Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for December 20, 2010

So…

No flat tires?

Just a road closure due to monsoon?

And Tracy’s gone from describing Mordred as garbage to calling him “valuables?”

I guess a lot’s happened during their date to change Tracy’s mind.

Why has Tracy gotten out of the car though? That seems like a bad idea….

They’re having a monsoon here? Don’t worry, Thick, you’ll have better luck at the next suspicious roadblock:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm_cS33B76s

Funny how yesterday Officer Timmyclone had the Stop sign in his left hand. Now in panel #1 it’s in his right hand, and in panel #2 he’s dropped it and is reaching for his gun. In Panel #3, Thick has got out of the frelking car, which would be very convenient if one of Mordred’s Magic Minions (tm) wants to clobber him.

“Not a single car has gone past my guard station … heh heh heh … no, I’m just a minion, only the Top Evil is allowed the full HA HA HA HO HO HA … but don’t worry, the drivers of the cars I stopped were all fine … okay, that last one could have used more tartar sauce …”

So Bill, what’s this you were saying about Simon Penn? Do you think Mordred got him?

Since the cars didn’t pass the guard station, where did they go? Were they the unmarked decoy cars?

I really like how today was drawn. I would think tomorrow would be something exciting… …but in reality I sense an oncoming Tracy arguing with this nobody cop while the bad guy laughs to himself about his plan somehow involving the weather. Maybe he’s Lex Luthor or The Weather Wizard. …wrong comic?

I thought it was snowing..? Did AAA fix all the flat tires?

The question remains… will Tracy turn around and take Dr. Mordred back to the sheriff (again)?

Well, Flight Suit, that would explain how Mordred got drugged. There must be enough psychoactive pharmaceuticals in a quarter pound of Simpleburger to blast any hippy back to Haight-Ashbury.

I searched for Simple Simon as thoroughly as Thick would have, which let me avoid the danger of accidentally finding him. All I know for sure is, there are several different dates where his posts have vanished, leaving behind other people’s comments. I wonder when he’ll reappear, and under what embarrassing name?

Valuables? I hope he’s properly insured…

How did the crossing guard know that he was Tracy?

Make up your mind Locher. Is it raining, snowing or are they having a monsoon? What happened to the cars and the flat tires? And saying theres a monsoon out there, why is that man just standing there with a Stop sign in his hands? Shouldnt he be running for shelter?

Bill, that’s interesting. If one closes one’s account here, does that mean any posts made from that account disappear?

Why would he have closed his account?

Flight Suit, I have no idea what’s going on there. Maybe he made a complete tool of himself on another forum and got booted. I know that if you make a legitimate complaint, then Gocomics will remove objectionable posts as well as the offending account, but I don’t know how far they’ll go.

I think “Simon Penn” was a Sock Puppet.

Whoa- it never occurred to me that Simon Penn has the same initials as Sock Puppet. Perhaps he was a real sock puppet and his choice of name was a result of his subconscious mind revealing his true intent.

Or perhaps Simon Penn was actually a clever parody of a sock puppet, and the name choice was an intentional reference to this fact?

I could speculate endlessly. As I’m sure you could. That’s how starved we are for a real mystery around here.

Thick better hope that the crossing guard doesn’t get on his radio and ask his supervisor about this unusual prisoner transport. If that happens, anyone with a scanner will know something is up; anyone looking for Mordred will make the connection. Security is blown.

Of course if the crossing guards are Mordred’s new-found associates, security was blown long ago. Thick should make a call on his wrist gizmo (presumably a secure link) and verify that they’re real cops. Otherwise Thick is bumbling into a trap, and his only hope is that his incompetence spreads to Mordred’s plan, too.

The last post of Simon Penn was on dec 1st . His post finished like this : ” Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and to most of you… Have A Good Life. ” .

Strange , very strange , don’t you think ? Why would he end his post that way ?

I hope it was a farewell message, and not a veiled threat to return when his family brings him home from an extended winter vacation.

I just checked; that message is there, and he still has a Gocomics account. Apparently his 1 December post is the last he made.

I don’t know about the deleted messages. In theory it’s possible he realized he’d said something dumb and felt embarrassed, but then he would have deleted all his posts.

Flight Suit is right, we’re starved for mysteries around here.

I have a customer that uses that expression “Have a good life” all the time when he ends a conversavtion.

Maybe Simon Penn is a snowbird that is spending the winter down south and hasn’t hooked up his computer yet.

‘Twas the week before Christmas and all through the strip Nothing was stirring, it was the same old chit Our heads were all hung with the feeling of despair For we all knew that Locher did not even care The readers were all filled with a great mindless dread They knew it would have been better to have just stayed in bed Yo mamma said you shouldn’t read this worthless bleeep She knew that we were all being played for a sap When all through the board there arose such a trivial matter Someone was complaining about the magpies unceasing natter Away to the comments my fingers did flash To tell not to read them and blow it out their ash They complained at best we were the lowest of the low And that Locher was a genius, well don’tcha know The sycophants chorus was strong so it would appear So I just sat back and cracked open a beer Their little old drivel was the same old shtick You had to wonder how they could be so thick Putting shame to eagles the magpies, they came Pointing out that the defense was really inane His lack of effort shows all through his work You can only surmise that Locher is a jerk The point of this poem, I think you all knows Is that this strip thoroughly blows I know that this poem may seem clichéd and trite But it’s not as bad as Dick Tracy’s plight.

