Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for August 23, 2013

“……how Dr. Ghote recreated me.”

This should be interesting indeed. Did he REALLY recreate her or not?

Clone?

Surgically altered amnesiac. They did manage to clone Mysta’s hair, horns, and powers somehow tho..

Ahah! She had no memories, just as I’ve said all along, they were all fed to her… She is not MM1

Besides, the bomb was placed in the area under the dash near the steering wheel, if anything would have been totally damaged, it would have been her legs and lower organs, not her face!

Hmm. “My earliest memories are of waking up at the Apollo” suggests that Mysta doesn’t remember anything about her old life, that all the “memories” she has exhibited have been implanted.We can’t rule out the possibility that she’s suffering from a profound state of amnesia (from the shock of the car explosion perhaps), but I tend to take what she says at face value, that she apparently has no natural memories of her previous life. In that case, she clearly isn’t the original Mysta.On the other hand, Mysta knew how to drive a car, which surprised Retik — that could be a hint that she’s real after all, or at least somehow has real memories. Too, there are the scarred horns (how did they get that way if not from the car explosion?) and damaged face (assuming it really was damaged). It’s possible at least that the huge blank in her memories has been elicited by hypnosis. If the inevitable face-to-face meeting with Junior leads her to remember information that only the original Mysta and Junior could have known, that will certainly argue that she’s real, or again, that her memories are real.Still, I lean toward seeing today’s evidence that she’s not the original MM. One thing I’ve learned from this story, though, is never to take things at face value. This could very easily be another red herring that Mike Curtis is throwing at us. I’m still pretty firmly persuaded that Mysta’s not a clone (the means to recreate a perfect adult clone in only 5-6 years — a clone of an alien woman no less — seems very far-fetched even for this strip, plus Ghote is a proven con man). But if not a clone or replicant, what is she then? I don’t know, and I don’t expect we’re going to find out for sure until Mike Curtis wraps up this amazing tale later this fall.

“Clone” perhaps will not be exactly the correct technical term, but if this “Moon Maid” tells the truth, the real original Moon Maid did indeed die in the car-bomb blast. How Dr. Ghote “recreated” her, however, has been left vague (purposely, I think). She may be a clone with implanted memories, as I have thought, or perhaps a ghola (who knows if Dr. Ghote is a Dune fan?), or perhaps some other kind of replicant, revenant, or revivification…. The issue of her memories is probably the trickiest to explain in any scenario….

We’ ve been wanting an explanation. Now we’re going to get it.

Sunday’s gonna be very interesting, to be sure. I can’t wait to see how everything ties together. I’m still holding out for a surprise Blackjack appearance.

Mysta’s version of what she remembers is a little different today than it was on June 12. On that occasion, she did recall at least a glimmer of her old life:

Woohoo, it’s getting good! And complicated. I still don’t know what to think.

Good morning everyone…

I’m going we’ll never know if MM/Mysta is the real thing or not and that she will reappear from time-to-time.

It’s already been made clear she has memories of before the explosion (her meetings with Honeymoon and Sparkle, etc.), so I have to think she’s giving Tracy the memories of what happened after regaining consciousness.Of course, Ghote and Sail would tell her she’d been cloned; that was part of their con. Remember, Sail told Diet Smith that once Mysta was verified by Smith as a clone of the real Mysta, people would be standing in line to pay Ghote and Sail to clone them – with the money profiting Sail’s criminal associates.Though I think Ghote was able to help Mysta regenerate, and that’s why he was so upset upon learning of Sail’s scam (It ruined his chance at redemption).Have to wait and see what’s next!

capn.. youve JUST come to this conclusion? lol :)

for the record, i aint buying a word this lying, scheming, conniving, dishonest moon maid lite says. odds are shes just telling them what they want to hear.

remember.. there was ANOTHER tracy character that was killed in a bomb blast, and we’ve seen verified members of THAT particular character’s family quite recently.

ghote could have “regenerated” her and sail implant the false memories, taken the scarred horns of the real moon maid (which could have possibly been the only thing left of her after the blast and been blown clear of the wreckage) and grafted them on after extracting dna from them to implant the electrical powers into the HUMAN subject.. which would explain why her powers faded in and out on her a few days ago, AND would explain the scarring on the horns.

anyone care to guess WHO i am talking about? :)

We do know that Dr. Ghote did something he regards as genuine. The inconsistencies in “Moon Maid’s” stories can be explained by her being coached in what to say to Diet, or her genuinely being confused as to what are real memories and what was just told her. (People do tend to “remember” things they’ve been told repeatedly.)

Apropos of nothing: has anyone considered that Dr. Ghote and Little Boy Beard Plenty are THE SAME PERSON? I’m showing my age, of course, and I’m not being serious either. I’m just sayin’ that their goatees are suspiciously similar.

I’m going with SDM; I think Mike painted himself into a corner. No matter which way he goes, he’s contradicted himself and will walk the plank.

There you will find my theory that MM could have teleported (or have been teleported) away from the scene a split-second before the detonation.__________________

I had also posted a similar theory almost a year ago. Moon Governor has spied on MM before and has saved her once when she was locked in a vault. Moon people communicate telepathically and her father could have sensed the danger and teleported her.

So, which is it, Willy007? It seems you’re trying to have it both ways, and it doesn’t work that way.______________________

We are all trying to make sense of how all of this happened. Willy is just expressing his confusion.

