Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for July 06, 2020

Good morning™, squad room visitors!

I wonder what Mumbles is doing on the monitor? That could be a red herring. Sounds like Tracy already knows something of her current experience.

Neil: “I wonder what Mumbles is doing on the monitor?” And just above him is Shaky!

Notice also today, Dethany looks a little more herself.

Another note: On those old Joe Jitsu Heap O’Calorie cartoons, Mumbles was kind of a staple, showing up frequently. You don’t suppose we’re about to go through that once again?

Bring back Flattop! You can say he really didnt drown in that harbor.

Good morning guys!

I remember that Vista Bill had a sweet spot for Dethany.

Good morning™, Goth ghosts !

She very nearly became one, and breathes a sigh of relief, at last, in the presence and warmth of the squad room’s top cops.

Mumbles,, Stooge Viller around?

They really are good friends.

Let’s hope Dethany assumes her unicorn form at least once during this romp.

And herin lies the reason WHY this type of crossover doesnt work.

Its painfully obvious that this woman is a “cartoon character” and doesnt even LOOK human, yet she strolls into an office filled with people who actually LOOK LIKE PEOPLE

Varying styles of “cartoon art” do not mesh well at all, and in this single panel, thats GLARINGLY OBVIOUS!

“Deathany! Glad to see you again, too! You’re looking spectacularly dead today! How’s your boyfriend, Necrophilia Jones and your father, The Undertaker? Is he still in the sports entertainment business?”

“Yeah, everybody’s good. Listen, got a bit of a problem. Someone is trying to kill me.”

“But aren’t you already dead?”

“Well, kinda sorta, but not really, It’s hard to explain to an old guy like you. But you look good for a hundred or so…”

“Thanks! Constant bullet wounds and blood transfusions help. Speaking of which, here’s a couple of VIP tickets to my next trip to the Tracyville General Hospital and Veterinary Clinic ER and ICU.”

“Thanks! Oh, hey, Sam Ketchup.”

“Catchem.”

“Yeah, I was just about to tell Tracy that that’s what I need you to do, Sam Ketchup…”

Elsewhere, Night Desk Sgt. Hurricane Cruller is off shift and has stopped by the local Costco with his pickup truck to buy another ton of Sanka for this week’s schedule. He wonders if that weird English tourist woman found the Dick that she was looking for. There’s tons of them in the Tracyville Police Department. It seems that as soon as parents name their kids “Dick” it predestines them to become coppers, even the girls.

And so it goes, by gar, by gar…

She looks a lot like “Dick Nansy,” as drawn by Wallace Wood, from an early-ish ish of MAD Magazine. (No writer credited, but I’ll guess Gary Belkin.)

Sure, why not mumbles, we can change the name of the strip to “The Walking Dead”..Still waiting for an idea that’s new

Why would she not be in one piece?

She is looking a bit pale, maybe even a whiter shade of it.

The following is my attempt to capture the lightning-in-a-bottle that is today’s spine tingling Dick Tracy script

1-DETH WARMEDOVER: Hey. How ya all doin’?

DT: OK. You?

DETH WARMEDOVER: Ok, I guess. Well, it’s been real. Later.

DT: Sure. See ya. SAM: Who was that? DT: I dunno…

Wait a second…how many hours have passed since Dethany came in disheveled, asking for Tracy? That appeared to be late at night – and today from the window it looks like it’s daytime.

Now that everybody has said their greetings, we can get down to business, such as who’s been shooting at Dethany and (fortunately) missing? And why? Does Dethany herself have any suspicions to share with Tracy and us?

Let’s get this case unpacked!

that’s Mumbles?