Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for June 23, 2022

“I have to go to the bathroom” one of the oldest trick in the book. What about putting an agent out of the house,boys?

“A sideways trap door no less. Those fools would never spot a hole cut in the wall.”

Tracy and Sam showing their age

I would guess that’s a pretty small bike to tote his large behind anywhere with any good amount of speed, especially if he has Dick and Sam in hot pursuit in a police cruiser…

Good morning™, corpulent disappearing acts !

Looks like he left the flat foots flat footed.

Good morning™, everyone!

I feel like we’ve discussed this here before, but a “shotgun house” is “a narrow rectangular domestic residence, usually no more than about 12 feet (3.5 m) wide, with rooms arranged one behind the other and doors at each end of the house.” It used to be very popular in the U.S. South. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotgun_house

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4e/50_Mississippi_John_Hurt_Museum%2C_Avalon%2C_MS.jpg/450px-50_Mississippi_John_Hurt_Museum%2C_Avalon%2C_MS.jpg

We have a similar style of house in Old Hull where I live in Quebec. The old lots are very narrow and deep. As I understand it, some people who worked at the sawmills would scrounge lumber to build themselves a house.

Runners….. Start your engines.

Dumb story plot.

Very disappointing.

Is it wrong that I’m hoping that Walter’s the ONLY character involved in this story that survives?

I have a feeling Mr. Memory is going to be in trouble…..raining…trying to escape on a motorbike….taking a shortcut through a grassy area….and then popping up on a highway….

Dude is just asking to buy the farm…..

Well, here I was expecting him to get stuck sneaking out of the bathroom window. Of course, I also expected the Plentys to have an outhouse.

How tiny is that owl that destroyed Tracy’s hat????

You mean Memory doesn’t have a secret underground monorail to take him directly to San Francisco? How lame.

I thought he is leaving Walter behind

Even though I’m not a Steppenwolf fan, I’ll say it. “Get your motor running, head out on the highway!”

I bet he forgot to wash his hands!

Owl right, let’s go! ’Cause I too, am “Bad to the bone”……

Note he’s wearing a helmet! Can’t be too safe! Now he needs one for Walter!

Speaking of shotguns, these utter moron cops are lucky Memory didn’t emerge from the bathroom with a Mossberg after his unsupervised bathroom break during the middle of his arrest.

Safety First—Wear your helmet!

Shouldn’t that be “ignorami”? I mean, yeah, I know that it’s not an actual word used in ancient Latin, but it’s still based on that language, so…

Installing a trap door is one thing, digging the requisite associated tunnel is very much another.

For anyone curious, the word shotgun here refers to the style of small house Mr. Memory has been living in.

1) that little bike will make a heck of a noise when he starts it up/ 2) he’s wearing an open faced helmet in the rain, even light rain that feels like a child pelting you with pebbles. 3) he’s not wearing eye protection, your eyes dry out very quickly on a bike from just the wind.

Cutting across the highway in the rain.

Well, that’s a pity; I kind of liked Mr. Memory.

“Easy to install a trap in that old shotgun”…so this was Memory’s house.

Either he gets caught or run over by a car. This is formulaic even by Gould’s standards.

“Hold on Walter! I’m going to cut across to the highway”. He must have hidden a Honda motorcycle on that tarp.

It’s raining again…how far does he think he will get on a highway which is slick and wet?

Walter needs a helmet too

Walter will access the situation and concludes with I need to part company from this guy. My bad! I should have left him more often to do his own thinking.

A person of Mr. Memory’s dimensions would be better off making his escape with a Harley-Davidson or Suzuki.

If B.O. had heard Mr. Memory lump him into the ignoramuses category…he would have gotten out his shotgun…friendship or no friendship.

Well if he was a suspect of the crime, he is guilty now!!!

Mr. Memory is run over by a truck while crossing the highway. The end.

So, a bathroom with a convenient opening to below. Kind of like an outhouse with a secret panel?

I wonder if Walter will some day wind up in the police zoo along with Lil Dropout, Claiborne, and Bribery’s cat.

if you’re scripting the exploits of America’s pereminent detective and he’s known as America’s Top Cop, then one would think the scripter would want to MAINTAIN that image of him and not have him fall for the most lamest of excuses from a villain who is not even all that and not even a classic villain, just a unsold tv pilot villain at that… I don’t want to seem as if I’m downing a writer who is doing the best that he can, but the writing has been sorely lacking and needs an uplift upgrade… the old Tracy excitement and magic just isn’t there for a couple of years here… there’s a LOT missing here… I hate to say it, but perhaps fresh new blood is needed to chronicle Dick and company’s adventures as we fast approach Dick’s centennial anniversary… just my humble opinion for what it’s worth… I just miss the old thrill and excitement of the strip and it really just isn’t the same as it used to be… :(

Only a ‘lil helmet on Walter’s head would have made this picture better………

Today’s comic sure elicited a lot of Comments.

1-MEMORY: No one ever suspects me of being very handy with wood working tools – THE FOOLS…

2-What’s that, Walter? Yes, a Harley would’ve been a more logical option but had I gone that route, I would’ve opened myself up to a lot of “LOOK AT THE HOG ON THE HOG” derisive comments. OUCH! EASY WITH THOSE TALONS! OK…where’d I leave the key…?

“Trapdoor in that shotgun” … couldn’t have called it a SHACK, huh? If it was a Chevy House, would it be “Trapdoor in that chevy”? Pointless

Gotta agree with Firestrike. When the majority of comments concentrate on what “shotgun” means, the team should know they are in trouble. This strip has great art, but it is badly in need of a more creative writer, both for new villains, and an interesting story

If he was smarter, he would use an electric bicycle which doesn’t make any noise compared to the gas powered motorcycle which everyone is going to hear because they are very noisy

And the winner of the Westminster Kennel Dog Show is….

TRUMPET—-a 120-pound BLOODHOUND!!

Three cheers for the police dogs!!

We haven’t had a bloodhound in DT since the first Haf-and-Haf story—-1967

Before that,“Old Smokey” i n the RUGHEAD tale—1954

Fell in love with t hem at the film BEST IN SHOW.

Never understood why ANYBODY would ride a motorcycle;to me t hey’re one of the most dangerous things on Earth.

Yeah,that rain doesn’t look like it’s there for fun.But memory hasn’t killed anybody,and the gruesome fates are usually reserved for killers.

The owl UNDERSTANDS when Memory tells him to hold on???

MOVIE QUOTE——

“That bird is Extra-Terrestrial,from the God-Forsaken Anti-Matter Universe!”

Scientist—THE GIANT CLAW—1957

Why the motorcycle? Couldn’t he have made better time getting away in his car? At this point, Tracy and Sam are not even aware he has gotten away.

Memory is clearly an amateur. You don’t RUN from Dick Tracy. You bury him in lawyers.

Very rude of Tracy to interrupt their dinner. I’m happy to see Memory and Walter get away….they seem nice.

That owl that attacked Tracy and damaged his hat is the size of a mouse…

“Even rode my motorcycle in the rain. You may be right, I may be crazy…”

Slick rain ride on the greasy grass* on a small bike by a big man? Slippery crash time! Do more than just “hang on,” Walter! Be prepared to fly and avoid being crushed by the bulky Mr. Memory.

I doubt seriously he can ever make it safely across the highway!

*The anniversary of The Battle of the Greasy Grass (a.k.a. Battle of the Little Bighorn, a.k.a. Custer’s Last Stand) is just days away: 25-26 June 1876….