Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for May 27, 2015

Good morning Tracy fans!

Oh the joy of an exciting stripPuts a grin on my faceGives my step a little zipWhat will await our favorite chubby guyWill he escape once againOr swim to that Fort Knox in the skyI’m pretty sure Ted will quicky slip awayAnd spend thirty more yearsBabbling on about this aqua dayPerhaps the day will come When I’ll stop reading this stripBut for those who want me goneDon’t hold your breath that’s my friendly tip.

The distraction of the helicopter has saved Ted from getting shot, at least for now. The developing whirlpool should get Jimmy and Ted’s attention next. They don’t have such a clear view of what’s happening around the oil rig as Sam and Tracy have up in the air, but “anyone on the lake is in danger” as Tracy says. The whirlpool is already sucking the rig down into the depths, so it’s a good thing that the oil workers got their boat to shore already.

Don’t even have a guess where this is going from here. Neither Jimmy Choo Shooz nor Ted Tellum is a sympathetic character. Team Tracy has created a new (and unpredictable) plot line!

Action-Packed!

Exciting aerial rescue for Ted?

Death by Undertow for Jimmy?

And does that chopper pilot look like Dyne O’Matick to anyone else?

It’s the “Bathtub Drain” effect, NG.

Now that a hole’s been punched into the salt mine cavern beneath the lake.

I wonder what would cause that whirlpool to form in the first place?

That’s what happened in Lake Peigneur. As the water started to drain down through the hole into the slat mine, the water started spinning and sucking things down, including several barges from a nearby canal.Virlie Langlinais was at her Louisiana home on Lake Peigneur when she saw the swirling vortex. “It was like watching a science fiction movie with tug boats and rigs and everything going on,” she recalls from the comfort of her friend’s porch some three decades later, a faint breeze licking off the water below. “Like watching a little ducky in a bathtub going down the drain.”

Another description of the 1980 events at Lake Peigneur, this time from LosApos.com:

Shortly after abandoning the $5 million drilling rig, the crew watched in amazement as the huge platform and derrick overturned, and disappeared into a lake that was supposed to be only eleven feet deep. Soon the water around that position began to turn. It was slow at first, but it steadily accelerated until it became a fast-moving whirlpool a quarter of a mile in diameter, with its center directly over the drill site.

@ Night-Gaunt49——-Neil Wick said, 3 days agoSo, this is what happened at Lake Peigneur, Nov. 20, 1980. The oil rig accidentally drilled into the salt mine below and the lake drained down into the mine sucking down watercraft, trees, even buildings, into a big whirlpool. It’s worth watching this whole 10 minute video: Lake Peigneur disaster on YouTube.

My money is on Ted surviving (even if he doesn’t deserve it) and greedy Johnny heading to his doom with the gold.

By the way…I hope Tellum has some big time insurance on his home….I think he’s gonna need it.

Well, Ted won’t have his view obstructed by the gas rig anymore.

Jimmy should have suckered the bigger fish to grab the unlucky gold while taking the cash.

I imagine that a note about the Lake Peigneur disaster will appear on one of the upcoming Sunday strips, but big thanks to @Neil_Wick for the running commentary on the incident. Never heard of it ’til now and fascinating to learn about since I work in the port industry.

G’morning all!

Good morning Gweedo. I’m enjoying this story! What I wonder now is, will they find the gold? What I suspect is that Ted Tellum will be rescued, he is, along with Vera Alldid, not a favorite character of mine. Among my favorites are (obviously), Rikki Mortis and her employer, Abner Kadaver. Now you know all about me, guys. Have a nice day!

Good morning Tracy fans. Will Jimmy get his just reward? Will His hostage be saved? ________@avenger09: keep that poetry coming. It adds a lot to each day’s comics.________Have an abundant day my friends.

And one of them is in even more danger!

@Neil Wick: your comments add much needed background to this story. Be well my friend.

Ted could jump Jimmy now that he’s looked away.

Ironically, Tracy’s helicopter could rescue Jimmy and Ted without realizing who they have. Could Jimmy then hijack the helicopter? I’m waiting with baited breath.

Again, I like the symmetry of Sam, Dick, and the sunglassed pilot looking down in panel 1, while dangerous Jimmy and friendly fella Ted look up in panel 3, and the new whirlpool swirls heavy equipment around and around as though it were tiny toys…. The action is non-stop in this sequence. What fate awaits Jimmy and Teddy? Only Team Tracy knows….

Some ‘picky’ Observations/Questions (?) . . .

At this time of year is in normal for Tracy to be wearing a coat ? Don’t see the black suit depiction very much in this new era (?)As rare a ’bird; as that Ivory Billed Woodpecker ! (?) While over in panel *3 -

it’s open necked shirts’ to ease the likely heat

Word balloons – conventionally have an arrow pointing in the direction of the speaker, those in panels 2 and (particularly) in 3, seem to be “floating” in mid-air ? They don’t point UP, ,,,although, the context ‘suggests’ they are coming from those in the Helicopter

As Sam looks down, he’ll likely Wince with ‘Envy’, as he notes that firm (no escape) “grip in lip”, Jimmy has on the cigar * :-)*

Personally I do hope that Jimmy gets his and poor old Ted gets away clean!

Gweedo, you are an ornery sort … cute, but ornery. Each and everyday I look forward to seeing what good ole you has to say. To me you are like the gocomic police that keeps many of us honest and inline. From my viewpoint GM, U… R … Daman.

ten bucks says that the gold is not only LOST but will be swept away by the influx of water that refills the lake, on top of THAT.. it PROBABLY wont be mentioned ever again… even tho it cost some small central American country two billion bucks!

They should put you and Pequod on the payroll as honorary Team Tracy.

I’m a little too obsessed, but I’m just reacting to the story in front of me.

Gweedo said,I would envy you if it weren’t for the tag-a-long musty smells she carries-————————————————————-

Rikki is ‘crimson and clover’!

If Jimmy saw that big word “POLICE” on the side of the helicopter, he may hope to get away by stealing Ted’s boat. —And then, like the old Roto-Rooter commercial said -“And away goes troubles, down the drain.”

Thanks to everyone for your kind words. A special shout out of appreciation to NightShade09 and Morrow for defending my right to express an opinion. It’s not easy standing up to a cyber bully and I’m greatly touched by what you two did for me!

Good for them. I didn’t catch the problem, but trolls need to be confronted.

O.k. Jimmy, jail or whirlpool?

Makin’ me feel bad for not steppin’ up to the plate. I would be on permanent blackout after saying what I would say.

.You should feel bad! LOL! Learn self control!

This is starting to look like a job for those other Tracys

Will Sunday be an “Away-Goes-Trouble-Down-The-Drain” day?