Our new story is introduced by a few days of characters from Harold Teen, which Mike Curtis has described as his favorite comic strip.
Mike wrote:
Many years ago BEFORE Tracy, I was talking to Tribune about reviving HAROLD TEEN, admittedly my favorite comic strip. I realized that after 6 years, I still had not brought back Harold, and correted that in a brief scene in the new story.
Harold Teen ran from 1919 until 1959, so not many now will remember it. A lot of it takes place in and around Pop Jenks’ soda shop, bas ed on a real soda shop from where the author, Carl Ed (pronounced eed) went to high school. This was the first comic to feature teenagers. Soda shops became very popular at the time that prohibition started and the characters in the strip became famous for using 1920s teenage slang, but it started to get outdated by the late 1950s and Ed retired about 2 weeks before he died. The strip was actually extremely popular at one time with various merchandising items and both a silent film and later a musical talkie film.
I’m not sure who the young woman is. She didn’t appear in any of the strips I’ve found. There were several Harold Teen radio series and one of them included an African American employee of the Sugar Bowl named Simile Jones. This might be her.
I’ve been learning about Harold Teen since Mike mentioned he would be appearing several months ago and I have comments in mind, but it’s harder to put them together on a smart phone.
With everything about the Spirit seemingly wrapped up the story changes completely, which I feel marks the end of the last story and the start of the next one. When that happens I do a list of every Tracy story on GoComics. Unfortunately, soon after I started doing this GC imposed a stupid, asinine character limit of only 2000 characters which includes every letter, space, punctuation, & html, which means I have to do this over several posts. I’ll do my initial introduction in this post and start the list in the next one, because otherwise, I can’t even get past the second year.
My notes are fairly simple. Just my name for the story (usually the name of the main villain or villains, unless they just aren’t the emphasis) followed by the dates the story began and ended. If someone was the main villain for more than one story, I add a “II” and so on to emphasize this. If more than one villain from a past story are in the same story committing major crimes, I include them altogether. Finally, for the two cases of more than one villain with the same name (Chameleon, Mr. Crime) I add, “The Second” in front of their names.
At the start of the GoComics archive, the writer was the late Mike Kilian. Personally, I like his work on Tracy and think he’s very underrated. At the very least, he knew how to tell a story in the daily strip format where every day, something happens that moves the story along, a quality his successor sorely lacked. I recommend anyone here who hasn’t read these stories to check them out.
Obligatory trivia about word origin’s (you know I’m into that):
You will notice the sign on the counter advertising the “gedunk sundae” which became so famous that the cartoonist had to invent a recipe for it.
It’s likely that the word gedunk originated in this strip, but it later became popular slang in the U.S. Navy, referring to an ice-cream soda, sweets in general, or even snacks in general. Examples of this word date back to at least 1927. From there, it developed into a name for an ice-cream stand and later a snack bar or canteen store, usuallyon a ship of the U.S. Navy or Marine Corps. Examples date back to 1956 and it was still current until at least the late 1980s, according to the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, published in 1994.
There are various stories about the invention of the sundae, but it seems that it began as an ice-cream soda without the soda. Sodas used to be made with ice cream, chocolate or other syrup, and pain soda water. There was a place that forbid the serving of soda water on Sundays (prohibition and all that) and one story goes that shops got around the law by serving ice-cream sodas without the soda water on Sundays, and thus the sundae was born.
Here’s a good summary of information about the Harold Teen strip: http://www.toonopedia.com/teen.htm
The earliest strip on GoComics is Sunday, April 8, 2001. GC then skips a week to the next Sunday, April 15, then skips the next couple of days to Wednesday, April 18. Sadly, this means GC doesn’t have every strip from this first story. Happily, GC has every strip from Tracy from 4/18/01 to the present.
The Mistress of Death (June 21-September 13)
Snails (September 14-December 5)
A Detective, 2 Gunmen, and a Kitty (December 6, 2001-January 13,
2002)
G. R. Eed (January 14-February 24)
Pinhead (February 25-April 26)
Percy Brillig (April 27-June 27)
Heartless Mahoney II (June 28-August 23)
Hawk (August 24-October 16)
The Abduction of Tracy’s Granddaughter (October 17-December 15)
I believe this is where Junior and Sparkle’s daughter (initially named Sparkle Plenty Junior) was renamed Jewel.
The Second Chameleon (December 16, 2002-February 7,
2003)
The Revenge of Hard Case Harry? (February 8-May 3)
Hard Case Harry was a bitter ex-con who served a harsher sentence than even Tracy felt he deserved. In an earlier story, he initially sought revenge on Tracy, but got a chance to reform. Here, he and a family go missing, and Tracy’s left to wonder if he’s decided to return to crime after all. This leads to reprinting the entire original Hard Case Harry story that ran from December 13, 1993-January 23, 1994, before this second HCH case is solved.
I did a research paper on Dick Tracy’s early years for an English class back in the 1980s. No Internet at the time, so I raided the library’s microfilm dept. for any Dick Tracy strips. I read those, along with some Harold Teen strips. I admit, the strips had an appeal. My favorite character from the strip was Shadow Smart; I can’t wait to see Terry’s rendition of him. And, for the life of me, I still haven’t figured out what’s in a Gedunk sundae.
