Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for June 20, 2021

Wheel and deal. Barter and trade. Collectors have a knack

For orchestrating complex pacts to secure what they lack.

A “Derby Dugan Daily” won’t walk away for free

A “Terry and the Pirates” strip would mean the world to me.

Someone’s knocking at the door. Fresh art is now in hand

A “Castaway on Jupiter.” High price it did command.

Contemporary comic: “J. Straightedge Trustworthy”

Has added a new character. The Mars Maid, it is she.

Audacious dare breath of fresh air. Zaps with a freeze ray

The maidan brings the strip to life. She brightens up the day.

Good morning™, Mars Maid superfans!

Mr. Archival (I’m assuming this is him) is a huge fan of this new Mars Maid character, to the extent that he already has a big poster of her on his wall.

I see that, now that it’s Sunday and we have official colours again, Mars Maid looks the way she is supposed to, with the right colours and bare skin in the right places. I wonder what’s better than meeting Vera Alldid to talk about Mars Maid.

I got a little too involved yesterday researching what I was going to write about The Gumps, but then I realized that I was getting too far into it. I’ll try to warp that up and post it shortly. It has a lot of relevance to the origins of the Dick Tracy strip.

“Why do something normal, when I could do something criminal?!”

Is this guy talking to himself? If he is, let’s hope he knows he’s talking to himself. If he thinks he’s talking to someone that only he can see and hear…. (cue “Twilight Zone” music)

Happy Sunday! I bet Mr Archival is a typical loony aficionado who says" Mr Alldid I’m your biggest fan"

This reminds me of the “Mr. Roboto” story arc.. I wonder if he will try to kidnap Mysta ?

This reminds me of the “Mr. Roboto” story line… I wonder if he is going to try kidnapping her ?

Good morning™, a compendium of cartoon characters !

Me in the same room as Mars Maid™. Imagine that ! :-)

She likes Tracy which makes me wonder how my luck will hold up. As soon as I slip into a pair of rubbers, ..right after I get out of this puddle I am standing in.

Hol a sec? In his intro a couple of days ago he had no sideburns, but now he does?

He can’t be a true comincs nerd. Where are the Cheetos? The Mountain Dew? And his mother yelling at him to get a life?

Should add—Proud Member of the “Old Guys who like Old Comics” group….

Why meet Vera Alldid to talk when I could kidnap him and keep him locked behind glass on the wall?

how soon before he kidnaps Frankenmindy

I hope this idea doesn’t involve kidnapping Mysta, dressing her as Mars Maid, and keeping her all to yourself. Of course, we all know what happened to the last idiot who tried something like that.

How about that, I get to read today a comic strip within a comic strip. Similar to those crime dramas on television where a television show is depicted within a television show.

Can hardly wait to see what his “better idea” is.

1-STAN LEE: I only read the daily comics to see if there’s anyone I can sue for copyright infringement…

2-…this FREAKAZOID character has horns like my Scarlett Witch’s hair headband thingee…

3-…I’ll get my lawyers on it…

4-…hang on. INSPIRATION!…

5-I’M GOING TO CREATE THE FIRST FLAT-CHESTED FEMALE SUPERHERO WITH A MUSCLELESS SIDEKICK! I’ll call her ITTY BITTIES and he’ll be THE WEAKLING! Their super power will be that no one will pay attention to them which enables them to infiltrate any criminal organization! STAN OLD BOY – YOU’VE DONE IT AGAIN!

The comics in the throwaway panel are The Kewpies by Rose O’Neill. Notice the same character in the first panel here:

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/70/39/cb/7039cb274e8f5b7519573e5193a90866.jpg

…and Smoky Stover by Bill Holman:

https://tomversation.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/smokey1.jpg

Aha, he’s got a better idea! Here is where the plot thickens!

This guy is a purist; he reads comic strips in the newspaper and not online. Or maybe he does both.

I’m also thinking that we’re dealing with 2 different collectors because the guy we saw on the 18th doesn’t have the funny below-the-ear hair that this guy has.

Tip of the hat to the creator of Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson.

I guess I am hopelessly confused, because until yesterday I thought we were dealing with two collectors, too. One, as I thought, was “Mr. Archival” [such a canting name!], and the other I thought was “Mustache Guy.” But now it looks as though “both” are one and the same guy. If so, any sense of rivalry or conflict between “them” is lost, and yes, Archival does seem to be talking out loud to himself and no one else a lot! And, still, no nefarious evil-doing! But maybe today we see an inkling of the seeds of a plan that might involve something naughty, such as trying to kidnap “Mars Maid” Mysta Chimera. But, if so, why?

Not the greatest writing here today …. took me three read-throughs to realize the “freeze ray” lines in Panel 3 were in the Alldid strip while the “I hope he keeps her” were coming from Mr. Archival, who is apparently talking to himself. Out loud. Even Abner Kadaver had an accessory they could direct the expeditionary dialogue to.

That should be “exposition dialogue”.

On a positive note, Joe & Mike do deserve a shout-out for the Chester Himes salute today, in honor of JuneTeenth, presumably.