Bill !-————————————————————————-.

Gweedo aptly stated,Thanks, bill ! Took a Kwickie look at both of them. Nice !-—————————————————————————.I like Serif Draw for something quick. I can complete a simple project by the time Corel Draw had loaded. It’s a lot less expensive. There is a free version if you want to give it a go: http://www.serif.com/free-graphic-design-software/

More set-up for Biggest Brawls at the Falls! Nice clean, “before” shots of Tracy and Kadaver, as they size up each other and before they get messed up in the titanic conclusion to their rivalry!We’ll be right back with the Big Fight after this commercial break for our sponsors, Vista Bill and Comet and Gweedo…Murray!

Gweedo stated in his infinite wisdom and knowledge of the ages,Saw that ! I prob’ly wont as I have enough stuff pulling at me to do. I bet the pay one is pretty good !-————————————————————————-.I cannot recall what features the free version has/doesn’t have. I am using Serif Draw Plus 4.0 ($119). I also use Corel Draw X6 and X7 ($499)..Note: I am not wealthy, Gweedo. I am a beta tester for Serif and I was provided with Corel Draw by Amazon for testing. I get to keep the software after I test it. I do beta testing for several software developers. Keeps me off the streets an my mind active.

Something tells me Tracy will be the last man standing. Just a hunch.

Someone stated that Gould almost never repeated villains and mentioned Shoulders as the only one with Flatop followed by Flatop Jr. Generally, this is true but I can think of a few more. Steve the Tramp appeared more than once but reformed later. The Mole also did the same thing. I believe Stooge Viller appeared in 3 stories. Then there was Mumbles who had 2 stories under Gould with more under later writers. Bribery also appeared in non-consecutive stories. You might consider Blowtop as a continuation of the Flatop theme. There were a lot of villains whose stories crossed over also. Of course in the modern era many villains returned.

I don’t understand.. Abner was able to enter Tracy’s bedroom ans kidnap his wife. Wouldn’t he have been wiser to murder Tracy right there? (Of course this would put an end to the comic strip.)

Gweedo discretely confessed,Bill ! I’m not even good enough to do Kappa testing but I think I could handle a phi thigh with ease !-——————————————————————————-.

Oops! The Station Manager better not get wind of my omission.This is the big DTRF-AM, that’s Dick Tracy at Reichenbach Falls in the morning!

Gweedo quickly stated,That’s right, Buddy !-—————————————————————————-.Mind your kappas and rhos, Gweedo, and you’ll be fine!.