Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for October 29, 2023

Stolen treasures. Drastic measures. Not for the first time

Priceless works have disappeared, result of costly crime.

Library, a gallery, museum or hidden vault

Like that time in Boston, still unknown who was at fault.

Storm on the Sea of Galilee. The Concert by Vermeer

Victims vexed. Police most perplexed. One thing is surely clear

High stakes theft leaves some bereft, others in their grave

Tracy sticks he beak in now in hopes that he may save

Next victim from a stab wound, sharp point thrust in the heart

Questions Xaviera. Clarity she may impart.

Blade does flash. Libris brash. Tracy on his guard

Questioning the killer? Detective work is hard.

ye-e-e-es?…

… my books and my freedom?…

The way she has that letter opener pointed, anyone who tries to rip her will be discouraged in a minute.

The way she has that letter opener pointed, anyone who tries to rip her will be discouraged in a minute.

Yikes!

Marylin Manson? You decided to get back into theater? Good for you.

Ms. Libris certainly knows how to make a point.

Tracy’s mind is telling him, one of those could be a murder weapon. Now Miss Lady, if she is the guilty party, certainly would not display the exact item. However, stranger things have been known to happen.

I know, I know,, tomorrow she’ll say:

“CHILDREN!!”

Jeez, how far are you gonna stretch this rubberband??

Also, this is not suspenseful at all.

It’s just more time filler.

markwillman4 answered back about 1 hour ago

@Gweedo it’s legal here Murray

;). Um… yeah.

;-p

Well, that takes her off my suspect list. The real thief/murderer is too intelligent to display the murder weapon to the chief investigator.

Good morning™, blade blandishers !

She looks frightening !  :-o   She forgot to consider that someone coming after her special papers might just be packing heat; that sends high speed metal projectiles. Good show though, lady.

Do bulletproof vests stop knives?

DT: Hmm… possibly suspicious.

Oh, Oh, the lady remained silent at the end of the sentence, a bad sign!

Good morning™, all!

You’d better not be stealing her mail! I wonder if a letter opener could possibly be the murder weapon. She certainly doesn’t seem like the type who would be shy if threatened.

Great comic today!

Authors may use misdirection to make a reader think person ‘A’ did the crime instead of person ‘X’. Some authors can’t pull it off well, and some hand you a really lame plot twist that doesn’t hold water for ’X’s motives or methods.

We still don’t know X.L. here is the murderer. But, if she’s not we’re getting way too much misdirection and not enough on the real killer (should be in the plot, but on a level the reader won’t suspect). If X.L. is being framed the killer did a heck of a good job… But I don’t think we’re getting misdirection.

(In the original Perry Mason TV shows there is an obvious suspect the audience is supposed to think is the killer (our ‘A’) before ‘X’ is revealed a few minutes before the end.

Guess she’ll finish the sentence Monday, however Tracy’s on to her I think. Shifty body language ☜⁠ ⁠(⁠↼⁠_⁠↼⁠)

“But when she threatened your life with a switchblade knife….”

Now that was VERYYYY in-ter-est-ing. (smokes a cig, and adjusts her WWII helmet)

………virginity?

I have to add too; the art is incredible here, and the sequence too. Very theatrical.

Is it as sharp as her wit ?

Is she going to pull a “Lorena Bobbitt” ?

Guest Writer Eric Costello : don’t blame me for this !

Frame 6 is outstanding.

“EGGOS! So, LAY OFF, Flatfoot!”

“….latest offer(s) from Publisher’s Clearinghouse before I’ve even had the chance to open it”……..she finished……

The shrew just tipped her hand .

Eh no surprise here. Me has already knews Goldilocks is the murdering crook earlier itself.

Thieves usually come when you aren’t home, and that letter opener won’t help at all.

Assuming Ms X is indeed the killer we appear to be seeing yet another case solved by coincidence rather than detective work. Tracy asks a friend to recommend an expert in mss and ‘lo, it turns out to be the killer. I had such hopes when they were actually checking for DNA evidence and talking with a medical examiner, but it appears – metaphorically – that Sam has once again stopped at a Deli he’d never noticed before at exactly the point in time that resolves things.

