Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for July 29, 2012

Some similarities with the first Angeltop story, perhaps contrived revenge runs in the family. What alsways struck me as to why Flattop was the best Dick Tracy story was the extended chase. Flattop went more and more into the dark side to avoid capture and his escape ended with his demise. Fighting with the doctors trying to help him after he was shot in throat was a perfect symbol. Somewhat similar with Flattop Jr, the law didn’t catch him, his conscious did. I’d love to see the team make an extended chase the way they expanded the Mr Crime story. Mrs Flattop looks like a real heart stopper.

Good morning all…

Why isn’t anyone panicking over Tracy’s whereabouts?

We only need to see that much of Leonard to know he’s okay. I’m still digging seeing a guy who was such a huge rat of a bad guy going straight. Mrs. Flattop seems nice and kookie and should give DT his money’s worth as far as death traps go. So all is going well here in the Sunday Funnies!

WOW! Sam without a cigarette!Darn those hospitals and their fresh air policies!;>)

Already the answers to questions everyone has been asking – Lizz is recovering & Leonard is still looking out for her. Glad to see someone noticed Tracy is missing! Also, glad to see that the operation was to remove buckshot & not to perform plastic surgery. Dick Locher did that story already!

I did not mean contrived in a bad way- kidnapping Dick Tracy to kill him in the exacty same spot in same one-in-a-million manner as your father died is sort of contrived. How tough is Mrs. Flattop on her own or on the run? Does she have a car with a stove? Inginuity runs in the family.

Happy to see Leonard’s promise from what, 50 years ago made true at whatever cost. Great work all around, best material to me since the later 70s.

@puckerpussWhat made Flattop such an excellent bad guy was also his over inflated ego and sense of style. He really thought he was the best and made us think so too. Chester Gould’s writing in that storyline was so over the top great. He had Flattop hiding in a chimney and also setting a guy on fire in an alley. And then Vitamin Flintheart showed up and it got even crazier.

I’ve always wondered what being in the top ten always meant….. yawn.

Oh yeah, almost forgot. The only guy who ever wear a jacket like the one in the Crimestoppers panel is Mastermind from the Brotherhood Of Evil Mutants!

lots of action

Nice bunch of Get Well cards for Lizz already accumulating, plus Leonard Finney by her bedside! At least Sam is beginning to worry about Tracy’s whereabouts; the carjacked ambulance might provide a clue or two if Stiletta’s boys, Franz and Hugo, haven’t hidden or disposed of it. And, nice of the baddies to remove that buckshot from Dick’s shoulder: he might at least be on his way to healing up before they try to kill him….

I must confess that, as much as I love this strip (and I’ve been reading it since the early sixties), I kind of lost track of it during the Max Allan Collins era (maybe around the time of the 1st appearance of Putty Puss), which I think is about the same time that it was dropped from the Detroit Free Press comics pages. There was no internet & I didn’t think to get a subscription to the Chicago Tribune, so I was Tracyless. But when I heard that this current team would be taking over the helm, I did indeed make an effort to find this strip on GoComics, and I enjoy it to this day.That being said, I want to say that I have diligently read each readers’ comment over the past year+, and I find myself compelled to say something about Dick Locher.Being curious (brought about by so many comments made about the gentleman’s tenure), I decided to use some of my spare time to read as much of his work as history would allow (10 years –or- more).Now, I will freely admit that some stories did seem to drag on, and while most Sunday strips seemed to be a re-cap of the week, Monday strips seemed sometimes to be a re-cap of Sunday.But, for all those years that this gentleman had control of the Dick Tracy comic strip, he never gave up. He kept it running with his own interpretation. He obviously had a love of the character. As I understand it, the gentleman went through his own real & personal losses. But, he never gave up on Tracy.My point is this: What if he HAD quit, just let this strip go & there was no one waiting in the wings at that time to take over. What are the odds that someone would have RE-STARTED Dick Tracy after an absence of a few years . I don’t think it could have been done. But the fact that this gentleman kept going, kept the concept alive until Mike & Joe were ready to take the reins should be applauded.So I say, Thank You, Mr. Locher, for you dedication, and for all you did that allows us to read this great strip today.

I realize pitching story ideas is a no can do…but what about Crimestoppers topics? Wouldn’t mind seeing something on car theft & extended roadtrip/travel precautions.

Kinda strange that the team isn’t more upset about Tracy’s kidnapping. We know he’s getting medical attention but they don’t. How long has it been since he was snatched? Long enough for Lizz to start receiving cards in the hospital at least.

Instead of “Hugo” I wish they had named him “Hanz.” Too much of an SNL reference I suppose. That’s okay, Team Tracy has proven to have a good sense of humor, and I’m sure we will see more of it from time to time.

An aside: I wonder if Leonard’s activities qualify him for a pardon, which would wipe his criminal record.

8:17 am and i’m number 19? WOW! lol!

oh yeh, one little complaint/peeve.. can we get lizz to look a bit LESS like fritz ann please? when i started reading the strip this morning i thought it was fritz ann in the hospital, and it didnt hit me until littlefac….erm, Leonard called her detective worthington that i realized it was lizz. “back in the day” she had a very distinctive look… all curves and a somewhat slender face and a GREAT hairstyle, these days its tough to tell her apart from fritz ann…tho i DO like joe’s homage to fletcher/collins’(?) style of making her eyes. oh and another thing.. up until it was mentioned here in the strip recently, i NEVER knew lizz’s last name… wonder if she has a blond haired blue eyed relative that hangs out in westchester county, upstate new york named WARREN ;) lol

Well Timmy, since you are in complaining mode you might as well ADD in, asking for Lizz’s correct last name. Believe it became ‘Grove, when she married Groovy (from what would be his death bed), in December of 1984.Worthington was her 1st husband’s (Jimmy’s) last name !

Would buckshot be the usual ammo in a situation like this? I’m thinking it was meant to be nonlethal so they could carryout a long painfula end well aware of who and why.

Thanks, Rene Tray! Didn’t think anyone had read my comments.

So somebody must have been aware Tracy was shot, and that he was taken away in an ambulance. Now Tracy is missing and an ambulance has been carjacked and Sam is only wondering what happened?

So is Leonard on parole? The guard said he paid his debt to society didn’t he? That usually means served his time I thought…if so, no parole…still can’t carry a firearm or vote though, unless his civil rights were restored…is this right?