Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for July 04, 2021

Invitation. No hesitation. Comic art is fun

A collector sans all scruples means it is time to run.

Doors are locked. Egress is blocked. Time now to take swift action

Archival an obsessive. Guests’ pleas can gain no traction.

Collector is maniacal. Snaps shut his vile trap

Mysta sees she has no choice. ‘Tis now the time to ZAP!

Did not suspect. Could not detect. Archival wears the ring

Reflects back righteous attack. Harsh pain does more than sting.

Collector has been a busy boy with excess cash to spare

Now has what he wished for. Mysta trapped in his locked lair.

I know somebody called that! Step up and take your credit!

Uh-Oh! Moon Maid and Vera are in trouble now!

Happy 4th of July™, everyone!

Firstly, they don’t usually devote a whole strip to Independence Day, but they sometimes do.

On June 2, Gweedo said, “If Brock happens to have Bribery’s anti zap ring, Mysta could be at a real disadvantage.” So, I guess this isn’t a huge surprise to many of us. I’m not sure how he got it, but he does have Mr. Bribery’s ring weapon and it seems to be effective. No wonder the leadup to this moment took so long in the story. Brock has made extensive preparations for it.

What a magician! To have a ring change fingers without anyone see it is astonishing!

Can’t blame THAT on the poor colorist, can we???

WHY such a difference in coloring on Sunday? It’s distracting and baffling to say the least!

Acquiring Bribery’s ring implies a whole lot of stuff.

Is Brock in cahoots with Bribery?

Is Brock doing Bribery’s bidding?

I don’t know why, but this second idea seems the most likely, so I’ll call it: Brock is working for Bribery!

It’s about the only thing that would make this story make sense, especially at this point. I can’t see Bribery giving up his ring unless there was something in it for him.

And Bribery is Mysta’s „designated“ villain.

So, I’m expecting an appearance from mister tilt-o-head rose-in-teeth.

Mysta has been tamed, so it looks like it is up to Vera to do something. Will he be tamed, staring at a loaded pistol ?

I wonder if Mysta will remember that she has a telepathic connection to Honeymoon…

Also, Vera has a secretary that might report his disappearance to the police if she starts getting calls from newspapers that carry his strip…It would be nice if she knew that Vera and Mysta were visiting Brock Archival …

Maybe Joe or Mike could enlighten us regarding that…

As any woman knows, when you go outside, pack a wrench in your purse. That way, when you’re threatened, you can always attack the thug’s car. A man will laugh at a woman trying to hit them, but will pale at the threat to their things. In order words, aim the beams at the artwork.

Now THAT’S what you call a mood ring!!!

How exactly did Archival get Bribery’s ring?

I live in a suburb of LA of about 93,000. Fireworks are legal here. There won’t be many people following Lt. Reimer’s advice tomorrow night. SIGH

It’s up to you now, Alldid (sp)

Personally, I would grab the Mutt & Jeff pictures of the wall and threaten to destroy them….

I really like this art work

As Sherlock Holmes observed, when comics geeks go bad, they are the worst of criminals.

He has planned everything very well. I like this bad guy!

The images today are just fantastic as usual , but the third frame is out of this world , great job , why is he hurting her I wonder ?

Kudos to those who called it yesterday.

Why do the characters look so different on Sunday?

“Okay, Plan B. You pick up something and hit him with it! Aim for the head.”

And just like that Mr. Briebery’s ring makes them prisoners! Somebody notify Dick Tracy?

Okay, Bribery’s ring somehow reflects a Lunarian mind zap back to the emitter. But does it stop the telepathic link I think Mysta has with Honeymoon?

Kryptonite!

There’s nothing worse than an obsessive maniac, unless it’s a smart and well prepared obsessive maniac.

