Tracy is wearing his two-way wrist radio upside-down! There have been various designs over the years, but the radio Tracy got on December 11 and 12 and the one Sam was wearing on December 24 had the speaker grill at the bottom, closer to the thumb and the dial at the top, closer to the little finger. The one in today’s strip is backwards. (It is also backwards compared to the one at www.dicktracy.watch)
Im gonna post a picture to the Dick Tracy Crimestoppers Club Yahoo Group that I created… I took it a while ago (I’ve had the item in the picture since the early 90’s) but some of you might recognize it ;)
Come to think of it, Will Eisner once did SPIRIT story in which Chester Gould appeared. Sort of.
As Eisner told it later, Al Capp had suggested to him that they have a “feud” with each other in their comic strips to generate publicity for each other.
Eisner thought the idea sounded fun, so he came up with a story in which the Spirit is investigating the murder of a cartoonist named Al Slapp, who bore a passing resemblence to Capp’s hillbilly hero Li’l Abner. He went further and had two of the suspects based on Chester Gould and Harold Grey. (The Gould character hated Slapp because he’d ridicule his Plainclothes Detective character in the strip; the Grey character was delighted when Slapp parodied his Homeless Orphan Girl because his audience was dwindling and he needed all the publicity he could get).
In the end it turned out that the cartoonist wasn’t really dead, and the attempted murder was performed by someone else.
A couple months passed before Eisner realized that Capp never did a LI’L ABNER story mocking the Spirit for his part of the “feud”. It occurred to him that the week he had worked on the “Al Slapp” story, some reporters from LIFE had visited his studio to do a story on him. In retrospect, Eisner decided that Capp had somehow gotten word about the upcoming interview and suggested the “feud” with Eisner so that he would get mentioned in the article.
I am a BIG fan of Eisner’s Spirit and have been a Tracy fan for many years as everyone here knows. I don’t mind the “occasional” crossover but I am often lukewarm about full-story mashups between strips. Often the styles are too different and I feel the mixing somewhat dilutes the form and tone of both strips.
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After Tracy’s meeting with Cinnamon Knight on 12/8/12, it is difficult for me to believe Tracy so easily accepting a partnership with a masked vigilante. Conversely, what happens to the whimsy of the Spirit world when it is transposed to Tracy’s city?
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Don’t get me wrong. It’s good to see the old characters but when there are two leading men, one has to become a supporting player with a diminished status while the other has to make way for his counterpart, thus diminishing his own role. This story hasn’t really gotten going yet so I am probably speaking prematurely. I like Mike’s storytelling but I am reserving my further judgement until later in the tale.
The timing of the subplot with the Catchems has worked nicely here, with Spirit becoming a de facto partner of Tracy while Sam is taking some time off. (Note how Spirit’s partner Sammy – what a coincidence regarding the sidekick names – only appeared in a couple of panels, didn’t say anything, and is now absent without a word of reference. We don’t know where Dolan is either, besides the hint that he’s not staying at the hotel.)
I am somewhat surprised to see Tracy working security for Perenelle at the behest of Mayor Armstrong, but I guess that ultimately she’s the boss and he’s the subordinate. Also, I should have expected the Great Am to have vetted Perenelle’s security staff more carefully than what Tracy says about some of them not being on his security list.
The twinned heads in panel 3 are superb and also something of a classic trope, I think, though I can’t supply parallels immediately….
AnyFace almost 8 years ago
High-End Collectable Two-Way Wrist Radio Sighting Confirmed.
22ph almost 8 years ago
I have a feeling that the 2 men in hats will get some bad news.
AnyFace almost 8 years ago
Wonder who the undocumented associates might be.
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Anyone we’d potentially recognize …?
Rod Gonzalez almost 8 years ago
Chester Gould and Will Eisner.
I wonder what they would have made of all this?
