Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for April 23, 2011

Tracy, back to the Man of Action! YES!!!

OMG!

Tracy saves the day! (and Lizz)

Refresh my memory. Who’s the old lady?

Good morning all…

Llewellenbruce, are you talking about the person standing next to the Fifth in the middle panel? That’s Ed Garcia, the (young) guy who worked for Diet Smith and is helping the Fifth steal Thor’s Hammer.

Of course, it’s a good bet neither Ed or the Fifth is long for this world….

Good morning, Bill!

So is that syndicate rule about how many times Tracy’s allowed to fire his weapon still in effect? Staton and Curtis strike me as the kind of guys who just might break that rule, daring their employer to do something about it.

If I was Lizz, I wouldn’t be still standing up. I would be down on the floor making a smaller target.

Garcia looks comfortable with his role in one murder and an impending second murder.

Nitpicks: does Dick’s fedora contain a video gunsight? Because it looks like the brim would block his view here. And do cops still fire warning shots?

I am loving this story, but my one small disappointment is Lizz’s passivity in today’s strip. Granted she’s had a gun on her to this point, but since Flyface was holding the weapon and is now toast, I’m surprised she didn’t immediately leap into action and do some jiu jitsu moves on the two creeps while Thor’s Hammer was recharging. It’s something the Lizz of old would have been planning to do (her only possible chance of surviving, given she couldn’t count on Tracy showing up), but instead, she’s just standing there waiting to get zapped. I guess you could argue she was stunned by the first blast, but given the look on her face and the way she’s whispering to Tracy, she doesn’t appear to be dazed or hurt in any way.

Oh well, I can live with it, particularly since Tracy has now taken charge.

@BillT: Dick Tracy don’t fire no steenkin’ warning shots. (evil grin)

No Dick! Don’t shoot! Hide in the airplane hanging from the ceiling! Wait for the strong man and fat lady to save you! Get your thermal imaging cards out! Wait for the little robot to crawl out of the big robot! What has HAPPENED to this comic strip????

A good thing has happened to this strip.

No time for warning shots, and while Bill T mentions Tracy’s hat getting in the way there isn’t time to aim either. This is one of those moments where you fire as soon as you get the gun pointed in the right direction.

Nice detail: Flyface’s hand in panel three.

I’m not complaining that Dick didn’t fire a warning shot; I think warning shots are a bad idea. That bullet will go somewhere, which puts innocent people at risk. I understand that warning shots are against some department policies for that reason (for that matter, I can’t recall the last time the news reported that any cop fired a warning shot.)

Beside, would a warning shot deter the Fifth? Under the circumstances Dick would be an idiot if he didn’t shoot to kill.

A guess: Tracy just killed Thor’s hammer with that shot and the resulting discharge left the bad guys dazed and singed

Great strip. And the last panel is awesome! This story is perfect.

Or better yet, Dick’s shot hits Thor’s Hammer and damages it to the point that it can only disintegrate terrycloth robes. That would please me.

I might be going out on a limb here but I don’t think that even Gould in his prime ever did a panel with the just plain impact of today’s panel 3.

Well done Mr. Staton, and Mr. Curtis, I have been waiting for some Dick Tracy action and you now coming on like Gangbusters!

This is the Dick Tracy we all remember, a man of action! Thank you Joe and Mike!

wndrwrthg Your reference for Mike regarding Magpie took me back down ‘Memory Lane’ - to that 2009 period (Jan. 23), on this board for a ‘refresher’ on those events.

What ‘stands out’, in the wake of Liam’s lecture (the day before), was your calm, studied sarcasm (?) - (Jan. 23), reproduced below. It was a CLASSIC riposte given the circumstances.

It might BE of INTEREST to note, that there has been yet another ’resignation’ on the Yahoo DT Board. Triggered really from similar events. The score’s now: 2 rows per board, and a record of 4 Departures !

* HERE -Three reproductions from Jan. 23, 2009 :*

drwatson said, over 2 years ago

We have to be nice to Locher, now. So here goes: the drawing is actually pretty good, and the house has finished blowing up. I mean that sincerely - thank you D.L.

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margueritem said, over 2 years ago

Aha! The light dawns. And that is a nicely lettered CIA sign in the 3rd panel. Oh yes, the agent’s tie looks very nice, too.

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wndrwrthg said, over 2 years ago

It is a lovely shade of black they are using. Each of the three panels seems to be square, and the dialogue balloons are of sufficient size to encompass their words. We are again treated to the delightful sign proclaiming the location of another character. Tracys’ epiphany regarding the near destruction of a neighbors house is a important plot advancement. Perhaps he knows of a government agency that could undertake an investigation. Well the nice young men in their clean white coats are here, so I must go.

Some may even think it reaches UP, surpassing your excellent verse.

This is a great strip ART wise. Love the upper ‘heft on the chest’ on Lizz in panel one, and that final ’action’ panel with Tracy is the sort of classic depiction of lively Tracy ‘animation’ I thought I’d never see again.

