Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for May 30, 2021

Hunter is hunted at Patterson. Ten of Spades so stealthy

Kadaver dropped in for a kill, though he is none too healthy.

Miniature bow and arrow could halt Charlie in his tracks

Silence now the squealing rat. His mouth brought these attacks.

Arrow flies and Charlie cries. Dick Tracy takes the hit

Ten of Spades, he disapproves. This shall not stand one bit.

Tracy, he is unperturbed. Heading straight toward danger

Who shall get to Abner first? The detective or the stranger?

And what of naughty Rikki, whose costume is skintight

She may save Abner or herself, yet things won’t be set right.

Hey 10, not helping!

Good morning™, everyone!

I’m impressed with how quickly Tracy got to the other side of the theatre. I was thinking he would have to go down the stairs, around the perimeter of the ground floor, then up the other stairs, but it looks like he’s already approaching the dispute, so he can’t be too badly injured.

When did the Patterson Playhhouse get an extra h? (First panel on the second row.)

Good morning™, inept killers !

Tracy has a clear shot on Ten. Too bad he’s got a bum arm. “Take it, Sam” !

The situation gives Abner and Rikki a chance to escape. Sam is babysitting Charlie21 and Tracy will be busy with 10oS. Also, the dart is probably laced with a poison and he might start to feel its effect. An injured and drugged Tracy is no match to 10oS unless he throws a lucky left hook.

Next stop: Sweatbox ending!

Likely, we’ll get a fight scene out of this. If we’re really lucky, maybe a chase scene.

But the story? It’s over.

Abner keeps using Acme Coyote toys to do the job.

Abner hits Tracy by mistake.

Ten mistakenly thinks Abner tried to take out Tracy.

Tracy overhears all.

I mean, what the heck else is there to know about this story?

I see Abner making a complaint to management about this! I’m still hoping he goes after the Ace and decks him.

So utterly ridiculous to think that a wounded Tracy could get to the other side of the theater in a couple of seconds!

Team Tracy is insulting our intelligence!

So now Tracy has to….save ABNER???

Tracy: “You know, you morons make my job too easy.”

Ten: “What, wait, you’re not dead? then why am I so angry at Cadaver for killing you?”

Cadaver: “Ten, you know Tracy’s talking about you, right?”

Ten: “What? You think you can trick me into thinking Tracy’s behind me?”

Tracy, Rikki, Abner: [Face palm]

Is that a shadow on the wall, or are there no two members of the 52 Gang on the scene?

Just like an employer to not allow for an employee’s diminishing health issues….

And we still don’t know why Ten was at the theater, in uniform, and surprised to see Abner. It may be one of those questions never answered – like what happened to the giant spider in the sewer or how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop™? Meanwhile, try saying today’s dialog, how long does it take you? Four seconds? As Neil Wick pointed out, imagine Tracy et al cautiously sneaking out of their box, going down a flight of stairs, finding a secure place for Charlie, Tracy – still staying under cover – making it to the other side of the theater, and cautiously climbing another flight of stairs (cautiously in case an armed hitman is coming at him, Abner has been willing to use a pistol in the past before be took up the toy weapons). Think you could do it in the same four seconds?

Perhaps Tracy is on vacation and Barry Allen, in disguise, is filling in for him.

The greatest images again . Rikki in the third and fifth are just great , and will Sam shoot anyone ? This whole thing has gone way out of the box . But , still great as usual . At least the Charlie 21 looks stressed in the second frame for a change instead of that silly smile he usually has . He knows for sure that someone is trying to put him in a box .

Great job by the colourist with shading on the side of her nose in P2 on the second row, but the lips could be a little thinner to make them more natural.

This is the Dick Tracy I remember. Never laid low for long!

Also…a lot of great art work!

“We’ll try again later.” Like they would give you a second chance…

Technically, he hasn’t killed either one! (Unless the arrow’s poisoned!)

(psst) Cloned Tracy # 784. In reality, Tracy has only met/squared off against one baddie. The rest were taken care of, one at a time, by his clones. That way he’s batted 1,000 784 times!

