Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for June 01, 2016

Good morning all. Let’s hope that Lee’s and Tracy’s instincts are correct. I left several very late comments on yesterday’s strip for those who are interested. I’ve been working on some new things for my site. There may be an announcement on Saturday.

Hm.

Another two-panel strip.

Mind you, Bobby London could get a lot done in a two panel Popeye strip.

Is that fellow on the corner talking into a cell phone a rat fink?

Blaze has a ticket out of this mess, but will she actually take it?

Or will the lure of a tragic, abusive relationship ultimately lead her down the path towards a noir-ish end.

Someone mentioned this a few days ago. The ending of this story is being set up as a reversal of Notta’s original story. Notta was abused by Piggy until she and her husband reached out to Tracy and agreed to cooperate with the police and bring down her abuser. Now Blaze is being abused by Notta, to the point where she has reached out to Tracy and agreed to cooperate with the police and bring down her abuser. Very neat! It’s possible the story could take a different turn. It will probably have some unexpected twists and turns. But if I am reading this right, it tells me Mike Curtis has carefully thought through this story and is going to give us a classic ending. I like it already!

The number one risk is of course that Blaze knows that T-Bolt is an undercover cop. Can she be trusted to keep this from Notta? She acts very much like an abuse victim, and it takes great strength to keep a secret from an abuser.

I hope we’re finally going to get back to Notta now. We’ve barely seen her for a month!

Except for in Willy’s posts, that is!

I also do not recall T-Bolt actually telling Blaze she was an undercover cop. She simply told her she knew a cop that might be able to help her. A lot of real crooks know cops that they can turn to in attempts to get out of a bad situation, but are still real crooks.

.Good morning guys!

Gweedo noted,You really should spring for new shoes for Comet so that he can get you here on time.-————————————————————————-.Heee, heee. G’morning Gweedo.

@Neil Wick (from yesterday):“I’m more and more convinced it was something for Purdy. Maybe the reason Blaze has to prepare for Notta’s arrest is to take care of protecting Purdy from any stray bullets or whatnot.”Up to now, I’ve always leaned to the conclusion that the packages Blaze delivered to Notta contained drugs for Notta, knowing she used to have a heroin problem. Keeping Notta dependent that way would ensure that she is morally compromised and under Bribery’s thumb. But your hypothesis is certainly a possibility, too. Another tantalizing mystery from Mike to keep us guessing and coming back for more. :)

I think Lee’s cover is safe. “T-Bolt” told Blaze she knew a cop. She did not confess to being one. She was a sympathetic listener back at Ace Tower. Her words helped Blaze to remove herself from shark infested waters before she became Bigg’s chum. When T-Bolt looks over the top of her glasses I see Lee Ebony. Blaze likely read’s T-Bolt’s advice as words of a concerned (former) colleague. Lee seems to have wisely vamoosed before Tracy and Sam arrived. I’m thinking she will be a part of Bribery’s next chapter.

Let us see what we shall see..

I still have a bad feeling about this.

Notta has no idea that she’s in danger unless she saw the new about her henchmen being arrested.

“WALKING DISTANCE” . . .“Especially seeing that she’s carrying a load of laundry.”-—————————————————-

All Sound, Logical conclusions . . .

And I’m not going to speculate that she is taking a Cab :-)

I love Sam’s comment that they didn’t need Blaze to tell them where Notta was, since Putty Puss had already done that. Hopefully MCU has some people keeping an eye on the place.

Tracy and Sam seem to have thought this through. I am hoping the arrest of Notta will take place rather smoothly and without significant violence. Basically, she’s just wanted for questioning at this point, until her involvement with Bribery is clarified. Purdy would probably end up being institutionalized (Happydale?), but he could be a bit of a problem when Notta’s arrest goes down….

Actually, I don’t think that any of these characters will be killed. I think Mike Curtis might like to have them around for some future stories. Certainly there’s some connection between Bribery and Notta/Purdy involving the moon that has yet to be revealed. It would be interesting to see Bribery make a trip to the moon trying to get the gold but there is no known Space Coupe available except for the moon people’s. Another question, which may never be answered, is if Diet Smith’s moon complex and shelters still exist?

… or is she just THAT complacent ?

I don’t know. She’s pretty complacent. Most of the time, she just seems to be lying about ordering Blaze to do stuff for her lately.