Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for February 25, 2024

Good morning™, everyone!

Poor Sam! I actually did have hopes for this story, but I can only say that I still am not convinced that a daily strip really works to tell a story of this format.

On another sadder note, today may be the last regular strip that you will see Shelley credited on this strip since TCA has already acknowledged the new artist taking over.

I wonder if I should sue Eric for plagiarizem? He obviously took my original idea of Sam loving Jewish deli sandwiches and incorporated it in his MM.

Hmmmm, Nah, I’ll give him a pass. Lol!

One attempted murder, but a lot of Reckless Endangerment or whatever their state calls the equivalent. The fact that everyone served from those pots COULD have been killed is going to add a lot of charges.

Goodbye Shelley, we hate to see you go.

Your excellent work will live on in my Vengey Mysteries!

Poor Sam.

says the Dick Nazi to Sam…

“no brisket for YOU…”

“ᶦ’ˡˡ ᵇᵉ ᵇᵃᶜᵏ ˡᵃᵗᵉʳ.ᵐᵐᵐᵐᵐ.”

Good morning™, Unfulfilled Hungers !

All those free lunches would have made Sam’s meager 2nd banana salary go further, like applying Hamburger Helper to make a fistful of beef feed a family of five.

In P. 1. Pops is sooo relieved while in P. 4. he eagerly gives away the store. Lucky for him Tracy put the brakes on the ‘gravy train’. Sam will eat that guy into bankruptcy in no time. The flash around the cuffs invokes in me the sound of a large jail door slamming hard. Sam is looking more cartoony than usual with P. 4. Dick looking years younger and like some big star whose name escapes me.

The panel next to Crimestoppers is one beautiful master stroke. Like !

Sam: Wha?? Awww!!

So, what did Palmer do? Place poison in all the tea pots after they came from the manufacturer but before they were delivered to Pop’s diner? Surely there’s got to be an easier way to whack your business partner. Anyway, in the words of Cat Stevens, “Leave tea for the tillerman…”

Wow. All pots was poisoned? One terrible tale after another. Me no has good hopes for next one.

Sorry, but that does not compute. Unless you know to cover one of the entrance holes the teapot will pour from both chambers at the same time. So anyone using any of the teapots would get the poison….

I guess Sam wanted that free brisket.

Sam’s expression at the end. (laughs)

A very disappointed Sam!

Sam’s expression panel 3! priceless!

Another very simple grammar rule that I learned in grade school is messed up in the penultimate panel.

“Regulations forbid” – or – “A regulation forbids” – Not “Regulations forbids”, which is a tongue twister and the reason, I believe, for the original grammar rule.

It seems odd to me that the villain of this tale, while we see his hands being cuffed, is otherwise no where to be seen in all of today’s strip. It makes the whole strip somewhat confusing, as it almost looks as if the owner of the deli is being arrested.

Well shoot, I thought this was a pretty good vignette! Given all the kvetching that’s done in the comments, my expectations must be pretty low. The pots had me stumped until the reveal, and I LIKE the artwork.

Exit Sam Sans Sandwich!

Sam thinks: “I was CLOSE….THIS CLOSE!!”…….

Everybody is FINALLY seeing the illustrious Sam Catchem as a character worthy of praise in his own right . “The Friends of Sam Catchem” are well pleased . May the incoming artist do him proud .

Sam’s face imploded! Call 911! Cal 911!!

Well, at least we can sleep better tonight knowing that old Borgia will in fact survive to inflict his dreadful designs upon the world anew….

(pssst) ‘Forbid’ is the correct usage here, as there are more than one regulation in play. A singular reg. would use the ‘forbids’ form.

And Popski’s Yiddish accent, exaggerated in the first strip of this sequence, completely disappears by the last.

Palmer must have extraordinary hearing to catch Tracy’s accusation, given the distance between them.

A free traditional Jewish meal once a week, for a year. Sam salivates at the thought. Let Sam have it Tracy. Don’t take official notice of that offer. Vhat could it hoirt?

Not actually a mistake, but the next-to-last panel make me momentarily wonder if Tracy was still wearing the latex gloves. Although the color is wrong for that.

SAM SLAM © by Eric on his way out the door!

Best two words I have seen today, “THE END.”

Now that’s truly an unhappy ending for Sam Catchem – poor guy!! I know how you feel on account of my uncles who are in Heaven now!!

in P4, Sam’s excitement makes him look like Quagmire readying with a giggedy…

Shelley leaving is sad :(

Cute ending!

I don’t think it will matter who take over the illustrating of this comic strip. It needs some better stories and SOON!

1-DT: Hang on. Perpski had a bigger motive to poison Victimski than Poopski had. Let Poopski go, Sam and…

2-…Slap the bracelets on Perski! Clap him in irons! Cuff him! Shackle him with the ol’ manacles!

3-POOPSKI: I’M FREE! TEA ON THE HOUSE!!! Hey. Where’s Teapot Lady?

4-DT: She went to the hospital with a fresh pot of tea for Victimski. It seems that Victimski and Perpski were both vying for her attention but she loathed Victimski and would do anything to get him out of the picture. I guess she’s changed her mind now that he’s sick. Sweet lady.

5-SAM: Uh, what’s that now? Oh – never mind. Who do I have to kill to get a pastrami on rye around here???

Sam spends the entire trip back to HQ trying to convince Tracy that taking free brisket is just minor corruption.

Awww, poor Sam!

Called it…..nailed it…..sewed it up tight as a drum. Yes, I’m a very talented man.

Poor Sam!

One thing I liked about this was that Sam got to be alone a little, show us a little more of his character, and was more than just a sounding board for Dick.

Poor Sam! No free brisket is the REAL crime here!

Loved the teeny top right panel—for a change it isn’t a useless one

Sam snagged a sour pickle on his way out the door, h ence his expression

Particularly relevant CRIMESTOPPERS PSA today. Beware also of scam QR stickers over the top of existing printed codes on posters, etc.