Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for March 24, 2022

Good morning™, reformers!

If you poke a bad guy with a knife, does that make him more compliant?

It’s nice to know that Mr. Impersonator is at least trying to convert ot the straight and narrow, but I’m not sure that leaving Coffyhead behind is going to be as easy as he hopes.

“Forget it? That’s all I’m going to be thinking of now! Cuz your head looks like a coffee pot. Sorta. Little bit.”

“The name is Fingerhead!

Don’t you forget my distortedly long pointing finger!

Can you sweat in the freezing cold as shown in panel 2?

Good morning™, tough guy talkers !

At least Tonsils came somewhat prepared. A gun would have given a better margin of safety. He will spend the rest of his and Coffyhead’s life looking over his shoulder.

Officially licensed Tonsils switchblades, now available on AmazeON for only $59.99! Kids, be sure to not get your parents’ permission before ordering!

His head is a brown substance, but not coffee…

Strange looking eye!

Sadly the young actor’s eye never fully recovered from all those years of playing a young Colonel Klink!

These two have a cartoony effect reminiscent of Ferret and Ape.

No blood? That Coffyhead is one tough cookie.

According to Tracy, (a few days back) the original Tonsils was in too deep too…This isn’t going to go well for Vitamin..

Remember the SNL skit “I’m Gumby dammit” this reminds me of that!

“Ok, yeah, you’re Coffeehead, I get it. I’m leaving now, g’bye.”

“Do you know who I am?” the man screamed.

“Ted Cruz… Oh, sorry. Forgot this is the Dick Tracy comic strip and not the Boseman Montana airport. Yeah, you’re the guy who’s been buying dope from me for years. The police don’t want to know that about either of us. Let’s pretend we’re strangers so you don’t go off on some half-baked revenge plot that gets me killed and you jailed for murder.”

Oh, I won’t. That’s just about all I’m gonna do the rest of my life is go around remembering your name.

Is Coffyhead’s first name “Joe”? LOL

Coffyhead would probably be insulted if Pseudo-Tonsils busted out laughing.

and i’m a little teapot short and stout…

“STAY BACK OR I’LL PICK YOUR TEETH! I MIGHT EVEN FLOSS YOU.”“N-no! I’m saving that spinach between my teeth for later!”

Tonsils needs to come clean with Flintheart!

I hope at the end of this, he will be Coffinhead

What happens next…Coffyhead learns about the next career move singer is making…hmm…he buys a front row seat at the playhouse. Probably will pass himself off to Vitamin as the head of a record label. Vitamin will fall for the okie doke. (hook, line and sinker)

P.T. Barnum was right, there is a sucker born every minute. Vitamin will be the icon.

I’m just gonna come out and say it: I ahve no idea why Coffyhead doesn’t spell his name with a EY at the end.

1-MR. COFFY: WHY YOU! SLAP SLAP SLAP ASTRO: OUCH OUCH OUCH!

2-ASTRO: HA! You brought slaps to a knife fight…

3-…Listen! I’ll hold a slot open for your ma’s teenaged fantasy next month. I’ll even sing GROOM YOUR POODLE during the act but after that – I’M THROUGH I TELL YA! I’M THROUGH!

4-MR. COFFY: YOU JUST THINK YOU’RE THROUGH! I GOTTA AN OLD MAID AUNT WHO LIKED THAT SONG TOO AND SHE’D LOVE FOR YOU TO BE HER “FIRST”!

ASTRO: HER “FIRST”?!?! Excuse me while I consider using this knife for some self-administered gender adjustment…AFTER I HURL! URPPPP!

He should retort with “Maybe you should switch to decaf!”

Never bring a cream pitcher to a coffee fight.

MOVIE QUOTE—POLICEMAN:

“Did he stab him?Did he strangle him?”

GIRLFRIEND:“No,he made him into a doll!”

June Kenney—ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE—1958

Original Coffyhead story also debut of “the finger ring camera”—-a mini-job that could take concealed photos.That “head” caught Tracy’s attention and he snapped it just for practice.Came in handy later.

I’m going with Coffeehead on this one. That other guy’s eye is just to creepy. I Thing Coffee has GROUNDS to take him out.

It’s always the last job you do before getting out of the business that gets you into trouble….

“But my REAL name’s Joe Cuppa.”

I’m betting Flintheart dumps Tonsils like a bad habit in deference to his good friend “Richard” and then you’ll have a very nasty meeting between Tonsils and Coffyhead……

“Conflict” is established, essential to plot development in a [Coffy]pot-boiler like this. Quick with his stick-knife Tonsils Impersonator (does he think he’s Mackie Messer?) vs. big, strong, hot-tempered [that’s how it brews in his coffee-pot head] Coffyhead! One of these guys is gonna off the other before we’re through, unless the storyline has been over-sanitized by fastidious Syndicate Censors. I still think the fake Tonsils has gotta go….

Coffyhead seriously needs to switch to decaf.

Great tough guy art and dialog the last three days. Hoping for more tomorrow. If we squint, hold our breath, suspend thought we are almost transported to that long ago era of Gould and his magic touch, based on his sincere dislike of crime and criminals. The scenes have an ambiance of “Mean Streets” or “Goodfellas” or even “A Bronx Tale”. All that’s missing is a sound tract of 50’s – 60’s music, and darker, less solid coloring and more shading of the panels. I guess the phrase might be, “Too antiseptic”. The scenes are so bright one almost needs sun glasses. Incidentally, CoffeeHead should be called, “Mook”. “What’s a Mook?” Maybe, Martin Scorsese or Robert De Niro are not busy right now and they could come in as directors. (Incidentally, I know what a “Mook” is – I was just inserting some appealing dialog from a scene in Mean Streets for fun.)