Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for December 21, 2014

Now, this is good!

He looks as much like Boris as she looks like Sara. That streak of white hair is accurate, at least..Oh, wait…..I’ve never seen her angry. She seems to be perpetually smiling. Maybe this IS what she looks like when she’s aggravated.

Sara Karloff is a friend of Joe’s and Mike’s and gave special permission for them to use the likeness of her father, of which she holds all rights.

Hey, just in case anyone is interested, you can watch “Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome” free at https://archive.org/details/dick_tracy_meets_gruesome. Or, spend a buck and get a DVD at your friendly neighborhood dollar store. It’s worth it, if only to hear Pat say, “Gruesome looks like that actor, Boris Karloff.”.Happy Trails!

Wow….Gruesome gets slammed by Karloff’s daughter….nice

Now that’s an unexpected turn! Sara Karloff! And Gruesome is instantly drawn to her, because she doesn’t think he looks like her father. That man has a host of hang-ups! He’s probably legally around the bend and non compos mentis.

Sara is super nice. As was her father. This is a fun arc.

Hey! Where Pequod77? I suppose he’s off for the holidays?

What a sweet Christmas surprise!

Well, now we know who Sara is! I wonder how someone can “own” the rights to a deceased person’s likeness? I’m sure that every second someone is born who will turn out to be a dead ringer for someone else.

Ms. Karloff is right. With that funky “smile” Gruesome looks more like Rockett Raccoon.

Sara Karloff is a sweetheart. I’ve met her several times. I’m loving the turn this story has taken!

Excellent! :D

How often do real people appear in Dick Tracy? I remember George Takei last year (it was around then that I started reading it regularly here), but his name had been changed slightly.

Good morning my friends. I didn’t see that one coming. Excellent comments all. Y’all have an awesome day.

Good morning guys!

What a surprise!

Love it! Sara Karloff calls him out.A great way to thank her for letting them use her father’s image, stylized though it is.I also like the mummy in panel 2; Karloff starred in the original Mummy film, back in the 30’s.I love this story. More twists and unexpected developments than I can keep track of.

Hey! Those knobby antennae in panel 4 – Could Mysta and her friends be there?Gruesome taken down with a moonzap?(Okay, I doubt it’s her. But, with this story, ya never know who’s going to turn up!)

BOOM! Nice little twist!

If those cell phone photos are Instagramed, Tracy should be there rather quickly ;)

I got curious about “Sivad” in the last panel, and found he was a Memphis TV horror host. http://nmisscommentor.com/random-firings/good-evening-i-am-sivad-your-monster-of-cerermonies/

Got to the last panel and a studio audience in my head erupted into prolonged cheers (you know, like audiences do when the favorite character or beloved guest-star comes onstage).

On the original 13 GHOSTS OF SCOOBY-DOO, Mr. Vincent Price provided his own voice.

For the recent SCOOBY DOO: MYSTERY, INC. series, Van Ghoul was re-imagined as a horror movie actor of great renown, and was voiced by PINKY AND THE BRAIN’s Maurice LeMarche …

Mr. Vincent Price was kind to every living creature.

Even frogs …

And let us not forget Mr. Vincent Price’s portrayal of the villainous Egghead on the Adam West BATMAN series.

Music, please?

Somewhere, there’s a clip of Mr. Vincent Price’s 1960’s appearance on THE MIKE DOUGLAS SHOW, where he engages Dr. Frederick Wertham in a remarkably civil debate over the influence of media upon the general masses …

… as one Mr. Adam West looks on with considerable amusement.

Couldn’t find it though, so you’ll have to settle for this …

And back around to one Mr. Boris Karloff, in the role of Baron Von Frankenstein …

The only thing that could top Sara’s appearance is the strip would be an a cameo by Bela Lugosi Jr.!

Maybe Sara will arrest gruesome and end this already too-long tale.

Nobody notices his Peter Lorre lookalike friend?

Ok, I was along for the ride from the beginning, but Kandikane Lane veered me off early. Vitamin, tho brought it back on track for me…like ive said before im big vitamin fan anyway… then kandikane called her “sister” margot lane and name dropped their OTHER “sister” lois lane.. which ran it right back into absurdity for me… but the play within a comic strip angle IS entertaining so i hung around.. then we gt the karloff/lorre tandem which was fun in the beginning but wears thin REALLY REALLY QUICK!

the nitrate brother and sister returned which is nice, then they talk about gravel gertie’s previously unknown/unmentioned sister (do you see a pattern forming here?) and the nitrates fade away

then we get a glimpse of junior and sparkle on their way to spit out honeymoon’s (either( little brother or sister (agaiin the family thing!) while juniors father and mother are involved in an explosion at the theater.

MEANWHILE instead of trying to make a clean getaway, gruesome and (not such an) einstein make a sidetrip to monster con where gruesome is insulted (or maybe not) by karloff’s DAUGHTER (again, the family connection) instead of getting out of dodge.

sorry, this whole thing careened into ridiculousness for me a few days ago and i am looking forward to the eventual “Sweatbox Ending” which i am sure is just around the corner

Ok, I was along for the ride from the beginning, but Kandikane Lane veered me off early. Vitamin, tho brought it back on track for me…like ive said before im big vitamin fan anyway… then kandikane called her “sister” margot lane and name dropped their OTHER “sister” lois lane.. which ran it right back into absurdity for me… but the play within a comic strip angle IS entertaining so i hung around.. then we gt the karloff/lorre tandem which was fun in the beginning but wears thin REALLY REALLY QUICK!

the nitrate brother and sister returned which is nice, then they talk about gravel gertie’s previously unknown/unmentioned sister (do you see a pattern forming here?) and the nitrates fade away

then we get a glimpse of junior and sparkle on their way to spit out honeymoon’s (either( little brother or sister (agaiin the family thing!) while juniors father and mother are involved in an explosion at the theater.

MEANWHILE instead of trying to make a clean getaway, gruesome and (not such an) einstein make a sidetrip to monster con where gruesome is insulted (or maybe not) by karloff’s DAUGHTER (again, the family connection) instead of getting out of dodge.

sorry, this whole thing careened into ridiculousness for me a few days ago and i am looking forward to the eventual “Sweatbox Ending” which i am sure is just around the corner

Wow! I never would have noticed “Sivad.” The clip of his intro was fascinating. You just never thing of monsters with a southern accent, you know? Romanian? Sure. British? Why not? But Tennessee?!?

SIVAD! Not too many people alive remember Sivad! I was a freshman at a small university 55 years ago 600 miles from where I lived and every Saturday night we’d watch him on Memphis TV. His station breaks were skits that were so corny, they’d crack you up! No way he could have made it nationally, as he ad-libbed his schtick much of the time. Strictly a local star, he was on WHBQ-TV and you can see some of his skits if you Google his name.

(in my Linus from “It’s a Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” mode)Pequod! Where are you??(hope you are doing okay, btw)

If you are interested in learning more about Mike Curtis you may find this interview he did, shortly before starting this strip, of some interest.Mike Curtis interview with Dr. Gangrene