Recent Comments

1. about 7 hours ago on Dick Tracy

   The artwork in the Dick Tracy strip has always been stylized (how could it not be with grotesque villains and square jawed heroes?). It always had a unique look on the newspaper comic page. The stories were stylized and meant to be, the artwork was stylized and meant to be, and the characters were stylized and also meant to be (like symbolic archetypes). Bad guys’ evil was manifest in their ugliness. Good guys were square-jawed, straight shooters.

   The more realistic the strip appears, the farther away from the vision of Gould, Fletcher, and Locher it becomes and the less unique it looks as a standout on the newspaper comic page. The symbolic melodrama inherent in the strip is gone. Now we argue about points of realism on the chat board and not the points of the story (“Is it Chicago?” “Why didn’t Dick call for backup?” “Who is the driver for the getaway car?” etc.) If a story is presented with the strip’s legacy symbolism in a thrilling cops and robbers style, none of that is relevant. We just accept that Blofield was able to recruit an army in James Bond films. We just accept that Bond villains are ugly or weird in some way and Bond is a handsome straight shooter. Things that draw big discussion here would not even be noticed on most TV or movie cop shows with pace and action.

   I also find the artwork shocking and inappropriate when we have characters like Dethany Dendrobia (a Betty Boop wannabe) crossovers alongside Dick Tracy. It is like if suddenly Dagwood and Blondie were drawn in an ultra-realistic style. It doesn’t work anymore. One of the posters here, Farmboy71 pegged the style in which Dick Tracy should be drawn when he called it “cartoonishly realistic.”

   IMHO: Dick Tracy stylization does not fit well with Marvel style realistic artwork. Gould created a masterpiece. Why do some people think it needs to be improved upon and resist following what made the strip famous in the first place?

2. about 8 hours ago on Dick Tracy

   When Pat Patton was Tracy’s partner, he was definitely presented as a comic sidekick, not as bright as Tracy. When Sam came on board, he was presented as a skilled and experienced detective and served very little comedy. We make fun of Sam because the character has not always been handled correctly by Mike and is put into comic situations more akin to the Pat Patton comedy of the past.

   It is good to have humor in the strip, but Sam should not always be made a laughing stock. You’re right, he gets no respect.

3. about 9 hours ago on Dick Tracy

   A Sam Slam that means Scram.

4. 1 day ago on Dick Tracy

   Well, he is an angel, after all.

5. 1 day ago on Dick Tracy

   Lots of exposition and another shout out to an extremely obscure comic, but little plot movement or action.

6. 1 day ago on Dick Tracy

   Of course none of the topography or landscape has changed since Scardol was killed many years ago.

   Actually that was a problem for treasure hunters looking for “The Secret.” One guy followed the clues in Boston which led him to a particular park baseball diamond home plate. When he got there, the park was being remodeled and was under construction. He spoke to the operators of the excavator who remembered approximately where home plate had been. When they dug in that spot, they found the treasure box. That area of the park was being leveled and turned into a picnic area. It was a freak accident that the excavator operator remembered where he had previously moved dirt. This was all shown on the Discovery Channel program Expedition X.

7. 1 day ago on Dick Tracy

   Snagglepuss and Leonardo.

8. 1 day ago on Dick Tracy

   Squirrels also play in my attic.

9. 1 day ago on Dick Tracy

   Hallelujah!

10. 1 day ago on Dick Tracy

    He made all of his money selling copies of an obscure, self-published, comic book by conning people that it led to a treasure. After all who is more gullible than Tracyville citizens?