Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for March 21, 2015

Look at all the pretty flowersI know i’m just as beautiful, are I not!As seconds turn to minutes, minutes turn to hoursYou better treat me nice or I’ll pound on you a lot!I wonder why my only friend has always been my brotherNo one understands, not my father or my motherI’m not crazy as they say, its makes me scream with rageI’m as gentle as a baby, “HEY! DID I SAY YOU COULD TURN THE PAGE?”

Rights read off-panel!

To whoever was saying that Tracy didn’t read Sprocket her Miranda rights, here is proof to the contrary! I didn’t even expect to see that.

Anyway, Sprocket really does have some redeeming ideas, even if she is a sadistic, cold-blooded murderer. I think it was Gweedo who was saying she’s a complex character. She certainly is.

Even with assurances that her brother is alive, she still doesn’t think her situation is fair. To an extent, I think she’s right. If I had to choose between her and Stiletta, I think I’d agree that Stiletta is the “monster.” I think that Sprocket also felt guilty that she had fixed up the wonder car, only to have it be a tool for the harm of a “poor, little innocent baby” (or some words to that effect).

Sad or not! What a question!

I smell backstory …

… might the Nitrates saga not be over quite yet?

Funny that Sprocket refers to him deferentially as “Mr. Tracy” …

… well, weird, anyway.

And the Nitrates definitely are that.

“That explains what we found at the drive-in”. Interesting comment there. I suggested before that the person killed by Sprocket may have not been Stiletta herself, but a decoy (considering the things “Stiletta” said, and her bad aim). We shall see.

Good morning Tracy fans. Sprocket comes clean about Stilleta. Will sprocket be set free by a judge and jury? Will she get time off for good behavior? Be happy and well everyone.

The eyebrows in panel three tell the truth great artwork !

Could it be that child abduction has played a role in Silver & Sprocket’s lives ?

I think it’s obvious that Sprocket Nitrate must have seen some horrific child abuse when she was a kid. Was she a witness to it, or the recipient of it? I think her brother might have been on the receiving end of it, because she goes ape crazy if anyone gets too close to him or physically harms him. This is probably why S&S are uncomfortably close, perhaps even incestuous. Abusive families tend to exclude outsiders from their company, and the Nitrates siblings would have clung to each other for love and comfort. Well, we will see in the next few days whither I’m on target or not.

Happy the baby seems safe, “Lena the Hyena” does have a history … Silver and Sprocket don’t seem like biological siblings. They may be desensitized due being victims themselves. Silver looks like Aggie’s kin doesn’t he?

“Either you’re way wack or you been peekin’ over Mike’s shoulder.”Only one of those explanations is plausible…Or maybe (for you Tracy historians), I could just be bright-on spots!

Sprocket’s an interesting and complex character.

It’s interesting how she was literally kicking and screaming just before this and now she just casually standing around chatting with Tracy about her motivation, but I suppose it’s necessary for exposition purposes. Also, she’ll be a lot calmer now that she knows that Silver is not dead, is getting medical attention, etc. Silver is really the main thing is this world that she cares about (plus Mother Earth which she has a strong devotion to).

It’s interesting how she was literally kicking and screaming just before this and now she just casually standing around chatting with Tracy about her motivation, but I suppose it’s necessary for exposition purposes. Also, she’ll be a lot calmer now that she knows that Silver is not dead, is getting medical attention, etc. Silver is really the main thing is this world that she cares about (plus Mother Earth which she has a strong devotion to).

There is some real reason that she was so vehement in her stand and subsequent response to Stiletta’s plan.____________________

Agreed.

Definitely less said than unsaid.

In other news …

It’s Classic!

It’s Cool!

It’s …

KCET’s CLASSIC COOL THEATER!

“So, murder for a good reason, eh Sorocket? I’ll be sure to ask the judge to give you a foot warmer for your cell…”

Personally, I’d lock Sprocket and Silver in padded rooms for a long, long, time. They’re both nuttier than my Christmas fruitcakes!

Tracy may put in a good word for Sprocket in the Stiletta killing, but she has attempted to murder Kandi, shot Vitamin, and with her past crimes I don’t see her walking free right away.