Gotta wonder not only how but WHY would he acquire the ring? Seemingly “Mars Maid” is a new character in the strip by Vera, so this seems more like one of those “hey, why dont I try this idea out?” things instead of a supposedly well thought out plan. Unless, y’know… you just want to blindly follow the narrative that he bought the ring to intentionally “disarm” a being who may or may not have agreed to a private meeting with him alongside the comic strip creator of a variation of her with the long term…quickly thrown together plan…of making them his captives

this story has been a ship without a rudder since the start, now we have an anchor AND no sail thrown in as well

Time for a more primitive method of self defense.

I hope someone at the police department or major crimes unit will have good sense to melt this ring. Maybe it will not end up on the finger of another misguided person.

And to think Vera knew nothing about this ring. He must not read other sections of the newspaper.

Is it me or did Mars Maid change outfits? The color looks different. Maybe the lights in the room must be on a lower wattage.

“I spared no expense to acquire Mr. Bribery’s ring and it was worth it”. So is Archival worth less “on paper” having done this? The thing is not like Aladdin’s lamp where one could rub it and be granted three wishes.

Now if this was a Perry Mason mystery…it would be titled “The Case of the Eccentric Millionaire” or this is how I turned out when my breakfast consisted of nothing but “Fruit Loops”.

1-STAN LEE: I’ll show you the way out IF you can guess what’s in my right hand.

HORNY: A KEY!

2-STAN: Noooo. I’ll give you two more guesses…

3-…KIDDING! IT’S A CONTROLLER THAT TURNS ON EVERY DISCO LIGHT AND MRROR GLOBE THAT FORMERLY LIT THE ENTIRETY OF STUDIO 54! All in this one little room. HORNY: EEEK!

4-HORNY: The flashback was more than I could take. I was upstairs…looking up at Mick Jagger…from the floor…

VERA: YES, YES. THEN WHAT?

5-STAN: My glasses protected me from such memories though come to think of it, I don’t have any like that anyway.

Well, despite the rampant grumbling in evidence here today, Happy 4th to everyone!

okay, NOW it’s a very cartoonish story.

and what exactly is Mr Bribery’s Ring?

I got one of those rings in a box of Wheaties back in the fifties, I had trouble with the quick change of fingers though, a problem not affecting Mr. Archival I see. Bring on the Invisible Tribe

How did Archival know that “Mars Maid” was Mysta and not an actress playing the role ?

And like many others who post here, how did Archival and Bribery know about each other ? Earlier comic strips didn’t show it…Maybe that will be revealed in the coming days…

And while “backstories” and “talking heads” segments are “boring”… They are important in revealing the rationale…

As for how the ring was acquired… Anyone who watches police drama shows knows that the detectives turn over custody of the evidence to the police property department… While evidence is supposed to be secure… Often times, it is isn’t… Either in comic strips, TV shows, or in real life…

I have the power cosmic!

Unless he plans to have them killed and stuffed, and/or having a well-staffed supermax prison, and/or faking an accident to keep their friends and families from looking for Vera and Mysta, it seems to me that Mr Archival would have a pretty tough time “keeping” Vera and Mysta in his “collection” for very long. Of course, the usual fictional explanation is, “Well, he’s crazy to want to attempt this, so he doesn’t have a lot of sense.”

People who want all the plot explained should understand that there would be more exposition and less action and the stories would take longer. And then people would complain about that. Team Tracy can’t please everyone, especially when some people want something that is exactly the opposite of what other people want. All the team can do is the best they can and hope enough people read it to keep it published.

Mr.Bribery’s ring reflects back Mysta Chimera’s zap on her and stuns her. It is a Magical Ring—namely, in the way it shifts fingers!

This turn of events (with the masterfully-rendered gloating of looney Archival in the final panel) puts Mysta and mostly-useless Vera Alldid/Vile Alldone in a Bad Place, even literally. Kept as “pets” by The Collector, they could remain “missing” and “disappeared” for a very long time, unless Mysta can telepathically call for help—of course to her “Little Sis” Honeymoon, who would then call upon her Pop-Pop to take action….

Love the first official panel of Mysta. It looks like it could be one of that comic/art prints for sale

Astor is gonna get possession of the ring and he and honeymoon will play a variation of “spin the bottle” lol