Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for December 15, 2017

Bribery so does not strike me as the jogging type.

Might he “run” into a familiar face …?

He will think of a way to take advantage of the blooming friendship between Honeymoon and Ugly Crystal.

Having problems with Comet, VBR?

Methinks T-Bolt is in danger! Think of Moon Maid ’s demise!

Shout out to whomever it was who originally shared that link to Dick Tracy 23 Jul 66! I learned a lot about the current cast of characters reading through that summer’s worth of strips!

But a caution is due: There are aspects of this story that are a bit too similar to the original story. Bribery is one, of course. Ugly Crystal looks a lot like Ugly Christine though, as a child, may not be the hardened criminal her mother had been. But, if that were the case, why introduce her at all?

Still mulling over just where Mike and Joe are taking this story – and its characters. Bribery can’t keep escaping alive forever. And once he’s gone, what use will there be in keeping Mysta or Honeymoon around? Granted, Honeymoon will be harder to get rid of, but then, as Junior ’s wife, the original Moon Maid was hard to get rid of.

Driving to the track

To run forth and back

Schemes he’ll never lack

Nobody calls him slack

In the rain or in the snow

He’s always on the go

One of Tracy’s all time foe

The incredible Bribery bro!

I still have the haunting feeling that, especially since this is not the original Moon Maid, that Mysta is expendable, and may not make it past the end of this story!

In that middle panel, Bribery looks a heckuva lot like The Grinch! LOL

Glasses fogged up in the first panel, there, Mr. B?

Bribery has rebuilt his criminal empire but I can’t help wondering what happened to his old secretary Miss Deal.

The original Bribery tale was one of Gould’s longest. The actual story begins on 1/18/1965 with a couple of preliminary tales that weave into the Bribery story. The preliminary tales include the introduction of Mattie Square and his plot to kidnap the pregnant Moon Maid and imprison her in a dark bank vault away from the sun which revitalizes her powers. She subsequently sends telepathic signals which are picked up by her father who immediately comes to her aid and saves her.

The Moon Governor then abducts his own daughter and takes her back to the Moon and away from her husband, Junior.

The story then follows with episodes on the Moon with Tracy, Junior and Diet Smith where they are imprisoned by the Governor. However, the Governor finds that Smith has him over a barrel business-wise and is forced to acquiesce. Junior decides to stay on the Moon. Other aspects of this episode include the birth of Honeymoon.

Back on Earth, Mattie Square’s criminal empire is falling apart and he is forced to seek help from the city’s crime boss, Mr. Bribery who makes his first appearance in the strip on July 3rd 1965. I mention the two short tales preceding his appearance because they lead up to what happens throughout much of the rest of the Bribery tale which ends on Sunday, July 2nd 1967 with Tracy et. al. discussing his apparent fall through the prison workshop roof after being ejected from a Space Coupe by George and Notta Chin Chillar.

I’m getting a vibe that something is gong to transpire during this jog. I don’t know if Mr. Bribery will be attacked, or if he will have a brainstorm, but the build-up to and continuing focus on the jog suggests it has some significance in the arc….