Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for January 27, 2024

Baxter has that effeminate look to him/her…

he/she’d better play it cool and smooth if she wants to avoid and evade, not like her past performances…

Dick may seem inept at times, these days, but he’s not a complete fool…

but with her track record, I wouldn’t place any bets on her to win…

Either Tracy is the dumbest cop on the beat, or we are the dumbest readers to fall for Fata’s ridiculous, impossible disguise.

Good morning™, everyone!

It doesn’t seem like Tracy has any idea yet that Mr. Baxtor is actually Fata Morgana.

It looks like the elephant did a lot of damage to Vitamin Flintheart’s room. Also, it looks like the elephant came through the wall rather than through the ceiling.

Fata forgot to trim her eyelashes.

Good morning™, Monkey Faces !

P. 3.’s panel has Tracy with a monkey looking face. Is that his Lancelot Link imitation ?  I like how Morgan has gloves on her hands, without which they would be a dead giveaway to her feminine heritage.

Why would Fata return to the theater to collect her money? Vitamin put a hold on it for all the damage done by the elephant.

Bet she can’t change her DNA.

How does Fatty make her voice sounds masculine? And hides feminine body shapes? If not voice then shoulders and hips widths woulda gives her away. Not to mentions sideburns unless she is use fake sideburns.

Me sure jumbo will sniffs her out sooner or later. Elephant smarter than the average detective.

I’m wondering if she packed a pair of gym socks or a billy club?

She needs to keep his gloves on.

“I was called in the next day.” … “And, fortunately I was already here in your city, in the very hotel where Fata had been staying. Quite a coincidence, wouldn’t you say?”

Um… Realistically (as if that makes a bit of difference in the strip) the old disappearing elephant trick is not magic. It had all been planned out and rehearsed ahead of time. So how did the elephant end up in Vitamin’s office, which has a door so small that a wall had to be taken out to remove the elephant?

It was a good visual at the time. It raises questions to try the gag again. And, as Ray Toler asked yesterday, where’s the elephant now? Does FM make so much $$ she can buy a fresh elephant for every show? Maybe if she didn’t have such an expensive act she wouldn’t be broke now and needing the money for the hit she should have demanded up front.

I wanna know where the voice changing device is located

I would imagine that Tracy’s staff has already crosschecked across the country, mysterious murders when Fata was around, and that “Bob Baxter” always filled in for her. So I imagine Tracy suspects that Baxter is Fata. But I don’t see the “heat” ever disappearing for Fata…so why didn’t she wear a disguise when she went to Tess’ office? Especially since she was using the same poison as with Throughton. I would also think that the folks that hired her for Throughton and Tess would want her out of the way – dead magicians tell no tales…….

And then, in a telling slip, ‘he’ breaks a nail and has a hissy fit.

If the news reported Fata Morgana missing and (presumably) responsible for the damage done by the elephant, how will this allow her to “lay low”, as she hopes to do? The next time FM shows up anywhere to perform as herself, she will be known regarding her previous performance to someone there.

The voice is actually a lot harder to disguise than the face. I wonder how she does that.

Dick is looking rather girthy in P3. I could have never written that sentence in CK in the old days.

Glasses were enough for Clark Kent to stymie everyone!

“And, curiously, she and I wear the same perfume.”

DETECTIVE Tracy should observe that “Bob” has no Adam’s apple…

That’s quite an exaggeration, there are some pretty dumb cops !

1-DT: B00BS? B00BS BAXTER? Did I just see you coming out of the LADY’S RESTROOM?? B00BS: OH SH*T! Huh? Uh no – must’ve been some other dude in a top hat and tails.

2-…Now if you’ll excuse me, I gotta…repair this damaged doorway for Vitamin before my show.

3-DT: Oh. Good. I’m looking for Fats Morgana and I don’t have time to deal with a perv anyway. B00BS: Uh…what makes you think Fats would be here? DT: Criminals always return to the scene of a crime.

B00BS: OH NO! YOU’RE RIGHT! I mean…what crime? DT: Animal Abandonment? I guess… I dunno. SAM! GET OUT FROM BEHIND THE CONCESSION STAND!!!

D.T. should say: “I’m looking AT Fata Morgana”………