Whoa- FINALLY we have a cop who actually believes it’s a good idea to make people put their weapons way before continuing the conversation!
(In case you forgot, please see my previous rants, on numerous dates, regarding DT’s very relaxed attitude towards Ringo’s brandishing of a whip during their lengthy talk session.)
I worked with a guy who was named David. His mother, who lived close to him and his wife, called to say she had a prowler in the yard. He said to call the police, close the curtains, lock everything, he was coming with a a gun,
When the police got to her house, with weeapons drawn. one yelled “What is your name?” When said “David” he said “OK David, we’ll take over here, now. Good job, Go inside.” He was impressed with them. They never found the prowler tho.
I gloomily sit here and contemplate
The sad downfall that is Tracys’ fate
Once the detective was held in esteem
Now those days are but a dream
We now have come to expect
Panels that are filled with dreck
Surely there has to be
An editor with eyes that see
And an ability to comprehend
That Locher has gone off the deep end
Todays strip in neither exciting or intriguing
In fact it comes across as very fatiguing
The cops should all still be there
But the writer seems not to care
That they would disappear without a trace
Were they really that easily to erase
We the readers are not dumb
But I fear our minds are becoming numb
Daily we are now assaulted
By work some claim is exalted
But from storyline inconsistencies
To characters unintentional deformities
The strip has become a laughing stock
Is it soon to be on the chopping block.
does it need to be pointed out that this is still a murder scene from this same evening/afternoon/whatever it’s been the four months this stuff has dragged on?
Matthew, just curious, but how do you put your strips together…do you use stylus & computer program or the old style ,ink on paper, wait to dry and watercolor (or colour ) I can’t imagine you are doing it the old way …drawing and painting on computer is so forgiving.
If I was doing a strip I would use two programs, one to draw up the contents of the panels and color them and then load them into ‘comic life’ to arrange them in order and put in the lettering and word balloons and color the backgrounds….really fun stuff….
so , how do YOU do it?
and heck, if we’re playin’ show and tell…here’s a commercial art job I did some 20 years ago playing with the classic Tracy paradigm. What’s funny is it was written by the staff of a trade journal for urban planners, and even so it tells a story better than Locher’s stuff:
Don’t the cops talk to eachother? You think the guy in Panel #1 would know that Dick Tracy is already at that location….
I see that Panel #1 officer also seems very calm considering the fact that there potentially is a murderer around, and that he is quietly holding some type of folder instead of pulling out his weapon on the demonic looking clown that is up in arms.
Good to see you were once into Dick Tracy art too. It’s rather amazing that on both Tracy boards a fair percentage of readers dabled in that as kids (motivated by Dick Tracy) and some even stayed with it and are practising successful artists that post here on occasion. Mattie is trying to make it now. Best of luck to him !
What looks very “familiar” in your pseudo-Tracy is your bad guy Diamond. I’m sure he was inspired by one of the Big Shot boot-leggers that hired Flattop to take out Tracy, See Sunday, 1-30-44. Not Zolla the other black haired boss.
The whole thing looked really good given the need to avoid copyright infringement.
It would be good if others here who share a bond with the original Tracy could put up links so that we could enjoy their work.
I know “Brine” has done so on the Yahoo DT Board and his art is staggeringly good ! Why not share here too Brine?
“EatDTSand”, Has a great point ! The arriving Officer MUST know that a MURDER was committed, and that Tracy was on the case at the Circus. (Homicide, i.e. Lt.Teevo was already called in).
To get that sort of call from the Circus they should have contacted Tracy by Two way Wrist Geenee to find out WHAT the problem was ! That’s simple logic !
But Tracy already had a Squad on guard there. They just dissapeard. Didn’t HQ know this ! Tracy has a Taser on the Geenee, he doesn’t use it in a life or death situation or even call in fresh back up.
How much more ludicrus and infantile can Locher get in “beating down” and rediculing this great comic strip ??
