Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for October 19, 2020

”Evocative.” ✨

Good morning™, waiters!

We spent Sunday paying tribute to a great Tracy expert who had passed while waiting for the rest of this story, but Stokes has also been waiting and it’s closing time for the travel agency. Is Tracy on the way?

Lizz? Brenda? Probably not Hope.

Stop on the way home for some “wigz”.

WOW! What an AMAZINGLY drawn strip today! Kudos to Curtis! Well done!

Good morning™, life force extractors !

“In for the kill.” I bet the pump batteries are fully charged for max pull sucking action.

If anyone is coming to save her bacon they’d better be just around the corner.

Here we are back to the start

I must admit I like it a lot

Compared to yesterday’s pain to the eye

Today is like a sweet apple pie

We’ll see how long I can hold the complaints

Before my praise becomes a tsunami of aint’s

I don’t think that is Hope Brown walking to that car. I think Liz is going to surprise Professor Stokes.

The opening of this story was great! Looks like, after what seems like months of crossovers and tributes, we’re finally back to the action.

By the by, Bart Bush’s tribute was okay; perhaps none of us would have known who he was otherwise. The tributes I criticize today were the Annie, Brenda, and Svengoolie whatever-the-heck-they-were.

I think it’s Brenda.

Lots of speculation about “Is that Hope?” and who her decoy would be. But what if it’s a double-decoy scenario because Stokes got spooked by the business card snafu and hired someone to “scare” Hope in his stead and he’s watching the watchers? I ask because it’s almost a full two weeks until Halloween and I’d assume the chilling climax would happen then. But then again we’re getting used to three days of plot taking two weeks so maybe we are right on schedule? I’m hoping for a chase throughout the night that ends like all the old vampire movies — at sunrise!

As she walks to her new car, what awaits our featured star? Tune in tomorrow same Tracy Time, same Tracy channel!

Fangs out!!!

How many people leave the top down on their convertible?

they’ll want to wrap this up a week from saturday-on halloween tracy gets the vampire killer.

I note that store across the street from Travel Today. And, like others before me here, I doubt that we are looking at the real Hope Brown leaving; that dress and big hat just aren’t “her,” especially not after how she looked when we last saw her at work. This is someone else, in disguise, expecting and prepared for the worst. My guess is that it’s Brenda, rather than Lizz. But, self-confidence aside, can Brenda really handle Vampire Mark B. Stokes? She may have bitten off more than she can chew. He may put the bite on her!

Help!

Closing time. “Hope” locks up. She doesn’t have to go home, but she can’t stay here.

Surprise! It isn’t Hope! It’s Sam, dressed up in his wife’s wig and clothes as a decoy! He adjusts his girdle and sets the bait.

“Oh, my, it is certainly is dark! I hope that nothing bad happens to me as I walk towards my convertible with the top that I left down! I’m just a helpless blonde! I don’t know what I’d do if my car doesn’t start and there isn’t a big, strong man around to help me!”

Sam thinks to himself that wearing his wife’s clothes is kinda comfortable, except for the high heels, but he enjoys them. To him, it’s nice to finally be tall, 5’4" kinda tall.

The shadowy figure lurking in the shadows eyeballs “Hope” He thinks that his plan is close to fruition. He puts his fake fangs on and starts to move in for the suck.

And so it goes, by gar, by gar…

Lee Ebony is back from vacation and doing some of the best undercover work of her career.

Now that all the nonsense is (hopefully) over, this is setting in as a pretty good story. Excellent use of narration and strong graphics today enhances the tension. Is it Hope? Is it Brenda? He’s sneaking up from behind.

Keep up the good work (without so much falderal).

1-Hmmm. Now that I got the best kind of money – inherited – I can finally shop at Jewelry and Wigz! Maybe I’ll do that tomorrow…I wonder what they sell…

2-Lock the door, lock the door. If I forget that again, Dr. Bigguns will fire me. DANG IT. I forgot to put the top up again. Who knew the memory requirements for a convertible would be so overwhelming. Oh well. Better hike up my skirt to try to keep the dew off it. I’d just take it off but I forgot to wear undies again…

3-THE SHARP TOOTHED INSULT COMIC PROFESSOR: Ugh. I’m bound to get hair in my mouth when I put the bite on this one. I hate that! Hmmm…those sodium lights really give Hope a different appearance…how strange. Time to psyche up with my pre-chomp cheer:

FIRST I GIVE YOU SUCH A FRIGHT. THEN I GIVE YOU SUCH A BITE! YAY ME!

HOPE: Who said that?

TSTICP: oops

Chekhov’s wig

Its either Lee Ebony or Pat Patton..prove me wrong lol

My guess is it’s either Desmond or Molly.

After putting some thought I to it….probably way much more than required or even conceived by the “creative” team… I’ve concluded that it IS indeed Hope…and let me tell you why.

Stoker has been “watching” since his exit of the travel agency (where he showed up to verify that hope was in fact there) so theoretically there would have been ZERO CHANCE of anyone slipping into the agency…be it brenda, lizz, Frankenmindy,Patton, Lee, etc… to disguise themselves as hope in a bait and SWITCH

HOWEVER! what I propose is this… hope was indeed contacted and warned prior to closing the agency (which is odd seeing as she is apparently nothing more than either a receptionist or a part time agent/receptionist and would never be given the responsibility of locking up the agency for the night… ) and tracy has set up a “sting operation” where they try and “catch stokes in the act” because all they have now is circumstantial evidence and supposition of Stokes’ involvement in the murder

Hmm…a decoy….very possible…..so reminiscent of some Hunter episodes (television show which aired from 1984 to 1991)

I do not think that’s Hope. It could be Lizz or even Brenda

Excuse me young lady….May I kiss your neck?

The second panel show a pair of lips, so it’s not Hope. It’s Lizz.

No for the scary music and Karl Kolchak’s narration recounting the murder of ….

Are there still travel agencies?

Lights but no security cameras …?