Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for May 24, 2021

Why didn’t she leave the disguise on?

Rikki’s a regular chameleon, she changes her skin color at will.Not for nothing but Abner’s a real doofus. Sorry little timmy.

Good morning™, exposed death dealers !

Erben’s going to positively swoon over 2nd panel silhouette. I see the blonde wig is still in play. Maybe Honeymoon and Crystal will happen by and tip Tracy off to the presence of an interloper. Are Tracy and Sam complacent now that they have their alleged private showing ?

Good morning™, everyone!

Well, Sisyphos’ speculative guess from two days ago was pretty accurate: “Suppose while pulling off this box office ploy, Rikki happens to see and overhear Charlie, Tracy, et al., heading into the Patterson for the dress rehearsal?! A sudden change of plan and she could assume the Hit(s) as her duty—or, she could phone Abner and tell him to hurry over (with some alternate scheme for getting into the closed rehearsal)….”

It’s too bad that the added colour obscures Rikki’s see through coverup outfit as much as it does. I think it would look better in the black and white.

Quick costume change

“This looks like a job for Superman! Oh, wait.”

Go get ’em Abner!!!

So, I was right about it being on a different day from what Ab & Rik were expecting…but now trying to understand how/why it is they let her into the theatre a day earlier than what her ticket says.

Calm down boys.

Still wonder about the eyes, they were blue, then black, now red!

How’d you take off/apply the skin tone so fast, kid?

But wait, if Abner kills Charlie 21 at the dress rehearsal that means he can’t see the show. Can I have his tickets?

Ahh, that’s the Rikki I knew.

All I can think of/say is…. VISTA BILL WOULD HAVE DEFINITELY LOVED PANEL TWO! lol

Er, is gong natural such a good idea with Sam on the spot? Or, presumably, the witness, who probably had a tleast seen pictures around the evil old homestead?

Why is her skin white again? Too many cartoon bloopers here!

If Abner makes his appearance in a puff of smoke, it will just look like another special effect in The Tempest.

1-_Leave a message at the beep: BEEP! RIKKI T.T.: Hello, A.B? Why’d you hang up on me? Anyway…

2-…Fabulous news! So, I’m here at the theater, buying tickets like we planned and who do I see?

3-…CHARLIE! AND you won’t believe this part…HE’S THE CASTING DIRECTOR AND HE FOUND A PART IN THE PLAY FOR ME!!!

4-I’M GOING TO BE ON STAGE! Well, first, I have to give a brief try out on Charlie’s casting couch. He’s trying to find one now. Anyway, NICE KNOWIN’ YA! IMA BE A STAR!

Are they so obsessed with getting Charlie 21 that Rikki ditches her disguise? Will Abner have the good sense to get alternative attire? He’ll stick out like a sore thumb if he doesn’t.

Fun with writers trying to make sense of this Neverender again. Keep up the good work folk. BTW, Neil, nice synopsis of what we can read.

If Charlie dies Sam and Dick will be assigned to traffic control duty

We are home from our western vacation. In South Dakota we saw the Badlands, Deadwood (where Wild Bill Hickock was killed), Mount Rushmore, and Crazy Horse Monument. We stayed in Rapid City, SD where they have an 18-block walk with statues of the Presidents on all of the corners. They also have a free Dinosaur walk up a mountain. We hiked both.

In Deadwood, they have actors who re-enact famous gunfights that occurred there. The actors who played Wild Bill and Jack McColl (Bill’s killer) were preparing to do a reenactment of the shooting of Wild Bill in the actual saloon where it took place. Sean, the actor playing Jack recognized me from my movie roles and showed the other actors my profile on IMDB.com (I look a lot different now but he was a movie buff and recognized my voice from US Marshals, his favorite movie). They invited me to join their show for fun and play Carl, the saloon owner in the 20-minute bit.

In the late 1960s, I had worked at an old west theme park and did similar gunfight bits, so I agreed. I was even given a line. When Wild Bill got shot in the head and fell onto the table, I was to say, “He shot Bill. Let’s get him boys.” and then pull our guns & chase McColl out the back door with the poker players.

It was great fun to perform with these guys and they were thrilled to act with me. We exchanged autographs and hung out for the rest of the day talking show business while my wife hit the casinos. We watched them perform 2 other gun fights in the street. Travis, the guy playing Hickock was a dead ringer for the original and had played the part 11 years. He did an excellent monologue as WB telling his life story.

Then we continued west into Wyoming and Montana where we saw Yellowstone National Park. Some of the park had roads closed because at 9,000 ft. elevation, many of the mountains still had snow on the ground and roads. We were still able to see Old Faithful and all of the geysers and breathtaking mountains & stone formations.

Thought we might be heading towards a Godfather 3 climax … now shaping up like a “Parallax View” climax….

Wow! Rikki has Abner on his way and has stripped out of her disguise right in front of our eyes! —Not a smart move, I think, but I suppose Cartoon Logic prevails and the Bad Girl has to look her part in the script.

Now, the real question is, will the hit on Charlie succeed? I think not, but can’t be sure. I suppose any exchange of fire will be limited for fear by Tracy and Sam of accidentally hitting any innocent bystanders (-sitters; actors; crew; etc.)

Rikki Honey, you don’t need abner! I’m on my way to the theater!