22ph almost 8 years ago
So Perenelle up to this point is a friend. Will she become a foe?
doctor075 almost 8 years ago
And here the Blue Beetle and Booster Gold thought they were the original “Blue and Gold”!:>D
Neil Wick almost 8 years ago
Tracy is wearing his two-way wrist radio upside-down! There have been various designs over the years, but the radio Tracy got on December 11 and 12 and the one Sam was wearing on December 24 had the speaker grill at the bottom, closer to the thumb and the dial at the top, closer to the little finger. The one in today’s strip is backwards. (It is also backwards compared to the one at www.dicktracy.watch)
the too late song almost 8 years ago
Love the old 2-way. With enhancements of course.
Vista Bill Raley and Comet™ almost 8 years ago
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Good morning guys!
jrankin1959 almost 8 years ago
Hat Squad approaching Penthouse Suite…
tsull2121 almost 8 years ago
Im gonna post a picture to the Dick Tracy Crimestoppers Club Yahoo Group that I created… I took it a while ago (I’ve had the item in the picture since the early 90’s) but some of you might recognize it ;)
kurtoons.wilcken almost 8 years ago
Come to think of it, Will Eisner once did SPIRIT story in which Chester Gould appeared. Sort of.
As Eisner told it later, Al Capp had suggested to him that they have a “feud” with each other in their comic strips to generate publicity for each other.
Eisner thought the idea sounded fun, so he came up with a story in which the Spirit is investigating the murder of a cartoonist named Al Slapp, who bore a passing resemblence to Capp’s hillbilly hero Li’l Abner. He went further and had two of the suspects based on Chester Gould and Harold Grey. (The Gould character hated Slapp because he’d ridicule his Plainclothes Detective character in the strip; the Grey character was delighted when Slapp parodied his Homeless Orphan Girl because his audience was dwindling and he needed all the publicity he could get).
In the end it turned out that the cartoonist wasn’t really dead, and the attempted murder was performed by someone else.
A couple months passed before Eisner realized that Capp never did a LI’L ABNER story mocking the Spirit for his part of the “feud”. It occurred to him that the week he had worked on the “Al Slapp” story, some reporters from LIFE had visited his studio to do a story on him. In retrospect, Eisner decided that Capp had somehow gotten word about the upcoming interview and suggested the “feud” with Eisner so that he would get mentioned in the article.
Ray Toler almost 8 years ago
I am a BIG fan of Eisner’s Spirit and have been a Tracy fan for many years as everyone here knows. I don’t mind the “occasional” crossover but I am often lukewarm about full-story mashups between strips. Often the styles are too different and I feel the mixing somewhat dilutes the form and tone of both strips.
.
After Tracy’s meeting with Cinnamon Knight on 12/8/12, it is difficult for me to believe Tracy so easily accepting a partnership with a masked vigilante. Conversely, what happens to the whimsy of the Spirit world when it is transposed to Tracy’s city?
.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s good to see the old characters but when there are two leading men, one has to become a supporting player with a diminished status while the other has to make way for his counterpart, thus diminishing his own role. This story hasn’t really gotten going yet so I am probably speaking prematurely. I like Mike’s storytelling but I am reserving my further judgement until later in the tale.
22ph almost 8 years ago
Speaking of wrist radio, I did not know that it was powered by nuclear energy.
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I stumbled into this while searching at yahoogroups. http://media.liveauctiongroup.net/i/4318/5586603_1.jpg?v=8C83C3A99FFC2C0
Don Bagert Premium Member almost 8 years ago
The timing of the subplot with the Catchems has worked nicely here, with Spirit becoming a de facto partner of Tracy while Sam is taking some time off. (Note how Spirit’s partner Sammy – what a coincidence regarding the sidekick names – only appeared in a couple of panels, didn’t say anything, and is now absent without a word of reference. We don’t know where Dolan is either, besides the hint that he’s not staying at the hotel.)
Gweedo -it's legal here- Murray almost 8 years ago
Might those “couple of people” on Miss Flammel’s security detail be infiltrators ?
Sisyphos almost 8 years ago
I am somewhat surprised to see Tracy working security for Perenelle at the behest of Mayor Armstrong, but I guess that ultimately she’s the boss and he’s the subordinate. Also, I should have expected the Great Am to have vetted Perenelle’s security staff more carefully than what Tracy says about some of them not being on his security list.
The twinned heads in panel 3 are superb and also something of a classic trope, I think, though I can’t supply parallels immediately….