Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for January 05, 2020

Soul-crushing warehouse work wears thin

Yet fantasy fulfilling

Roboto hides under a mask

Though robbery means killing

Any who would cross his path

To tear the gang asunder

Put a stop to larceny

Roboto has to wonder

Where’s the icing on this cake

Some sugar for the spice

Luscious beauty by his side

Would make things twice as nice.

That Charlie wears his mask

While chillin’ out at home

Is totally insane

As a bald man with a comb

Perhaps the day will come

When all this silliness is explained

Most likely all I’ll get

Is abused cause I’ve complained

So, somebody knows who he is – Edison Lighthouse – is this going to be one of those really short mysteries?

Good morning™, fellow readers!

It does look like he wears the mask when he’s lounging around at home. I guess he just likes it.

He has no time for his girlfriend (?) because he has another job to pull?

Apparently, he robs small businesses. I was under the impression that the one we saw was a big company.

He wishes Mr. Roboto would get mail. That seems to be an indication that maybe he is doing this mainly for fame (or notoriety). It could imply that the girlfriend belongs with the person under his mask, but as Mr. Roboto, he can’t really have a girlfriend. As a robot, he can’t really have a human girlfriend. That has possibilities.

Might shed some light on the mystery…

Good morning™, romantic lamenters !

His baby will have rings furs and all kinds of goodies once all the loot he is “withdrawing” from these places becomes a nice big pile. No more warehouse work in days to come. Jeff Bezos, suck my…. ! ;-)

A girlfriend named Edison Lighthouse…..that’s an odd twist.

Crimestoppers Notebook: Also remember this: Rich or broke, criminals will always assume you’re lying.

And where’s the warehouse?

How many bets he’ll bump into this girlfriend of his on this next job?

“You’ve got mail!”

A clue! Mr. Roboto is Tom Hanks!

Next, we’ll meet Brenda The Uptown Girl, her sidekick Eddie, and their boss, Big Shot. And that Cheech And Chong gang I mentioned the other day, their boss is Dave. Tracy: We’re looking for your boss, Dave. Tyrone Shoelaces: Dave? Sam: Yeah, Dave. All: Dave’s not here!

I love today’s Crimestoppers Textbook. The potential victim stands with hand to chin, to thoughtfully “assess the situation,” while a thug bears down with knife in hand.

WELL I GUESS SHE DOESN’T LIGHT UP HIS LIFE RIGHT NOW!!!

I wonder if she just calls herself “Edison Lighthouse” when she’s actually Judy in disguise, but uses “Edison Lighthouse” when she busks with her green tambourine.

It would be great if they got married at Winchester Cathedral just after Mr. Roboto robbed the Left Banke.

Well, let’s just excavate the oldies files, eh?

Why is Charlie Johnson hanging around if Roboto doesn’t need him until Thursday.

So, love grows where his Rosemary goes, and nobody knows like him. Tracy should be able to figure it out easily with a clue like that.

Just a lazy afternoon, sitting around, reading the Daily Daily with my ole pal Charlie. It’s nice to have someone with whom I share my love of masks.

1-KABUKI: Hmmm. Supposed to be a nice day today…Dang it, TracyTown High lost another to archrivals, the Gotham Bats.

2-SOULFUL: To be expected boss. They always got those cheat devices Batman hooks them up with. Hey. Mail. I’ll get it!!!

3-SOULFUL: This one arrived with insufficient postage boss. I think that’s a capital crime.

4-KABUKI: Yeah? So’s your face. Don’t bother me with that. The corrective lenses I had put in this mask aren’t working so good. Oh. Never mind. I had this upside down…

5-…OK. Here’s the rich part of town. They’re reputed to give out FULL SIZE candy bars at Halloween. That’s where we’re going next.

wasnt he taking off the helmet yesterday?

The addition of a girlfriend adds some depth to the story and could provide interesting twists. It has the potential to elevate the story to something more than what seemed like some kind of 1990s comic book story. I like this new development and will like it even more if it is followed through. Many twists and turns are possible.

“Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto…”

Where does his girlfriend live that she has to write him snail mail letters rather than text or email?

To the TEXTBOOK:

When in trouble or in doubt,

Run in circles, Scream and Shout.

Keep a cool head, don’t panic.

Johnson’s first name is Charlie. In Chicagoland we had a mob boss who was nicknamed Big Tuna. But I’m thinking Johnson ain’t all that, despite his cool hat.

And thanks to Edison Lighthouse I now concede that Mr. Roboto is a he underneath it all. But, still, I am disappointed that Roboto did not take his helmet off after all, though he seemed yesterday on the verge of doing so. Maybe it’s fair to wonder if we will ever see his face while he is among the living….

Edison Lighthouse, a Rock Band from the ’60s. Nice.