Good morning guys!

I’m not a psychiatrist, but I’ll play one for the sake of this Comments page.Sprocket may be not so much merely complex as completely messed up (to use the vernacular). Her sudden mood swings suggest the possibility of bipolar affective disorder (BAD), formerly referred to as manic-depressive disorder. Likewise, her otherwise uncharacteristic concern for a threat against a child suggests deeply-set personal memories, likely of child abuse to her (or possibly to her brother, as suggested above by phinnmam, also in explanation of the curious attachment between the two, most manifested by Sprocket). And there may be more than a little paranoia, too, underlying her irrational hatred of Kandikane. Very messed up, indeed. Perhaps she deserves to be committed for psychiatric evaluation and care, until such time as she may be deemed legally competent to stand trial for her crimes. Maybe forever.

Morning, Tracyville!

I think Phinnmam has called it. The Nitrates are victims of child abuse. Now we need some do-gooder to step in and argue that they be pardoned and set free.

@finkd and Gweedo: maybe Sprocket had a baby and had to give it up for adoption.___________@Neil Wick and AnyFace: it’s a possibility that they were abducted. __________Thanks for posting guys and gals.

Murder is murder regardless of good intentions.

You, uh, SURE Mrs. Flattop didn’t fake her death, are you? (As I said, she’s too good a villain to just throw away like that…)

If I had a kid who looked like Silver, I’d follow the example set by the Cobblepots.

Or maybe Sprocket had a baby and it was abducted.

One thing you should all note concerning Sprockets telling Tracy what happened: 1) She did admit to killing Silleta, but she had a justified reason (to prevent a crime against Tracy’s family). Couple that with the knife that was sticking in the door, you have what is known in the trade as “Mitigating circumstances”. Add all that together and Sprocket is looking at MAYBE Voluntary manslaughter. Sparkle is looking at assault with a deadly weapon against Vitamin, because Vitamin appeared to be pretty much OK. Tracy is a smart cop and with his influence with the D.A., I can see lesser charges against the brother and sister….

What are you doing with Dark Knight’s bit, Gweedo?

“Mr. Tracy!” What a nice, respectful crook she is.

“You, uh, SURE Mrs. Flattop didn’t fake her death, are you?”Yeah, I’m pretty sure. The idea that it was an imposter/decoy is so lazy that it could be used to bring back anyone on the strip who died and left behind a body, form Axel to Emil Truheart and everybody in between. At this point there’s no specific reason to think she’s alive beyond dissatisfaction at how she died.My sincere advice to both you and cpalmeresq is to drop this subject. If you’re wrong, you could spend literally the rest of your lives waiting for her to pop up again only to be forever disappointed. If you’re right, you can feel vindicated and can gloat to the rest of us once specific evidence turns up that she’s alive.

Just in case it might mean something – when we last saw this duo before this story, Sprocket was angry with Silver because he had hit her, and it was implied that this sort of domestic abuse had happened before. “This is the last time you’ll ever hit me, Silver!” or words to that effect. Then they were gone from the strip, and when they showed up again, we have been seeing this odd, almost unnatural feeling between them, especially Sprocket’s feelings for Silver. Looking back, where did that come from? It’s almost like a complete 180 degree turn-around in attitude.

Actually, Sprocket and Tracy look more like siblings than Sprocket and Silver!

Sprocket shows that you can be a villain without being a complete monster.

I think Tracy’s slightly vague way of phrasing the statement about the homicide was to lead her on and get her to fill in the details rather than giving them to her.

I bet when they take those sunglasses off of her and clean her up …. put a little makeup on her do something with that hair put some decent clothes on her …fit her into some nice shoes that she’s comfortable wearing . she might …… just might turn out to be a real hottie

@TXPAScotAs I said, she’s too good a villain to just throw away like that…

Yes, she’s dead. It happens. There are lots more good villains where she came from.

There should be a new villain next week. Will he or she be as good? We’ll have to see.

I’m impressed that we’re all psychoanalyzing Sprocket. It shows that there’s a depth to her character. That is something that couldn’t really happen with the very short story lines that characterized this strip until recently. Characters sometimes lasted only a few days and they were entirely two-dimensional. We didn’t get to know anything about them and then they were gone.