10 is proving to be the dimmest of the not-terribly-bright players in this story; not only has he impulsively misjudged Abner, but he thinks it’s a good idea to carry out the sentence in the thick of an unstable situation with more police surely on the way. Black tights do not a ninja make….

1-DT: Duck walk to the concession stand. I don’t want Sugar Daddy to see us walking out on his latest insult to the classics.

2-RIKKI: I’m guessing you hit somebody this time. A.B.: You’re young, we’re 30 yards from the target AND YOU CAN’T SEE IF WE HIT IT??? WHAT GOOD ARE YOU?

3-10: HOLD IT RIGHT THERE! I’m one of those talkative killers who would rather banter than simply finishing the job before you even know what hit you.

4-RIKKI: Really? I’m surprised you’ve lasted this long. Those types usually get caught mid-diatribe.

5-10: Well, I’ve always been both chatty AND lucky. The chatty part comes from being an only child I think. I was always the center of…

DT: Hey. Do any of you know where the concession stand is? It must be nearby. I smell popcorn. Or is that toast? Ugh, I’m not feeling so good…

Well, “storytellers”, you know you must be losing it when Neil starts speculating on the inanities that keep cropping up. BTW, Neil, nice catch on the HH screw up. I wonder how the guys would do on Bookeepper or is it Bookkeeper? ….Mr. Crimestopper, thanks, I always let people wandering the neighborhood in to “look for their phone.”

People fall for that stupid scam. Seriously?

Originally meant to be a response to Lawrence S above:

While Ten’s apparent surprise at seeing Abner is a definite plot hole, all in all, I think your analysis from the other day was spot on. Oh, heck; Tracy still upright is yet another gaping plot hole. Unless everybody’s wearing Kevlar, but do you wear Kevlar on your arms?

I’m especially intrigued by the thought that there is a mole either at the district attorney’s office, or maybe the MCU itself. There is no other plausible reason for Abner to always be two steps ahead of Tracy, always in place and waiting for him/them to show.

Tracy tracking down bad cops would be a far more interesting story than what we’ve had of late.

Unless he is on pure adrenalin, is Tracy going to pull the arrow out of his arm and stick the ten of spades with it? No, that would be a fantasy.

Oboy! Target-rich environment! :)

“You disobeyed us! The Apparatus told you to kill Charlie 21…” Abner: Kill Tracy? What are you talking about? Ten of Spades: Tracy was in the theater; didn’t you do any kind of research? Abner: You do know people are in the theater, somebody will hear the gun shot.

Ok now Spades! Put the swine out of his misery!

To be fair to the current writers, it has always been something of a tradition in Dick Tracy that Tracy recovers extremely rapidly from the most horrendous injuries. I think it was Jerome Trohs who captured Tracy and put his right hand in a vice, so that he could never shoot again. Now, I saw a co-worker get his hand caught in an old C&P printing press, and it took him months before he was back at work, and the better part of a couple years before he had full use of his hand. And, he was extremely fortunate, because one of the top micro surgeons in the country happened to be on duty in the e. r. the day it happened. But Tracy was back to full use by the end of the story. Dragged behind a car by Wormy? Np problem, just give him a couple of days in a hotel bed. Shot in the torso at close range by Empty Williams? Wrap him in an ace bandage and he’s good to go! Stretched out in a culvert in sub-zero weather for days by Odds Zon, with no gloves on his hands? Cut him loose and he’s shooting a hand gun accurately within minutes. It did take him a little longer to recover from almost starving at the hands of Itchy Oliver, and again when he was trapped on a desert island somewhere near Cuba. But you can’t keep Tracy down for long.

Things are at a pretty pass!

Ten of Spades is ready to ice Abner for supposedly trying to waste Tracy instead of Charlie 21. It’s a false accusation, but there is no appealing Ten’s verdict. Things are looking bad for Kadaver, and for Rikki if she recklessly tries to intervene.

But, hark! What Wounded Warrior [small plug to the charity] from yonder box doth into this one break? Verily, ’tis Tracy, and Ten of Spades may face the sting of swift justice, ironically saving Abner Kadaver and his feisty minion, Rikki Mortis, from death if not from prison….

Hard to believe that someone would fall for the crime stoppers tip.