@ rightwingmoron, great job yesterday. Thanks mrbribery, Michael McMillan, Sydney and Nvash. @ Michael Mc., some come easy, others not so. Some are abandoned along the wayside. I have several pages of stuff that I did not finish. Song parodies are easier because the structure is already there. Until I started writing things here I never composed a poem in my life, though I have dabbled with haiku.

I thought a monsoon was a more or less tropical event containing rain, and lots of it. I live in the South but I have seen a blizzard or two, and they look like this comic.

If you really want to know how bad this strip has gotten, take notice that the talk has been directed at Simon Penn’s account and whereabouts. For my two cents worth, at first I thought Simon Penn was a pen name for none other than MPH. But then, I realized that he did not scream at us, calling us Magpies, ignorant, h-phobes, unimportant fanboys, etc, etc. So he COULDN’T be Simon. As for the message in his Dec 1 post, it was akin to saying “Get a Life.” Hmmmm……… heard that before, too!

WW, as usual, you are giving light to Christmas (here, anyway!) Christmas without you and BB would be incomplete! Obviously, you know of the famous confidant of Locher’s - the originator of The Magpies.

This story is so disjointed I don’t know how they even allow this to be published.

When was the last time you heard of a cop standing in the street with a stop sign closing a road because of a monsoon? In Illinois no less!!

Whoa. Shouldn’t Tracy be starting over at the start of the escort mission again by now?

Didn’t Spacy see the shadowy figure with the claw hands?

N7326 Foxtrot said, about 1 hour ago

I thought a monsoon was a more or less tropical event containing rain, and lots of it. I live in the South but I have seen a blizzard or two, and they look like this comic.

It’s either the first monsoon with snow in meteorological history, or Locher couldn’t think of the word ‘blizzard’ and figured ‘monsoon’ was close enough for cartoon work. It’s interesting that Mark Twain’s comment on Fenimore Cooper’s similar lapses in diction was also meteorological: “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug”.

Try to make a map of the characters and their movements in this strip. Either Locher’s trying to communicate something really important to the story, or he’s lost his spatial perception.

Panel one: Tracy’s in the driver’s seat of the car, and the cop is clearly on the left side of the car.

Panel two: Tracy’s still in the car, though it’s hard to say just where anymore. The cop is still outside.

Panel three: The cop (who is still speaking) is suddenly a good twenty feet away, on the RIGHT side of the car! And it appears Tracy is standing right next to him!

Obviously, Dr. Mordred has the power of telekinesis–with just a thought, he teleported the cop from one side of the car to the other, and teleported Tracy out of the driver’s seat and into the monsoon. What powers!

WW Another great poem or song. What ever you want to call it, It makes it worth looking at this strip. Nothing else does. Now the question is, “Is thick going to get home for Christmas or is he going to be on the road with the Doctor?”

Another winner, WW!

BillThompson, when I read Simon Penns last post I thought he was just saying goodbye to everyone because he was tired of the bashing of his favorite comic strip. No doubt he still reads it, he just wont be posting here any time soon. Shame, Id love to see him explain what he sees in this. Maybe Im missing something that hes picking up on here.

Another great one wndrwrthg.

I notice that the Dickster has the same problem I have unlearning the 10 o’clock-2 o’clock hand position. Or is he driving a pre-airbag car?

all we’re left with from this drivel are the musical interludes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heRoUyPE4gw

thanks again WW

My guess is that with that particular phrasing Simon Penn was ‘signing off’ for good !

He’s only too aware that Locher will be* gone* before the end of next month. And there will no longer be a raison d’etre for that identity’s existence.

And it’s safe to assume that the ‘adjective man’ thinks that there-after the strip will have lost it’s grandiose LOCHER’ LUSTRE’.

I truly like todays commentary wndrwrthg !

In particular, the timely and accurate riposte on the Magpie creator … happily also ‘retired’, this antagonistic narrator.

I dont know Sydney Phillips. Lochers contract may be over but as slow as this plot is going I dont think Locher is going anywhere. Maybe he actually went back and backtracked on purpose just to draw this out so that theyll hopefully have to keep him employed long enough to finish this arc.

Not only that, still theres no mention of this strip ending or anyone taking over online. I think he might just get his contract renewed quietly and the torture will continue.

http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2008/08/22/dick-locher-approaches-10000-cartoon-retirement/ This an older interview where he mentioned his 10,000th cartoon and people took that as a hint at retirement.

http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2010/06/24/interviewed-dick-locher-talks-about-his-cartooning-career-future-and-parkinsons/ Heres a nice old interview with Locher. He seems like an okay dude. Sadly I also just learned he has Parkinsons Disease. When this was made he was around 200 strips away from his 10,000th. I think hes passed his 10,000th by now but I may be wrong.

http://www.tmsfeatures.com/bio/dick-locher/ Heres his bio at TMS. Nothing about a retirement here but hes won a lot of awards.

http://books.google.com/books?id=DJai9JCtYhoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Chester+Gould:+A+Daughter%27s+Biography&hl=en&ei=as8PTYjlDYT6lweYi8GMDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false Heres the autobiography of Chester Gould as written by his daughter. I know its kind of off topic but I stumbled across it, figured someone might find it interesting.

Here’s what happened to the snow. Mordred is brokenhearted by the way Thick ignores him, even leaving him alone to chat up another cop, so Mordred sang this cheery, magical song … .and the snow flew away:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2VYP0FCAUE

Keep up the great work, Wonder Warthog!

WW: Love it!

Any reason they didn’t take a helicopter.Or better yet,bring the old Space Coupe out of retirement?

I know what’s going on here! I’ll bet Locher watches a lot of scripted TV and this week everything is in reruns!