Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for July 03, 2022

Chimera, she is sensitive. She senses something weird

Powerful. Unusual. And yet not to be feared.

There upon the darkened path, face hidden by a mask

Comes a man who’s traveled far. A question he would ask.

Honeymoon knows who he is. They have a blood connection

Mother was his daughter dear. Their hearts filled with affection

For the one they lost too soon. A victim of foul violence

Mourned the loss forever more with sorrow and with silence.

Grandfather now Ambassador. Makes known his invitation

“Come with me. Such sights to see!” There is no hesitation.

Now comes a bold adventure. Their departure shall be soon

Plotted destination is The Dark Side of the Moon.

I guess that coffee cup is too small for ambassador Sarak to use the handle.

Good morning™, everyone!

At least we don’t have to call him “the guy who used to be the Moon Governor” anymore. So… it looks like the Ambassador is taking us to New Moon Valley — at least if Honeymoon and Mysta can get over the shock. Tracy is a little suspicious.

“Now, I’m not extending an invitation for them to leave New Moon Valley, but that’s a minor detail.”

Why is honeymoon’s ice cream steaming?

In Panel 2, the unlit part of the Moon is blocking out the stars! What kind of comic strip crescent Moon is that?!

This story is gonna be a snoozer which is a shame. It doesn’t seem so long ago that Joe and Mike brought life and energy back to the strip. Oh, how times have changed.

Everyone have a happy, safe and meaningful 4th of July(except for Neil whose a Canadian hockey player!)

Mysta and Honeymoon look “pole-axed” and I am glad that Tracy has questions…

He was checking out the “Ambassador’s” cloak in yesterday’s comic…

Here’s a thought… I wonder if he is a “chimera” too ?

Sounds like a moon cult if you ask me!

Good morning™, Surprise bomb dropped !

Honey certainly has “wow” written all over her. Mysta looks intrigued but perhaps a bit skeptical like; will he take us there and not allow us to leave ?

If he’s the ambassador, who does he report to?

The look on Honeymoon’s face is priceless !!!!

Honeymoon wants Joseph (?) to also go.

and how DID Moon Ambassador get to the Tracy digs all the way from New Moon Valley?… I would assume by space coupe under the radar or under cover of a cloaking device… and where DID he leave it parked, if indeed he DID travel by coupe?…

The way Mysta and Honeymoon’s antennas are going off I think the Ambassador has already taken command of them !!!

It has a new restaurant up there, great food – no atmosphere…

O boy, he’s going to do good cop, bad cop!

And the question is; “WTF are you talking about?”

Cue “Holiday Road”; get a Giant Station Wagon…It’s VACATION!!

“Ambassador”? Since when were diplomatic relations with the Lunarians reopened?

Forgive me for my ignorance, but it has been so long, where is New Moon Valley located? On the Moon or Antartica?

TRACY: "Like does this relate to those pamphlets I found daily on the doorstep all last week? The ones touting the ‘fun, fun, fun all-new Dungeon Resort and Waterboarding Park where that NEVER want to leave to return to stinky old Earth’? Just wondering.

AMB (with an oily smile): Sheer coincidence, I’m sure it’s just those wicked Martians trying to hurt our annual profits again, after their Rust World resort bombed.

Sounds like this could be a lengthier story than in recent months.

I can’t wait to hear what Tracy’s questions are.

Great idea! And let Annie go with you, too!

Maybe the Ambassador wants Honeymoon to meet the rest of her family, including maybe a new aunt! It has been established that Lunarians have long lifespans, so there could also be several generations of previously-unseen relatives.

Since the Ambassador and Mysta will have some time together, I hope that the topic of Mysta’s “other father” Posie Ermine can come up. I loved the brief time the Ambassador and Posie had teamed up to find and then help Mysta.

Is it technically leftovers if they just finished?