It really speaks to the quality of writing on this strip when we can become so invested in the characters.

Definitely hidden depths there. I’m really loving the new Tracy villains—they have real dimensions and motivation. You can feel sympathy for all of them on one level or another.

Gee, why all the guesses that Sprocket was abused, abducted, etc.Am I the only one here who agrees with Sprocket (and Blowtop), that the idea of kidnapping babies is wrong? You don’t need to have a traumatic experience yourself to know good vs. bad.

NS09, sprocket’s (and Silver’s) behaviors give us plenty of clues that they were abused. They’re too close emotionally for a normal brother and sister (dancing, Sprocket thinking K. Lane was trying to muscle in on her brother) Also, her statement during their first appearance that Silver was never going to hit her again, to me is an indication that abuse has taken place between bro and sis in the past, and they were probably abused by one or both of their parents, since abuse is almost always intergenerational.

“Hey, I may help my brother scam people, kill them and feed their carcasses to a hyena – but I have SOME scruples!!!”

I can see Sprocket beating the rap for Stiletta’s killing on self-defense (that knife did graze Sprocket before hitting that door and should have Sprocket’s DNA on it). As for the other crimes, I’m betting Tracy will do something to get her a better sentence. Not too sure about poor Silver however.

GWEEDO! I’ve got a surprise for you tomorrow!

Stilldamatt, I bet you already have your poem ready! All you need to do is work in a few words to fit the strip – right?

Actually, you are both doing excellent poetry. Now if you could have some music to go along, and a little softshoe….At the end of the trimester, I will give both of you your grades. To date, your attendance card is good!

HOLD IT! I hear a violin tuning up! PQ must be in the building. The orchestra is beginning its prelude…..

Tracy ought to try to rehabilitate Sprocket. Like, let her on the MCU Mud Rasslin’ Team.

Last minute aside for anyone paying this reading this far down the page. This time of night I can drift a little off topic. I’ve just been told that the #1 song on the day I was born was Alley Oop. “There’s a man in the funny papers we all know …” I wonder if “we all” know Alley Oop these days. Probably not.

“OH NO!” Johnny yelled as he stumbled to the groundHe hoped it wasn’t obvious he had such a girly soundIt’s bad enough to have to deal with being caught asleepIf Tess found out she’d start to pout her anger running deep

This Wesley Snipes wannabe that’s boldly standing over meWill have to pay the price that’s due for causing me to look like such a foolIt’s bad enough to have been WhackedThe scorn I’ll face they’ll show no tack“OH NO” my shame’s spread over the mapI’ve now allowed myself to be Whapped!

why will she kidnapp your grandson

7 years later, this is still my favorite Tracy story by Mike Curtis. Probably because I wasn’t expecting much from it at the start, only to be completely floored by its last 3 weeks. Which in a way, argues in favor of recurring villains. In the Nitrates’ first story, I thought they were ok. Weird, a little interesting, but nothing to be too excited about, and I was underwhelmed by their first story’s unresolved conclusion.

But here, for a week I fell in love with Nitrates for their justifiable killing of Mrs. Flattop in defense of Tracy’s infant grandson. And then for the next 2 weeks, I passionately hated them for trying to kill Kandikane and for very nearly killing Vitamin. Now, they’re among my favorite villains.

In a broad sense, the Nitrates remind me of Crewy Lou, another great villain involved with an imperiled Tracy baby. On paper, Crewy Lou & the Nitrates would look like very smalltime operators in the vast Underworld of Crime. Yet, they’re just smart enough, and just vicious enough to cause serious damage to both heroes and villains alike. Crewy Lou actually shot the “King” of the Underworld and made a second murder attempt on him that would’ve succeeded if not for Tracy. Then she accidentally kidnapped Tracy’s infant daughter Bonnie, and nearly got Bonnie killed. The Nitrates kill Mrs. Flattop and almost kill Vitamin Flintheart.

tbc cuz of GoComics’ stupid, asinine character limit. (Will never stop being bitter about this, unless it stops.)