Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for October 25, 2010

There’s a movie that answers the question in panel #1: “From Hell It Came.”

It’s a police matter and a Federal matter. That would explain all the cops. We’re on that page. We’ve been on that page so long, the page has yellowed. And while it’s nice that Thick is getting a lesson in how to properly identify himself, it would be even nicer if we knew why it’s a police and Federal matter. This may be some sort of persecution fantasy of Locher’s, but it would be nice to explain why he’s being hounded.

Tracy, ever the vigilant one Stands flat-footed beside the gun Rather than reach out and just disarm her Something to him that would never occur He bleats and can only hopelessly natter That it is “now a police matter” But wasn’t that always the case Tracy, your a pathetic waste of space And what a waste are the feds Standing there in their grubby threads They flash their shields just for fun When really they should be reaching for a gun Amazing how people just appear and disappear Don’t you find that is just a little bleeep McDerrmott from bunko is no longer around It’s as if he was swallowed by the ground Amazing is it not, that no backup has shown Just another omission to make us groan Into the morass this story sinks ever so deep It is more than enough to make one weep.

Your welcome Bill T. And thank you Panel-Panner.

Yeah, where did you come from?

When preparing to fire a gun, always hold it as close to your face as you possibly can.

Also:

Are those gills or reptilian ridges on Mrs. D’buckworth’s neck?

Great scarecrow, Gweedo!

Good one WW, but I see that the nanny bleeped one of your rhymes.

Panel 2: “This is now a police matter.”

Panel 3: “And a federal matter.”

Put it all together and you got a lot of fecal matter.

WW rhymed (or tried to):

“Amazing how people just appear and disappear “Don’t you find that is just a little bleeep.”

GoComics Net Nanny: Don’t ask,don’t tell.

So I better not mention anything about a clockwork orange around here.

Is she going to cry or fire with her eyes closed? That doesn’t work too well. And how many days will she spend talking before she’s disarmed or D-cubed is hauled out of danger? “He spent all our money on charity! He was always away doing good for others, the rat! And Monday recaps are boring!”

She might want to open her eyes before she shoots the gun.

“Where did you come from? Where did you go? Where did you come from, Cotton-Eyed - wait a minute, this is now a police matter!”

Dumb & Dumber in panel 3

Uh, Thick? There’s no need to scream in her ear. No wonder she winces in panel #2. And as Thick is standing on her left, who speaks the line that emerges from the right? Isn’t Thick the only cop present? Did McDerrmott invisibly arrive, or did Norton decide to give credit for this mess to the local police?

At least we now have a crime for Thick to investigate. Wife shows up, pulls a gun and threatens to shoot her husband? Even Thick should see the criminal intent there.

Actually, if she’s going to hold the gun that close to her face when she fires, she will probably want to continue keeping her eyes closed.

Let’s see. Tracy had to wander around downtown for a week before even finding D-cubed, then chased him out to the countryside and back, and yet Mrs. D’B shows up, gun in hand, five seconds after the cops pull their badges.

That’s just the way those federal agents are! They seem to think that flashing those badges makes them some sort of gods!

Dberry-I had a friend that was a fed-he always said that if he got pulled over for speeding, he would NEVER allow the local/county/state guy that pulled him over to see his badge identifying him as a fed, as that would guarantee that there was no possibility of getting a break

3D is under arrest for giving his money to charity apparently – although macspacy and the feds have not stated the charges. the only matter here is the random drivel seeping out of locher’s brain.

Soon, Rod Serling will appear and explain why nothing here makes sense:

We know that a dream can be real, but whoever thought that reality could be a dream? We exist, of course, but how, in what way? As we believe, as flesh-and-blood human beings, or are we simply parts of someone’s feverish, complicated nightmare? Think about it, and then ask yourself, do you live here, in this country, in this world, or do you live instead in the Twilight Zone?

(epilog to “Shadow Play,” from 1961 … the episode where a defense lawyer discovers that he’s a character in Dennis Weaver’s recurring nightmare of a trial and execution.)

D-cubed represents Locher. This arc is Locher’s prolonged whine about how he feels the world has mistreated him. Soon (if you can use that word here) Thick will come over to D-cubed’s side.

If I were Locher, I’d see a therapist and ask why I feel surrounded by enemies.

Here we are on the cusp of the first real crime, Penny’s about to pull the trigger ! (Although there is no logical reason for her to be ’there’ - how did she KNOW “where” they were? Not even Sam and the Police Squad can find them down town. Another surprising turn - NOT plausible.)

The Feds who were quite capable of stopping Thick, prefer to stand around FLASH their BADGES again, and watch a crime come down - case over 3-D’s dead (?) Arrest Penny instead !

Another far fetched mini sequence, penciled in by Author/Artist - Thickly Ludicrous !

Sydney Phillips, I’ve stopped thinking of this sequence of panels as a narrative and started thinking of it as Locher’s internal psychodrama. As you said, there is no logical reason for Pistol Packin’ Penny to come on stage; no logical reason for the Feds to flash badges when they should draw their guns and cover an irrational woman with a gun.

Think of D-cubed as Locher’s overblown image of himself. That would explain how the well-groomed businessman suddenly sprouted a Christlike beard and hair. Locher is gathering characters who represent everyone he dislikes; don’t feel surprised if the ex-associates show up as well.

Eventually D-cubed will give his spin on why he’s being persecuted. Thick will believe it.

Come to think of it, you may well be right on that point BillThompson, Locher with a final blast of artistic OXYGEN is blowing away all the real life people he dislikes before his contract expires.

Today, we had Bill Clinton, in the previous story it was Nancy Palosi appearing as Anja Nu.

There has been some speculation on who? the 3-D character represents. My guess is that it is a satire on left wing, billionaire, philanthropist George Soros … giving to the ‘needy’, while making Billions for himself (in unsavery manner?)

And like 3-D, George has only skated on some thin ice - it’s said, pulling the rug on Juan Williams at Public Radio, following a grant of $1.8 million to that institution. Read the BIO : http://www.woopidoo.com/biography/george-soros/index.htm

And as I’ve noted elsewhere 3-D’s NOSE (panel 1) seems a dead ‘give away’ - that it’s intended to be Soros : http://www.gocomics.com/dicktracy/2010/10/07/

I’ve thought about that, too, Sydney Phillips, that D-cubed might be Soros, or Warren Buffet, or any other wealthy philanthropist. Locher is so murky with this arc that there’s as yet no way to tell which explanation fits the, for want of a better term, facts. The messiah-complex theory could fit either case.

One perplexing thing is that much of what we are told is filtered through characters who hate D-cubed, and all of these characters–Penny and the ex-associates and the Feds–all have motives to lie about him. The bit about D-cubed “lifting” secret technolgy came early on, and was hearsay repeated by Police Hooters. When we are shown D-cubed directly, he’s being noble and charitable and all that. But again, that could be delusional behavior.

Then there’s Sue Doko. She’s the only person so far who hasn’t said anything about him. Plus, she’s attractive and wears a miniskirt, which may be visual cues that she’s to be trusted. The last we saw of her, she was on his side.

I wonder how many more clowns Locher will have tumble out of this clown car.

CAN’T TOUCH THIS

So, who was the body with the butterfly tattoo? Did Mrs. D knock him off too?

Okaaaaay…I’m a little confused (or maybe mixed up) Hopefully this mess will be explained .

Floooom!