Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for December 30, 2019

Is Joe inking his own pencils this week? ✨

Pretty easy pickings – not a heck of a lot of security at Thermopolis…

Good morning™, mash ups !

Outright calling himself Roboto smacks of crossover even if an actual character is not present but merely a copy of one.

Good morning™, payroll people!

Mr. Roboto knows where the money is to be found. I suppose that Thermopolis is the name of a company, but it sounds like a city, like Metropolis (metr- Greek for mother and polis meaning city, change to thermo meaning hot ).

Robo mask has slant eyes reminiscent of Joe Jitsu. Are we going see “racist” labels fly in Comments ?

Who shows up next, Kilroy, or Dennis DeYoung? Okay, Mr Roboto comes from a rock opera by Styx, and the drawing is pretty spot on. You can search on “Mr Roboto”, and you’ll get the album covers, or go here for the live version: https://www.stereogum.com/2004314/dennis-deyoung-styx-mr-roboto-2018/news/

Re: Styx and Mr Roboto—I’m now going to go off somewhere and feel old…

Uh… So he just walks into the bank just like that? No guards to the bank?

If there is ever to be a crossover character now, let it be Superman! (Not likely)

Which company pays its staff in cash in, er… um… the age of Pan Am, never mind, ignore what I was going to ask.

Who still pays in cash? Or has a Pay window? Most places use checks and/or direct deposit

I’ll bet the shopkeepers and cashiers in Tracytown sometimes think to themselves, Y’know, just once I’d like to be held up by a good, old-fashioned thug…

Let me guess. Joe and Mike are into Styx! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Styx_(band)

“Hi, I’m Mr Roboto and this is a holdup”?

Roboto Sama – What kind of dialogue is that? Especially when I hear it in a high picthed Eddie Haskell voice.

He’s killroy!

For some reason, this reminded me of “This is a bank robbery, and I’m Blackjack” from 6/18/17.

What company pays cash? Which means that A this is just a plot device or B, this is taking place a long time ago. Hell, by the 70s even the Army had stopped paying cash, except on small remote single company posts and all they did was cash the checks that the soldiers got

Secret secret. I’ve got a secret.

I am just guessing the robber is doing the Styx thing to disguise his true identity! (took a while)

Good to know Neil is versed in Greek, every day, it’s an education from the frozen North.

1-MR. KABUKI: Trick R Treat! MR. GEEZER: It’s December fool.

2-MR. KABUKI: Are you sure about that?

MR. GEEZER: Ummm, I keep Halloween in my heart all year round!

MR. KABUKI: And candy in a bowl by the door I hope. For your sake.

MR. GEEZER: GULP! How about some nice cash instead?

MR. KABUKI: Oh, all right. WE’RE GONNA HAVE TO GO BUY THE CANDY OURSELVES BOYS.

Sad to say, the reviewer who commented “Dick Tracy today is kitsch” was correct. Most of our beloved comics have not fared well with the recent people who have taken over.

You gotta wonder how an individual wearing that elaborate headgear could remain inconspicuous between the getaway vehicle and the bank.

styx ’em up!

Mr. Roboto’s henchman (silhouette to viewer’s right of him in panel 2) wears a distinctive slouch hat that calls to mind Blackjack’s favored chapeau; but this henchman is a bigger, much meaner person. A payroll office like this is indeed somewhat anachronistic, but as I recently noted, the DT strip universe exists in its own conflated space and time, not ours….

Is that an Indonesian or Thai mask that he’s wearing??

So, if a writer can’t think up a new villain, they can take a character from an 80s pop song. Maybe Dick will be sued by Billy Jean for child support next.