Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for April 14, 2019

Where’s the love?

A brotherly shove

Puts Barnabas in the wrong.

False alibi

A deplorable lie

Sibling sang a song.

~

Tracy’s here

One thing is clear

‘Tis about to hit the fan.

Far braver men than Tar

Have cracked

Then out the door they ran.

~

A rumpus in the restaurant

Could lead to troubled times

Tar loves to choke

Which is no joke

He must pay for his crimes.

After all this time

Oh Bro of mine

I feel the need

With Superman speed

To end your game

Of torture and pain

And make the call

To cause your fall

Call me a rat

That might be a fact

But knowing you’re done

With your sadistic fun

Makes the price I might pay

For my silence each day

Just and right

Letting me sleep at night.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

’Tis baffling why Elvis would suddenly decide to do the right thing after all the murders. Bonnie is indeed fortunate to be a Tracy!

My poem of a guilty conscience is the only rational explanation.

Good morning, just desserts eaters !

Waiter, check !!!

I took a few days off and, when I checked back in, looks like I didn’t miss anything!

Is it just a guilty conscience, as what avenger09 said or does Rocks got another motive.

I am still batting for Rocks as the killer. :D

Now we pick up the pace. I guess the brother’s love eroded under the onslaught of his brother as a serial killer who would not stop.

Wonder what drove Tar’s brother to drop a dime on him?

awwww…..are you kidding? no attempted murder of Bonnie, no clever way of discovering who the serial killer is…just a tip and an arrest…..boring ending to what was a really good story up to now…

In fact, this is REALLY weird…Tracy suspects Barnabas IS the killer, goes to stakeout his dinner date with Bonnie….then LEAVES AND DECIDES HE WAS WRONG??What was he expecting….him to kill her in public at the dinner table??Crazy…

We shall see what Barnabas next move is? Tracy isn’t at the table yet!!! Where’s Joe?

I think I mentioned earlier that Reggie would play a role. I’m just surprised he didn’t do it earlier

One thing I’ll say for Team Tracy – they know enough not to pad or drag out a story line without mercy.

Might not be such a pat ending, we will see!

Good call Neil Wick. They are using a radio car from Tracy’s department. (But why used a marked car on a stake out?) And, why is a guest, WITHOUT OFFICIAL STATUS driving? OY, the administrative, and, legal issues involved!

I’m glad that Bonnie didn’t start berating Barnabas over his sports column…

Now, don’t laugh, but until now I thought Barnabas and his “brother” might be a split personality. After all, we haven’t seen the brother anywhere except in that apartment alone with Barnabas.

i’m still thinking it is Reggie….

Much of the anticipation in this story was the expectation that Bonnie would be kidnapped or somehow put in great danger and have to be rescued (likely by Joe). We now know that Bar Tar is the killer but we haven’t particularly seen him being violent (except when he lost his temper over being called “Teacher’s Pet”) and that was mostly just venting his anger rather than being destructively violent (sure he threatened Wendy but didn’t actually do any harm—his intent was to scare her not to violently harm her). Consequently he has not been portrayed as someone who is as much of a threat as he really is.

On his date with Bonnie, the actual drama is just starting to begin as we seem to see it ending.

The build-up to this story has been fairly compelling even with some glaring inconsistencies (sports writers vs. gym teachers, vs. young blond teachers as victims inconsistent MO; squad cars on stakeouts; visitors driving city vehicles; why Joe was on leave; why he would keep on the case and travel across the country at his own expense while on leave).

Most of the inconsistencies could be overlooked if the payoff was Bonnie in danger of harm and required to be saved but after today, it feels like it is starting to miss the mark.

A weak ending makes you wonder why bring in Wendy? The threat to her last week was much greater than the threat to Bonnie which should be the climax of the story.

Boy, I hope things don’t just peter out at the end, don’t you.

“But… I thought they let you do that when you’re a Tar!”

A possibility to consider… a hostage situation right there in the restaurant with poor Bonnie being held by the now-not-such-a-nice-guy sports writer. That would reaffirm his guilt while still allowing for Joe to come to the rescue of his past and future love. P.S., I also thought the patrol car was moving and, by extension following previous frames, that DT and Joe had called the stakeout quits and had to expeditiously return when they got the wrist wizard tip.

Lee needs to go pick up Rocks. She needs all the information she can get before just accepting a cold call.

I really don’t like the sunday art

Oh now the … hits the fan. He’s in deep trouble now, since it’s 2 Tracy’s and Sampson after him. This will be a home run!

Another storyline that started off with potential, Dick Tracy using his detective skills to track down a serial killer, then going completely off the rails with needless subplots, unexplained motivations, and a climax that feels totally contrived. I’m really wondering if Mike is invested in writing Dick Tracy any more.

The stakeout patrol car (!) in Panel 1 of Row 2 is still (or again) just outside Collette’s. Maybe Joey " the Chauffeur" Sampson and Dick Tracy have circled the block one or more times, to help make that patrol car (!) a bit less obvious to any suspicious Serial Killers dining with younger blondes in the fancy restaurant.

I am prepared to concede as of now that Bar Tar is indeed The Professor and that his brother Reggie “Rocks” Tar is suffering from a guilty conscience for his tacit complicity (he might be liable for prosecution, though if his tip pays off maybe Tracy will “put in a good word” for him).

There is still time (until 28 April) for a confrontation in or just outside the restaurant, in the pouring rain, plus lovey-dovey Joe and Bonnie finale….

is just me or does good ol’ Barney look like George Clooney in the last panel?

4-SMIRKFACE: I never drove a cop car before. Hey! How about turning on the siren and lights? DT: You’re lucky I let you turn on the headlights.5-DT: Dang this carpal tunnel! It’s like lightning bolts in my wrist!6-DT: OW OW OW! SMIRKFACE: You know who probably has carpal tunnel is that Barn dude who works for Glamorous Glamour Magazine. He’s writing and typing all the time. I don’t wanna even think how you could a got it…7-ELLIE MAE: What are you staring at? BARN: Huh? Oh. Yeah. Sorry. You just suddenly looked 8 years old for some reason. Weird..8-ELLIE MAE: Well looky over there. Somebody in a sweater-thing just like yours!. BARN: What? Where? This is a one-off by Pierre Cardigone! How…where…I’ll scratch his eyes out! ELLIE MAE: SHE’s gone. It was just some gal going by the winder pushing a shopping cart. BARN: A BUM! IN MY SWEATER! (faint)