Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for January 24, 2022

Goodbye Blackjack?

Good morning™, everybody!

We’re back to the story and it looks like Tracy has been recuperating at home for the last week after that bullet hit his vest at close range. At least he seems capable of preparing a hamburger and fries while Tess and Joe visit Grandma Truehart.

Since there’s no trace of Blackjack at the site of the explosion, we can remain hopeful that he somehow got away.

It looks like BJ is dead, but this is the “Tracyverse” where the impossible can happen…/sarcasm

Blackjack, he didn’t deserve to have that happen to him!

Good morning™, missing persons !

After all THAT Bj’s gonna go back to jail ?  I doubt it but it is possible. With his collection still missing I think he wants to get that settled before going back and only after he gives Tracy a stern lecture on security. Might be time for Dick to get that shed put up in the back yard so that Bj’s memorabilia will be more secure. Alarm by ADEMCO.

As I figured, no explanations provided for the miracles in Tracyville. What chutzpah by team Tracy!

Well, it looks like Tracy’s been convalescing from the bruising from that bullet he took to the vest as indicated by the patch on his chest. And Blackjack might have made it out alive so Team Tracy covers the bases on those unanswered questions we (Avenger) had. Artwork’s okay but not great. I do like the gloomy forest though with the long shadows. And I’m just glad that we’re back to the main story and not a Minit Mystery retread.

Blackjack LIVES

♫♪ I get knocked down, but I get up again ♫♪

♪♫ You are never gonna keep me down ♪♫

Burger n fries? :)

Agree with Neil. Blackjack’s end is open-ended.

To be brought back as needed, if needed, in future stories.

No body found means he’s alive…..good guys don’t get killed off anymore, anyways.

I learned one thing this weekend: home field advantage does not guarantee a win.

They were lucky the explosion didn’t start a forest fire.

In the comic world, as the soap operas, maybe he did not land yet!

Great artwork today.

Wha? with the first panel. I like it but still, Wha??

No Body? Heavens Blackjack was blown to itty bitty bits!...Or the cliched “No Body means he ain’t dead yet!”

See that rectangular mark on Tracy’s chest? That’s where the colorist missed a cue and made Tracy’s bandage flesh-toned.

A little bewildered that this was swapped with the short tale. But then I’m easily confused by the arcane mysteries that are paper clips, so…

This is a comic. If there’s no body, there’s no death.

Um, since when does Tracy refer to BJ as ‘The Blackjack’? Don’t recall him (or anyone) articulating the article before now….

Things I really like about today’s art:

The yellow shirt and red shorts – even though I know these are not the product of the official creative team. They remind me of the way Harvey comics colored the daily strips in those old reprint comics.

Tracy and Sam at the scene, looking things over. Tracy with his hands in the pockets of his trench coat – that is a classic pose.

I do have one question – what is that object by the book shelves in panel one? it looks like maybe a tripod mount for a camera. Is it relevant in some way, or just background?

Update in case y’all are interested…Wednesday i was medically cleared to return to work for the 22nd, but since I’m off Friday and Saturday I had an extra day of recovery…if it only worked out that way tho…

it snowed early Thursday morning so I woke up to about 3 or 4 inches covering the driveway, not too bad. My friend that I live with had already gone to work so I figured I’d shovel the driveway before he came home. Took me an hour, and the rest of the day I laid on the couch playing video games and being slightly uncomfortable since I wasnt able to stretch out properly and had one of the cats sleeping on my feet.

When my friend Michael got home I got up off the couch wracked with ridiculously sharp pain up and down my left side and across my chest, thought it was because I was laying awkwardly but when I ended up going to bed I woke up about 4 hours later with a severe asthma attack that lasted about 20 minutes..woke up Michael and he reminded me to use my inhaler…the pain has been moving across my body, yesterday it was focused on my right side and since Thursday I havent been able to draw a full breath

been sleeping sitting up since Thursday night, and last night had another asthma attack that went about 30 minutes…managed to slow my breathing down enough to be mostly pain free when I slept (didnt go into work yesterday tho, and it’s good I didn’t)

Woke up this morning with a LOT less pain, now mostly focused in a small area under my right ribcage, but capable of deep breathing if needed

my endurance is extremely low and I get winded easily which requires me to stop moving and take deep breaths in order to slow the breathing down

little steps every day to getting back to normal, but we discovered that the fatigue and cough could last anywhere from 3 months up to a year, so it might take a while

I’m surprised his underwear isn’t yellow.

