Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for December 07, 2020

Good morning™, buyers!

I wouldn’t trust Dollar Bill and I don’t think Pouch does either. It seems to me that those balloons are way underpriced, too!

Looks much too cartoony already

They didnt give the Yeti story line proper closure.

Dollar Bill’s got the scuzzy Hippie vibe down cold. Having a drug dealer as a villain is a lot edgier than we’ve seen in a Tracy strip recently. And it’s snowing, wintertime in the city!

Seems Pouch has reformed to some level telling Dollar Bill to take a powder.

Good morning™, dirty monies !

This guy reminds me of a dirt encrusted dollar bill I found years ago. That was big money to a 12 year old.

Good strip today: using Pouch to identify Dollar Bill and set up whatever we’ll see tomorrow.

Interesting new character. I hope he lasts longer than poor Rabbit.

And life goes on!!! Uh!!! Where are we…..Uh yes a drug infested city!!!

Very interesting characters today!

Pouch will gladly sell information on Dollar Bill to the nearest DEA officer.

Daisy is dead. Time to move on.

Dollar Bill used to have a discount store in Derry, New Hampshire, but he was forced to close the store in 2012. I had no idea he had fallen on such hard times! Here is a video of Bill in happier times. Note that he only has one dollar in his head band now.

https://youtu.be/6VE0lp-bxr0

What is this – New Villain Tryout Week?

Nice to see Pouch again, but will he play a significant part in this story, or is he just a cameo like Sleet awhile back?

MEL T. FACE: HEY! That’s not how you play Liars Poker! You put a card on your head, not money.

SUMMER O. LOVE: I’m just selling balloons like you only mine bring more joy if you catch my drift.

MEL: Oh yeah? Beat it or I’ll pop a balloon in … I mean I’ll pop a cap in your a$$.

SUMMER: What if I make my customers buy one of your balloons too?

MEL: Hmmm. And I’ll make mine buy yours in return!

SUMMER: Sure! Start em young I always say. Mine are $25.

MEL: DEALS OFF! Nobody’s buying yours when mine are only fifteen cents! Loser!

Well, well, well, what have we here? A former bad guy….Pouch. Probably is easier to sell balloons out in the open. Only requirements are a business license and one does not have to put up with paying rent on a building or contend with utilities. Dollar Bill ain’t going want to cross him.

$.15 per helium balloon? Wonder if balloon guy lives in a cardboard box.

Seems as though Pouch and Dollar Bill have had issues in the past. Anyway, no drug dealing wanted, anywhere. Red balloons, on the other hand, are a Culturally Significant Artifact (largely because of the eponymous 1956 film and its numerous successors).

So, what is the significance of this Meet for our story?

Yes. Pouch!

The yellow balloons are downers.

What happened to Daisy and Yeti?. That story had potential, but cartoonus interruptus screwed it up..again…../Sad

The AMBIGUITY was the proper end. With hopes of some sequel some time starting with the spider and ending with Yeti.

The Pouch! The one Tracy character I’d love to actually portray!

Hey, Warren Beatty! If you ever get to do a Dick Tracy sequel, call me!

Pouch says “Do you want to buy my beautiful balloons”

I know a place locally if Dollar Bill walked around with exposed currency like that he would end up Busted Bill!

So you pick a balloon, then pop it to get your drugs?

We were discussing yesterday whether hippies still exist. I was reading today about a 21-year-old soldier whose head washed ashore around Memorial Day. They have finally declared that it was homicide, even without the rest of the body.

Anyway, CNN says: "Roman-Martinez was a Chino, California, native who was described by family members as “a hippie.” It’s the reason family and friends wore tie-dye to his vigil in August, according to CNN affiliate WTVD-TV."

This strip gets more & more strange…….a balloon salesman with a neck that looks like a 100 year old woman’s vulva.

The Yeti storyline, weak as it was, deserved a proper resolution like most DT stories.