Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for March 09, 2021

Good morning™, guys!

The wellness check is a bit of a bust, because the subject is not even there. Ms. Han, however doesn’t look too impressed with the surroundings. Meanwhile, the drug materials are still laid out on the table in the basement and Aquarius is now a wanted man.

A little curious that Tracy still uses Aquarius rather than his real name, Alex Bellum.

Good morning™, resigned to do your duty discoverers !

After meeting and talking with Tim Wildman, of Wildman Organics, Tracy knows it will be a crushing blow for Auntie Peggy that her doting nephew, Alex, has been selling drugs and is wanted and will certainly be doing time when apprehended. She will not only lose the care she gets from a family member but will now stand alone against her brother. Re establishing association with Tim will give her the support she will need while she maintains a stand to keep her home and land.

Ms Han grows weary of having witnessed this kind of setting too many times to count. Sam has a look of disgust.

So I guess both Pouch and Tiger Lily made it out?

Wait-What??? Did I miss a week of strips? Last I saw, Pouch was trapped on the second floor. And I doubt the gas and electric people would have arrived near instantaneously to give the all-clear as today’s strip suggests. And the lack of color only adds to the jarring effect.

I have to wonder if Pouch was able to escape when Tracy and the others left the house to wait for the gas company crew. Meanwhile, Tiger Lilly must be trying to make his own escape. Will he pop up in front of the cops outside? Hey, I’m enjoying this story.

The officer with the checkered hat have we seen her before?

Uh, if the house has been searched, no one noticed Pouch? Did he take my suggestion of slipping out the back when the police arrived at the front of the house?

Laws do not always work the same way in Tracyville, but if they do in this case, then Mr Bellum has a whole different headache trying to get his industrial park. Can you say “Civil Forfeiture?” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_forfeiture_in_the_United_States

Fears? Start making out the arrest warrant. Another big bust for Tracy.

“Put up the yellow tape, boys! We got ourselves a big one!”

I love this strip in black and white. Has more charms.

“After being given the all clear”…. well, judging by that comment and the fact that tracy was taken into the basement yesterday I’m gonna guess that A) pouch got away…because SOMEONE should have found him if they looked hard enough…and with a gas leak I’m sure they would have searched everywhere with a fine toothed comb… and B) tiger Lilly is NOT in the house either, but somewhere nearby

Hey Tracy, we all thought Aquarius was a drug dealer.

From today’s Comics Curmudgeon:

Dick Tracy is a comic that features a rotating cast of freakishly malformed villains and a main character whose granddaughter is literally half moon alien, but by far the most unrealistic thing that’s ever happened in it is a cop having a legit reason to enter a house without a warrant and being disappointed to find a bunch of drug paraphernalia.

The wellness check has failed to turn up Auntie Bellum. The stench emanating from the basement attests to why the house is empty, while the drugs left out in plain view put a stink on Aquarius. It is a large house. A search for Auntie to ascertain her wellness does not invite sticking a beak into every little nook and cranny. Pouch could easily be hidden. We know where Tiger is. Love the B&W. Enjoying the many moving parts to this rich tale. Drug dealing, dealer killing, balloon messaging, Wildman’s tale of daze gone by, and a well-aimed trail cam all make for a satisfying story.

How well did they search if they didn’t find Pouch?

First off, thanks Neil for explaining what we can see and read. Secondly, where are Pouch and Tiger? Third, where are all the residents of this dwelling? It looks like the boys are throwing stuff on the wall to see what sticks. This tale went off the rails somewhere in February. On the upside, great b/w art, I hope it stays.

Not only do acquaintances of Aquarius and Cheesecake party hardy, they also get loaded enough to leave signs of their stash behind. I can see it all now: pizza, beer or malt liquor and cocaine. Probably put a line on the pizza and snorted it along with some anchovies and pizza sauce.

1-SAM: This house is just like the abbreviation for mountain. DFCS LADY: How’s that?

SAM: M. T. GET IT? EMPTY! HA! CLASSIC!

DFCS LADY: Geez..well, here’s a classic for you: Hold your tongue with your finger and thumb and say either “Roy Rogers Lasso” or “Sam is a lasso”… SAM: OK. Sam is…

2-DT: HELLO! What’s with all the flour? Are they running an unlicensed bakery in violation of City Ordinance niner niner forty niner? That’ll cost ‘em. Five’ll get you ten that it was their basement oven that sprung the gas leak!

OFFICER TUCUTE: Ummm, good work sir! Mind if I bag up some of their ‘flour’? I’m out.

Pouch may still be in deep hiding in The 1312, but the Fire Department’s initial search, before all its team became aware that the “leak” was a hoax, ought to have been pretty thorough—not just looking for the source of the leak, but also looking for any potential victims; note that in a panic some people, especially young kids, will illogically choose to hide in a closet. So it is at least possible that he has escaped in the confusion. Sam says nobody is upstairs after his own search, along with Ms. Han of the DFCS/DCFS. Tracy has apparently searched the basement and ground floor along with the female uniformed officer (BTW, the checkered band around her cap is distinctive of the Chicago Police Department’s uniform). The drugs and paraphernalia in the basement make Aquarius’s guilt all but certain, saddening to Tracy because yet another person has been corrupted by the lure of drug money….

it the background “99 Red Balloons” is playing

Guess they didn’t find the balloons…. & start putting 2 & 2 together.