You seldom get two drawings of Tracy in a single panel. For a moment, I was going to say that he looked different in the past than he looks now, but I think they are essentially the same.
Tracy has become very voluble. Fortuna does seem to have loosened his tongue. We get his version of the original Shaky/Breathless story (including, yes, the disturbing police procedure of giving out souvenirs from a Crime Scene). All well and good.
—Though I could be crass and say it serves also as a convenient stalling device for the current story, if one is not sure where to go with it….
Getting Shaky’s money is a fool’s errand if that is Fortuna’s plan.
The Breathless Mahoney story pretty much ended after BO tried to kill Breathless by strangling her with a string he fished out of the bindings of a library book. He left her for dead and went on the run with Shaky’s money. Tracy arrived before Breathless died and called an ambulance. The veins and nerves in her throat and neck were damaged and she was taken to the hospital and eventually to jail after her recovery. After some business about Breathless apologizing to her mother for running out on her and leaving her for dead, that was the end of Breathless in the tale.
But the tale of Shaky’s money continued even though there was no more involvement by Breathless.
BO ended up with Shaky’s money and he moved from his farm to the city and went on a spree spending like a drunken sailor, buying diamond rings, giving large tips, spending thousands to feed pigeons, etc. (He also got a crew cut and shaved his beard so he wouldn’t be recognized but he still insisted on wearing his pith helmet.)
Breathless’s mother and Shaky’s best friend, Itchy Oliver, tracked BO down. Itchy tortured BO by burning his feet with a blow torch to get him to give up the remainder of the money. Itchy stuffed the cash into a toy doll BO won at a carnival. Trying to escape through the country, Itchy hit a cow and his car exploded which burned up the money even though Itchy escaped.
And that’s what happened to the original Breathless and the money discussed in today’s strip.
Tracy learns the true depths of Fortune’s depravity…
1-FORTUNE:* AND THEN…get this Tracy…
2-…I found a magic shoe with a genie in it. I rubbed it and the genie granted me one wish.
3-DT: I thought they always gave you three wishes. FORTUNE: YOU WISH! Anyway, I wished for a box with fifty thousand dollars in it and POOF – there it was.
DT: One wish and you ask for a box with a paltry fifty K?
FORTUNE: Don’t be ridiculous. I asked for fifty mil in a Swiss bank account but genie only laughed and said “look at where I live – you think I got that kinda dough?” So, fifty K it was.
DT: I think the genie got the best part of that deal.
FORTUNE: You’d think so unless you knew that I gave the shoe to the dirtiest bum at the railyard. I could smell his feet from a mile away. He’s still wearing that shoe for all I know. BWAAA HA HAAAAA!
I’m not gonna complain about today’s offering, simply because if it weren’t for our “history buffs/researchers” in the comments I wouldn’t have known much about shaky’s demise or the storyline, but let’s TRY to not waste anymore time on the past and move this story forward shall we?
Like I had said earlier, a “method actress” would have researched all of this before without needing to grill Tracy about it
Neil Wick almost 4 years ago
Good morning™, student posers!
You seldom get two drawings of Tracy in a single panel. For a moment, I was going to say that he looked different in the past than he looks now, but I think they are essentially the same.
Gweedo -it's legal here- Murray almost 4 years ago
Good morning™, duplicate Tracys !
A brown shoe that did make it.
coratelli almost 4 years ago
I love the strips with flashbacks panel.
Cheapskate0 almost 4 years ago
Timmy may be right on this one. This is like watching paint dry!
therese_callahan2002 almost 4 years ago
If the shoe fits, share it.
sixam almost 4 years ago
Was giving out souvenirs from dead bodies something the police did in the 1940s?
scpandich almost 4 years ago
As a relative, wouldn’t she be entitled to his personal effects? It seems like it would be unnecessary to engage in a ruse to get his shoe.
Aladar30 Premium Member almost 4 years ago
One of the classic story I remember very well. I read it when I was 12. Such an amazing, sad story.
Wizard of Ahz-no relation almost 4 years ago
So the police let a journalism student take a souvenir from a crime scene?? There’s better police procedures on a re-run of “Get Smart.”
pategar almost 4 years ago
The lid on the box looks too short. I measured & it’s perfect. Mike Curtis comes through with the optical illusion of the day!
Sisyphos almost 4 years ago
Tracy has become very voluble. Fortuna does seem to have loosened his tongue. We get his version of the original Shaky/Breathless story (including, yes, the disturbing police procedure of giving out souvenirs from a Crime Scene). All well and good.
—Though I could be crass and say it serves also as a convenient stalling device for the current story, if one is not sure where to go with it….
Ray Toler almost 4 years ago
Getting Shaky’s money is a fool’s errand if that is Fortuna’s plan.
The Breathless Mahoney story pretty much ended after BO tried to kill Breathless by strangling her with a string he fished out of the bindings of a library book. He left her for dead and went on the run with Shaky’s money. Tracy arrived before Breathless died and called an ambulance. The veins and nerves in her throat and neck were damaged and she was taken to the hospital and eventually to jail after her recovery. After some business about Breathless apologizing to her mother for running out on her and leaving her for dead, that was the end of Breathless in the tale.
But the tale of Shaky’s money continued even though there was no more involvement by Breathless.
BO ended up with Shaky’s money and he moved from his farm to the city and went on a spree spending like a drunken sailor, buying diamond rings, giving large tips, spending thousands to feed pigeons, etc. (He also got a crew cut and shaved his beard so he wouldn’t be recognized but he still insisted on wearing his pith helmet.)
Breathless’s mother and Shaky’s best friend, Itchy Oliver, tracked BO down. Itchy tortured BO by burning his feet with a blow torch to get him to give up the remainder of the money. Itchy stuffed the cash into a toy doll BO won at a carnival. Trying to escape through the country, Itchy hit a cow and his car exploded which burned up the money even though Itchy escaped.
And that’s what happened to the original Breathless and the money discussed in today’s strip.
Kip W almost 4 years ago
And he kept his skate key in the safe deposit box in an unsuccessful bid for irony.
Another Take almost 4 years ago
Tracy learns the true depths of Fortune’s depravity…
1-FORTUNE:* AND THEN…get this Tracy…
2-…I found a magic shoe with a genie in it. I rubbed it and the genie granted me one wish.
3-DT: I thought they always gave you three wishes. FORTUNE: YOU WISH! Anyway, I wished for a box with fifty thousand dollars in it and POOF – there it was.
DT: One wish and you ask for a box with a paltry fifty K?
FORTUNE: Don’t be ridiculous. I asked for fifty mil in a Swiss bank account but genie only laughed and said “look at where I live – you think I got that kinda dough?” So, fifty K it was.
DT: I think the genie got the best part of that deal.
FORTUNE: You’d think so unless you knew that I gave the shoe to the dirtiest bum at the railyard. I could smell his feet from a mile away. He’s still wearing that shoe for all I know. BWAAA HA HAAAAA!
tsull2121 almost 4 years ago
I’m not gonna complain about today’s offering, simply because if it weren’t for our “history buffs/researchers” in the comments I wouldn’t have known much about shaky’s demise or the storyline, but let’s TRY to not waste anymore time on the past and move this story forward shall we?
Like I had said earlier, a “method actress” would have researched all of this before without needing to grill Tracy about it