Additionally, Michael’s aunt had passed away from heart failure and stage 4 lung cancer on the 13th…the day we got confirmation of our covid status…his uncle is, we believe, either suffering from dementia or just insane…his demands for the funeral are ridiculous leading up to it being postponed from LAST Tuesday to tomorrow…so I’ll go to work today, push thru any issues, and call out tomorrow for bereavement then back to work on Wednesday and Thursday (I’m off Friday and Saturday)

I bet there was a convenient escape girder nearby for Blackjack……

Burgers and fries — my idea of recuperation.

Tracy’s sporting his Sunday chapeau, the one with the faux bow on the left, on a Monday. Guess it didn’t get damaged in the dustup with Bones.

Just want to say, I really enjoyed guest artist Charles drawings,really neat!

1-DT: Yeah, I’m ok but I wiped out on a 40 footer at Malaboo. No, not Malibu – Tracyville Malaboo Lake – down where the sewage plant overflow creates those gnarly waves. Anyway – I hurt my butt and I have to eat standing up…

2-Later that night… DT: How’d we get assigned to clearing the park of men propositioning each…PUT THAT BACK IN YOUR PANTS, SAM! THAT OPENS US UP TO ENTRAPMENT!

3-DT: HEY SAM! I found a glass eye with my image on it! And here I thought I’d seen every Tracy-Tribute item that was ever made! What? A marble? Whadaya mean – I must’ve lost it along with all my other ones? Sometimes you’re hard to figure, Sam…

If Bones was trying to frame Blackjack, he wouldn’t want his body found in the explosion. Judging by the history from others’ comments, he probably made it somehow. Interesting that only a souvenir remains. If Blackjack called 911, however, properly identified and all, he wouldn’t have a reason to evade police. With him being on the phone when the explosion happened, I don’t see him surviving this.

Now we can resume our regular programming (the story line) I see that Tracy either has cooking skills or he went to: McDonald’s, Burger King or Wendy’s. Had this episode taken place in the 60’s, he would have been eating a Hungry Man TV Dinner.

Maybe the explosion from the cabin caused Black Jack to be air borne. They’ll find him in the sweet bye and bye.

Or to use a line from one of those Pre Y2K movies and television shows….Black Jack has gone to one of those gift shops in the sky.

Another phrase did come to mind regarding Black Jack…“Greater love hath no man that he lay down his life for his friend”.

You know where I’d look for Blackjack?

In the basement of the museum where they’re showing the Tracy exhibit.Reverse psychology.

And I remember how The Nitrates hid out in the basement of an active movie theatre.

MOVIE QUOTE:

“Whoever did it sure needs a manicure”

Discovering murder victim in THE MOLE PEOPLE—1956

Just found out a good friend of 40 years who pastored my old church in lower Manhattan and headed a suicide prevention ministry in Missouri died yesterday in a car crash.

Sometimes life is so unfair.

Will miss you my friend, enjoy eternity with Jesus.

Tracy looks in pretty good shape for a man his age, whatever it is…

Nooooooooooooooo…….Don’t let Blackjack be dead!!

Gee,if BJ knew he had that many friends he might never have turned to crime.

And considering The Ace of Spades is “The Death Card”,I’m amazed any crook would WANT the name.

Lately this strip has had a run of characters vanishing after explosions. Just saying.

And welcome back, Mike & Shelley.

Oozes atmosphere!! Highest quality “Crime Dies Not Pay” comics of the 1950’s!! Mental images seem formed while listening to 1940’ s crime drama radio shows. Distant shots! Shadows!! Grimaces. Replete with details of the office our man having his burger and fries!! Balloon captions as a narrator setting the stage and providing additional ambience. Action progresses visual art not stalled in prolonged stilted conversation!!! First panel Tracy seems to move – no cardboard cutouts, here fans!! Leaves gaps to be filled by readers imagination – the reader is a participant immersed in the scenes!! Art realistic but iconographic nonetheless – Flows panel to panel!! Tracy is real – hair on his arms! Facial expression!! Bodily poses express his feelings and thoughts without spelling them out. Not static pose. This is the stuff fans – skill and practice are needed for personal involvement and appreciation!!

If the comics are playing fair with us, Blackjack lives! No trace of a body or remains.

Much has been made of what is conveyed by panels 1 and 2. I’d like to focus on panel 3. We don’t (or anyway I don’t) know much about the library, let alone its gift shop. But I’d suggest this Tracy-souvenir may in fact be the instrument Blackjack used to cut himself free of the plastic-wrap mummification and thus to escape his Little House just before it exploded.

It remains to be explained how he got away from the area, and where to (and “wear,” too—as in, what did he wear?). But I do not expect to learn those tidbits until the next time we meet up with Blackjack himself. And that could be a long while from now….

Tracy does love yellow!

Hmmm…. I wonder if BJ gave a clue to DT where to meet him?

@neil that’s a cadaver dog, right?