Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for January 23, 2023

Good morning™, everyone!

“Agent 99”? I think that Mike knows how many Get Smart fans are in the audience. Anyway, I expect that this is Paul’s place (his apartment or studio or both), and his agent knows all about Dekko being the murderer. Paul has died, but he sure picked the right agent.

“Sniff sniff.” (wipes fake tear away) “Now I’m Paul’s heir and I want his share and then some.”

Does “99” have a mouth guard?

Was she waiting for fartman? If so how did she know he was coming?

Are was heading to the inevitable train crash?

Gweedo it’s legal here Murray about 21 hours ago

How can av-09 Not give this one a “Like” ?

Easy, unlike you I don’t have a desire to brown nose!

Er, if “99” really was Paul’s “agent,” shouldn’t she have negotiated Paul’s attempt to shake down Dekko for more money before going to Florida? She does seem to have a talent for making offers people can’t refuse.

Lizz?

Well this is an unexpected turn of events at any rate

Agent 99? Can Maxwell Smart be far behind?

Great art there!

Good morning™, pot boiler build ups !

Arty is witnessing a turned table. He wont get shot unless he tries pulling a piece of his own.

I’m dying to hear what he’s going to say to the lady, because if he’s not good, he’s going to be dead!

At first I thought Lizz, still think it is, but I’m not sure.

Wouldn’t Lizz ID herself.

Barbara Feldon from “Get Smart” is still alive. She might sue.

His reply will be, “Oh, 99, they don’t know who I am.”

Have we jumped a strip here? Art wasn’t going to Paul’s place, just hanging out with coffee while time passed. Feels like we missed the whole lock picking and 99 appearance.

I believe the number is wrong but it does end with a 9 !!!

Art has 99 reason to believe he’s gonna pull this scam off, but she’s not one of them.

If it is a Hollywood Agent, Dekko will find himself in great danger from that cutthroat shark out to get her percentage and a law degree will make her more deadly !!!

“Don’t try to run. I’ve got a dozen squad cars waiting outside… Would you believe two squad cars?”

" Agent 99 " is a ! WOW ! and sexy for sure : ) Great job by Shelley depicting her that way : )

Would you believe this gun is loaded?

Hey, if the news Paul died in Florida has spread far enough for ol’ 99 here to have heard about it, then Dekko could have heard about it too. No reason to assume he hired the hitman. (Although he should be the obvious suspect, if we also assume it wasn’t an accident or something else.)

Dekko being there might make sense. He may want to check the place over to remove any evidence pointing to Paul as the da Vinci painter, or tying Paul to himself.

But why is 99 there? If Paul actually had an agent wouldn’t Dekko have known about her? And if she’s a police plant has she just been staking out the apartment for days in case Dekko had the brains to come over to erase possible evidence? (I mean, he has been shown without any Maxwells so far.)

dekko should be asking for a refund from kryptonite. there’s lots of blow back after the death was obviously ‘mysterious’

oh talk about thickening the plot

well, this character just came out of nowhere unexpectedly… and ‘99’… really?… I half expect ‘86’, the Chief, Larrabee and Hymie to show up, as well… and 99 seems to know the full skinny on Art… looks like Art is now REALLY fooked and in a spot… and I’m probably wrong, but why am I thinking ‘99 is really an undercover Lizz?… is this a ploy by Dick somehow?… because if it IS, doesn’t this entail entrapment, in a way?… is Dick trying to back Art into a corner to make him do something stupid?… like I said, probably and out-there idea and nothing to it… I probably got it wrong by THIS much…

Barbara Feldon meets Buddy the Chimp…

I thought Dekko was going to get coffee, not visit Paul’s place.

Can somebody please slap Mike with a restraining order banning him from any further cutesy name riffs for at least the remainder of this story?

Very interesting today, Art got so worn out picking the lock that he took his hat and coat off. Probably planned for some labor intensive work removing evidence. Planned to work up a sweat.

Oh, oh, the lady knows who you are Art. She is going to pop a cap in you. Tune in tomorrow to see how Art talks his way out of this…the old “everybody has their price” trick. I doubt he brought his checkbook with him.

If she knows about that, then she knows about Kryptonite. He’ll be the next one on her list.

MOVIE QUOTE—“Don’t put Twinkies on top of your pizza”

HEAVYWEIGHTS—1995

So that’s what Barbara Feldon has been doing the last 40 years or so.

Count me as another who sez it’s Lizz in disguise,trying to bluffDekko(and he’d definitely know her without the disguise).

If it isn’t,nice justice for a guy who’s spent his life victimizing women to meet his end at the hands of a woman.

Dekko’s tombstone—

“Here lies Art Dekko.Killed by a jealous husband who sneaked to the front of a long line”.

1-ART: Get me a double espresso on the double, see!

2-THE ONE AFTER 909: This isn’t a coffee shop ya dolt. Your conscience brought you to the home of the man you had killed. ART: Conscience? I don’t have one a those. I just took a wrong turn somewhere.

3-909: SO YOU DON’T DENY THAT YOU HAD HIM KILLED!

ART: sounding like a flustered Woody Allen Oh, uh, hmmm, well, geez. “Killed” is such a strong word. Maybe you could, you know, uh, maybe, just a thought, ummm, substitute “Sent To Heaven”? Could you put that thing away? I uh, I umm, I uh…um… think those are my balls rolling across the floor. Maybe, you know, I, I, maybe I uh could take a minute to pick them up…? I used to be pretty attached to them…

Barbara Feldon she ain’t! I hope we’re going for a quick kill not a long harangue!

Why does Art Dekko look like a chimpanzee? But then, the Dick Tracy strip always had funny-looking villains, didn’t it?

GO 99!

I thought Art was planning to just pretend to go to Paul’s place? Perhaps the Sunday strip was a little out of step!

I wonder if she’s ever been to this place?

https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.dDGxjsrhz0eBg80rZ7orFgHaFj&pid=Api&P=0

hAS pAUL’S STUDIO ALREADY BEEN “CLEANED OUT” BY THE AUTHORITIES?iT LOOKS LIKE JUST BARE WALLS.

Just so it isn’t “Necron 99” that is.

Well! That was unexpected!

Nice twist by Mike!

Is this grey-hooded “99” an undercover cop (perhaps Lizz), as some have speculated above? If so, why the disguise just to stake out (stake in) Paul Chandler’s apartment? Would the cops be expecting Art Dekko (or anyone) to show up while the place was policed?

Or is the shoutout to the great Get Smart show and Barbara Feldon introducing a totally new character, an assassin’s assassin, or maybe a vigilante exacting retribution for some past offense committed by Dekko? Kinda makes one think of Charles Bronson in his Death Wish series of films.

Whoever she is, she has scared the crap out of Arty-boy!

I met Barbara Feldon. She’s a nice lady.

Curtains for Dekko?