Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for November 29, 2015

Another corpse swings on the set, the Hangman strung up BrowLeft a threatening calling card, a ghastly noxious vow.“Stop production of the film, the twisted Midnite MirrorOr face a death for the climax, the hour’s growing nearer.”He killed the Brow and yet somehow the actor underneathThe makeup is the one to die, his family now in grief.Dick Tracy’s garb unusual, his coat and hat blood redBoss Tracy is the role he plays, he’s speaking for the dead.Stage a fight with Chalice to draw the Hangman outCapture the rogue killer, ‘tis what it’s all about.Blisterfield billboard smolders high upon the rooftop setCatch your breath and hold it, smoking summit brings regret.News flash from the airport, chopper’s been appropriatedSeems the Hangman’s taken flight, no terms negotiated.Wizard of Wrist, Sam shares this twist with Tracy high above“Keep eyes peeled for a stolen bird, seems push may come to shove.”Forsythe and Tracy in harness, action now seems imminentHangman shall tangle with the Boss much to his detriment.

.Good morning guys!.Well stated Pequod!

Is it “The Hangman” piloting the hijacked chopper …?

And might the safety harnesses be rigged for a hanging?

“Well, you’re playing Boss Tracy, I’m The Chalice and this is our big fight scene,” has to be one of the most awkward bits of exposition in this strip recently. You have a character rhyming off several things that the only other character within earshot already knows, solely for our benefit. It’s a very difficult thing to do something like this in a subtle way, but it has to be done for readers who haven’t been following closely or even not at all.

Throughout this ordeal we have been more or less fixated on this being the work of one individual …

You could be right about multiple criminals, but that’s not what I meant. Although The Hangman could be flying the chopper, it’s probably easier if he just held a gun to the existing pilot and forced that pilot to bring him along. On the other hand, if he wants to attack the actor(s), it would be hard to hold a gun on the pilot and get out at the same time, so you might be right about the accomplice.

We’re assuming the information being relayed by producer Lloyd Newman is accurate, of course.

It’s possible this might be an excuse to deploy boobytrapped safety harnesses.

Either way, we’ll see soon enough.

It appears to me that the Chalice is not happy with Tracy.And thank you for today’s verse, Pequod.

Good to see Pequod and Vista Bill on the job, just like Dick “Boss Tracy” Tracy, the man in red, and actor Forsythe, “The Chalice,” in yellow, and both in safety harnesses. I hope Tracy received Sam’s Wrist Wizard message! The hijacked chopper might be used to launch a variety of possible attacks, though apparently not a simple hanging (maybe an over-the-top hanging, though), depending on how equipped and on how crewed: is The Hangman a solo act, or does he have hirelings?

Forsythe, eh? I was reading the strip and just thinking of the actor who played Flattop in that ridiculous Warren Beatty movie — and how, before that, he’d played Capone in a TV series after Costner’s “Untouchables.”

We’ll see. I don’t often postulate possibilities…

Yes, we will have to see. After so many “gang”-related stories lately, it’s about time we had one of those lone criminals. According to Mike, the next story features a crime duo.

I don’t know if Sam will get through to Tracy. He may have removed his Wrist Wizard, since he’s playing Boss Tracy and not Dick Tracy.-I have to wonder if the color of the coat is going to play a role in this.

I know it’s a bit corny, but Sam shouting “Calling Dick Tracy” into the wrist computer with the lightning bolts coming out from it (first seen with the wrist radio!) was nice to see :)

Great one Pequod…Mornin Bill…Its a Thriller..

Another good role for a hard working actor. I first saw the talented William Forsythe in Hill Street Blues (1983) and Once Upon a Time in America (1984). He can play sweet and dim as well as fiercely menacing and intelligent. Nice to see Team Tracy pay respects for his quality turn as Flattop. This story has made a smooth pivot from fact gathering to mounting tension. Seems Tracy and the Hangman will soon meet up on the roof not down on the street. Sam is no fool. His feet are planted firmly on the ground, hot coffee he has found. Calling Dick Tracy!

Thanks to Vista Bill, Gweedo, Neil Wick, Ray Toler, Night-Gaunt49, 22ph, Sisyphos, Chris Sherlock and abdullahbaba999 for the kind words. Very much appreciated!

Wonderful poetry from Pequod! Thank you.

The scene: high on a building, two mortal foes in combat, and a helicopter arrives.

Reminds me of Tim Burton’s “Batman” with Michael Keaton as Batman and Jack Nicholson as the Joker.

A helicopter arrives to rescue the villain (Joker,) but thanks to Batman’s Bat-Snare, he falls to his death.

Though in the case of “Midnite Mirror,” the Hangman is hell-bent to stop the production, he probably has another victim, and will throw the hanged one off the chopper as a “message.”

But who will it be? “The Brow” was the latest victim, so another actor? “Trigger?” "The other “Boss Tracy?”

So, it feels strange wearing a red coat and hat, huh? Imagine wearing a clearly labeled red coat that everyone else sees as yellow! Now, THAT must feel REALLY strange.

Any number of us from Willy on down would have loved a return of The Moonmaid !

The return of The Moonmaid would have tremendously complicated life for the Junior Tracy family. I think it’s better this way, anyhow.

Oops – Two Way Wrist Radio – excuse the typos, please.

But how much of Ray’s appearance in that was make up Dept.__________________________I am certainly much older and grayer and balder now. LOL

Odd that Mike would reference the real-life actor who portrayed Flattop …

… but then again, this entire sequence abounds with odd references.

Since so much of the narrative has been reversed, inverted and subverted, maybe the villain is a certain someone with the initials “WB” …

… who’s been “hanging up” production on Tracy films for over two decades.

Gweedo – It’s legal here !!! – Murray said yesterday (I’m just catching up):Did guys smoke at the hospital waiting for their kid to be born ?

Well, I’ve heard that there was a tradition (I wonder if there still is) of passing out cigars when a baby was born.

I just found this page about passing out cigars. Among other things, it says, “Some of our veteran smokers out there will tell you — with a wistful smile on their face — about the days when you could smoke inside… even inside the waiting room of a hospital! But the tradition goes even further back…”

Another corpse swings on the set, the Hangman strung up Brow

Left a threatening calling card, a ghastly noxious vow.

“Stop production of the film, the twisted Midnite Mirror

Or face a death for the climax, the hour’s growing nearer.”

He killed the Brow and yet somehow the actor underneath

The makeup is the one to die, his family now in grief.

Dick Tracy’s garb unusual, his coat and hat blood red

Boss Tracy is the role he plays, he’s speaking for the dead.

Stage a fight with Chalice to draw the Hangman out

Capture the rogue killer, ‘tis what it’s all about.

Blisterfield billboard smolders high upon the rooftop set

Catch your breath and hold it, smoking summit brings regret.

News flash from the airport, chopper’s been appropriated

Seems the Hangman’s taken flight, no terms negotiated.

Wizard of Wrist, Sam shares this twist with Tracy high above

“Keep eyes peeled for a stolen bird, seems push may come to shove.”

Forsythe and Tracy in harness, action now seems imminent

Hangman shall tangle with the Boss much to his detriment.