Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for July 24, 2020

“And pick me up some Butter Brickle on the way back.”

What – no ice cream cone?

Why is Dethany such a threat?

Good morning™, fumblers!

I think that dome-topped thing is a lamp and should not have been made gold all over.

Good morning™, impatient kill commanders !

She is liable to live up to what her name sounds like but since she is a guest we know she wont. I can’t wait to see what happens with Howdy’s failed mission.

“Or else what? You tubby tub of ice cream!”

That’s what stumpy should say.

These aren’t like traditional Tracy villains- they’re too comical ;o)

Ultimatum.

Wow! Howdy doesn’t look like a kid in the second panel. He looks around 50.

35 years ago on The Young And The Restless, there was a mob boss who decided to punish one of his accomplices by sticking his fingers in a piranha tank.

Question: if Howdy did kill Dethany, which we know is not going to happen, what makes Coney believe Dick Tracy won’t be more determined than ever to find her killer or won’t suspect he had something to do with it?

Howdy do that then?

Howdy, would be smarter to get out of town.

Or else, what??? Shove him in a tub of Ice cream!!!

Howdy will disguise himself as F.T. Bluster to put Tracy off the scent.

So Howdy did the shooting? How Howdy Doody has fallen into a life of crime! What would Buffalo Bob say?

Howdy is no crack shot. And Dethany doesn’t scare easily

Nice story being delivered here, along with the usual great art.

I wonder if Howdy will be swimming with the fishes sometime soon?

Dethany is clearly having more fun with Dick Tracy on her strip than we are in this one.

But I agree with jerumulligan1, the art is great.

Howdy looks like he has been rode hard and put away wet.

Chicago fans: Tomorrow night is Rich Warren s last night to host WFMT’s Midnight Special.

If you’re from Chicago, you know what I’m talking about.

If not, well, this train might just have the “disappearing railroad blues.”

Also available at www.wfmt.com.

1-FAT ARCHIE: Howdy, come over here and help me unstick my hands. I should know by now not to let caramel ice cream drip on them…

2-…Never mind! Got it! HOWDY DOOGIE: DAG! Licking his hands clean is the only time I get so much as a taste of ice cream

3-FAT: OK, the reason why we’re here – bravery practice. Now, pretend I’m Dick Tracy coming in to arrest me, Fat Archie. This is a gun. Show me your reaction.

HOWDY: GRRRRRR!

FAT: EXCELLENT! Now Tracy says “Move or I’ll shoot!”

HOWDY: He’s in the kitchen.

SHAGGY: from the other room AND HE’S UNARMED!

FAT: Sigh…

Doesn’t Dethany aspire to being dead?

“Or it’s Bye Bye, Howdy. Which is totally not a mixed message!”

Better than working for SPECTRE

Here’s the scoop: I’m giving you another order. On the double! And don’t waffle on my orders!

Great change of attitude in Howdy from panel 2 to panel 3, indicated almost exclusively visually. I(n panel 2, he seems depressed, dejected, worn out, and expecting to be sent to sleep with the fishes. But in panel 3 there is a great reversal, and he is energized and enthusiastic again! —Well done, Joe!

Coney, meanwhile, is trying as hard as he can to look and act like a Tough Guy. But he’s just Coney, the Ice Cream Clown….

To paraphrase the late great Bea Arthur from the legendary film “History of the World Part One”…

Did you kill last week?….. Did you TRY to kill last week?.. Ok this is your last week of unemployment insurance, you need to kill someone this week or no more money."

Maybe you should’ve fired more than one bullet at her?