Dr. Beau Tox, Heartless, Mahoney, Prune Hilda, Dab Stract, & No Face (September 29-December 18)
All of the above villains were recurring villains except for Dr. Tox, the main villain. By the end, Prune Hilda is killed, Mahoney and Stract testify against Tox in exchange for freedom, but despite their testimony, Tox is acquitted. So Tox, Mahoney, and Stract were all legally freed (and Locher later confirmed that Stract reformed). No Face, as always, escaped without getting caught, and is still at large. ARGH!
Sal Monella II (December 19, 2003-March 10,
2004)
Mousse (March 11-May 30)
Piggy Bank VI (May 31-August 27)
Yes, this was Piggy Bank’s sixth story as a main villain. And he escapes and remains at large. ARGH!
Flunke (August 28-December 22)
Airport Sabotage (December 23,2004-March 14,
2005)
The Manipulation of Moonrock (March 15-May 27)
Dick Tracy in the Southwest (May 28-August 11)
Cellphone (August 12-November 3)
This is the last story Kilian lived to complete.
Oily II (November 4, 2005-March 22,
2006)
Oily was a villain who debuted in a pre-2001 Kilian story. Sadly, Kilian died in late 2005. The last Sunday strip with his signature on it was January 15, 2006. The last Daily strip with his signature on it was over a week earlier on January 7. Up to that point the story had been moving along at Kilian’s usual brisk pace. He’d even had the story largely wrapped up. Too bad his successor, Kilian’s friend and longtime Tracy artist Dick Locher, stretched out the ending for over two months, that feel like over two months just reading it. A sad omen of things to come.
TBC cuz GC sez 2001 characters is “very, very disruptive on the small screen” so it must be true.
Nice drawing style. I didn’t even know of Harold Teen, no wonder if it ceased in 1959. Guess it was driven out by the rising star of teen comics, Archie.
And now, here’s my coverage of Dick Locher’s run as writer. In fairness to Locher, he’d been a good, regular artist for decades. And stepping in at the crisis of Mike Kilian’s unexpected death probably saved the strip and kept it afloat. And earlier, when Max Allan Collins left, Locher wrote and drew one story before Kilian stepped in (which sadly, isn’t on here) that’s actually pretty good. That said, his writing here from 2006 to 2011 is Bad. Really, really Bad. Excruciatingly Bad. I list the stories here, where you can find them, but I really wouldn’t recommend reading them. Although halfway through, the experience starts to become worthwhile on this site, but not for anything Locher is doing (at least not intentionally).
2006
Al Kinda (March 23-August 24)
Dr. Figment Froid (August 25, 2006-January 21,
2007)
Queenie (January 22-May 19)
The Brainwashed Baron (May 20-October 14)
The Haunted House (October 15, 2007-January 22,
2008)
Cole Lector (January 23-May 15)
TBC cuz we’ve reached the halfway point of Locher’s run, it’s about to become (sorta) worthwhile, but I need to explain why and my explanation can’t fit this post. Ain’t character limits wonderful
And this is where it (sorta) becomes worthwhile. When Tracy first found the Internet, TMS published its own Tracy website, complete with a forum. In early August, 2008, the site and forum were completely shut down. Which is when GoComics took off. On August 3, fans began to post here, and with nothing good going on in the strip, the fans resumed what they’d done on the old forum, mocking and making fun of just how awful the strip had become. If you like Riff Trax and its predecessor, Mystery Science Theater 3000, you might get a kick out of these comments, many of which are clever, witty, even hilarious at times.
There’s one caveat however. There were a couple of ugly flame wars started here by Locher’s friend and supporter, Matthew P. Hansel. He would rudely insult anyone who didn’t appreciate Locher’s “genius”, namely just about everyone else posting. It got so bad several times, that the GoComics administrator would have to step in and put a halt to it. Eventually all of Matty’s posts would be deleted, which was no big loss, but several fun commentators would get deleted, too, which was a big loss. Going over these old comments now, while still often amusing, can be a bit odd, because the remaining posts include reactions to comments that are no longer there.
Be that as it may, there’s some entertainment value in the comments section of the following strips, even if there’s none in the strips themselves.
Braces (August 28-December 10)
Angelorious (December 11, 2008-March 2,
2009)
Big Ace & One-Eyed Jack (March 3-July 10)
Murder at the Circus (July 11-November 24)
The Maestro and His Son (November 25, 2009-April 6,
2010)
Johnny Nothing (April 7-July 21)
D’Buckworth (July 22-November 13)
Dr. Mordred (November 14, 2010-March 13,
2011)
And after five years of darkness, there was light.
And now my listing of Curtis’ stories. I have the least to say here, but’s all good and often great. Anyone looking for past good stories can find them here. Highly recommended.
