Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for December 20, 2023

Ms. Libris was also responsible for creating the bad comb over hairstyle!

This story windup is gonna be a while, ain’t it???

Good morning™, everyone!

I don’t believe that either one of these two were actually “in cahoots” with Ms. Libris, but in both cases, she was a client of theirs and therefore indirectly responsible for part of their income. I believe that the fitness centre woman just felt like a friend to Xaviera and thought she should warn her that they were going through her locker. As for the bookbinder, I’m sure that she spent a lot of money with his business, so he had a bit of loyalty to her.

Oh great another day and two more panels wasted.

Good morning™, Round Up Wind Ups !

Those two don’t look too happy and even if they never knew about the murders they must have regret at being so accommodating to Libby, but at least they’re alive.

Nice sharp images and I am happy with the coloring. The police uniforms stand out loudly.

And good griefs. After playing down and glossings over a wicked scheming murderous monster serial killer criminal yesterday by saying “oh poor little girl was just arrogant and overconfident and not knows what her actions is means to others” blah blah, today they is trying to invokes sympathy for her accomplices who was in cahoots with her crimes. Disgusting. These accomplices was knews exactly what they was involved in. They knews very well they was helping with stolen manuscripts MacGuffins. And we not even told in story what or why C Club crying member was in it for. Nonethelesses they is was loyal accomplices of serial killer murderer. Maybe not accomplices in murder but is aides indeeds. Book store guy informs her and causes death of poor book binding guy. And who knows what this other crocodile tears criminal was in cahoots for for she so loyal that she even texts police is arrives right before the police. And you is wants audience to has sympathy with these criminals? Bah. There a clear theme here. Playing down and gloss over murderous criminals and trying to invokes sympathy for her crooked accomplices. You is likes criminals so much? Geez.

“The weed. of crime bears bitter fruit…”

Time to look for other jobs!

Ruined lives, and businesses…for what? Profit? Gain? Power? Yesh…“I will keep with the seas and the equality it presents to all, and away from the greed of merchants.” (Shadowing the Dream, Kantuck Atsilawesa Nadie

The grass hasn’t increased much since the last growth spurt and the paint stopped peeling, but you know…“if all good things must come to an end” then this wrap up will take FOREVER!!!

The last panel reminded me of the woman who livestreamed and encouraged the looting of a store and of herself ( she said that “people gotta eat” (( non edibles )] …

Her booking photo was tearful too…

Sorta like Trump

Yep…time to settle in to a nice warm coma, while this story grinds to a halt.

All of a sudden Bookbinder Boss is in custody, after the whole bookshop angle of the investigation went ignored in the narrative for weeks? Another good example of how this story cast its net a mile wide and an inch deep….

….could be we’ve gotta see what they all get for Xmas, then everybody gathers in one wall-to-wall panel singin’ Auld Lang Syne……….

I’m afraid that they’re going to throw the book at Mr. Bookbinder…he’ll get at least 5-10 years as an accessory to murder and a receiver of stolen property.

As The Stomach Turns .

The bottom line crime leaves many victims in its wave………..

From today’s Comics Curmudgeon:

What I’m not feeling generous about is that the strip is spending this whole week making sure we understand the emotional repercussions of her life of crime, which, BORING. This is a strip where people used to get eaten alive by rats [3/7/11], we don’t care about, like, ruined businesses or whatever else this Hayes Code-ass epilogue wants us to think about. Those cops don’t really care either. Look at those numb facial expressions. “Yeah, it’s called a ‘warrant,’ I guess? I’d never heard of one either. Anyway, your business is ruined.”

The man at the print shop gets served with a warrant, indirectly he got his employee killed when he made that phone call. And the woman in the interrogation room wishes she could turn back the hands of time and not try to warn Ms. Libris. Oh well, the wheels of justice…they’ll both have a lot of and a long time to reflect on their deeds…behind bars.

1-OFFICER FRIENDLY: Do you also do printing here? I need a hundred of these made up. Leave the name and location spaces blank – I’ll fill those in as needed.

2-DT: I’m reading your most recent Employee Review here. It says you get too personally involved with the members of the Club. That’ll get you 10 to 20 when we read this in court.

CHOATE CHICK: ALL I DID WAS CALL THE ONLY PERSON WHO EVER TIPPED TO TELL HER SHE MUST’VE FORGOTTEN TO PAY HER LOCKER FEE!

You know, if old C-club girl wouldn’t have informed X, she might not have prepared to act so stupidly as to get killed. X might have lived.

To judge by the blue cloth over the gurney X. Libris is headed to the morgue and won’t figure in any more stories. Like several others that are one-and-done. But… Ms. Libris leaves a large estate. We don’t know who inherits it, and we don’t know what hanky-panky might occur in the executing and dispersing of her estate. At the moment nothing for Dick Tracy, but there could be material for Wendy Wichel, which might “we interrupt this story” from time to time for the next year. Pity that such figures as Murky Depps and Tabby Angus are gone and won’t figure in any more stories. Can they find some other premise that will work for Yeti?

GIBBERING AND FOAMING AT THE MOUTH OT: I am now maybe two days short of finishing editing on MORABU. 580 pages of agony. I did a tally on letter ‘a’ skips thanks to this errr…blessed machine, and as of page 515, it’s at 1,311. If I survive, I hope to have the ruinously released first version replaced.

In an understated way, today’s visuals and the supporting text tie up a few of the loose ends, showing that Ms. Libris’s accomplices are going down, hard, for trying to cover for her or help her get away with criminal behaviors. Book Binder Guy is a broken man and has deaths on his conscience (assuming he has one; I think he does), while Choate Club receptionist/locker room attendant looks like a broken recent immigrant from some Eastern European country who regrets very much sidling up to the Rich B*tch, too late….

To use a phrase that Jack Germond on The McLaughlin Group would say, “the story had legs”. Having gone through this recent episode, I could say the story had legs but darn how they wobbled in some places. Mike, Shelley, in 2024 can the stories you have planned got legs on them and also some meat on the bones? Not them dry bones either.

Aas Alvin the chipmunk would say-O—KAYYY!!

The accomplices are being rounded u p, fixing the Number One Complaint of all the nitpickers.

Now,we’re getting too close to Christmas.Dick needs time to get Tess something besides wilted flowers