Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for August 14, 2021

Good morning™, everyone!

Archival wants us to believe that he had nothing to do with it, but Mysta looks to be in bad shape. I wonder if the EMTs are familiar with Lunarian physiology. So long as Vera can manage to get her downstairs to the big windows, she should improve.

Through the doorway above Vera’s head, you can see one of those light fixtures that I at first thought might be windows.

Dick Tracy story endings these days emit the same emotions as finding out your spare tire is flat!

What is that in Sam’s hand, it can’t be a gun! Looks more like a Lego toy!

To repeat, “What a stupid, insulting ending we’re forced to digest yet again from Team Tracy!”

Do Joe, Shelley and Shane have any say in plotting stories? I think Mike could use a little help. I mostly liked this story until Dick ‘n Sam visited Archival. It’s been resolved very quickly and easily, as so many others here have noted. At least no one died. (I don’t think they’ll kill off Mysta.)

Good morning™, uncomfortably close !

Due to space restriction despite the expanded first panel; I see Mysta and Vera as being too close to Brock where he could easily grab one of them for the hostage gambit.

Hopefully, Vera has “grown up” and matured because of this and becomes a better man and he and Mysta become friends…

We will see…

Did Tracy or Sam read Archival and his goons their Miranda rights? Brock doesn’t seem to know he has the right to remain silent. Saying that Mysta is acting sick could come back to bite him in court. He’d have to explain why he thought she was acting when he obviously knew what he could do to her with the ring.

Looks like they might be setting up a change of heart about Vera for Mysta……

Don’t tell me this bad experience will make Mysta change her mind on Vera’s advances!

Archival has Bribery’s ring ! the weakened Mysta whispered to Tracy in panel 3

When Mystra testifies at his trial, Archival will wonder who is acting then.

Depending how long she has been without sunlight, might have to get it in increments. But only Dr. Vera knows for sure.

If Vera is smart, he’ll wait for EMTS, the last thing he needs is to be busted for practicing medicine without a license.

Well, Vera’s acting more like a man, less like a self-centered creep. A good start for him.

“She’s acting!”“Yeah, she’s acting like she’s not in Belize.”

Well, as we all try to recover from this slam-bang, nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat finale, tomorrow’s the big wrap-up. Wonder how many loose ends Mike will leave hanging this time?

What kind of many times over millionaire allow himself to arrested without a team of lawyers present?

One of the comic strips displayed on Archival’s wall should have been today’s strip. That would have been a great meta-moment.

What’s more fun? Reading Dick Tracy or reading reader’s comments? The comments here are almost as good as the ones on “Mary Worth”

And let’s see:

Vera planted the nib, so Tracy can find them.

Vera comforted Mysta during their ordeal.

Vera knows what Mysta needs right now.

Vera is going to take her where she needs to go.

Forget Sweatbox Express!

This was the Hallmark Express!

Under Avenger09 above, in response to jlwilliams360, I said:

„One lose thread remaning is the fate of the ring“

True. One thing remaining. What are the odds Mike will take care of it?

Of course, now that the ring is out, to conveniently „forget“ about it is a way to drag Mysta in for another adventure, one again in which she will be hit with kryptonite before we can begin to see what she‘s capable of.

Which, if that‘s all she‘s going to do, get captured and held hostage to Bribery‘s ring, then she‘s more than useless as a new character. Even worse, just another recurring victim in all future arcs that just might feature her.

Far be it from me to call for an end to the Moon Maid.

But be it even farther from to be satisfied that this is the extent to which Mike is ever going to use her in the strip!

Tomorrow’s strip should have a cameo of Bogart saying, “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

1-STAN LEE: What tipped you off that my men weren’t really French and that therefore, this wasn’t really a French Consulate, Tracy?

DT: Only French Canadiens say “WEE WEE”. Then I reasoned that if they were truly French Canadiens, then this isn’t protected ground because as everyone knows, Canada is just America’s unofficial 51st state.

SAM: HEY! WHAT’RE YOU DOIN’ THERE, VERA??? STOP THAT!

2-VERA: Oh…yeah. Umm, it’s ok. Stan married us a few days ago, right, Horny? And while he did it just to make the They’re on their honeymoon story more realistic, we bought into it, right Horny?

HORNY: need sun…for energy… to…zap you…in the nut…ssss…

VERA: Don’t listen to her. She’s just delirious…. deliriously happy that we’ll be officially married once we get a chance to consummate this union! Right Horny? Right?

What are they going to charge “henchman” Henry Hill with? Stealing 76 trombones? Can you say anti-climactic kids? Since there seems to be an employee shortage, Team Dicko should put an ad out for someone with “Storytelling skills”…Bar wouldn’t be too high that’s for sure. BTW Neil, one of the first things EMTs are schooled in is Lunarian physiology.

Of course – just like Moon Maid long ago in her debut prior to her marriage to Junior Tracy!! But I hardly think that conclusion is stupid enough, avenger09!! I’ve seen worse conclusions in previous dramatic adventure comic strips recently, thank you!!

On the topic of rushed endings (and I speak from some experience, turning out a regular project has its stresses. Contracts add to this. When my ‘pet’ comic series was first optioned, the contract wanted 5 full stories delivered before we went to production. I wrote all five in a week. I got so I could write a full comic book in a week, and the TRACY scripts took me a few days for a first draft (I think the MM was spot-outlined in a day, before being fleshed out). Keep in mind Mike has to fill 365 strip-days a year. It would be easier to do longer stories (which I admit I prefer writing, myself), but I suspect there’re fairly firm guidelines in their contract.

After the tangential components needed to bring this together: Honeymoon’s date, Peanut Butter’s role, a day in the life of Junior’s family, some time spent with Diet Smith and his group… we get a simple arrest. I guess it’s more about the characters than the story arc, the process more than the goal. If that’s the case, then I’m okay with it. Tracy got his man and we got to see a lot of characters getting a little bit of movement forward. Junior’s family is growing up, Honeymoon is coming of age, Vera has a nice side for being kind of creepy, Mysta has a weakness that was exploited – and we know where that ring is, Peanut Butter is set up for some more character development, Diet Smith continues to work on new things yet to be revealed, and Tracy and Sam are still successfully fighting crime. If that’s the point of all of this, I’m happy enough with it.

Tell them about the ring!

Wow. Vera actually cares.

I am fearing a passible ending with Mysta falling for Alldid’s “charms”.

Now, are we on to …. FlatTop?

Yes, get Mysta into the sunlight (if downstairs, why not actually outdoors, you twit?), and she should recover quickly—quickly enough to tell Vile to buzz off even as his fantasies of romance grow.

Meanwhile, the arrest seems to be going smoothly.

Can this be the end of Brock Archival?

“She’s acting”? Somebody give Mr.Collector a good kick in the whatevers.