2011
The Fifth & Flyface III (March 14-April 30)
Hot Rize (May 1-June 2)
Doubleup (June 3-25)
B-B Eyes II (June 26-July 30)
Morning Gloria (July 31-September 17)
The Retelling of Tracy’s First Case (September 18-October 23)
The Second Mr. Crime, B-B Eyes, Blaze Rize, Mumbles, Doubleup, & Abner Kadaver (October 24-December 2)
Abner Kadaver is in a unique position among Tracy villains. As a professional hitman, he’s always taking orders from somebody, and they’ve always been main villains in their own right. So technically, Abner is never the “main” villain. But there are stories where he is the main focus, and whenever that is, I boldface his name.
Putty Puss III (December 3, 2011-February 2,
2012)
Thunderchild (February 3-March 7)
Blackjack (March 8-April 24)
The Second Mr. Crime, B-B Eyes, Blaze Rize, Mumbles, Doubleup, & Abner Kadaver II (April 25-July 20)
The Fall of the Blackhearts and the Return and Rise of Mr. Bribery (June 14-October 11)
Where it’s revealed that Mr. Bribery was the secret leader of the Blackhearts, making him the unseen main villain behind the Return of Moon Maid, Abner Kadaver’s second “solo” story (the one I start by listing “The Blackhearts”), and the Great Train Robbery.
Midnight Mirror Mystery (October 12-December 25)
Specs & Spicy and the Return of the Ace of Spades (December 26, 2015-April 6,
Mr. Bribery & Abner Kadaver (June 22-September 24)
Selfy (September 25-December 17)
This story also marks the return of Gould villain Posie Ermine. He’s served his time, and no one tries to arrest him, but he’s definitely still a villain. He knows Selfy is a wanted fugitive but doesn’t alert the authorities, he rear ends Mysta’s car, and tries to forcibly take her with him. I expect we’ll see more of him and some more outright villainy from him in the future.
Dick Tracy Meets The Spirit (December 18, 2016-April 6,
Alice White and Arthur Lake, from the 1928 silent film: Note that each is holding an oversized ladyfinger cookie with which to consume their ‘Gedunk Sundae’ …
Calling all trolls! Calling all trolls! // Still Da Avenger and Morrow! Even tsull2121! // Am I alone on this? I mean, I’m really feeling cheated on this one! // After that fizzled ending to Am Not and Ramon, we didn’t even get a cat fight between Bonnie and Mysta! // It’s the least they could have done! // Put old Spirit out with a BANG instead of a whimper!
I like Shelly’s art, and today’s strip, although I had no idea who (or what) Harold Teen was until I saw Neil’s comments (thanks Neil!). Could the poster be for the convention featured in the next story?
I’m not familiar with Pop Jenks and the Sugar Bowl, nor with the girl (high school student?). But I learn from previous posters that they come from the old and defunct Harold Teen comic strip, which at best nibbles at the outermost fringes of my memory: though I read the Chicago Tribune back in those days, Harold Teen was not one of the strips I read; I probably thought it too boring and/or inane.
We’ll see where this goes, and how swiftly it gets there….
At the Dick Tracy Fan Club, someone posted this Harold Teen song, Swingin’ at the Sugar Bowl:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEBWwarfZtI
One line refers to Pop Jenks (the only HT character in today’s strip) but I can’t make out the lyric “Old Pop Jenks is doing his” something that rhymes with “through”. Unfortunately, the song is too obscure for anybody on the web to have transcribed the lyrics.
There were a number of teen comics and strips after WWII. Cookie and the Kilroys followed the Ed formula of Teens using the jargon of the day, and good clean teen fun. I don’t recall Archie ever getting into teen jargon.
The story about sodas and sundaes is right. But a soda wasn’t made with soda water as such. Back in the day, when you went to a soda fountain, the fountain had high chrome spigots with black handles on top. If you wanted a soda drink, the Jerk would put syrup in a glass, add ice, and then put the glass under the spigot and pull the handle toward him for the carbonated water. If you wanted a soda, the Jerk would put in some vanilla ice cream and syrup or fruit and mash the two together, hold the glass under the spigot and push the handle back and you’d get a thin jet of carbonated water that came out forcefully, then more syrup or crushed fruit, like strawberries, and a couple more scoops of ice cream, hold it under the spigot for another longer jet of water and the thing would foam up. Straw and spoon and you were all set. The liquid would tickle your nose as you drank. Delicious! Very, very few of these genuine old time soda fountains around anymore.
With due respect to Still Da Avenger, Morrow, and even tsull2121 (who didn’t respond earlier), “calling all trolls” was just my way of trying to be funny – maybe it didn’t work. But I feel a bit like a troll right now, because I am far from pleased with this yet-another-jerk-in-the-road story arc. // To Jim in CT, in fact, I DID expect at least a cat fight or something to end the Spirit arc. That story didn’t even end with a thud! And for all those folks expecting an Agatha Christie ending, we didn’t even get that, either. // Neil Wick posits that Team Tracy is looking to expand its audience to younger readers, but even he seems a bit puzzled that we are now visiting a group of teenagers that was out of the papers before most baby boomers were born!
