Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for March 22, 2022

Good morning™, all!

Well, if unnamed Tonsils impersonator is dealing drugs, at least we don’t have a plot whose sole objective is murdering Tracy. This is an unexpected development, though.

Good morning™, dirty dealers !

Looks like fake Tonsils has a more lucrative line than his lame music shtick. The stooge in P. 2. has a simian looking face.

“Yes, I have it. Never had an order for meth packed in Keurig cups before, but whatever.”

Well, now we know how he’s able to move his arms so fast!

Okay. So both new characters are criminals.

As Niel said, at least this isn’t a kill-Dick-Tracy story.

Still, why the need to dig up old characters? Mike could have done this with new characters – and a better excuse for Flintheart to not have known the backstory!

For some reason I’ve been thinking that there’s a third player, someone in charge of Tonsils, someone setting it all up.

But now maybe not, maybe the Tonsils impersonator is in charge of his own doing.

And Coffyhead thinks someone ELSE has distinctive looks? Mind you, he doesn’t look much like the old coffee pothead.

Must be cold you can see their breaths!

Pleger’s drawings are slick today. And Mike’s story is accelerating its pace nicely. The subtle plot twist of today was a pleasant one. I am happy with Team Tracy’s work here.

Mike just connected the 2 most important characters in his tale. Now let’s let him explain the connection.

The 2 most important characters aside from Tracy, that is to say.

Suddenly there is a shout of, “Hands up! This is the police.”

The perps freeze in place as the cops come out to collar them. Sam checks out the evidence to get his fingerprints on it. “Uh, Tracy? We got a problem. This is coffee.”

“Italian roast,” Coffyhead snarls, “fresh roasted! I need to get to a burr coffee grinder and an espresso machine – fast. My drug of choice is caffeine!”

Of course – this is Tracytown! There’s a large population of criminals, criminal wanna-bes, or sad sacks mixed up with them somehow…

So, dealing drugs is how Coffeehead supports his habit.

The new Tonsils is like the old Tonsils.

Tintin! Noooooooo! Dealing snow(y)?!?!!

Well, this explains the hyper arms. Sampling the goods?On that good side, if he runs into a crowd during a heated chase, that’d make picking him out easy.

So let me get this straight…we have a new singer that looks like the old Tonsils, and a person calling himself Coffeehead, but doesn’t look like the previous one. Right?

The person with his back to readers is Vitamin’s supposed new discovery…Tonsils!

1-LUIGI THE UBER DRIVER: If I’m going to wait while you score then I expect a 5 Star rating!

COFFEE HEAD: We’ll see. You made us late when we stopped by your house so’s you could grab a coat. LUIGI: I thought I could take it. I couldn’t.

2-ASTRO ANDREWS: (In his best Bing Crosby lilt) YOU felLOWS here FOR an AUtoGRAPH? ♪♪♫

COFFEE HEAD: WHAT THE…? DON’T PLAY WITH ME BOY! Where’s my ‘stuff’ and the two free tickets to the Ed Sullivan Tribute Show you promised?

ASTRO: You have to ask for an autograph first.

COFFEE: WHAT? FINE! GIMME AN AUTOGRAPH!

ASTRO: Please… COFFEE: ARRRRGHHH! PLEASE!

LUIGI: HEY! YOU’RE THE GUY WHO IMPERSONATES THE GUY WHO HAD A HIT WITH GROOM YOUR POODLE 50 YEARS AGO! Can I get an autograph for my Ma?!? She loved that song!

ASTRO: Now, THAT’S how you ask for an autograph! Sure! And let her know I’m available for a “roll in the hay” at reasonable prices if she wants her teenaged fantasies to come true before she kicks.

LUIGI: Oh, Ma will DEFINITELY be interested in that!!!

So…why would they be there other than for business? Do they like visiting deserted warehouses just for fun?

I suspect there’s more here than just a couple of old characters. There’s no reason for Tracy to be upset by a Tonsils impersonator. How often has Tracy’s life been threatened and he’s walked through the Tracy collection without being set off? It’s not just in bad taste. I think Tracy senses something’s wrong and here it is.

All that rehearsing of the one song must have been the reason he previously was a no-show. (no pun intended)

Hmm…the fellows in the band might be customers for this product….hold the phone…wouldn’t they be getting free samples?

Vitamin was “on vacation” from 1950-1978.

Maybe he was in California

MOVIE QUOTE—-“I’m lonely,mate.I’ve got no one except My Mom,and she’s an idiot!”

Russell Brand—GET HIM TO THE GREEK—2010

Tonsils 2—-aw,nuts.he’s a bad guy.

Was looking forward to people being stuck on a cruise ship with him.

Ah,well.Vitamin can always sign a Nervous Norvous impersonator.

The syndicate has relaxed in some ways.Max Collins wroteme many times that he was forbidden to write narcotics ring stories .

About “choice of villains”

When they use an old days character,they say why not create new ones instead?

When they create new ones,people say they can’t hold a candle to t he old ones.

The creators of the strip may sometimes be tempted to take up zucchini farming instead.

Many old characters are being brought back, but one of the best, B.O. Plenty has been seen very little since DL left. Also Dick’s family is seldom seen. I was among those fans who were delighted when the strip continued after he departed. I really don’t like it very much anymore. I hope it continues for those who are still fans, but it wouldn’t bother me if it were dropped.

Little does Tracy suspect Yeti was Vitamin before he shaved off all the foliage he’d cultivated in England.

Will Coffeyhead test the product & give his unvarnished review with the Tonsils impersonator, the way he did with the barista?

It is refreshing to see that the so-far nameless Tonsils impersonator is something more than just that! Drug dealers are scum, but being one gives some unexpected depth to the faux-Tonsils and also give him a bigger part in this story. Consequently, I now think he will last longer, deeper, into the story than I initially expected. In the long run, though, I still think he is not likely to survive….