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

Good morning™, everyone!

So, we can put Junior on the negative and “can of worms” side, but Honeymoon and Sparkle see a lot more of the positives.

Obviously the time drone intrusions are subtly changing the past. Starting with longtime hair colors.

Diet is an idiot to announce to the world about the “Time Drone” … something like that should be kept secret!

A new load of brown hair dye showed up at the house, but Honeymoon has avoided it so far!

Good morning™, controversial new announcements !

Does Diet have the Army and Marines stationed at the complex, ‘cause he’s gonna need ’em. I can see this machine coming to a bad end as criminals come for it and dedicated staff and law enforcement try to keep it out of their hands. This thing will go the way of Moon tech.

I’m starting to think that there are too many time travel stories out there, because if someone really invented a time machine, many people would just yawn when they hear the news. It’s too familiar. They wouldn’t appreciate the difficulty or that it means that effect can precede cause.

It also means that we can’t be certain of our own memories. Are we “remembering” events that could’ve been altered to the point that it no longer bears any resemblance to what “originally” happened. Maybe the Japanese didn’t originally attack Pearl Harbor, but history was altered without us knowing it. Mind boggling, huh?

By the way: how can Smith be sure that the saucers seen in those paintings really are his drone and not actual, genuine alien spacecraft? Remember, he lives in a world where aliens are real. So it’s a real possibility.

What if all the coloring mistakes in this comic over the years come from some jerk going back in time and changing them to screw with people?

Sparkle, Junior, and Honeymoon, made great points… Especially Honeymoon ! And seeing what happened in the past regarding guilt and innocence will open a “can of worms” that Sparkle wasn’t thinking of…

Oooh…. Bad hair job.

And why does Sparkle in the third panel look like KandiKane?

What did the Chambers Brothers say? “Time has come today”?

Think of how a piece of 21st century technology continually, physically goes into the past and is noticed by an untold number of people. Once guns are invented, maybe someone will shoot it down.

I wear my sunglasses at night!!!

Finally, Honeymoon is the first to state what has been so painfully obvious and even Dick Tracy seemed to not understand.

What if someone finds a way to bring someone from the past forward—like Flattop?

Is Tracytown observing National Brunette Day or something?

WOW! we could finally learn “Who shot JR!” I mean JFK!

Think about how stupid it was to advertise that technology on the hews!

The colorist has completely gone AWOL again.

Where in the world is Carmen San Diego?

\\//_

Sparkle is a blonde and Junior a ginger. Just sayin.

As DNA testing has done in the real world, the time drone may find that someone who has been in prison for years is in fact innocent – of that particular crime.

There’s Carmen Sandiego right there. One mystery solved.

Honeymoon’s comment in the third panel brings to my mind this Superman story from late 1967, in which the circumstance she describes is demonstrated (I’m presenting links to both issues so one might read the entire story):

Part One:

https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/Action-Comics-1938/Issue-358?id=25531

Part Two:

https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/Action-Comics-1938/Issue-359?id=25532

1-GRININ BARRETT: As my sister Rona used to say – It looks like DOIT TOIT is trying to blow Calmgar (patent pending) smoke up our skirts again this time with this time travel balo….

2-SPARKPLUG: Maybe that thing can catch the Peeping Tom that’s been terrorizing everyone in our neighborhood – well – everyone except us…

ARCHIE: Yeah…that is odd. Oh. Wait. This is plausible – he’s afraid I’ll catch him if he shows up here! Yeah, that’s it!

3-HONEYMOONS: I know you’ve been going out several nights a week…

ARCHIE: THAT’S A LIE!

HONEYMOONS: …to try to catch that perv.

ARCHIE: Huh? Oh yeah. I didn’t want you all to worry about me. Somebody’s gotta do something you know! Say. Maybe you should tell your friends that if they see me, I’m just trying to catch the perv. Yeah. That’s plausible…

Eh, may I point out that Sparkle is a blonde, not a burnette like myself??

I swear,if the colorist gives Sparkle Plenty brown hair one more time;I’m hiring Abner Kadaver to take him out.

I’m Halliday

I’m Taraday

I’m Labor Day.And with us now,every day is Labor Day.

I think I would rather the strip be in black and white rather than have the regular characters incorrectly colored. This is extremely distracting.

I expect a couple more days of talking heads before we get to Sunday, which may or may not further the story line.

If Avenger09 hasn’t posted because of our little misunderstanding and he doesn’t plan to return until I apologize then, I APOLOGIZE.

If Avenger09 hasn’t posted because he’s on the road to come and physically get even – I TRIPLE APOLOGIZE.

If Avenger09 is suffering from the recent NYC flood, then, I’m most sorry for that.

“The suspect apprehended at the corner of Rossmore and LaBrea was tried in Superior Court and found guilty of three counts of being apprehended and one count of being a suspect. Apprehended Suspects are liable to a term of not more than fourteen years in the correctional institute at Soledad.” —Bob & Ray

1.)I think Diet invented it just so he could look back at Brilliant now and then.

2.)Honeymoon’s thoughts on Panel 3 are exactly mine.But why am I thinking the technology will end up so destroyed that nobody can use it?

I guess this one drone is a test model. Depending on the results, then Diet will mass produce it.

The next news broadcast by Wendy Witchell will be when time drone is being put out of its misery. Good intentions fell into the hands of bad people.

Doggone that Ace of Spades and Mr. Apparatus…they’d mess up a wet dream.

Good morning™, TracyVision watchers!

P1: (News Director) “Get Edna in wardrobe — I want that hat on Wendy by eleven o’clock!”

P2: (Sparkle) “Can you think of where we hid that ugly as s—- tree-topper? Aunt Aggie’s descending on us for Christmas.”

(Junior) “Oh no — Honeymoon turned it into a hat for Aster’s Halloween costume!”

P3: (Sparkle) “Chillax, parental units… Auntie Aggie’s a grand ol’ dame of the theater, she’ll LOVE it!“

I like how Honeymoon is portrayed today! Cute kid!

I shall now take a 3-day Holiday.

When I get back,we shall see what kind of goo has hit the electric fan.We can also find out if Gaylord Perry actually threw spitballs.

Long Live Fleming Stone.

I think that Honeymoon has the right idea, but she’s confusing verdicts and investigations. It’s the job of courts to figure out guilt or innocence; but before that, it’s the job of the police to figure out whodunnit. If they can do that, then there would be no need to choose “suspects” and then determine their guilt or innocence—they’d know directly.

Where in the world is Tracyville? We now know for sure that it’s in the Eastern time zone. How do we know? Only in Eastern Time and in Pacific Time is the evening news on at 11:00 PM. And Tracyville is not on the West Coast. Also, in Central Time, the late news is on at 10:00 PM, like in Chicago. (I’m assuming that SBN is a major network like ABC.)

Wonderful obvious point Neil, keep vigilant

Technology is never the “silver bullet” problem solver people like HoneyMoon always think it will be.

Who are those brown-haired people?! What happened to always-blonde Sparkle Plenty Tracy and ginger-haired Junior Tracy?! Have they been kidnapped by some Collector? Or is the Mad Colorist just pulling our chains? Grr, The Mad Colorist is making me mad! He won’t like me when I’m angry!

Meanwhile, Wendy Wichel has the scoop on Diet’’s dubious new techno-breakthrough. Whoever was speaking in panel 1 (Junior?) is right about the Time Drone opening a can of worms—more like a whole giant freighter-load of cans of worms! Sparkle, Junior, and Honeymoon alll make valid points, but the overarching possibility for abuse looms heavily over the Time Drone. And the Ace of Spades and Apparatus are already planning a heist!