And I really like the comment about wondering about the whereabouts of the lost space coupe – and, I might add, its two occupants! // In my humble opinion (and I hate acronyms, such as IMHO), I’m still looking forward to a Hollywood back-from-the-dead story for the real Moon Maid, having to deal with a certain kluged Moon Maid in which the criminal mind of Mindy Ermine has re-emerged, still retaining the super powers given her by the pair of docs…
I’m thinking the intention is good; leaving the fate of some villians unanswered, as it allows for the possibility of their return……Abner in the cement, and Sprocket in the water being prime examples. I have no problem with this…… but leaving whether or not Perenelle was the “real deal” in question…..I – and I’m guessing most readers – waited out the whole strip to see, so I hope this can be addressed down the line somewhere…..
Cheapskate, your comment summed up my thoughts to a tee. DT is-a-changin’, as it already has. The fans who liked it like Gould did it are in the minority and as one youngster put it, we’ll be dead in a short time anyway. Maybe he is right. I don’t care. I enjoyed it while I could, but in the new world of social acceptance, anything is possible. Sad.
Um… trying to be patient here, but Dick Tracy has been barely noticeable in this strip for the past few months. Didn’t he used to, like, fight crime or something?
Come on guys, if you’ve been reading the strip for as long as you’ve been commenting, you know there’s always a few days where we get strips setting up the next story. Her poster probably has something to do with the horror convention featured in the story.
@ NightGaunt49 and others: There is a Sugar Bowl in Family Circus, as well. There is a Sugar Bowl in Scottsdale, AZ, home of Bil Keane and decorated with his strips. // But my favorite Sugar Bowl is in my home town of Des Plaines, IL, across the street from what used to be the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. (The C&NW has long since sold out to Union Pacific, along with Milwaukee Road and others; it is both ironic and sad to see the same yellow and grey engines moping around my home town as I see around here in my adopted playground of Colorado)
Des Plaines tourism department: If anyone does to Des Plaines, a couple other places to check out are the Choo-Choo Restaurant, not far from Sugar Bowl. The Choo-Choo’s shtick: Lionel Trains bring you your food! // Also in the immediate vicinity: McDonald’s #1, now an outdoor museum. This is NOT the original McDonald Brothers’ restaurant; that was in California. But this was the first restaurant that Ray Kroc opened, after buying out the McDonald brothers.
Just want to pop in and comment on how great the art is. Yesterday I was at, what we used to call, a comic book shop. I miss comic book art. Thanks for making me feel at home again. The world is now right.
Vista Bill Raley and Comet™ about 7 years ago
Good morning guys!
Opps! Wrong strip! I am looking for Dick Tracy!
Neil Wick about 7 years ago
Our new story is introduced by a few days of characters from Harold Teen, which Mike Curtis has described as his favorite comic strip.
Mike wrote:
Many years ago BEFORE Tracy, I was talking to Tribune about reviving HAROLD TEEN, admittedly my favorite comic strip. I realized that after 6 years, I still had not brought back Harold, and correted that in a brief scene in the new story.
Don Bagert Premium Member about 7 years ago
I immediately noticed the art change.
Gweedo -it's legal here- Murray about 7 years ago
Lookin’ good, Shel !
Neil Wick about 7 years ago
Harold Teen ran from 1919 until 1959, so not many now will remember it. A lot of it takes place in and around Pop Jenks’ soda shop, bas ed on a real soda shop from where the author, Carl Ed (pronounced eed) went to high school. This was the first comic to feature teenagers. Soda shops became very popular at the time that prohibition started and the characters in the strip became famous for using 1920s teenage slang, but it started to get outdated by the late 1950s and Ed retired about 2 weeks before he died. The strip was actually extremely popular at one time with various merchandising items and both a silent film and later a musical talkie film.
Gweedo -it's legal here- Murray about 7 years ago
From the wasteland of yesterday…
Night-Gaunt49 GC Outrider said, about an hour ago
@Gweedo it’s legal here Murray
Isn’t that written into your contracts?
You bet your sweet bippy, Buddy, and I believe in living up to ‘contractual obligations’ !
Neil Wick about 7 years ago
I’m not sure who the young woman is. She didn’t appear in any of the strips I’ve found. There were several Harold Teen radio series and one of them included an African American employee of the Sugar Bowl named Simile Jones. This might be her.
Neil Wick about 7 years ago
I’ve been learning about Harold Teen since Mike mentioned he would be appearing several months ago and I have comments in mind, but it’s harder to put them together on a smart phone.
seanyj about 7 years ago
What the hell is this?
boboscar about 7 years ago
“And now for something completely different.”
With everything about the Spirit seemingly wrapped up the story changes completely, which I feel marks the end of the last story and the start of the next one. When that happens I do a list of every Tracy story on GoComics. Unfortunately, soon after I started doing this GC imposed a stupid, asinine character limit of only 2000 characters which includes every letter, space, punctuation, & html, which means I have to do this over several posts. I’ll do my initial introduction in this post and start the list in the next one, because otherwise, I can’t even get past the second year.
My notes are fairly simple. Just my name for the story (usually the name of the main villain or villains, unless they just aren’t the emphasis) followed by the dates the story began and ended. If someone was the main villain for more than one story, I add a “II” and so on to emphasize this. If more than one villain from a past story are in the same story committing major crimes, I include them altogether. Finally, for the two cases of more than one villain with the same name (Chameleon, Mr. Crime) I add, “The Second” in front of their names.
