Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for February 02, 2023

Good morning™, everybody!

So, Art Dekko is not Superman. Who woulda thunk it?

The Baxter Building: “The Baxter Building is a fictional 35-story office building appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the construction first appeared in Fantastic Four #3 (March 1962). The building is depicted in Manhattan, and its five upper floors house the Fantastic Four’s headquarters.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baxter_Building)

I told you that Tracy’s city is Manhattan. Actually, it’s wherever it needs to be. This building is less than 35 storeys, but it’s still a clear reference, though not so much that it would need copyright permissions.

Good morning™, Men of action !

Tracy is on the move. A shootout that leaves Krypto taking a header off the Baxter is just the shot-in-the-arm action the strip needs.

Hate to get picky(but you know I will!) but based on where they’re standing and where the Baxter building is there’s no way those 2 shots could have hit the building like shown yesterday unless the shooter(that’s not Kryptonite) somehow curved the shots. If he could do that then he wouldn’t have missed.

Sigh, Mike should put as much effort in his storytelling as he does coming up with ways to slip in Superman references.

I’m sure this will put me on the outs with the Shelley fan club members but Dick looks terrible in panel one. His head is way to large for the rest of his body.

A shot in the day

To hopefully take away

A very, very corrupt man

The intended target was missed

The shooter was extremely pissed

That totally messed up was his plan

If memory serves wasn’t there a sniper sequence in a Tracy story several years ago … I seem to recall it was an attempted hit on a mob bookkeeper turned state witness being escorted out of court by Tracy & Sam. The shooter missed, & Tracy went after him. Mike is really starting to recycle material. Just saying.

You know things don’t make sense when a trip that’s going to take 10-15 minutes results in the sniper remaining on the building, still waiting to take a shot when the target has left the scene. Rule one: “Take the shot, leave. You can check if you hit when you get back home safely and turn on the news.”

a Superman reference and a Fantastic Four landmark… more of Mike’s likes… we DON’T care… do we REALLY need these in our faces every so often?…

FINALLY, SOME ACTION!!! Cool art by Shelley Pleger! Again, much better writing by Mike Curtis!

The Baxter Building? Guess there’ll be a Dick Tracy/Fantastic Four crossover.

“I’m not faster than a speeding bullet…” Art has got that right…he’s wearing the wrong shoes.

Send in the Clones … I mean drones.. to get the shooter !!!

Exciting, isn’t it?!

Just hit me (ha ha) how diminutive Dekko is!

The Baxter Building? That sniper’ll get clobbered by The Thing and the Human Torch before Tracy gets there!

I can hear Harvey Korman say “Thanks Dum Dum” right now.

The Baxter Building? Doesn’t that have some rather “fantastic” tenants?

Fortunately, Tracy has an Air Car just around the corner—he’ll be on the roof in no time.

The Baxter Building? Better call the Fantastic Four.

So, the FF are off on a company picnic?

The Baxter Building? You’ll have to get past The Thing first.

The Baxter Building!? Has the Fantastic Four’s headquarters been transported from the Marvel Universe to Tracy’s? With out the Richards, Grimms, and, Mr. Storm, of course.

if kryptonite was smart he’d already be gone. He’s got time and can leave the rifle and just walk away.

of course this is a dick tracy strip and he’s already shown he doesn’t understand subtle.

The Baxter Building? Wotta revoltin’ development.

Now I hope Artsy-Fartsy don’t try to pill a fast one on Lee…….ooorrrr…that he maybe does try, and Lee makes him a permanent part of the nearest facing wall!

no, I believe the head is normal, but she had to shrink the body to fit the panel

LEE: You sure, Tracy? I can -

TRACY: No – it’s my strip!

LOL

If his head matched his body, he would look too small. The word balloon is the main focus in that panel

I’m surprised, after all the DC references Mike has made over the years (including one in today’s strip!) that he made to one to Marvel with the Baxter Building.

“I’m going after the sniper,” he says, standing there making himself a perfect target.

1-DT: I THINK SOMEONE IS SHOOTING AT US! MAKE YOURSELF SMALL! ART: Another “little man” crack! Just lay off, would ya??

2-LEE: UP THERE! IN THE SKY! IT’S A BIRD! IT’S A PLANE! IT’S…

3-DT: Probably the guy shooting at us. I’ll go see. Wait here. Don’t move.

LEE: Yeah – right. Stand in front of me, squirt – I forgot my vest. ART: Yeah, yeah… You think this thin body is going to stop a rifle slug?

LEE: You make a good point. SEE YA! ART: Good thing the shooter can ONLY hit the broad side of a barn. Or in this case – The Daily Planet building.

The bullet holes in the building look good!

By the time Tracy makes it to the building and up on the roof the shooter will be home cleaning his rifle.

References to Superman AND the Fantastic Four?

Marvel must have been demanding equal time

So many commenters are confused about this Baxter Building. This building has nothing to do with the Fantastic Four. This is the Ted Baxter Building! Mike Curtis has worked a Mary Tyler Moore Show reference into this story.

That building looks a lot taller today than it did yesterday.

Tracy and Kryp will probably end up passing each other in the elevator banks.Love Dekko’s expression again in Panel 3.

Don’t you HATE it when your worst enemy saves you?

ONE POSSIBLE—Dekko pulled a “Jonny Scorn” and paid off in funny money

MOVIE QUOTE—“What in the name of The Sacred Apes Of Kashmir is THIS??”

Middle East potentate meeting The Three Stooges

THE T HREE STOOGES GO AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAZE—1963

Should we be paying attention to all the Superman Easter eggs in this storyline?

If you’re looking for violence,try today’s JUDGE PARKER

Still no bow on Dick’s chapeau. Sigh.

I believe Art could take George Santos spot on the NY ballot in two years.

Poor Kriptonyte’s got that Battlefield scope glint, should have used iron sights instead.

The Baxter Building? Why are the Fantastic Four allowing this?

Meanwhile,that miracle of medical science,Rikki Mortis,enters her third year of pregnancy

In one of Eastwood’s spaghetti westerns the bad family was named the Baxters!

Action a-plenty today! Lee’s sharp eye spots the sniper on the Baxter Building roof. Then, Tracy orders her to care for the whiny wimp while he goes after the sniper (Kryptonite), who if wise will be long gone before Tracy can get to his location.

I still wonder if Krytonite missed on purpose (twice) or if he is just not a good shooter (which might explain his preference for using poison)….