Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for May 28, 2009

I don’t recognize the guy in panel 1. Man, that Jack is one flat cat.

Why didn’t any of the cops save Tracys life? I stated it once before, Dick Tracy was known in my youth for a fair portrayal of police procedures, sadly that is no longer the case. These plots have become so juvenile and pedestrian as to be a poor parody of itself.

But the cop with Tracy in the Casinò…is missing?

With luck, “the last hand has been dealt” .

If you try to get into any of the King’s clubs, expect to get carded. Jack’s character really lacked depth. He seemed so two-dimensional.

Tracy seems to get saved by these miraculous shots in the bad guy’s back about every other story-line.

There is an old saying, “lucky at cards, unlucky at love.” I feel really sorry for Tess right now.

What the heck is that look on Tracy’s face in panel 1? He looks like he’s starry eyed in love. All because some freak dressed like a playing card saved his life?

One Eyed Jack was an inflatable. Now where does Big Ace fit into the story? I do, however, like the KOC’s means of handling Human Resources problems.

I just saw a news report about a fatal shooting in the Trump Casino yesterday. (Yes, TRUMP casino. No pun intended.) So, this really happened. Locher has hit the jackpot!! (Sorry) No comments about the strange costumes worn by the killer and his victim, though. Must be a cover-up. I know the cops like to keep a hole-card in these homicide cases. (Sorry again)

Tracy’s face lit up! He felt like a school kid with a crush on his English teacher. “Who is this fascinating guy”? Tracy muttered to himself, momentarily forgetting his promise to Tess not to engage in conversation with strange men. The last time he felt like this was that day he was called a stupid Magpie by the president of the Dick Locher Fan boy club. “YOU saved my life,,,,,Mister,,,,,” King looked at Tracy with a mixture of disgust and understanding. He knew he had this affect on people. “Call me the King of clubs. I own a cartel of gambling clubs and lease them out… Tracy just stood there, mouth open and drooling as he absorbed every word. “I run an honest business, but every now and then you get someone from the BOTTOM OF THE DECK. Tracy, wondering if he could dare to dream suddenly burst out in song!

“A whole new world A new fantastic point of view No one to tell us no Or where to go Or say we’re only dreaming”

“King of Clubs” is an interesting moniker in this context.

that sounded final!…yes! this is certainly the last of the playing card puns….finally we can move on to the adventures of Bo, his wife and the entrapment going on at their house

Weird em-PHASIS on the word YOU in the first line…

I wish they would cut to the chase. Sure, Jack has shuffled off this mortal coil, since he was trumped by KOC, but what’s the deal? Call a spade a spade. You’ve got to hand it to Tracy.

Nighthawks that’s B.O. not Bo. You should have seen him in the old Gould comics with wavy lines indicating stink coming from him all the time.

Well, that’s Jack the pancake, “take 2”. ! That paper-thin “layout” by Brozman must have impressed Locher. So now we will have it repeated ‘over and over’ again all of next week till June 7th.

What I suspect has been quietly introduced for Brozman is a work schedule similar to the one Locher had with his late son his assistant, John (of yellow rubber duckie fame) in 1983. That is, first week Dad does the penciling of the daily strips and Son does the inking but same time John penciled the Sunday page and Dad did the inking. The following week they switch activities around.

That practise explains why we still have the contradiction of “little” hands peppering the strip periodically. Mattie, who is a faithful and dutiful student sees every ‘comma’ Locher writes as being simply “superb”. He might want to know that it’s one of the few things Dick actually learnt from Chet that he hasn’t discarded, yet. (and there’s much good stuff already in his disposal bin).

But while Dick draws hands for ‘ladies’, the folks that know, say the Syndicate controls most of what else happens with an iron fist. That’s why you may have noticed that Tracy and the Police just can’t shoot criminals anymore. In fact, in the last 16 years there’s been only ONE exception (2001), to this Syndicate “ovrer-cautious” rule ! And back in 2001 it was carefully screened and we were never told if the felon died.

Kills by the Police could be deemed as “executions”. And TMS is too queasy to risk that ! .So we see Tracy inhibited to only shooting at Robots or (hIlariously) “missing” targets, every time he pulls the trigger. Like mandating panels full of words like “pow”, “bang”,”kapow” to simulatre heat (?). A neutered Tracy is no longer the strong exemplar promoting law and order some of us remember. Poor grimacing fellow, even if he shot in self defence, he’s just NOT gonna hit a target ! Note - Effective shooting will either be performed by other bad guys or unconnected civilians. For police, VERBOTEN !

No need to ask WHY armed police milled around helplessly, with the King of Clubs having to come in for the rescue and do the “dirty” ! Yet, it could ALL have been avoided had Locher allowed Tracy to follow normal procedure, by earlier using handcuffs. Seems this script glorified incompetence just to achieve a little more cheap action.

And these pressures are why I suspect, that from frustration, Locher occasionally practices a discreet form of “passive resistance” (Mahatma Ghandi style). I can’t nail it down for sure, but if so, it’s the sort of example that his better spurred, loquacious acolytes should consider following.

Most will agree, resistance perhaps but observing fine decorum, and in far better taste than unseemly brawling around in heat like one of Miss Egghead’s rambunctious, Game bleeep champions.

OEJ is flat because it will make it easier for him to “fold” Bye Now

Have we forgotten about B.O., Gertie and the bleeding Henchmen?

Who is the simpering bleeep in panel 1? Seems like he’s stolen Dick Tracy’s eyebrows….

And who is the bleeep in panel 2 telling a bunch of cops he’s running a cartel? Doesn’t he know cartels are illegal?

The floor mosaic in panel 3 is not bad. It looks almost 3-dimensional if you squint your eyes a little … well, no … but if you squint your eyes a lot … no, still looks flat … oh well.

-Cougar :{)

Apparently you can’t call a re-tard a bleeep here. Yay for censorship!