At the start of the GoComics archive, the writer was the late Mike Kilian. Personally, I like his work on Tracy and think he’s very underrated. At the very least, he knew how to tell a story in the daily strip format where every day, something happens that moves the story along, a quality his successor sorely lacked. I recommend anyone here who hasn’t read these stories to check them out.
TBC cuz GC decided to suck now
Neil Wick about 7 years ago
Obligatory trivia about word origin’s (you know I’m into that):
You will notice the sign on the counter advertising the “gedunk sundae” which became so famous that the cartoonist had to invent a recipe for it.
It’s likely that the word gedunk originated in this strip, but it later became popular slang in the U.S. Navy, referring to an ice-cream soda, sweets in general, or even snacks in general. Examples of this word date back to at least 1927. From there, it developed into a name for an ice-cream stand and later a snack bar or canteen store, usuallyon a ship of the U.S. Navy or Marine Corps. Examples date back to 1956 and it was still current until at least the late 1980s, according to the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, published in 1994.
There are various stories about the invention of the sundae, but it seems that it began as an ice-cream soda without the soda. Sodas used to be made with ice cream, chocolate or other syrup, and pain soda water. There was a place that forbid the serving of soda water on Sundays (prohibition and all that) and one story goes that shops got around the law by serving ice-cream sodas without the soda water on Sundays, and thus the sundae was born.
Here’s a good summary of information about the Harold Teen strip: http://www.toonopedia.com/teen.htm
boboscar about 7 years ago
Tracy in GoComics
2001
The Airplane Murder Mystery (March 29-June 20)
The earliest strip on GoComics is Sunday, April 8, 2001. GC then skips a week to the next Sunday, April 15, then skips the next couple of days to Wednesday, April 18. Sadly, this means GC doesn’t have every strip from this first story. Happily, GC has every strip from Tracy from 4/18/01 to the present.
The Mistress of Death (June 21-September 13)
Snails (September 14-December 5)
A Detective, 2 Gunmen, and a Kitty (December 6, 2001-January 13,
2002)
G. R. Eed (January 14-February 24)
Pinhead (February 25-April 26)
Percy Brillig (April 27-June 27)
Heartless Mahoney II (June 28-August 23)
Hawk (August 24-October 16)
The Abduction of Tracy’s Granddaughter (October 17-December 15)
I believe this is where Junior and Sparkle’s daughter (initially named Sparkle Plenty Junior) was renamed Jewel.
The Second Chameleon (December 16, 2002-February 7,
2003)
The Revenge of Hard Case Harry? (February 8-May 3)
Hard Case Harry was a bitter ex-con who served a harsher sentence than even Tracy felt he deserved. In an earlier story, he initially sought revenge on Tracy, but got a chance to reform. Here, he and a family go missing, and Tracy’s left to wonder if he’s decided to return to crime after all. This leads to reprinting the entire original Hard Case Harry story that ran from December 13, 1993-January 23, 1994, before this second HCH case is solved.
Hawk II (May 4-July 2)
The Filligree Murder Case (July 3-September 22)
TBC for no good reason
Chris Colvard about 7 years ago
I did a research paper on Dick Tracy’s early years for an English class back in the 1980s. No Internet at the time, so I raided the library’s microfilm dept. for any Dick Tracy strips. I read those, along with some Harold Teen strips. I admit, the strips had an appeal. My favorite character from the strip was Shadow Smart; I can’t wait to see Terry’s rendition of him. And, for the life of me, I still haven’t figured out what’s in a Gedunk sundae.
boboscar about 7 years ago
Tracy in GoComics
2003
Dr. Beau Tox, Heartless, Mahoney, Prune Hilda, Dab Stract, & No Face (September 29-December 18)
All of the above villains were recurring villains except for Dr. Tox, the main villain. By the end, Prune Hilda is killed, Mahoney and Stract testify against Tox in exchange for freedom, but despite their testimony, Tox is acquitted. So Tox, Mahoney, and Stract were all legally freed (and Locher later confirmed that Stract reformed). No Face, as always, escaped without getting caught, and is still at large. ARGH!
Sal Monella II (December 19, 2003-March 10,
2004)
Mousse (March 11-May 30)
Piggy Bank VI (May 31-August 27)
Yes, this was Piggy Bank’s sixth story as a main villain. And he escapes and remains at large. ARGH!
Flunke (August 28-December 22)
Airport Sabotage (December 23,2004-March 14,
2005)
The Manipulation of Moonrock (March 15-May 27)
Dick Tracy in the Southwest (May 28-August 11)
Cellphone (August 12-November 3)
This is the last story Kilian lived to complete.
Oily II (November 4, 2005-March 22,
2006)
Oily was a villain who debuted in a pre-2001 Kilian story. Sadly, Kilian died in late 2005. The last Sunday strip with his signature on it was January 15, 2006. The last Daily strip with his signature on it was over a week earlier on January 7. Up to that point the story had been moving along at Kilian’s usual brisk pace. He’d even had the story largely wrapped up. Too bad his successor, Kilian’s friend and longtime Tracy artist Dick Locher, stretched out the ending for over two months, that feel like over two months just reading it. A sad omen of things to come.