The man should be “fired” on the spot ! He has “shamed” Gould’s great creation ! This is reckless carelessness and incomprtence !
And Syd, you are exactly correct, I swiped Diamond right off of one of the guys who hired Flattop. You’re the only person to catch that in 20 years. Lizz of course inspired the blonde sidekick, and the construction worker was based on Pat Patton. Cookie was an original, it helped that I only needed to draw him once.
The weird part of all that was that after I did it I found a lot of Gould’s technique creeping into my own cartooning. It’s funny, in terms of anatomy and perspective Gould was nowhere near as talented as his contemporaries like Foster or Caniff or Kelly….but his work really packs a visual punch.
Regarding “spotting” (ie, the use of solid black areas for composition). It was a Gould trademark. Here, though, like so many other details it really just seems to be used as a timesaver, like, say, endlessly recycling an exterior shot of a circus tent.
The whole reason I added Dick Tracy to my comics list was the excellent 75th anniversary tributes from other comics. I thought, “Hey, I remember this strip. It was fun.” I added it.
The experience has really saddened me. It appears the DT franchise doesn’t care whether the strip lives or dies. In a day when newpapers are shrinking and/or going under, only the best comics survive.
This comic is dead. All it has is name recognition. I am painfully embarrassed as I check on it from time to time. BTW that’s now once a week to see if the plot has advanced. This is probably the saddest storyline I’ve seen since I rediscovered DT.
I wish they would just run old strips like “L’il Abner” does. It would be a lot less painful.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen Tracy in a newspaper but I imagine you’re right, especially given that there are a LOT of poorly drawn strips out there these days. Actually this strip is better than some of the others, the angle of the wrist in panel 2 echoes the clown’s head in panel 3, which helps hold the strip together. But still, for random recycling of art and lackluster execution, I think Dick Tracy still wins.
And yeah, Schulz was simply a god. His style has been so influential it’s hard to imagine how fresh and different it must have been fifty years ago. He invented a lot of devices that everyone uses now, like the idea that the gag isn’t the action, but the character’s commentary on it.
Starman, it’s funny that you lament this plot not changing in a week…this story has been going on, with the characters essentially standing around in the tent, since July. I think the comics syndicates have never really understood or appreciated their product– look at the battles Berke Breathed or Bill Watterson faced before they gave up and retired.
Some old strips, like Gasoline Alley or Prince Valiant, have stayed strong after their creators retired, mostly because their successors are passionate about them. But you’re right, there’s just nothing here. It really surprises me that any papers still run it at all.
Part of the problem, I’ve heard, is that no matter how unpopular a strip is, some readers will complain loudly when it’s dropped. And new strips always take time to find an audience.
But if I were an editor, I would drop this strip in a flat second and get in something new and good like Lio or Yenny or the Knight Life.
I hope we get to see the pig on wheels again before this tale is finally told. He’s been my favorite character in the months gone by as the story unfolds.
VistaBill, I vote for a new comic strip where the giant crimefighting robot and the pig on wheels elope in the moon coupe!
And that might help Dick Tracy after all, since it doesn’t seem like it’s gonna improve until pigs fly.
I’ll agree with Mattie on the advantage of using many areas of black to help the strips stand out. One could say that was a Gould “TRADEMARK” !. And say, at least one good technique Locher “retained” from the master.
Where the current team differs (more Brozman - I think) is they use it EXCESSIVELY on FACES. Not to say that Gould did not on occasion.
Recently I recall seeing an Annie strip, well drawn, but seeming near “invisable” due to the complete absence of black spaces
The excess of talking heads is the biggest problem with the strip at the moment. Except for last week’s tiger moment, we’ve had FOUR MONTHS of nothing but characters standing around talking. I’ve reserved judgment on Brozman’s art because he’s been given so little to work with…though I have to say it’d be nice if he were able to transcend the bad writing with some awesome art, instead of recycling the same half dozen panels ad nauseum.
This strip could be SO MUCH BETTER THAN IT IS. Why isn’t it?