“Real Deal” is a relative term when a Lunarian is involved. Those who speak of physical limitations as if Mysta were a human may wish to expand their horizons. Like Ray and others, I believe the Governor is involved in some way with his daughter’s recovery and return. Recall that Sail responded incredulously to Ghote, “Your work?” Sail can’t be trusted to have told Mysta the truth, but he seemed to tip his hand in the aftermath of being Ghote-slapped. What a great story. This rare (is it a first?) instance of consecutive days with the two-panel format is a treat for the eyes. More of the good stuff from Team Tracy.

Please go back to Wednesday’s comments and read my response to one of cheapskate0’s posts. There you will find my theory that MM could have teleported (or have been teleported) away from the scene a split-second before the detonation^^Well, it seems unlikely as generally, a bomb kills you before you have time to do anything about it, besides, this isn’t Star Trek (Fortunately)

i aint buying the teleportation excuse either JPW.. if hat was the case, then why would they have needd the space coupe to get to and from the moon all those times? sorry, it doesnt hold water for me

Whichever way Mike goes with this thing, there is a pile of “case history” contradicting his version. He’d probably be smart doing a segue to another story, as he has done so many times in the past. And SDM, yer on! Bring avenger09, MPH, Sparkydog77, and all your pals! Anyone under the bridge is welcomed as my guest!

My opinion hasn’t changed. The “recreation” somehow involves reconstructing MM from parts. I just don’t know how. I certainly don’t believe that Moon Maid survived the explosion somehow, and a “clone” doesn’t make sense, since it would have to involve accelerated aging that is even more far-fetched.

I don’t think that Mysta will be showing up from time to time in the future. One way or another, there’s going to be some closure on MM in a couple of months. That’s all I know, but I don’t rule out more MM after that or more space stuff.

“So, which is it, Willy007? It seems you’re trying to have it both ways, and it doesn’t work that way.”Well, it works that way for me. :)As I mentioned before, I have mixed feelings about Mysta’s identity and the clues that have been presented. And I admit to being confused by it. Put all the evidence together, and it doesn’t add up, at least not in my mind. I’m pretty sure this is by design, because Mike Curtis wants to keep us guessing until the end.To your point, when I said that I tend to take what Mysta says “at face value,” I meant that I believe she’s sincere in what she’s saying. Sincerely deceived perhaps because of amnesia, hypnosis, or whatever, but sincere at least in that she believes she’s telling the truth. I used qualifiers like “tend to,” “in that case,” and “apparently” to communicate that this is my subjective impression.When I said that I never “take things at face value” with this story, I meant I never take the info provided as gospel truth — and this would include Mysta’s testimony, due to the possibility that her memories have been manipulated/implanted/erased.So I used “face value” in two different ways in two different contexts: my perception of Mysta’s sincerity vs how truthful her recollections actually are.

@Willy007

To your point, when I said that I tend to take what Mysta says “at face value,” I meant that I believe she’s sincere in what she’s saying. Sincerely deceived perhaps because of amnesia, hypnosis, or whatever, but sincere at least in that she believes she’s telling the truth^^I agree that MM2 believes she is MM1, but, that doesn’t make it so… Anyway, Mike can keep sending in the confusing/contradictory clues and we’ll all see how it ends next month

I’m going to repeat something I’ve said a long time ago that still may hold true:Mysta’s Lunarian body can tolerate things humans can’t (heat, cold, etc.).The bomb exploded, terribly damaging her body. She was able to escape from the wreck concealed by the smoke and flames (from the side not facing the Tracys and the cop watching them). Yes, the blast would have left tissue remains behind, but not much (attributed to the heat of the fire consuming most of them).The injuries were major, but her body was able to heal (regenerate, if you want), albeit slowly (hey, she was blown up! We aren’t talking paper cut here, ya know.). But Mysta is still Mysta. Orignal body, lots of new cell growth.Maybe helped along by Ghote and with Sail’s plastic surgery on the lower face (which was damaged beyond her natural healing powers).No definative biology for the Lunarians was ever given, so my theory on their healing is as valid as anyones, with Mike having the final say.

KNOCK KNOCK Night-Gaunt,.. hi… im sure you remember me? I’m the one who is constantly saying that THE CAR BLEW UP AND NOTHING REMAINED OF MOON MAID TO BURY

meaning there were NO remains to be found (look at the frickin inferno that engulfed the car at the momen fo explosion).. no brain, no piece of flesh.. nothing.

i had speculated earlier that MAYBE her horns got blown clear and that’s why they look scarred to honeymoon… but in my head i keep going back to the “altered moon person” theory where SOMEHOW another moon maid**EN** came ot earth, which could have led to moon governor dismantling moon valley because she broke his decree of no more contact with the earth, her coupe crash landed and she was burned, and ghote/sail jumped on the opportunity to push her off as a cloned moon maid. (the crash of a moon coupe would also explain the scared horns and facial damage)

just curious.. did ghote OR sail ever say this was the ORIGINAL moon maid, or did they simply say it was moon maid? perhaps they were inferring that it was A moon maid, and ghote’s “genetic manipulations” are /were more geared to regenerative tissue of an alien being from severe damage?

Could be reconstructive surgery if it was below the torso damage? With stem cells?

YAY! thanks sdmatt… amd dont give me anything SHARP either! :)

We’ve talked MM to death. NOW, let’s open a can of whoopazz on Hy Pressure and his band of reknown!

It’s getting good!