TBC cuz GC sez 2001 characters is “very, very disruptive on the small screen” so it must be true.
Ashmael about 7 years ago
Nice drawing style. I didn’t even know of Harold Teen, no wonder if it ceased in 1959. Guess it was driven out by the rising star of teen comics, Archie.
boboscar about 7 years ago
Tracy in GoComics
And now, here’s my coverage of Dick Locher’s run as writer. In fairness to Locher, he’d been a good, regular artist for decades. And stepping in at the crisis of Mike Kilian’s unexpected death probably saved the strip and kept it afloat. And earlier, when Max Allan Collins left, Locher wrote and drew one story before Kilian stepped in (which sadly, isn’t on here) that’s actually pretty good. That said, his writing here from 2006 to 2011 is Bad. Really, really Bad. Excruciatingly Bad. I list the stories here, where you can find them, but I really wouldn’t recommend reading them. Although halfway through, the experience starts to become worthwhile on this site, but not for anything Locher is doing (at least not intentionally).
2006
Al Kinda (March 23-August 24)
Dr. Figment Froid (August 25, 2006-January 21,
2007)
Queenie (January 22-May 19)
The Brainwashed Baron (May 20-October 14)
The Haunted House (October 15, 2007-January 22,
2008)
Cole Lector (January 23-May 15)
TBC cuz we’ve reached the halfway point of Locher’s run, it’s about to become (sorta) worthwhile, but I need to explain why and my explanation can’t fit this post. Ain’t character limits wonderful
blunebottle about 7 years ago
Kind of got an “Archies” look to the young lady…
boboscar about 7 years ago
Tracy in GoComics
2008
Baskerville & Shirl Locke (May 16-August 27)
And this is where it (sorta) becomes worthwhile. When Tracy first found the Internet, TMS published its own Tracy website, complete with a forum. In early August, 2008, the site and forum were completely shut down. Which is when GoComics took off. On August 3, fans began to post here, and with nothing good going on in the strip, the fans resumed what they’d done on the old forum, mocking and making fun of just how awful the strip had become. If you like Riff Trax and its predecessor, Mystery Science Theater 3000, you might get a kick out of these comments, many of which are clever, witty, even hilarious at times.
There’s one caveat however. There were a couple of ugly flame wars started here by Locher’s friend and supporter, Matthew P. Hansel. He would rudely insult anyone who didn’t appreciate Locher’s “genius”, namely just about everyone else posting. It got so bad several times, that the GoComics administrator would have to step in and put a halt to it. Eventually all of Matty’s posts would be deleted, which was no big loss, but several fun commentators would get deleted, too, which was a big loss. Going over these old comments now, while still often amusing, can be a bit odd, because the remaining posts include reactions to comments that are no longer there.
Be that as it may, there’s some entertainment value in the comments section of the following strips, even if there’s none in the strips themselves.
Braces (August 28-December 10)
Angelorious (December 11, 2008-March 2,
2009)
Big Ace & One-Eyed Jack (March 3-July 10)
Murder at the Circus (July 11-November 24)
The Maestro and His Son (November 25, 2009-April 6,
2010)
Johnny Nothing (April 7-July 21)
D’Buckworth (July 22-November 13)
Dr. Mordred (November 14, 2010-March 13,
2011)
And after five years of darkness, there was light.
boboscar about 7 years ago
Tracy in GoComics
And now my listing of Curtis’ stories. I have the least to say here, but’s all good and often great. Anyone looking for past good stories can find them here. Highly recommended.
2011
The Fifth & Flyface III (March 14-April 30)
Hot Rize (May 1-June 2)
Doubleup (June 3-25)
B-B Eyes II (June 26-July 30)
Morning Gloria (July 31-September 17)
The Retelling of Tracy’s First Case (September 18-October 23)
The Second Mr. Crime, B-B Eyes, Blaze Rize, Mumbles, Doubleup, & Abner Kadaver (October 24-December 2)
Abner Kadaver is in a unique position among Tracy villains. As a professional hitman, he’s always taking orders from somebody, and they’ve always been main villains in their own right. So technically, Abner is never the “main” villain. But there are stories where he is the main focus, and whenever that is, I boldface his name.
