Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for December 18, 2021

Good morning™, collectors!

So, it turns out, somehow, that Mr. Bones is a fellow collector of Dick Tracy stuff. Tracy, himself, has been a collector since long before Mike Curtis ever came along.

It looks like the hats are safely behind glass, away from the exploring fingers of Another Take’s characters.

Hmmm…wonder if Blackjack was the winning bidder-

https://www.icollector.com/DICK-TRACY-Dick-Tracy-Warren-Beatty-signature-hat-with-bullet-holes_i10387028

So now we have the connection developing between Blackjack and the Apparatus story. Interesting. Blackjack will not tolerate any attempt by Bones to off the good detective.

Mr. Bones! Someone called it yesterday!

Good morning™, common interest with divergent goals !

These two are so easy and breezy you’d think they knew each other their entire lives …. until showtime.

Casually bump into a friend when you are visiting an exhibition is always a nice thing.

What does he mean by “Except mine, of course”? Did he manage to kill DT?

So, apparently Bones thinks Blackjack will be a useful (if unwitting) tool in his plan to whack Tracy. And if he actually is a fellow collector, maybe he stole BJ’s stuff….

Two Collectors gabbing about their collection? Tracy gets a day off from being shot this time

I am confused. Yesterday Blackjack said he saw Tracy’s hat with the hole he put in it. Today He says, “Except mine, of course”.

So is his hat there or not?

I’m smelling an ODD COUPLE spinoff here.

1-BLACKSTRAP MOLLASES: HEY! You’re not the curator – YOU’RE JOHN TRAVOLTA!!!

TRAVOLTA: Ha ha, you got me! I just like to pretend to be ordinary people once in a while. Also, I’m here to prepare for a role where I play a villain who shoots Tracy.

2-BLACKSTRAP MOLLASES: Knowing of course that you won’t be successful, the most realistic attempt on his life that you can make is to shoot him in the hat. See? That’s really happened to Tracy a dozen times or more!

TRAVOLTA: Wonderful tip! I strive for honesty in my roles. Honesty and Realism are basic tenets of Scientology…

3-…Speaking of, how would you like to rid yourself of your stored Thetan memories and become an immortal like me and Tom?

BLACKSTRAP MOLLASES: Maybe. You don’t do any dancing, do you? I’m a Baptist right now and I couldn’t switch to a religion that allows dancing…or drinking.

TRAVOLTA: Ummm…have you ever seen one of my films??? Never mind. We’ll cross that bridge when we dance over it. Right now all I need to know is how you feel about white shirts, black vests and the hot, humid weather of Clearwater, Florida…***

Actually, I am confused at this point. Blackjack…Bones…???

Backjack has a new friend… Or does he?

Is Bones new to the DT Collector Forum, and Blackjack just met him? If so, wouldn’t that have help MCU find the escaped BJ’s whereabouts?

I wonder if the DT Collector Forum is similar to Go Comics.

I have to wonder if BJ knows Bones is a hitman. Will Bones tell BJ what his assignment is? Is BJ so well-known that Bones is aware he should keep mum?

Well, what do you know?! It turns out that Mr. Bones (Richard Bonhomme) is an internet acquaintance of Blackjack, through the DT Collector Forum. But, and this a BIG “but,” it appears that Blackjack has no idea that Mr. Bones is a professional assassin and certainly no idea that he has a contract with the Apparatus to whack Dick Tracy! If (when) Blackjack learns about that, his opinion of Bones will change at once; but by that time it may be too late to intervene!

BTW, remembering that Blackjack is a crack shot, his thought in panel 2 simply means that he had no intention whatsoever of shooting Tracy, much less killing him, but simply wanted to hole a yellow fedora for history’s sake….