Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for July 23, 2017

Summer day. Smoke clears away. The firefighters win

Blackjack helped to save some lives, to sponge away his sin.

Left smoky cash and boldly dashed into the fiery fray

His suit is Zoot, covered with soot, sure has seen better days.

Hickman quickly lawyers up, sans any gratitude

Tracy slaps the bracelets on, frowns at his attitude.

Hickman sees himself aloof, above all regulations

Eats his slice and takes yours too, shrugs at all depravations.

Blackjack he smiles through the tears to see Tracy approves

Not all bad, though slightly mad, such obsession surely proves

Models set upon the shelf and Sparkle dolls and drinks

Evidence of stilted love that ripens, rots and stinks.

Still, Blackjack’s no embezzler. It’s Hickman who’s the bum

Hand deep in the cookie jar, he must think that we’re dumb.

He’d drop a torch on anything, then soundly sleep on silk

Take from the poor to aid the rich. Familiar is his ilk.

All the employees knew? This was very weird.

Good morning guys!*

I’m hoping that Tracy, Sam and the customers and bank employees, go to the trials of Black Jack and his associates as character witnesses. They merit the showing of some leniency from the judicial system.

“Only guilty people lawyer up.”

If all bad guys were like Blackjack, the world would be a pretty good place.

I think Blackjack deserves a hug. From Tracy.

cue “Tubthumping Song” by Chumbawumba * Tracy starts elaborate dance routine with cops, robbers, bank employees, firemen and bystanders all joining in. ** At the songs conclusion Blackjack & Co. fade off quietly into the shadows while Tracy arrests Hickman.

This is what happens when Hickman hires a bunch of squealers.

Blackjack may have helped Tracy rescue those people, but Tracy’s hat got lost.

I’m thinking that Hickman started the fire in several places in the bank. His secretary saw the one he started in the vault, which he set to make sure that enough money was burnt to make it impossible to tell how much was there to begin with; but he also set other fires in the building to cover that one up. The other employees might have seen him setting the other ones; or perhaps they knew about the financial fix the bank was in and guessed that the fire was just too convenient to be genuine.

Blackjack seems to be taking his arrest calmly.

Blackjack, a modern day Pretty Boy Floyd?

I agree with Ray Toler’s comment yesterday regarding this being an enjoyable story. Blackjack is an unusual criminal, both eccentric and memorable. His obsession with Tracy and Sparkle is both a nod to Tracy’s fame as a skilled detective and the fact that the strip once generated a diverse and profitable line of related products. This year we’ve had quality glimpses of current issues handled deftly: xenophobia, campaign donations, hate crimes and misdeeds in the world of high finance. Tracy’s world is contemporary, even as Team Tracy makes good use of the past.

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

Maybe Blackjack can get rehabilitated and get a job with the SEC. Then he can hit unethical money managers legally.

The contrast of Blackjack, and Hickman is excellent. It’s a pity there isn’t more criminals in the world like him. Reminds me at times of Leonard Snart of the Flash at times. Mr. Miller does an excellent job in portraying the character.

Looks like Hickman is facing a long stretch in THE BIG HOUSE for arson, obstruction of justice, embezzlement and possibly attempted murder.

What would really be cool would be Blackjack getting a pardon.

If I were the judge in BJ’s case I’d give him the choice of jail or the same time in community service and hope he chooses the latter.

Just as I suspected … Mike is channeling the spirit of Victor Hugo here. Tracy will let BlackJack walk away, & then say he got away in the confusion surrounding the fire. Why not? A graceful end to a woke story. Good job.

Why would the bank manager set the fire during operating hours? How much sense does that make?

Yup. Frank Hickman’s the real villain here, hands down. Rotten to the core, heartless, dangerous.

Blackjack? He’s a poor, befuddled bank-robber and Tracy-worshipper who wouldn’t hurt a flea with his Tommy gun. Flashy, a softie at heart, more to be pitied than censured.

I suspect Tracy thinks as much and will do what he can to see that Blackjack get as lenient a sentence as possible and treatment rather than just hard time….

I’ve timed it. Reading the last 8 strips in a row- one continuous scene- takes less than the 3:23 runtime of Tubthumping. So it’s at least theoretically possible that Tubthumping has been playing in the background since the start of this sequence all the way up to here at the end. So one last time, here’s the html:

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