Putty Puss III (December 3, 2011-February 2,
2012)
Thunderchild (February 3-March 7)
Blackjack (March 8-April 24)
The Second Mr. Crime, B-B Eyes, Blaze Rize, Mumbles, Doubleup, & Abner Kadaver II (April 25-July 20)
Mrs. Flattop (July 21-August 20)
Phishface (August 21-September 28)
Measles II (September 29-November 16)
Broadway Bates II (November 17, 2012-January 5,
2013)
Sweat Box (January 6-March 3)
The Jumbler (March 4-April 16)
The Return of Moon Maid (April 17-October 19)
The Blackhearts, Mrs. Flattop, Abner Kadaver, & Blackjack (Octobr 20, 2013-January 4,
2014)
Silver & Sprocket Nitrate (January 5-March 19)
Tabby Angus (March 20-May 31)
The Search for Annie (June 1-October 12)
Gruesome (October 13, 2014-January 18,
2015)
Silver & Sprocket Nitrate and Mrs. Flattop (January 19-March 21)
TBC cuz GC hates free advertising
boboscar about 7 years ago
Tracy in GoComics
2015
The Great Train Robbery (March 22-June 13)
The Fall of the Blackhearts and the Return and Rise of Mr. Bribery (June 14-October 11)
Where it’s revealed that Mr. Bribery was the secret leader of the Blackhearts, making him the unseen main villain behind the Return of Moon Maid, Abner Kadaver’s second “solo” story (the one I start by listing “The Blackhearts”), and the Great Train Robbery.
Midnight Mirror Mystery (October 12-December 25)
Specs & Spicy and the Return of the Ace of Spades (December 26, 2015-April 6,
2016)
Mrs. Notta Faller Chin Chiller, Blaze Rize, and Putty Puss (April 7-June 21)
Mr. Bribery & Abner Kadaver (June 22-September 24)
Selfy (September 25-December 17)
This story also marks the return of Gould villain Posie Ermine. He’s served his time, and no one tries to arrest him, but he’s definitely still a villain. He knows Selfy is a wanted fugitive but doesn’t alert the authorities, he rear ends Mysta’s car, and tries to forcibly take her with him. I expect we’ll see more of him and some more outright villainy from him in the future.
Dick Tracy Meets The Spirit (December 18, 2016-April 6,
2017)
And that’s literally all they wrote (in GC)
AnyFace about 7 years ago
Yet another defunct Tribune Syndicate strip in action!
Darth Stevious about 7 years ago
I’ll miss Joe Staton while he’d gone but can’t complain since we’ll be getting a new E-Man comic out of it!
AnyFace about 7 years ago
Here’s a trailer for the 1934 ‘HAROLD TEEN’ movie, courtesy of TMC …
http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/464975/Harold-Teen-Original-Trailer-.html
AnyFace about 7 years ago
Harold and his pals clearly inspired the later ARCHIE COMICS characters more than a little.
AnyFace about 7 years ago
In the 1928 silent film, Harold was portrayed by none other than Arthur Lake …
… so, rather fittingly, he grew up to be Dagwood Bumstead. :)
AnyFace about 7 years ago
Here’s a piece on Harold’s transition to the radio airwaves …
http://www.mwotrc.com/rr2011_08/haroldteen.htm
AnyFace about 7 years ago
Alice White and Arthur Lake, from the 1928 silent film: Note that each is holding an oversized ladyfinger cookie with which to consume their ‘Gedunk Sundae’ …
http://media.liveauctiongroup.net/i/7634/9440217_2.jpg?v=8CCBD68EADB0CF0
AnyFace about 7 years ago
… and apparently Harold was referenced in the Stephen Sondheim musical, ‘COMPANY’ as well~!!
AnyFace about 7 years ago
Looking for examples of strips featuring Pop Jenks, not having any luck.
Did learn – Not Surprisingly – that Harold popped up in ‘Gasoline Alley’ at least once …
http://the-unmutual.blogspot.com/2013/08/gasoline-alley-and-old-comic-strip_20.html
A R V reader about 7 years ago
This may have something to do with Mysta’s date with Spirit, or there may be trouble in Riverdale.
Cheapskate0 about 7 years ago
Calling all trolls! Calling all trolls! // Still Da Avenger and Morrow! Even tsull2121! // Am I alone on this? I mean, I’m really feeling cheated on this one! // After that fizzled ending to Am Not and Ramon, we didn’t even get a cat fight between Bonnie and Mysta! // It’s the least they could have done! // Put old Spirit out with a BANG instead of a whimper!
Can't Sleep about 7 years ago
I like Shelly’s art, and today’s strip, although I had no idea who (or what) Harold Teen was until I saw Neil’s comments (thanks Neil!). Could the poster be for the convention featured in the next story?
Morrow Cummings about 7 years ago
It’s a good thing the writers don’t own a steak house. On top of the menu would be tofu and bean sprouts.
Sisyphos about 7 years ago
Here comes the new arc with art by Shelley!
I’m not familiar with Pop Jenks and the Sugar Bowl, nor with the girl (high school student?). But I learn from previous posters that they come from the old and defunct Harold Teen comic strip, which at best nibbles at the outermost fringes of my memory: though I read the Chicago Tribune back in those days, Harold Teen was not one of the strips I read; I probably thought it too boring and/or inane.
We’ll see where this goes, and how swiftly it gets there….
AnyFace about 7 years ago
There’s often an extra `pop’ to the number of comments when new, unfamiliar, or crossover characters appear in ‘Dick Tracy.’
100+ Today.
… and now I really wish ‘Harold Teen’ had lasted long enough for me to have first-hand memories of it.
boboscar about 7 years ago
At the Dick Tracy Fan Club, someone posted this Harold Teen song, Swingin’ at the Sugar Bowl:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEBWwarfZtI
One line refers to Pop Jenks (the only HT character in today’s strip) but I can’t make out the lyric “Old Pop Jenks is doing his” something that rhymes with “through”. Unfortunately, the song is too obscure for anybody on the web to have transcribed the lyrics.
