Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for June 25, 2021

Well, if nothing else he’s persistent. ✨

Good morning™, fans!

It’s good to see that Mysta does have a line of people waiting to take selfies with her. It looked pretty quiet around her station the last time we saw her on duty. It see that they do have posters of Mars Maid. I wonder if any of those show Mysta in costume. It’s hard to tell just by looking at today’s strip.

Vera went so far as to reserve a table for them this time. He’s getting even pushier suggesting that they will “dance until dawn”!

Vera, Mysta may have other plans…

Tell him NO!! I have a date with my pillow!!

Gotta give him credit for never quitting!

Selfie dude is definitely copping a feel! Surprised Mad Mindy hasn’t zapped him!

Good morning™, cornered cuties !

The only “dance” Vera is interested in is that one immortalized by Bob Seger. It will be nothing short of a miracle if he doesn’t get a real good zapping tonight.

Fifty Shades of “No”

Mysta will be busy getting a restraining order.

What Mysta must be thinking in the last panel!

“If I say ‘No’ again, he’ll keep asking me out. If I zap him again, he’ll say something stupid like ‘Wotta woman!’ and keep asking me out. What was I thinking when I signed up to work with this knucklehead?”

Vera just cannot take a hint. I said this book tour was a bad idea. I’m afraid that this will not end well. Maybe the collector will swoop in and “rescue” her?

I wonder how many of the fans know who “Mars Maid” really is.

No means no……..

Fat guy in panel one is one lucky dude!

We’ve had many discussions about “comic strip” time. It’s a phenomenon common to other forms of fiction.

I watched “Friends” last night and tonight. Last night, they ran a two-part season finale from 1999, where they all went to Las Vegas. Chandler and Monica wanted to get married at a 24-hour chapel and the episode ended with Ross and Rachel getting married. Tonight, they ran the very next episode, the season premiere, which began at the exact moment the previous show ended. In real life, the episodes ran 4 months apart, from May to September. At some point in the season, they had to skip over a few months in story time so the Thanksgiving and Christmas episodes would run at the proper times.

I think that’s what they do here. The big crimes we see here are separated by some off-panel routine police work that wouldn’t be very interesting. Someone said that James Bond novels and movies are the same way. We just see the epic adventures; the time between movies is when Bond is in his office doing paperwork and keeping up his marksmanship and other skills.

“Firefox” is another example. The sequel “Firefox Down” (never filmed) begins just seconds after the first novel ended, with Gant discovering that he’s leaking fuel and has to land. In real time, the books were published years apart.

I could give other examples, but I’ve made my point. It’s something we have to accept.

It’s a trap! Mysta, don’t fall for it!

frrzzzzappp!!!! No means NO!

What if Aldid does a series in the strip where someone figures out how to stop Mars Maid’s powers. The Colector Guy (Whose name isn’t Meilar Snuggs) follws the plan, kidnaps Mysta and Aldid has to come to the rescue?

He’s really asking for a “zap.”

Elsewhere, Mr. Archival has by now forgotten all about his ‘better idea’ and left town for a Winsor McCay exhibition. New story begins Sunday….

So, the crime here is his persistent, unwelcome, inappropriate advances? Time for Mysta to file some charges.

He has a face only a blind bulldog could love.

1-CHUBB BUBB: That x-ray i-Phone filter I bought on the Dark Web better work or I’ll be so mad!

2-VERA SIMILITUDE: Look what I bought on the Internet, Horny. It looks like a pencil but it’s really a miniature missile that launches if my heart beat reaches 120 BPM….

3-…The developer determined that that rate meant a person was in mortal danger and in need of a weapon. Would you take it as a compliment if I told you my personal pocket rocket already “launched”? It works on a similar principle but is far less lethal. Wanna see?

ZAPPP!!!

Typical looking fan.

She’ll say yes to the date. She’ll consider that Sparkle married him, and then she married Junior (who she’s programmed to like), so maybe there’s something in him she’s missing. More importantly, no date = no story.

Dancing til dawn….sounds like a title to an old Fred Astaire movie?

SHOOT HIM! SHOOT HIM! I’ll provide an alibi.

I find the name “Terry’s Comics” interesting for these reasons:

— Terry could be a reference to (although spelled differently) Tarry Plaguer; or, a reference to animator Paul Terry, founder of Terrytoons (Mighty Mouse, Heckle and Jeckle, among others).

— The way the word “Comics” is shown is reminiscent of DC’s Action Comics.

My! My! My! This book tour of Vera’s lasted a “New York Minute”.

Oh terrific…dinner at Nicola’s…then on to a nightclub with a band or disc jockey to dance off the effects or a heavy or semi-heavy meal.

“Dance till dawn”, what are they going to do? The fox trot or the cha- cha- cha? They could what was referred to when I was growing up as a “slow drag”.

Perhaps the club has line dancing. Vera could show Mystra how to do the Bus Stop or the Wobble.

Tour’s over, Mystra won’t have to wear those itchy horns and the costume anymore.

I wonder where that comics collector will fit in, maybe he goes to Nicola’s to loosen up or a nightclub for musical relaxation.

Meh. The guy taking a selfie of Mars Maid and himself would likely be a better night out for Mysta than Vera the dweeb……..

it’s called “unwanted sexual harassment”

It’s a cartoon folks. Bring back Sawdust

Go to “Nicola’s” and “Cuti” a rug until dawn! OOPS! Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.

Mysta sure looks leery in panel 3, doesn’t she? More of Joe’s exceptional skills. You don’t need thought bubbles to know what she’s thinking, that she doesn’t want to “dance the night away” with Alldid at all.

I have a question: Why was Moon Maid called that even after having a baby, Honeymoon? I mean, she wasn’t a maiden anymore!

Is there any comic strip writer today who would draw a crowd except if that cartoonist is at a comic convention? I don’t say this to be nasty.

Derek Chauvin has been sentenced to 270 months in prison for the murder of George Floyd, less the 199 days he’s already served.

Hey, Hey, Watch the thumb!

Always great to see Mysta! The Mars Maid spoof is kinda strange, though. Hope it’s not a permanent thing. I can’t be the only one who prefers seeing Mysta wear her traditional moon outfit. It evokes the original Moon Maid when she was looking at her best, only way more gorgeous with Joe Staton and Shelley Pleger than she was with Gould. Those lacy topped boots always send me to the moon! Hard to believe how dense Vera is on the other hand! Love Mysta’s expression in the last panel. “Are you for real?!?”

For better or for worse, the whirlwind book tour has come to its end, and so also Mysta’s gig as “Mars Maid” (BTW, although the daily colorist has correctly left her shoulders bare, her thighs are still wrongly colored in as though part of the costume). Vile Alldone has not caught on after daily rebuffs and in fact pushes even further than dinner, which might be tolerable at the tour’s end, and seeks to “dance” all night . Mysta (panel 3) is quite properly aghast at the temerity of his proposition. If she can get away from him now, and take a long, hot, cleansing shower or bath, this plotline should be over. Meanwhile, we’ve not seen nor heard anything from Mr. Archival for a while. Is it time for him to step forth as our lead Villain? Someone? Anyone?

It’s only 6 months till Christmas. Get your shopping done early!

I think that’s Scott Shaw posing for a selfie with “Mars Maid”, but he’s not wearing his trademark Hawaiian shirt.