Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for March 05, 2021

Good morning™, observers!

Well, we are still not seeing Auntie Bellum yet, but she is being carried to safety.

We seem to have switched to strips inked by Joe Staton. It’s unusual for that to happen part-way through the week, since all the strips for the week are usually done at the same time.

I see that the balloons have largely lost their helium lift. That’s to be expected after about 20 hours. Aquarius took the blue balloon away. I think it’s in his bedroom now.

Those people sure are messy! They really need to set up some kind of duty roster for their commune.

I wonder if Cheesecake called the gas company?

Good morning™, stealthy searchers !

Pouch might be assuming the balloons were all kept together. Will he give up the search early after all the rigamarole he went through to have this opportunity ?

Will Tiger have escaped the cellar in time for Tracy’s arrival ?  I like how their eyes are depicted as slits in P. 1. Must be Joe’s stinky inky, alright. LOL !

Pouch murdered someone in a fiery explosion (Johnny Scorn). Will he (and Tiger Lilly) die the same way?

Dreams are true while they last, and do we not live in dreams?The mild-eyed melancholy Lotus-eaters came,Laden with flower and fruit whereof they gave to her.And deep asleep she seemed while all awake.And music in her ears her beating heart did make. Let her swear and oath, and keep it with an equal mind,In the hollow Lotus-land to live and lie reclined,On the hills like Gods together, careless of mankind,Where they smile in secret, looking over wasted landsLike a tale of little meaning tho’ the words are strong…Till they perish and they suffer – some ‘tis whispered – Down in Hell.Rest ye little Nell, do not wander more.

(With sincere apologies to my pal, Alfred.)

Keep looking Pouch! In that place, you’ll be surprised by what (and who) you’ll find!

Pouch in panel 2 looks like he stepped out of a 50s issue of ‘Mad’. Now if he could just find that furshlugginer balloon, for Melvin’s sake!

Or from “Vault of Horror” or “Tales from the Crypt.” Thanks for the fond memory. Child psychologists (Fredric Wertham – “Seduction of the Innocent”) and the like thought we would be turned into gangsters (least) by the stories. And we ended up as school teachers, doctors and lawyers, etc. What went wrong?

Um, how did Pouch know how many people were in the house so he could verify they were all out? How long until the real gas company arrives? What does he tell them? (“I do freelance gas line repairs,” sounds fishy.) Does the argument with the real gas company add another layer to the plot?

Another layer in addition to: Do the police arrive first? What about Tiger? Blue balloon? Who wants blue balloon? Aquarius and his plans, Aquarius’s dad and his plans, Oscar and his plans, and whether we ever see the face of dear old auntie Bellum.

Pouch did all this planning and didn’t realize he could have been proactive and knocked on the door ten minutes ago with a, “Report of a gas leak in the neighborhood. Smelled anything?” He could have been out of the house already with the balloon.

I am starting to wonder if Aunty Bellum is a long dead skeleton, a la “Psycho”.

Aunt Bellum is shown speaking in several strips.

Great plan. But insufficient.

“No! I will not hide in the fruit cellar! Ha! You think I’m fruity, huh? I’m staying right here. This is my room and no one will drag me out of it, least of all my big, bold son! Norman! What do you think you’re doing? Don’t you touch me, don’t! NORMAN! Put me down, put me down, I can walk on my own…”

I knew it the blue balloon no where to be seen. This entire story line is about the blue balloon and what is in it besides air?

If Aquarius arrives soon, he could send in a goon to catch the maroon who is looking for a balloon and punch him so hard he flies to the moon then we can all sit down and watch a Dick Tracy cartoon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJKACBgn2rs&list=PLCCBg8Rr0T3GooKKOy2_0gDq8XNf2O02p&index=23

A-Man spray painted it red to freak out folks like Pouch, here……..

What happened to the gas and Tiger Lilly, and why is this house now vacant? The tooners have meandered so much they have forgotten half the characters.

“There goes the last of them. The house should be empty now”. How long has Pouch had this place under surveillance.

Wow, Oscar just saved a poor woman from a house full of gas! Shouldn’t he be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom or something?

be better if Auntie Bellum was holding the blue balloon

I see green, red, and yellow Kryptonite, but no blue.

Yo, Pouch, baby! You haven’t conducted a full search of the manse yet. Just looking at that one party room doesn’t mean the Famous Blue Balloon is lost for good. It might still be tethered to the bed headboard in Alex and Cheesecake’s bedroom….

Pouch was sure lucky there was nobody else in the house, especially someone who actually thought of calling 9-11.

1-BIGG JR: ♫ ♪♪♫ SHE AIN’T HEAVY, SHE’S MY AUNTIEEEEE ! ♫ ♪♪♫

2-MEL: The coast is clear…wait. I SMELL GAS! …oh. I forgot. I put it there… Whewf.

3-…MY PRECIOUS BALLOONS! WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO YOU??? They’ll pay for this, I swear to you! Wait. I SMELL GAS …oh, yeah. …oh, yeah…almost forgot. Wait. Why am I here?