Bramosenos Premium Member about 7 years ago
There were a number of teen comics and strips after WWII. Cookie and the Kilroys followed the Ed formula of Teens using the jargon of the day, and good clean teen fun. I don’t recall Archie ever getting into teen jargon.
The story about sodas and sundaes is right. But a soda wasn’t made with soda water as such. Back in the day, when you went to a soda fountain, the fountain had high chrome spigots with black handles on top. If you wanted a soda drink, the Jerk would put syrup in a glass, add ice, and then put the glass under the spigot and pull the handle toward him for the carbonated water. If you wanted a soda, the Jerk would put in some vanilla ice cream and syrup or fruit and mash the two together, hold the glass under the spigot and push the handle back and you’d get a thin jet of carbonated water that came out forcefully, then more syrup or crushed fruit, like strawberries, and a couple more scoops of ice cream, hold it under the spigot for another longer jet of water and the thing would foam up. Straw and spoon and you were all set. The liquid would tickle your nose as you drank. Delicious! Very, very few of these genuine old time soda fountains around anymore.
Cheapskate0 about 7 years ago
With due respect to Still Da Avenger, Morrow, and even tsull2121 (who didn’t respond earlier), “calling all trolls” was just my way of trying to be funny – maybe it didn’t work. But I feel a bit like a troll right now, because I am far from pleased with this yet-another-jerk-in-the-road story arc. // To Jim in CT, in fact, I DID expect at least a cat fight or something to end the Spirit arc. That story didn’t even end with a thud! And for all those folks expecting an Agatha Christie ending, we didn’t even get that, either. // Neil Wick posits that Team Tracy is looking to expand its audience to younger readers, but even he seems a bit puzzled that we are now visiting a group of teenagers that was out of the papers before most baby boomers were born!
Cheapskate0 about 7 years ago
And I really like the comment about wondering about the whereabouts of the lost space coupe – and, I might add, its two occupants! // In my humble opinion (and I hate acronyms, such as IMHO), I’m still looking forward to a Hollywood back-from-the-dead story for the real Moon Maid, having to deal with a certain kluged Moon Maid in which the criminal mind of Mindy Ermine has re-emerged, still retaining the super powers given her by the pair of docs…
Cheapskate0 about 7 years ago
Something! Anything!
Night-Gaunt49[Bozo is Boffo] about 7 years ago
There is a “Sugar Bowl” in the Arthur cartoon based on the Arthur books on PBS.
fredville about 7 years ago
I’m thinking the intention is good; leaving the fate of some villians unanswered, as it allows for the possibility of their return……Abner in the cement, and Sprocket in the water being prime examples. I have no problem with this…… but leaving whether or not Perenelle was the “real deal” in question…..I – and I’m guessing most readers – waited out the whole strip to see, so I hope this can be addressed down the line somewhere…..
Morrow Cummings about 7 years ago
Cheapskate, your comment summed up my thoughts to a tee. DT is-a-changin’, as it already has. The fans who liked it like Gould did it are in the minority and as one youngster put it, we’ll be dead in a short time anyway. Maybe he is right. I don’t care. I enjoyed it while I could, but in the new world of social acceptance, anything is possible. Sad.
steveyorkdesigns about 7 years ago
Um… trying to be patient here, but Dick Tracy has been barely noticeable in this strip for the past few months. Didn’t he used to, like, fight crime or something?
Can't Sleep about 7 years ago
Come on guys, if you’ve been reading the strip for as long as you’ve been commenting, you know there’s always a few days where we get strips setting up the next story. Her poster probably has something to do with the horror convention featured in the story.
Cheapskate0 about 7 years ago
@ NightGaunt49 and others: There is a Sugar Bowl in Family Circus, as well. There is a Sugar Bowl in Scottsdale, AZ, home of Bil Keane and decorated with his strips. // But my favorite Sugar Bowl is in my home town of Des Plaines, IL, across the street from what used to be the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. (The C&NW has long since sold out to Union Pacific, along with Milwaukee Road and others; it is both ironic and sad to see the same yellow and grey engines moping around my home town as I see around here in my adopted playground of Colorado)
Cheapskate0 about 7 years ago
Des Plaines tourism department: If anyone does to Des Plaines, a couple other places to check out are the Choo-Choo Restaurant, not far from Sugar Bowl. The Choo-Choo’s shtick: Lionel Trains bring you your food! // Also in the immediate vicinity: McDonald’s #1, now an outdoor museum. This is NOT the original McDonald Brothers’ restaurant; that was in California. But this was the first restaurant that Ray Kroc opened, after buying out the McDonald brothers.
Durak Premium Member about 7 years ago
Just want to pop in and comment on how great the art is. Yesterday I was at, what we used to call, a comic book shop. I miss comic book art. Thanks for making me feel at home again. The world is now right.
Cavenee Lonnie Premium Member about 7 years ago
Harold Teen! OMG