Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for February 01, 2017

Doc Savage!

So where do they sell silphium?

According to Wikipedia:

The identity of silphium is highly debated. It is generally considered to belong to the genus Ferula, probably as an extinct species […] K. Parejko, writing on its possible extinction, concludes that “because we cannot even accurately identify the plant we cannot know for certain whether it is extinct.”

The cause of silphium’s supposed extinction is not entirely known. The plant grew along a narrow coastal area, about 125 by 35 miles (201 by 56 km), in Cyrenaica (in present-day Libya).

Also in the Wikipedia article:

It was said that it could be used to treat cough, sore throat, fever, indigestion, aches and pains, warts, and all kinds of maladies. It has been speculated that the plant may also have functioned as a contraceptive, based partly on Pliny’s statement that it could be used “to promote the menstrual discharge”.

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It seems to me that we were discussing ancient contraceptives here a couple of weeks ago.

Maybe Daddy Big Bucks has access to that special ingredient that others would not have and thus make the formula of a very limited use.

Good morning Vista Formula One Bill !

…And to all the secret chemists on the Tracyville board !

For those who don’t know, Doc Savage was a hugely popular hero of the pulp magazines, having his own magazine that ran from 1933 to 1949. He combined physical action with scientific know-how to defeat various megalomaniacs bent on ruling the world. Here’s the Wikipedia entry on him:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Savage

I’m no expert on Doc Savage, but I’d guess the formula mentioned here is probably from a 1934 issue of Doc’s magazine.

Does the formula comes with ingredients? Comes pre-concocted?

Silphium seems to be very rare if available. If there is no ingredient, doesn’t that make the formula useless?

Today’s Gasoline Alley. gives a nod to the Plenty’s !

http://www.gocomics.com/gasolinealley?ct=v&cti=115934

Doc Savage! I never expected a reference to him! (Thanks, Mike!)

In Mike and Joe’s first week, Willie the Fifth and Flyface did ride in a cab driven by Moe Shrevnitz, who worked with the Shadow, but we never had such a direct reference to any of the pulp heroes.

Doc was second only to the Shadow in popularity in the 1930’s, and he was a major influence on Superman. Doc was “the Man of Bronze,” Superman, “the Man of Steel.” Doc had his Fortress of Solitude in the arctic long before Superman did. And Superman’s alter ego is the first names of Doc (Clark Savage, Jr.) and the Shadow (Kent Allard).

DOC SAVAGE MENTIONED IN DICK TRACY!…… Could he someday appear in this strip. That would be the coolest thing in years…

If I recall, the effectiveness of Silphium in the ‘Doc Savage’ universe was publicly debunked, though Farmer postulated that to be a cover story.

It occurs to me that, just because you have access to the formula, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have access to all of the required ingredients.

I try to go to : http://www.chron.com/entertainment/comics-games/comic/Dick-Tracy and it bring me HERE. I like the B/W version as well the color one. Anybody else have that problem.

Thanks

Okay, Warbucks, if you know that Silphium_ was available in 1934… do you really need the “immortality formula?” Or are you just in on this scheme out of boredom?

I’m beginning to think that this crazy arc is the prelude to a gigantic April Fool’s joke….. and guess, Ladies & Gentlemen, who the fools are.

Good morning fellow DT fans!

♫♫ Slow poke, slow poke, I’m a silly old slow poke ♫♫

If you want immortality then you cannot have children, not on this finite Earth which already too crowded. So it had to remain a secret. Interesting that any alchemist in order to pass the various tests at one point must create an elixir of immortality. Another is one or more homonculi and so on.

That should be: Warbucks had the inside track, but now he’s tipped his hand. Why?

Is it just me, or has it been quite a while since something actually happened in this strip?

It look like GoComics is capturing my demand for http://www.chron.com/entertainment/comics-games/comic/Dick-Tracy and retrack me here. I tried on 3 different internet viewers and 2 computers and I get the same result. It is the first time this happen.

Yes to a Doc Savage appearance.

With silphium considered by most folks to be extinct, maybe Daddy has a secret source of supply unknown to the world-at-large. But it would seem that Perenelle does, too, if her formula is “for real” (as we used to say as kids).

As for Doc Savage; intrigued by the hype, I once tried reading one of the old pulp Doc Savage stories. I was sadly disappointed and off-put, finding the writing and plotting to be sub-par. I would not encourage a cross-over.

Who’d-a-thunk we’d go a couple of months with this nail-biter? I’d rather be reading Gweedo and Bill’s antics with Rikki in the crypt. That was very hard to say; but true.

Just noticed on the Gasoline Alley tribute to some old time Tracy, that in panel two I can see Vista Bill riding across the Plenty’s range. ….Or is that Jingles running to catch up ?