Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for August 16, 2023

Good ol’ Madsen, distracting Sam and Tracy while the others escape.

Good morning™, everyone!

Chase upcoming!

HOT PURSUIT!…

Good morning™, leapers !

How agile can a guy in loafers be ?  I can see his feet in some hurt from the impact with shoes not padded like the athletic kind. But … he’ll land, spry like a wildcat and off he goes. Is it okay if Sam shoots him, off camera, and he either goes to the hospital or the morgue ?

I sure miss the Pitwee of that bullet whizzing over the top of Tracy.

Jumping from that height should break his ankles.

Since this climactic sequence with Madsen confronting Audie & Sabrina & the fire started back on August 11, I count six shots fired from his gun. How many bullets does he have left?

They build those mailboxes tough…..

“Sam, he’s heading toward 128th”. This is where (a) Madsen carjacks an unsuspecting driver. (b) he called ahead for an uber. © he has flashbacks on running track in high school. Yep, he runs. Heels and ankles will hurt with those clog hoppers on. Dang! No Nike, Air Jordans, Addidas or Converse All Stars.

Madsen’s jumping into one of the many plot holes this story has, never to be seen again.

It appears that GC has banned links.

Sam was at the front of the building, Tracy at the back. There is a fenced-in narrow lot behind the old television station with misc. debris. Madsen has jumped (from a 2nd floor window?) into the fenced-in lot.

Tracy, behind a PO mail box on the other side of the fence is able to tell Sam which way Madsen is going to run – before Madsen has even landed on the ground?

An old-fashioned shootout, exciting! I do not think he will get away, but here you never know!

Madsen addresses a special delivery to Tracy.

Oh. come ON! Tracy needs backup to handle what one idiot gunman? A this point he has no confirmation there are others inside.

Tracy’s AMAZING luck encountering foes that shun the practice range continues, preserving his centenarian + lifespan!

As this is departing form the ending of my original script, here re the final two points after Tracy shoots out the front window and Madsen scrambles out. Keep in mind, there were only two others inside in this version, and they have by now managed to get the back door open and escape. These last points would have been followed by specific ending that Mike wanted.

20) Of course, Madsen tries to run for it, but Sam tackles him and gets the collar.21) The fire department casually ambles by (slow cat-in-tree day, so why rush?). As Tracy is talking with the Fire Chief, it starts to rain.

I put in the rain to support an angle I worked out for the requested ending scene.

Next week? Meet Al Go-rhythm, a hepcat sideman with VERY sticky fingers. You don’t wanna’ KNOW what he keeps in his sax!

It was felt the series need more sax and violins, so BE HERE for THE CASE OF THE BURGLED BOW TIE! or IS THAT A MUTE, OR ARE YOU REALLY SAD TO SEE ME?

how many bullets has he got left? I think we can count 5 shown fired in the last few days and if he put one in the bald guy’s arm, that’s 6.

I knew there must be some use for those old mailboxes! This one saved Tracy’s…hat.

1-DT: IT’S MADSEN! I’LL MAKE FART NOISES WITH MY HAND IN MY ARMPIT TO MAKE HIM THINK A LOT OF COPS ARE SHOOTING AT HIM!

2-ROD THE BOD: TRACY YOU IDIOT! I HEARD YOU SAY THAT. TAKE THIS! AND THAT!

3-PIT WHEEEEE! DT: MISSED ME, NOW YA GOTTA KISS ME!

4-DT: HE’S TRYING TO COMMIT SUICIDE SAM! Oh wait. He’s just trying to escape. Catch him if he comes your way – it’ll take me awhile to come up outta this crouch…

The art work is really good…..

128th. Just out of curiosity, I looked up 128th (Street/Place/something) in Chicago and it’s generally residential. While based on Chicago, it’s certainly fictional enough.

So nothing nit-picky today. Just good to see some normalish material for a police story. Go get ’im boys!

Another of fiction’s “everfull” magazines. A shot into the ceiling, a shot wounding the boss, a shot at the fleeing, 2 shots into the window, 2 at Tracy, . . . how many tomorrow?

Madsen makes his leap of faith (and sprained or broken ankles?), having fired at Tracy and forced him to take cover behind a mail dropbox that has conveniently materialized (thus taking us through the first three panels). Panel 4 requires more assumptions for its explication; it seems that Madsen, after his covering fire forced Tracy behind the mailbox, jumps while (Surmise 1) Tracy emerges from cover to engage or at least spot Leech, and (Surmise 2) pears over the fence to see Madsen just about to land on (Surmise 3) soft debris, perhaps cardboard boxes, to cushion his landing; Tracy also sees (Surmise 4) that Madsen will head for the dilapidated gate, half off its hinges, that will lead to 128th [in Chicago, E. 128th Street would be the far south side, Hegewisch neighborhood I think, not far from the Illinois-Indiana state line]. Can Sam head Madsen off? How fast can Tracy scramble around to that side?