Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for November 17, 2022

The last frame reminds me of the poster for the 1981 movie Scanners, except I don’t think Steelface’s head will explode.

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PPDHK1ASV5U/X6rbbYMbsKI/AAAAAAAAy84/fMYbZUd-4B0p5o3PdSF7ljgjoe40C0PigCLcBGAsYHQ/s564/sca01.jpg

The speculation that this is an MRI machine is now confirmed and it also seems that the nurse is one of those characters with blank eyes.

Reminds me of James Bond nearly being torn apart by a sabotaged exercise machine in “Thunderball.” ✨

“OH NO, they’re playing Barry Manilow music over the speakers!!”

My heads exploding!!!

That looks . . . uncomfortable.

Isn’t it normal procedure to ask the patient if he has any metallic implants before an MRI?

OH BOY!… HERE IT COMES… Scanners Revisited…

Interesting that nothing goes wrong until there’s 5 minutes left.

MRI’s are fairly long procedures.

Why did it take so long for his headache to kick in?

Greetings, fellow Face Manglers!

I can’t believe the tech would so remiss in not asking if Steely has a “metal head.” I actually feel sorry for the big goon. He’ll be done in far less than 5 minutes. What a cruel fate for the chop shopper. I predict that he will be Dick Tracy’s version of Dr. Doom very soon.

He does seem to have great teeth.

Good dental hygiene!

Just like I predicted… all the metal bits will be ripped out of his face and body. I hope he has a lawyer on call !!!

Third panel today is a classic…the deer caught in the headlights look.

All those years, months and weeks of staying ahead of the law and Steelface buys the farm/kicks the bucket in a MRI scanner.

A cruelest fate than that of many killer villains. As far as we know Steelface didn’t kill anyone. And won’t those metal bits send some alarm?

I guess he will now have more important things to think about, than where the wrist radio went to.

Steelface has (or had) the same beard shadow as the late JoJo Nidle.

Steelface in panel 3 looks like he’s either about to suffer death by MRI … or he’s watching a performance of Derby Dugan.

Good morning™, Hot Zits !

Not your usual electric chair set up but someone sure is frying up a storm. So what is he holding in P.2 ?

Press the button, SF.

“Please! Let me outta here! Before this gizmo turns my brains into Grey Poupon!”

Metal and MRI’s do not mix.

MRI with metal, horrible!

Good, maybe they will kill this story along with Metalpuss

And he’ll come out looking like Pinfold’s uncle, Pinhead!

Looks like Steelface is getting a Electric Lobotomy!!!

He better " push " the button and get out of the scanner or his face will come apart .

HAH! Called it!

if he’s got a magnetic head and is in a MAGNETIC Resonance Imager he could be in real trouble, or suddenly have a new super power and will relocate from Dick Tracy to Spiderman.

That’s why they generally ask if you have any metal implants before loading you into the MRI…even if he survives the experience, it could seriously damage the machine.

“Metal that is well secured to the bone, such as hip and knee joint replacements, will not be affected by an MRI. The metal won’t heat up or move in response to the machine. But if the metal is near an organ, such as the prostate, distortion could be a problem”

Looks like Robert is off the hook!

This is going to hurt. Good!

“How little we understand, what touches off that tingle~~that sudden explosion, when two tingles intermingle~~” Philip Springer, Caroline Leigh lyrics from “How Little We Know” (1956 Frank Sinatra hit)

those magnets are powerful: https://preview.redd.it/dklc8ghaiqv61.jpg?auto=webp&s=f530d9a509a61350f67e7d9f80d36d1f99abbccf

Well, I think we’ve established that Steelface (a) wasn’t going to give away info about his “condition” lest it draw the police’s attention, and (b) isn’t too bright.

cue the ominous music

So we’re getting the intro ep of a new INCREDIBLE CAR-STEALING HULK storyline?

I haven’t joined the “mock the writer” threads here much, but … don’t you miss stories where the police are actually involved in solving crimes, instead of relying on relatives snitching on the big baddie?

I agree. The problem with this story is the story itself. It’s its own Kryptonite.

“Stop squirming. You were told to remain perfectly still.”

Fried!

They just gave him the bill

MOVIE QUOTE—

“Can you say “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers?”

“What’s that?”

“Or how about ’Around the rugged rock,the ragged rascal ran?”

“Have you gone mad?”

James Westerfield&Elliott Reid—THE ABSENT MINDED PROFESSOR—1961

Oops?!

IT BEGINS!!!

Are we witnessing the birth of a “super villain”?

Well,after he gets out of jail he can star at The FlintheartPlayhouse in “The Story Of Scarface Capone”

could be trouble

The second panel was lifted from yesterday’s AltTake almost verbatim! And the 3rd panel is essentially the same but Mike forgot to write “OWWWWWW!”

This will not end well. The good news is the hospital probably won’t charge him the co-pay if his face gets ripped open.

They started playing Mariah Carey Christmas music.

Another three day weekend for me——so I may miss the funeral.See you Monday 21st.

WE’RE HERE TO TALK,MA’AM

WITH YOU AND YOUR DAUGHTER

YOU’VE BEEN DOING T HINGS,MA’AM

THAT YOU HADN’T OUGHTER

I miss this guy

saw this coming; even a small piece of ferrous metal will react with an MRI…it’s like putting a metal object in a microwave. With all the shrapnel in this guy’s skull at the very least 3rd degree burns.

Perhaps worth noting that MRI is used for soft-tissue imaging. Looking for any kind of bone fracture, they would us X-ray or CT scan. That wouldn’t work for the plot, of course.

Yep…weird…The first thing they ask before any scans are questions about metal.

Who had “villian’s head torn apart in MRI machine?”

Oopsie!

Got that tingling feeling in your face, Metal Fragments in Face-Guy going through Magnetic Resonance Imaging?

It only hurts for a little while, Sucka!

Hmmm. Someone with a steel plate in his head is put into an MRI machine that uses powerful magnet. That’s going to hurt.