I guess the energy coming off of the antennae is the Lunarian way of saying, Boi-oi-oi-oi-oingggggg…

I must say Shelly’s version of Dick Tracy are really good!

1-TESS: Here! Choke on it, err, I mean, Enjoy!

GUV: Thank you. I’ll begin with the traditional Lunar Blessing – May the Fly God buzz up your nose and out your butt leaving blessings all along its journey through your digestive system. Amen

2-DT: YAWN. Well, it’s time to turn in. Thanks for visiting… GUV: WAIT…

3-…Just before I was run out of office, I – 1: Made myself Ambassador and 2: Made it legal for Ambassadors to have multiple wives even if they’re related!

4-JOE: Dang – still no sign of knockerz…

5-DT: Given how you all look alike and are real simple minded, I thought you always inter-married?

GOVADOR: True but now it’s a law and not just a ♪♪♫ Family Tradition ♪♪♫

DT: Interesting. So what brings you here?

GOVADOR: And HE calls ME simple minded…

“New Moon Valley” is the first phase in the development of a planned community. Future expansions will include “Crescent Moon Valley,” “Gibbous Moon Valley” and “Full Moon Valley.”

by the way, I’ve been wondering… when exactly was the term ‘Lunarians’ first used?… to be honest, I’m too lazy to go back and research it myself, so perhaps someone who’s memory is a lot less burnt out and deteriorated than mine and has more patience to go through past strips, would be so kind as to provide me an answer to my query?

“Daddy Tracy” just went on alert status.

Honey Moon and Mysta are getting a vibe when he said invitation. New Moon Valley, I wonder if brochures are available.

I wonder how Junior will react when he hears about the invitation.

If things go wrong…Tracy will have no authority in the New Moon valley.

When does Flash Gordon arrive?

Aside from being a blonde, Mysta looks as if she dressed as Morticia Addams today. Nice though.

Oh no! Honeymoon melted her ice cream!! but also… LUNARIAN ADVENTURE!! :D :D :D

Not having read Dick Tracy in a long time, I’m just wondering how this world handled Neil Armstrong?

We know so much more about cosmology and planetology since the days the Moon people were introduced in the 1960s. Perhaps some backstory is in order. Since the Moon people have physiology quite different from what we find on Earth and in the Earth’s fossil record, they could have come from a different solar system. We imagine traveling to other worlds, and if the planets are inhospitable to us, the large moons that orbit them may be better suited, allowing for life-support technology. It could be that the Lunarians found the primordial Earth dangerous, with its ice ages, mass extinctions, etc. and so settled on the Moon instead. Meanwhile, Earth evolved its own intelligent life forms and milder weather and climate.

We see that Mysta and Honeymoon’s emotions/control of their powers reflected by there now being steam coming out of Honey’s ice cream dish, but not Mysta’s :)

Leave a comment here for any questions that Dick might have.

Unfortunately, we mere _readers_cannot hear Ambassador’s voice, and so we do not know his inflection of the phrase New Moon Valley. . Is it a new Moon Valley? A New Moon valley? A new moon Valley?Must less do we know where it is, whether on the Moon or on Earth, most likely in Antarctica (which is where most folks seem to think the Lunarians resettled).

Nor do we know how nefarious his innocent-sounding invitation to Honeymoon and Mysta may be: is it, as several have wondered above, a One Way Only Invitation. Does he intend to hold the ladies against their will for some arcane reason?

There is clearly a lot more to this arc than has been revealed so far. We know from Mike Curtis’s posting that the tale will supposedly reveal what became of the Moon People (a.ka. Lunarians) after “Moon Valley” on the Moon was rendered uninhabitable. There are a lot of steps along the way, however. E.g., we still need a “hook” to get Tracy into the story (which an abduction of the ladies could provide, to be sure)….

well thought out, Sis… thanks for that… a good read…

ok so i called it. how much choice do they have?

RIP Officer Ewing. God BlessYour Family.

Mars needs women.And the New Moon People need breeding material.