Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for January 15, 2023

Relaxing day to get away. Good time to get wet

Could be I misjudged Dekko, not so bad and yet

This lingering suspicion that all is not so well

Since I cut a bigger slice, the tension seemed to swell.

“It’s only fair,” I pointed out. “The forgery’s my work”

Dekko took it like a champ, yet unease did then lurk.”

Kryptonite took a jet flight. He landed yesterday

Making deadly trouble is how he earns his pay.

What be the price for paradise? Fish amidst the reef

The hitter dons his wet suit, preparing to deal grief.

The target’s nigh. Let sharp spear fly. Blood begins to cloud

Time of his life is at an end. Death should be not proud.

harpoon it is…

On target.

Why, it’s a clip from Thunderball!

and all we’ll see is bloody water spreading outwards and no sign of Paul with the harpoon protruding from his anatomy… a shark possibly to devour the evidence leaving no trace as to what happened to Paul?…

Seriously, not ONE OTHER PERSON on the beach?

Kripto knows EXACTLY where Paul is going to swim?

How did he know which rock to hid under?

So many holes today Shamu could swim through them!

Oh mighty Neil, keeper of the oracle of Tracy, you gotta help me make sense of all of this. Help me get back on the path of faith in Mike!!!

We learned yesterday that Paul was completely fooled by Art Dekko.

Only the blindest, dumbest luck can save him now.

And Paul doesn’t seem all that lucky…

Good morning, dart by Art !

Will Paul see it in time to dodge it ?  He looks mighty flush with himself in P.1. The good times wont roll for much longer.

P.2. Nice looking up shot there, Mrs. Pleger.

I recall an episode of THE STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO with a murder like that…

They are really dragging this out…..maybe a great white swims in front of him, takes the shot itself by accident, turns and attacks the bad(der) guy, and a wiser would be victim goes after Art now…..more fun than a simple dragged out murder…

Good morning™, everyone!

I don’t think that Paul is going to make it to breakfast, appetite or not. That harpoon looks pretty deadly!

The sharks will take care of the evidence.

(William Conrad voiceover)

Paul’s watery work-out has caused him to work up an appetite. Little does he know there’s a deadly diver down in the deep. Will he get a bite to eat, or will he bite the big one? Be sure to see our next episode,

“The Aquatic Assassin”

or

“Scuba Dude, Where Are You?”

This was no boating accident!

Dekko is going to have to abandon the Old Masters’ forgery scam after this—no forger with enough skill will ever want to work for him after this. What? Does Dekko think these guys never talk to each other?

Forget what I said earlier about the sharks.

Fantastic artwork again,

Looks like this is the end of a great vacation!

As someone has already noted, simply holding him underwater and drowning him would have made it look like a common swimming accident. Perhaps Krypto doesn’t want to take the chance of his prey fighting back and getting the better of him.

This is why I listen to my stomach…

My guess was right, a harpoon it was…

Spectacular point of view “shots” the last two panels.

There goes breakfast?

Looks like an unfortunate accident is about to happen. “Talented artist dies in freak spear fishing mishap”

Not a very smart assassin. He could have just dragged him under and held him until he drowned. No signs of foul play. A spear wound will make the authorities suspicious!

Seems like an awful lot of work just to avoid having to pay the guy his share. No doubt Kripto is going to cost more than the artist ever would have.

Off topic: I think real-life villain Sam Bankman-Fried would be a good inspiration for a new Tracy villain.

— With hair like that he would be named “Moptop”.

— With “Bank” in his name, it would be something like “Moptop Free-Bank” or “Moptop Bank-Cayman”. Or even simply “Moptop Bankman”

And Moptop would do crypto-scams of course.

They could blame it on a swordfish!

This is an interesting choice, going with the spear (thus making it obvious murder) as opposed to, say, drowning the person. Though of course, that does pre-suppose they find the body. Nicely “cinematic.”

1-PAUL: Why was the lifeguard AND HIS CAR so embarrassed?

BECAUSE THEIR TRUNKS WERE SO FULL OF CRAP!!! HAR HAR HAR! OH MAN! That’ll crack up the cabana boys when I tell them! They hate those uppity lifeguards always scoring all the chicks!

2- dogpaddle dogpaddle dogpaddle…

3-KRIPKE: I guess the cyanide-laced drink didn’t work. Time for Plan B

4- WAIT! What if that isn’t Paul? What if it’s some innocent tourist? How can I in good conscience take that…

5- Ooops. DARN HAIR TRIGGER! I thought that problem was limited to my personal life. Guess not. Oh well – time for brekky!

One way to get the point. (no pun intended)

Paul will probably feel like he caught a charley horse in his side, until the “red stuff”(blood) comes to the surface.

he did that on porpoise!

That’s one way to completely ruin a nice day.

If he wanted to make it look like an accident, why not just grab him by the leg and pull the guy under?

A speargun? Boring! What does it take to get a shark with a frickin’ laser beam on its head?

stupid. the body will be found almost at once.

Where’s Mike Nelson when you need him?

He is going to be Shark Breakfast, … and lunch…and dinner !!!

Exploding head?

What a way to end a good swim, abruptly! Skewered like some big fish on a spit for roasting. Panama City, it turns out in the case of Paul Chandler, is not a salubrious vacation spot.

Final score: Hitter, one; forger, zero….

Poison tipped,or explosive warhead?

ooohhh, a gory thought to eliminate the evidence of Paul… an explosive-tipped harpoon that detonates on impact penetration?… but pity the beautiful but poor fishies and other sea-life that will be caught in the blast radius… and all we would get to see is the blast itself and no Paul and Paul pieces afterwards… now THAT would be a spectacular visual and no gore involved and no mistaking of what happened…