Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for February 03, 2021

Good morning™, growers!

Well, I think this settles the fact that Mr. Wildman is not a drug pusher or even a drug user.

“We’ll be right back to the Batman hour after these important infomercials!”

I believe that “Did you know he’s a pusher” is a questionable thing to ask. If Tim is asked to testify later, a lawyer can say that Sam planted the idea in Tim’s mind.

Now we’re into talking heads, irrelevant questions and small talk. Looks like its set in for the week.

Good morning new revelations !

We and Wildman, are learning all kinds of new things.

Pouch just ran out of time and is most likely now in hiding

It’s kind of hard to imagine drug use NOT being part of a hippie commune.

WTH is an “INTENTIONAL” Community???

@ tsull2121:

You said yesterday: Nice to see nothing has moved since the last time I was here back on January 28th:

Here is a partial list of things that were revealed between January 28 and February 2 that were not previously known, which you might have missed:

1. Aquarius is Peggy Bellum’s nephew. 2. Wildman and Aquarius were friends, and Wildman lived peaceably at the Commune until Aquarius and Peggy had a bad automobile accident which left Peggy a paraplegic and she became a recluse. 3. Aquarius and Wildman had a falling out over Peggy’s care. 4. Wildman appears to still care, and wants what is best for Peggy, but now he is prevented from direct contact. 5. Aquarius has taken the Commune in a decidedly different direction from Peggy’s original intent, including the type of people who stay there, at least in Wildman’s view of the situation.

All of that was reveled to us readers in the five days you said you stayed away, along with some very good art. So, I honestly think you missed out, my friend.

1-SAM: Remember when I was chasing this guy through the market and you made fun of my hat. I could a swore you were calling yourself ‘Oklahoma Tex’ then.

2-OKLAHOMA TEX: Oh yeah. That guy. Wait. How’d you know that part of my nickname? It was never spoken in your presence. My full nickname is Oklahoma Tex Wildman. But my real name is, as you know, MIKE KETCHAM, spelled with a “K” because we both changed it from “C”.

3-SAM: I’d rather not get into that right now, Oklahoma Tex Mike. I’d rather you explained the significance of being an Intentional Community. Do all other communities just kind of develop by chance?

OKLAHOMA TEX MIKE: I wanted to be ‘INTERNATIONAL’ but it never caught on so I changed it. SAM: WAKE UP TRACY! This is really interesting! DT: SKXXXXXXX! (That’s how Dagwood writers indicate snoring)

See how I neatly got out of that corner I had painted myself into, fellow Tracy Fans? Nicely done if I do say so myself! HEY! PUT DOWN THE ROTTEN TOMATOES!!!

Wildman has a pretty large farm and an extremely large greenhouse tall enough to fit an apple tree. It must have taken a lot of money for this setup. I wonder how he got it while living in the commune? Maybe Auntie Bellum financed him? Did he build it all on his own? Perhaps getting kicked out of the commune was the best thing that ever happened to him or perhaps the gravy train has been cut off.

If he is on the up and up, I think we’ve learned all we can from Wildman. I’m hoping his interview doesn’t continue until Sunday. I think today is already stretching it.

This last panel makes it look like a pretty big “Organic” operation. Probably because marijuana use and sales are now legal in may states. So again, where is the Major Crime.?

’Pusher" street slang for an aggressive salesman.

This weeks strip reminds me of comments several weeks ago, how everyone (including myself) was talking about communes and how the folks that lived in them were and all kinds of other thoughts on the subject. I am very glad to see this weeks story. It tells me that sometimes we may need to hold our comments, especially our negative ones, long enough to see how the story works out.

OMG! How naive can Timmy Wildman be?! He really believes in a commune without any drug use? Maybe it started out that way, but even that seems a stretch. Using drugs is practically part of the definition of being a hippie. Seeing this intense interview, with close-up headshots, has been fun, though.

Anyway, we’ve cleared up as much backstory as Wildman has to offer, I think, so now the next move is Tracy’s, unless Mike abruptly changes the POV and we see maybe Pouch or maybe Aquarius and the long-awaited debut of Auntie As-She-Is-Now….