Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for July 31, 2014

Clever retort!

Ever notice just how prevalent clocks are in this strip?

Annie says, “It’s real,” Tracy’s wife still hasn’t checked her email (she needs a smartphone, at least), and when they do find the email, they may know where to look, but they still won’t know when to look. Or will they?They do have the letter with the 3-cent stamp to go by. Remember the helpful little narrator comment when B.O. got the letter? That letter is important. It may actually be the key to everything.

Again, Annie’s comments don’t jive with what has happened before. Her coded letter gave a location not a year. More over it was sent to a person who in 1944 did NOT exist as Sparkle Plenty wasn’t even born until 1947 and her fame didn’t really hit critical mass until 1949. It is beginning to sound more and more like she hasn’t entirely escaped Belinda.

I haven’t commented much, but I think this crossover is crazy good.

Tracy has his hat on backwards. The tie on the hatband is supposed to be on the left side.

I hope that Annie’s assessment of what is going on is wrong and that the elaborate Simmons Corners Potemkin Village ruse is actually all taking place in present time. I can more easily believe in an entire townful of brainwashed people than in some inexplicable time travel by Tracy for no apparent reason, good or bad. And that goes for Annie, too. (Even if Diet Smith is working on, or has, a time travel device, that would not explain what has happened to Tracy and Annie, unless Smith is the real villain or the Real Villain somehow has gained access to Smith’s device, if the device exists and works.)

Good morning guys!

Curtis and Staton have us guessing again!

Have you noticed that all the clocks in Simmons Corners look the same?

We still don’t know what Annie was talking about on July 10 when she said, “Mr. Tracy believes it all!”

Tracy’s comment about leaving Tess an e-mail would seem to indicate that they use that as a routine method of communicating. Yet, in Tracyland, where everybody is looking for him, and cops are searching their house, and everybody is in an uproar over him being missing, Tess hasn’t thought of checking her e-mail! Something seems off about that.

Neil Wick, Ken in Ohio, David42 and others:.Calendars and clocks are the clues in this story..Neil: (From yesterday) If this is an “alternate reality,” then where becomes just as unknown as “when.” After all, that June 1944 calendar would have been bogus everywhere on the face of this earth. My point yesterday was, perhaps they are on another earth, not ours! An earth where that June 1944 calendar is correct!.Maybe it’s going to be Moon People to the rescue, after all!.And those crazy clocks! None of which look like they would have been genuine in 1944!.Yes, there are a lot of clocks in this this strip, but they are pertinent to this particular story; I do not recall other stories featuring clocks as prominently as this story..Blast from the past: Remember Dark Shadows? How they were always panning to that grandfather’s clock in the hallway? Of course, they could never get those Westminster chimes right!

I think it’s a Potemkin village of some sort.

Where in Time is Little Orphan Annie?

Good morning fans. Time and tide wait for no man!

Oh, Diet… your cue.

How did Annie get the mail systems to work correctly? And as far as contacting Tess, maybe Tracy ought to find out how Johnny Adonis does it.

You would think if they were not actually in 1944, there would be modern day air traffic visible somewhere. Nothing has been seen in the skies over the town…and nothing of the town has been reported from the air.

‘Cause she’s the heroine in this story, remember?

Exactly the sort of crack I’d expect from Annie. Nicely done.

The barber pole keeps reappearing, too. It’s not just the clocks.

Apologies if this is old news, but RIP Jay Meader, the last writer of the comic strip “Annie” who died Tuesday. He also wrote “Dick Tracy: The Official Biography” in 1990. Here’s one more “Leapin lizards” for you. Again, I just found out so forgive me if it’s been mentioned before.

Is it possible that a comic strip plot is dragged out so long that excitement fades?

Just asking!

I just started reading this strip with this storyline. Does anyone know where I can find a list of storylines so I can go back and read them from the start? Thanks

An “Owwww!” joke.

Re-read this months strips, and you’ll see why the barber’s clock is important: Time has been running out of sync.-—7/12: Annie is at the Silo’s for dinner when Axel calls.7/13: They meet and discuss Prof. Kenyon.-—Scene change:7/14-15: Sam, Warbucks and Lizz meet with the chief.7/15: We learn Punjab and the Asp have been sent to follow another lead, as Sam and Warbucks leave to meet Diet Smith.--Scene change:7/16: The barber tells Tracy it’s 4:457/17: Annie watches as Tracy and the barber listen to “Belinda.”7/18: The clock reads 5:00 as Tracy rejoins Annie.7/19: Annie’s plan – she invites Tracy to meet her tomorrow at the Jot ‘Em Down store.7/20: It is tomorrow. Tracy and Annie meet at Lum and Abner’s.-——Scene change:7/21: Sam and Warbucks meet Diet Smith7/22: Sam and Warbucks leave, while Lizz meets with Tess.Scene change:7/23: That night, Punjab and the Asp see Henrik approaching.7-24-27: Henrik and Paulo talk, Henrik pulls his knife, and Punjab dispatches him.-—-Scene change:7:28: Tracy and Annie in the clubhouse. Tracy: “Ye Gods! It’s 4:45.”-—-Did you see it?Let’s say both story lines start on the same day – Monday.Annie misses dinner.Warbucks says Punjab and the Asp are elsewhere, as he and Sam go to meet Diet Smith.Annie watches Tracy as he listens to “Belinda” and invites him to meet her tomorrow. (That would be Tuesday.)They meet at Lum and Abner’s, so it’s Tuesday.But Sam and Warbucks meet Diet Smith on the same day they left police HQ, when the day has clearly changed for Tracy and Annie.

Plausibility? In a comic strip?