Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for April 06, 2014

Ominous face in the last panel! Almost owl-like!

Mr. Angus has a beef, so checks up on his moneyInvested in a cartoon show, yet few things he finds funny.Bushy moustache and sideburns, pipe a-smolderingWhen it comes to squeezing dimes, Angus is the king.Bankrolling an adaptation of Burroughs’ The Moon MaidCaring naught for nuances, so long as he gets paidBy Kolossal every week, no excuses nor delaysUnderlings who come up short count their numbered days.Fools who dare to risk his cash at casino or horse trackSoon shall come to breathe their last when Angus doth attack.

If Angus is an investor in Kolossal Pictures. He has a legitimate reason to be concerned that it is making him money.

This Mr Angus is not so tender.

So, 50 episodes of “J. Straightedge Trustworthy”! It seems like a lot . The Simpsons is 22 episodes lately.

If Kolossal is like he was in the old Annie strip, he’s not to be trusted at all. I wonder if Kolossal really goes to the horse track or casinos with the money. There seem to be a lot of other possible explanations. If Angus knows that to be the case, I’m a little surprised he brings it up this way.

Once he sees the Moon Maid —-Angus will change his mind about the money.

Oy! Kolossal is truly an empty-headed fool! —The kind “soon parted from his money”; except it isn’t really his money. It’s Mr. Angus’s money, and Mr. Angus’s Scottish temper is blazing. If Kolossal doesn’t shape up, and fast, he won’t make it to next Sunday’s strip!

The Sunday LimerickAngus comes for his share of the take.The producer is starting to quake.Increasing one’s debtsby the placing of betsis a truly Kolossal mistake.

Sounds like Mr. Kolossal couldn’t get regular financing for his studio, so had to resort to Mr. Angus’ loan shark service—real bankers don’t come in person, they send lawyers.

Now we know what goes into that fertilizer Angus sells. “Feed your lawn, FEED it.”

Kolossal Pictures is doing something other than making movies (and cartoons).Delivering a package of cash can only mean that they have an illegal sideline.The question is, what?

If Mr. Angus is trying to intimidate, he’s doing a good job of it. Mr. Kolossal isn’t long for this world, it would seem.

Good descriptive description.

50 cartoons in production is much like King Features grinding out a whole lot of nothing-grade TV Popeyes — 220 in three years, with little to recommend them but the familiar voices of Mercer and Questel. The Dick Tracy TV cartoons in the same time period came to 130 episodes of rather similar quality.

O.K., so Angus has cat eyes, and Kolossal has Little Orphan Annie eyes… practicing for future events, maybe?

Unlikely, as movie cartoon shorts basically died when the matinee format that supported them ended in the 1950s. From 1960s on TV was the game in town and if you were aiming for the syndicated market you had to get at least 65 episodes in the can; this is why Robotech is actually made up of three different anime…it was the only way to get the 65 episode minimum.

So when does a loan officer of a certain type of bank become a crook? Only when he tries to collect the debt, one way or the other.

Is Angus one of the Moon People…?

Thank you, Gweedo.

“Don’t forget Jackson Beck (Bluto/Brutus).” Regular listeners to Sirius/XM Radio Classics Channel will recognize Mr. Beck’s name as well. Among other roles he was the narrator on the radio version of Superman and played detective Philo Vance.

Funny how the bad guy keeps changing from what we first expect in many of these……I mean, basically Kolossal is embezzling and Angus is a rightfully infuriated investor now. I mean, ignore the personalities and focus on the actions…

I always loved “bottom line” bosses like Angus, that stayed out of your way, left you in peace to DO things your way, as long as you showed the results they were seeking. None of this regimented, ___kissing bs….

I don’t think we’re gonna be seeing Mr. Kolossal around these parts too much longer.

Those flashing green eyes are rather intimidating. If Angus had a cat maybe he would give it a pipe, since Mr. Bribery’s kitty had a cigar:

Thanks to cpalmeresq, Gweedo, Willy007 and JPuzzleWhiz :) for the kudos. Much appreciated!

I have to admit it – I always thought the cigar smoking cat was one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen in a ‘realistic’ comic strip.It might work as an aside in a “Looney Tunes” cartoon (I think Bugs Bunny once met a cigar smoking dog), but a realistic looking cat with a cigar?Even in a strip with moon people, and bizarrely deformed criminals, the cat was waaay over the top.

Thus far, no tie-in to the troublemakers at the bottom of the lake. I was kind of thinking that this was the racetrack and casino Angus was talking about….So, if Kolossal is a crook, what does that make Scott Shaw?

I’m thinking these are theatrical cartoons, like the Popeyes they used to make.

As someone else said, there is no market for that anymore. They are more likely of The Mighty Hercules quality — very limited animation, about 4.5 minutes long:

I used to watch The Mighty Hercules all the time, so even if I criticize it, I liked it well enough as a kid. I had to (wanted to) watch the entire theme song before I picked that video, so it’s not fair to deprive you of it. Here it is:

asked: “What show was ‘The Simpsons’ a spin-off of? (Sorry, no prize.)”Wasn’t it The Tracy Ullman Show?

Oops! I forgot to check in today!

AND “Cool McCool”!! NBC Saturdays, ‘66-67, I believe.Re" Today’s strip: I take it that neither “Gravelpit” nor “Sabertooth” won: Shux, I do hate to see a grown man cry!!

This writer is much more creative than the last.