Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for November 30, 2008

Dypak was right, Braces did shove the arm into his mouth. He’s so used to the taste of metal that he just couldn’t help himself.

Looking at Zitpickers’ Notebook, it looks like the guy is going to try the old Hit-The-Nail-With-The- Hammer-Trick, perfected by Maxwell Smart. The nail being his thumbnail. Also, in the middle panel where Traze-R is lying face down in the grass, isn’t the speech balloon coming from somewhere else and not Traze-R? Odd, because whoever is saying it is afflicted with the same speech impediment that both robots had.

The first time Braces opens his mouth and Ka-thoom, a mouthful of metal…and where did his braces go?

Crimestoppers useless tip of the week - someone could bring a hammer to the library and wreck the card-catalog kiosk. Looks like they need a metal detector vs. McAfee up in there!

I totally agree, the explosion panel looks really cool and I can tell Locher put a lot of time and thought into making that cool and colorful. Spot on!!

Brace’s mouth is OPEN! I still think it’s a magnetic thing that causing MF/BF’s hand into Brace’s mouth.

Who brings a hammer to work to sabotage a computer?!?

In the next-to-last panel (and in panel 2 yesterday), Braceface is holding a left robot arm. The one that grabs his jaw both days appears to be a right arm. Has Traze-R managed to pull off a “Jerry Lawler pull-down-the-strap” (semi-obscure wrestling reference) reinvigoration?

That “thing” Grok and others make reference to shows up every Sunday, and sometimes very disguised. A few weeks ago, I asked Ludwig if he found it because, at that time, I couldn’t. It is a rubber duckie. That’s right! A rubber duckie that is memory of (I believe) Dick Locher’s son, who died at a very young age. His memorial is to insert the rubber duckie somewhere in an inconspicuous place every Sunday. Every now and then, the shape is as large as a panel, and is intended to blend into the background. But it is ALWAYS there. This has been going on for years, as far as I know. One of the first things I do on Sunday is to find it. When Locher feels brave, he hides it well; but it is always there. Hope this answers Grok’s question and if I stand correcting, someone please do it.

Morrow

Looking at the explosion, I think I see BuzzBomb’s artillery piece blowing out, as well as his wheels and treads. My theory that he survived has just suffered a serious setback. . If the rubber duck story is true, it’s a great way to memorialize your love for a lost child. … That ‘t is a common grief Bringeth but slight relief; Ours is the bitterest loss, Ours is the heaviest cross… H.W. Longfellow

Morrow is correct (as usual). The “rubber duckie” is a tribute to his late son.

Poor Braces, so aggravated he had to bite something!

Ya gotta admit, that’s a heckuva explosion in panel 2. Lil’ Buzz Bomb proves dynamite comes in small packages!

I disagree. Traze-R made the statement. But poorly-done artwork has a wisp of smoke connecting to the word balloon, so it looks like someone else is saying it.

Braces did not bite the robotic hand. The robotic hand grabbed him. But poorly-done artwork does not show that.

Morrow, thanks for the explanation about the “rubber ducky”. As much grief as we give Locher about the strip, my sympathies are with him - it’s a tragedy to lose a child.

Now that I know about the hidden ducky, I’ve been going back and trying to find it in previous strips. Interesting how it’s been there all along and I never noticed it. But already I’m stumped - I can’t find it in last Sunday’s strip!

http://www.gocomics.com/dicktracy/2008/11/23

^ look in the second panel.

Thanks, I think I see it :)

Forgive my naivete, but I guess what we’re looking at is the tail feather at the duck’s back end?

neonleon: All I see is part of a circle with a protrubance. I can’t say that it looks like a duck.