Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for July 18, 2023

Come on Tracy, grease that palm.

Good morning™, all!

So the “Instashooter” does know something, something about a truck. Hmm.

Instashoot = Instagram.

Don’t know if to groan or boo.

How refreshing to see Tracy interact with a character who’s not a fan boy, a walking trivia reference, a cross-over personality, or a chicken. I hope we see more of Ernesto & eventually learn the backstory of his relationship with Tracy.

Good morning™, ghost observers !

“GHOST TOWN”. Where crime slides by quietly, unnoticeable.

I’m thinking that after Audie saw that report about the shooting he’s gonna pay Madsen off alright but it WON’T be with money. He’ll get the same payoff Machine Gun Jack McGurn did.

It looks like a poor Mexican child that you would feel sorry for. He looks like he is living on the streets.

I noticed the cane yesterday. I wonder if he could be a reference to Freddy Freeman, the disabled newsboy who lives on the street and transforms into Captain Marvel Jr.

Or perhaps this is a shout-out to someone Mike knows, which would also be cool.

Ahh he’s not a tagger, he records Urban Art

Not my dialog. sorry.

meanwhile back at the hospital the survivor of a shooting waits for anyone to as him who did it.

What happens when he says “Captain Marvel”?

How do you on a fire hydrant?

I’ll bet he paid a pretty penny for those distressed jeans.

The story writer must get a lot of arm cramps……

Why would Ernesto need to hold the phone to his face in order to take a picture?

1-DIRTY ERNIE: Why you hassling me, Tracy? DT: I need info that only you can provide.

2-DIRTY ERNIE: And why would I help the person who gave me this limp?

3-DT: Well, for one thing, I could make a case that you’re making a living hustling dudes.

DIRTY: WHAT? HOW? DT: Those worn out knees on your jeans. DIRTY: YOU #@&$! I CAN’T AFFORD BETTER!

FIRE HYDRANT: BEEP ZORK…PLEASE REMOVE YOUR BUTT FROM MY HEAD…WHIRL ZOINK. DT: Did that fire hydrant say something?

MOVIE QUOTE—

“Look at me and see what 17 years in the grave has done to me. Without my h ate, I could never have exhumedmyself!”

Lionel Barrymore—-THE DEVIL DOLL—1936

Ernesto is looking at Tracy with something regarding affection,so I’m assuming Dick did him a big favor in the past.

Talk about violent endings—-supposedly there was an ancient ENglish highwayman named Thomas Dun.His crimes were so horrible that his executioners literally cut him into 1,000 pieces in public as an “example”

OT: Well, being laid up is boring. Had the work done on both feet at once, and now I’m supposed to stay of the for about 48 hours. Time to rewatch my Kurosawa period drama collection.

“Zaaaaaaaap-POWWWWWWWW, all you Magical Mural Mavens and Super-Swell Swingers out there in Toddlin’ Tracy Town! Looks like Emir of Excellence, Ernesto, got the shot he was after, while Daring Detective Dick quizzes him on what he’s seen! Will Ern turn out to be a Willing, Watchful Witness? We’ll Soon See, Shortly! Meanwhile, I, your Daring, Dynamic Deejay, JPuzzle The Whiz, have just the Clearly Clever Classic hit to play for you on the Bright, Brassy BMBG turntable! Give a listen!”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nevdSt_2PIM

(I also thought of Paul Simon’s “Kodachrome,” but I don’t think Kodak is into smartphones…)

I’ll be back on Friday the 21st—-soaking up a little sun,hopefully someplace where there’s only a LITTLE sun.

And remember to lift your bloody fingerprints by the wet film process.

Is this Baker Street? Maybe he’s one of a group of young men who provide information for Tracy, um, irregularly :)

“Oh, wait….” Here we stand. What might Ernesto remember that would interest and aid the friendly detective? (And I’m sorry for mentioning this, but every time I hear or read “Ernesto” I think of Cul de Sac’s Ernesto Lacuna, a friend of Petey Otterloop who may or may not be imaginary.)

Also, this scenario calls to mind “Me and Julio, down by the schoolyard”…. https://tinyurl.com/5hddajbx

Ok, I’ll bite. What’s the story with the cane?

New in the area would that apply to Madsen? And I thought he was just passing through. Truck traffic has those “hot headsets”.