Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for May 03, 2015

Explains a lot about the Mole! Loving this!

There’s a city underground, ‘tis where Mr. Mole livesUsed to steal from desperate crooks, these days it’s he who givesBack to those less fortunate: homeless, ill or destituteMole recalls his change of heart, the day that it took root..Awaking in his prison cell, alone without a prayerTracy brought a Christmas gift, glad tidings he did share.Reformation a long road, one step followed anotherMole he walks the narrow path, a keeper of his brother..The fit, the lame, we’re much the same, in times of dire needJudge not lest soon ye too be judged by nature of your deeds.Tracy descends the ladder that once gave foul Duke a shockMole guides them to the outskirts, past a sewer line they walk..Mole’s mind it wanders back in time, abandoned as a childUnderground was his whole world, unschooled, mean and wild.These days a child looks to Mole, a man dependableHe saved her from foul Sweatbox with courage commendable..Tracy needs the Mole to guide. Now on the trail for cluesThe gold car required tracks for trains. Mole’s brain the map he’ll use.Find a forgotten tunnel. Likely exit for the carWith Mole and Tracy on the case slim chance the thief gets far..

So, this tunnel was the Mole’s boyhood home! He knows even more than you’d think.

Wouldn’t that be “track gauge” in the second-last frame? When Tracy was holding the map yesterday, you could make out “Lake __achett,” but today it is “Pratchett” with a “t” in the middle.

A tribute to former Tracy writer Max Allan Collins in the last frame. Nice!

I almost forgot to mention, everybody’s a detective these days — first Blaze, and now Mole!

An entire Sunday strip, in Darkness.

Plus a Max Allan Collins Reference.

I like the Max Allan Collins tribute in the last panel too.

More good info on Mole. It’s nice to have him on the right side of the tracks.

This is great! The search for the gold thieves leads to Mole’s “origin story.”The fact that the forgotten line was narrow gauge explains why they were no longer used, or mapped.Let’s hope Mole’s contribution doesn’t lead to his getting in trouble with the Blackhearts.

Mole remembers. Mole knows. We now know, too. With Mole as Teacher and Tracy as Pupil, it’s School Time.Jimmy Choo Shooz was a Bad Boy. If he isn’t careful, Blaze Rize and DoubleUp will be schoolyard Bullies….School days, school days,Good old Golden Rule days…

Blest Sunday morning everyone especially The Famous Gweedo!____________@Pequod77: most excellent poem____________Be well my friends.

“Rewes” = “Sewer” spelled backwards, a fine Gould tradition!This is fun stuff, but a couple of questions:If that track is narrow gauge, how was it useful in moving the standard gauge car that carried the gold in the present day robbery?Did Mole and Rewes live right next to that track while it was active, back when Mole was a boy? It appears that the cot and chest of drawers would be shaken up considerably if a train rolled through there.

Wonderful coloring! The shadows, the flat light of the flashlight picking out clue in the darkness, well done!

@ Pequod77

One of your more enjoyable lyrical contributions . . .And happily capturing new ‘revelations’ in Tracy’s strip history.

Good morning fellow DT fans!

What a great Sunday strip, what great poetry by Pequod77, and what wonderful comments! Perfection!

Well, if I’m to take Neil’s ‘studied’ analysis as - “good cash” (?)And seriously, we really should ! He’s a diligent observer ! We should expect - a FLOOD of Posts today ! ?>p>First off, it’s a Sunday, readers have a little more time to enjoy the funnies and express ‘opinions’,And more important, we have (Neil’s) classic ‘scenario’ where there’s some confusion. Mole’s here, Found the tunnels, but we haven’t located the missing railway car that carried the Gold ? Shouldn’t that be around somewhere(?) - empty ?

-——————————————————————-“There isn’t a lot to say about things whenever the action gets going. Actually, one of the things that prompts the most comments is when people Are confused and can’t figure out what the story is trying to do. That is a situation which I think is best avoided.” - Neil-———————————————————————

So a time then, when ‘queries’, ‘theories’, ‘clarifications’ (and Posts) - should ‘abound’ on the Board ?

After the Mole’s expressions yesterday, I’d hoped this Sunday page would’ve provided that ‘Ray’ of clarity that had eluded Tracy on his ‘earlier’ foray there some 3 weeks ago?It was Deja Vu, retracing old steps, covering the same ground as back then, just with another expert, one Owen Conrad (Like ‘good music’ - let’s ‘play it’ again ! ?)In Dick Tracy language’ you might call it a *DoublrUp’!

Not ‘complaining’ really . . . but thought this would have been a “pivotal” Sunday page (but unless we’ve a surprise come tomorrow), today only gives a peep forward, but serves to deepen the Mystery

Final panel today, Tracy praises Mole for good detective work . . . ‘Suggesting’ (?) - the missing car with the Gold, went in the direction of Lake Pratchett - (with that tunnel end now open) .Imagine then, PRIORITY #1 is to check that length of track - first, for the missing car (for direction), and then, any sign of the Gold ?Ken in O, ask a solid question how could a modern (wider base) rail car travel on that older (narrow) rail frames ?

Many things (and forward actions) HAVE been left rather ‘Vague’ ! ? Enough darkness and mind fog . . .We need Clarity . . .

Good a time as ANY, for a “Mr. Eveready” to shine some LIGHT on the scenario ?Otherwise, Neil may feel a need to come forward, and Light Up Candles for us ?

Nearly missed that kind, ‘Tip of the Hat’ to Max Collins ,,,The strip was so - Dark !