Okay, on Tuesday, there are no items near X. On Wednesday through Saturday, there looks to be only one item. Today, it suddenly appears that X was using this table as a desk of sorts, with several items on it.

Also, are we sure that the last two panels weren’t accidentally switched? They make more sense to me that way.

I bet those “MCU”-labeled notepads are handy for making notes when watching “Loki” on Thursday nights :)

Letter opener??!! It would be very foolish to take your letter opener!!!

If this in not a red flag I’ve no idea what it is. Let’s see how Dick Tracy will be able to arrest her.

From today’s Comics Curmudgeon:

Hey, let’s not forget, this Dick Tracy plot isn’t just about the elevated world of rare book crime, it’s also about stabbing, and since Xaviera here has a knife, she probably did the murders, case closed! I do sincerely appreciate the cinematic composition here; presumably Xaviera keeps talking over the last few panels, but from Dick’s perspective her voice fades away as he catches the glint of the blade and all he can think is knife knife knife KNIFE KNIFE STAB STAB STAB KNIFESTAB

Her off-putting personality and letter opener are probably not the deterrent she thinks.

Nah. Not suspicious a’tall. >;)

1-DT: How come our killer hasn’t killed you and made off with easy pickens? Huh? How come?

2-XAVIEE: Das ist ein very gut qvestion, Herr Tracy… Perhaps you could think it through while I open some mail.

3-DT: Hmmm. Let’s see…

4-… Maybe it’s because she dresses in a gray suit, white shirt and tie just like me so robbers think I’M GUARDING THE PLACE!

5-… NO! I don’t usually wear nail polish so that can’t be it! I GOT IT! EVERY THIEF KNOWS YOUR STUFF IS FAKE AND WORTHLESS. XAVIEE: Your incredible deduction just saved a life, Herr Tracy.

DT: Really? Whose…?” XAVIEE: Vat a dummkopf

In The (Completely Unnecessary) I Wonder Why Department: What’d a story drawn ala Don Martin play like? (FLORP! GURKLE!)

Two questions: all those books, shelved three or more stories high – does anyone ever actually take them out and read them? If not, what good are they?

It ain’t a mystery if we have only one suspect, so let’s assume we haven’t seen that person yet. BTW, this isn’t a knife, it’s a letter opener, and who carries a letter opener around with them planning a homicide or theft. We’ve had a week of conversation, so can we move on or is Costello going all War and Peace on this one?

uhoh

A knife expert huh? Wasn’t the murder victim killed with a knife? Foolish to flash that around in front of DT.

Blasts From the Past Dept:

Again today I’m getting new notifications about posters who replied ‘over 2 years ago’ to comments I made over two years ago. This happening with anybody else?

The Insurance Agency would be demanding Security.

I’m wondering what the symbol on the handle of the letter opener is – a stylized L, perhaps? It could be a family heirloom. (Side note: Many years ago, my parents went on a trip to Europe and brought me back something that looked like an old-style dagger, but was actually a letter opener. I still have it :)

Could this cold as ice woman be the sister of Stiletta Jones (aka Mrs. Flattop)?

Uh-oh. [And readers of Cul de Sac know what that portends.]

Looks like Ol’ Squinty Eyes Tracy has cracked the Ice Queen! Xaviera has, just for moment, lost her composure under Tracy’s quiet but pointed questioning and has grabbed her nearest bladed weapon, the deadly letter-opener and…and almost as quickly as her rage rose, she drops it again, realizing she has let Tracy win a key point.

As an aside, I confess a personal fondness for letter-openers and keep several at hand around the house. Generally, however, I do not wield them in rage….

A penetrating question.

A penetrating stare.

A penetrating implement.

…aannnddd!

Welp, no penetration today.

George Ozone’s body was hustled out of sight before Tracy arrived