Had I been in the mood for a PUN, I’d call it a classic ART “EXECUTION” !

But better still, I’d call the strip a ”collectors” item !

Has anyone noticed that hands and Guns (in particular), have taken on a LARGER and more ’ menacing ’ SIZE ?

so it looks like it has only 1 setting.. “MAX” ..and it seems to have taken care of the flies… so its a high tech bug zapper?

TALK ABOUT ACTION PACKED!!! GREAT JOB NEW TEAM!!!

BillThompson,asked And do cops still fire warning shots?

NO, They don’t at least not in my state. It’s considered a liability, you never know where that bullet may stop. Verbal warnings are the way it’s supposed to go. If any one is curious if the use of deadly force would be justified under this circumstance. I would say yes, because the Fifth is endangering the lives of the officers and others. Well, I guess other he killed Flyface already and Ed computer “GENIUS” or not is too stupid to realize he’s in danger.

Loved the pun Syd! Don,t get me started you know how I can get!

BTW, I don’t know if anyone but me is interested. BUT, the DOCTOR WHO season premiere is tonight on BBCAmerica check local listings ;D

see, he’s tracy,like john wayne, with a magic gun that gets a bad guy every time

love panel 3

I just want to know where I can get one of those cool ties with a big number “5” on it.

WOW! Tracy actually shooting his gun instead of running away and hiding? Thought it would never happen again since “L’s” Reign of Errors.

Great look (esp. panel 3) and comic, guys!

These days I feel like Daffy Duck in the Looney Tunes classic, “The Great Piggy Bank Robbery,” wherein Daffy couldn’t wait for the latest Dick Tracy comic book to come in the mail.

Fortunately, I only have to wait for the next day’s strip.

Is it tomorrow, yet?

(And before anyone asks, no, I don’t dream that I’m Duck Twacy.)

Can Dick make an accurate shot when his hat is blocking his vision?

DT’s eyes, in the Gould old days, were usually little more than lines or checkmarks. To me, the eyes in both panels 1 & 3 evoke the early imagery. P3, I see eyes as squinting, not closed.

mzkdad Perhaps you’ve heard the story, at the age of 3 years - Joe Staton was seen on the floor, over a Dick Tracy Sunday Page with a pencil, making his first attempt at drawing Dick Tracy.

Same thing happened to thousands of kids, but never any, at that very early age !

Wow! I can’t even remember the last time Tracy flat out shot someone.

At least this part of the storyline is happening now, not four months from now.

About the fedora blocking Dick’s view, remember, this strip is in 2D, not 3D.

And that’s Tracy’s first shot of the New Year!…….or is it his first since the change-over?

Wow! The pacing has slowed, but that’s ok! Tomorrow we celebrate the Dick Tracy comic strip coming back to life, among other things!

the third panel is a classic.

willamp, today is Dick’s first shot since the change. He’s still shooting at rats, but it’s just not the same.

The more I look at panel #3, the more I like it.

Hi everyone I recently posted a Joe Staton pencil of HONEYMOON from June to the Yahoo group. Previews seem to be a nice thing, but I can’t post images here (don’t know how) but I can name drop.

COMING SOON IN DICK TRACY- Ted Tellum, Mina the nurse (from the CRIME INC story) Panda (guess) Themesong, Wendy Wichel, BO Plenty and Gravel Gertie, and a villian long thought dead. Plus DICK TRACY GOES TO THE MOVIES!

Yes, I know about DOCTOR WHO. Just upgraded so my wife could watch the new shows tonight.

If you go to http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/comics?featureid=DickTracy you will notice that the back ground around Ed G. and Liz are colored differently.Here it is white and there it is blue for some reason.

Bravo! Excellent strip today … Thanks Mike & Joe for making every day a joy to read and behold!

I’m surprised nobody thought of the obvious way for the Fifth to meet his doom. His cigar sets off the automatic sprinkler system. Fried Fifth. (grin)

Anyone know where I can get a “Don’t Dick with Tracy!” T-shirt?

I have been looking at some of the classic 30’s DT comics. I want your feedback on this dialog from Ed Garcia’s Aunt Texie:

“Come on you babies, put ‘em up too - You aint taking Texie to jail, or anywhere else today! Come on, gimme your rods, all of you and then ease into that closet.”

Terry, there’s an even better line in the 1929 musical “Broadway Melody.” Bessie Love uses one word to tell a man to go away: “Screw!”

I was hoping Lizz would do something to help. She was never tied up. And how can she whisper to Dick without giving away his presence? Well, it’s all happening very quickly so no time to quibble.

Seeing as how the continued existance of the continuity strip is hinging on this team, I hope the syndicate gives them some latitude to have more action and doesn’t put arbitrary guidelines on the number of times Tracy can discharge his weapon.

I do like the guns ablazin Dick Tracy here…he he

bugger where’s the color gone