Great artwork!

IMHO the strip is in it’s Golden Age. I have been following Dick Tracy, on and off-depending where I lived, since 1970 and it has never read or looked better. This strip really deserves to have the newspaper circulation that it once had. Alas for the changing times…

Thanks, PQ, for a wonderful piece of work. Woe be us when a Sunday comes and you feel too bad to do your thing we so dearly come to rely on!

Always good to see the Mole. We knew who could help Tracy find that third tunnel. While Mole is not the only reformed criminal in Tracyville—Little Face and Influence come to mind, he is the ideal choice for a recurring role. His appearance in the ring with Thunderchild was fun. His saving of little Toad was captivating. Now we see Mole helping Tracy track down some clues, while learning of some interesting backstory. The use of the flashlight gives us a strong sense of place, as we travel the subterranean world of Mole. More of the good stuff from Team Tracy.

Thanks to Neil Wick, Gweedo, cpalmeresq, Willy007, Night-Gaunt49, Starman1948, Sydney Phillips, VistaBill & Rikki, Morrow, Ray Toler and JPuzzleWhiz for the kind words. Very much appreciated!

The name of the lake may be a tribute to Terry Pratchett, who died in March. This isn’t the first time Pratchett has been mentioned in the strip. And, in fact, he was mentioned along with Collins before, in 2011:

Thanks PQ77, love the poem and the silouettes…there’s a world goin’ on underground..

Regarding the Hall of Fame, which I’m just getting around to reading, I’ve never heard of an “undersheriff” before. I wonder if they are common and what they do. Second in command of the force?

Here’s a close-up of Tracy’s drilling company geological survey map from yesterday:

Maybe they’ll run into the Phantom down there:http://www.oregonlive.com/comics-kingdom/?feature_id=Phantom&feature_date=2015-05-03

I was just thinking about the speculation a few days ago that the thieves could have hidden the gold on the bottom of the lake for later retrieval. I didn’t think that was a good plan at the time, but if there’s an active drilling operation at the lake, that’s an even worse idea.

Aside from that, Jimmy’s accomplice did say that the gold was ready to ship out of state, so it doesn’t seem like he had any idea in mind of hiding it locally. On the other hand, Jimmy seems willing to sabotage his own operations for personal gain, so I guess he wouldn’t have necessarily gone along with the plan, even if he made the plan himself.

Things to Come?Can we look forward to Mole using the name Louis Rewes, Jr. when he takes his vows this fall?(I hope we’re invited.)

Awesome work, Pequod! Thank you!

Good to see a reformed criminal, with a touching backstory, help out Tracy. Just hope the baddies won’t take it out on him if their plot is foiled.

More clues to pop up for sure; it makes for riveted reading!

From:

Mike Curtis at THE ‎DICK TRACY FAN CLUB

No one seems to have noticed, and I can’t post on GOCOMICS so I’ll post here. I didn’t write today’s DICK TRACY. A couple of years ago, Joe and I knew that the Mole would need a real name and background, and I could not imagine one better than the one MAX ALLEN COLLINS gave him in DICK TRACY GOES TO WAR. So we had Jim Doherty ask him for permission to use it, and that’s it in today’s TRACY. That’s why the pipe at the end of the strip says COLLINS in big print. Thanks, Max!

Probably lost his password.

WOW! Loads of good info today!Thanks to all for posting. Be well my friends.

“Google is your friend”Undersheriff . . .-————————————————————

Very Informative link !Even a subtle suggestion that the ‘title’ might have English roots ?

Adds deeper meaning to the . . .“It’s legal here !!!” Slogan.

I wonder if The Mole was the inspiration for the Mole Man who was the very first villain for the Fantastic Four in 1961? They look quite a bit alike and started out as outcasts to society finding the underground as a place where they can dominate without society’s approval. However, they wound up going in different directions.

I don’t know why my message repeated itself but not sure how to delete it either. I remember another Mole reference in the old Superman TV show in the 1950s. It was "The Mole Men’, 3 subterranean dwellers that found their way to the surface but attacked by humans but saved by Superman. They just wanted to return to their home in peace.

Her name was Noel Neill – the cool thing is, she had a cameo in the first Christopher Reeve Superman Movie – she was on the train that young Clark Kent raced through Kansas, and she was supposed to be little Lois Lanes’s mother.

@The Famous Gweedo: you are very welcome my friend. Have a peaceful night my friend.

@Gweedo: Her name was Noel Neill.

There’s a city underground, ‘tis where Mr. Mole lives

Used to steal from desperate crooks, these days it’s he who gives

Back to those less fortunate: homeless, ill or destitute

Mole recalls his change of heart, the day that it took root.

Awaking in his prison cell, alone without a prayer

Tracy brought a Christmas gift, glad tidings he did share.

Reformation a long road, one step followed another

Mole he walks the narrow path, a keeper of his brother.

The fit, the lame, we’re much the same, in times of dire need

Judge not lest soon ye too be judged by nature of your deeds.

Tracy descends the ladder that once gave foul Duke a shock

Mole guides them to the outskirts, past a sewer line they walk.

Mole’s mind it wanders back in time, abandoned as a child

Underground was his whole world, unschooled, mean and wild.

These days a child looks to Mole, a man dependable

He saved her from foul Sweatbox with courage commendable.

Tracy needs the Mole to guide. Now on the trail for clues

The gold car required tracks for trains. Mole’s brain the map he’ll use.

Find a forgotten tunnel. Likely exit for the car

With Mole and Tracy on the case slim chance the thief gets far.