What I’m wondering is why the cartoonist himself isn’t weighing in on all this criticism of his work. Defend it, change it, something…
I know that a good many creative people hate conflict more than anything in the world (and I’m definitely one of them), but how about it, Mr. Locher? Are we missing something here? Or being the occasional visitor and fast reader that I am, have I missed something…?
Locher, Brozman and Tribune Media have been repeatedly baited here, to no avail. I’ve also written TMS’ editor twice now, nice civil letters asking why they continue to run such a substandard product, and I’ve never heard back.
It’s kind of amazing, when you consider the inherent value in a character like Dick Tracy…he has huge name recognition, up there with Bugs Bunny and Superman. So you’d think even if no one cared about making the strip entertaining, they wouldn’t let a commercial property like this rot on the vine. But they do.
Vista Bill Raley and Comet™ almost 15 years ago
One policeman? Is he asking the clown to cuff Ringo?
Steve Bartholomew almost 15 years ago
Mr Pops is now a minstrel show.
FLIGHT SUIT almost 15 years ago
Whoa- FINALLY we have a cop who actually believes it’s a good idea to make people put their weapons way before continuing the conversation!
(In case you forgot, please see my previous rants, on numerous dates, regarding DT’s very relaxed attitude towards Ringo’s brandishing of a whip during their lengthy talk session.)
OneUrantian almost 15 years ago
VistaBill—The policeman has a partner behind him in panel one.
FLIGHT SUIT almost 15 years ago
Hey y’all, barticle35 has contributed something to my latest blog entry. Click the following link to see what cell phones looked like in 1910:
http://kraptastrophe.blogspot.com/2009/10/cell-phone-circa-1910.html
It’s very “Frog Applause” in nature.
Vista Bill Raley and Comet™ almost 15 years ago
OneUrantian said, “VistaBill—The policeman has a partner behind him in panel one”
The Shadow? “The weed of crime bears bitter fruit!”. Those were the days!
FLIGHT SUIT almost 15 years ago
Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of weirdly drawn men?
coratelli almost 15 years ago
Good art work today, but the plot is bleah!!!
linsonl almost 15 years ago
I worked with a guy who was named David. His mother, who lived close to him and his wife, called to say she had a prowler in the yard. He said to call the police, close the curtains, lock everything, he was coming with a a gun, When the police got to her house, with weeapons drawn. one yelled “What is your name?” When said “David” he said “OK David, we’ll take over here, now. Good job, Go inside.” He was impressed with them. They never found the prowler tho.
LudwigVonDrake almost 15 years ago
Why did the cops leave originally? “Hey Tracy we’re all heading back to the station. If you need anything have the clown call us.”
wndrwrthg almost 15 years ago
I gloomily sit here and contemplate The sad downfall that is Tracys’ fate Once the detective was held in esteem Now those days are but a dream We now have come to expect Panels that are filled with dreck Surely there has to be An editor with eyes that see And an ability to comprehend That Locher has gone off the deep end Todays strip in neither exciting or intriguing In fact it comes across as very fatiguing The cops should all still be there But the writer seems not to care That they would disappear without a trace Were they really that easily to erase We the readers are not dumb But I fear our minds are becoming numb Daily we are now assaulted By work some claim is exalted But from storyline inconsistencies To characters unintentional deformities The strip has become a laughing stock Is it soon to be on the chopping block.
sydney almost 15 years ago
Shades of Al Jolsen in stage make-up about to launch into “Mammie” (?) Blackened sole or the Soul of Flattop ? ;-)
coratelli almost 15 years ago
Strip 3 in english version:
http://shockdom.com/open/carl/
jumbobrain almost 15 years ago
does it need to be pointed out that this is still a murder scene from this same evening/afternoon/whatever it’s been the four months this stuff has dragged on?
James7344 almost 15 years ago
Nice gun, copper. What is it, a .22?
Nighthawks Premium Member almost 15 years ago
Matthew, just curious, but how do you put your strips together…do you use stylus & computer program or the old style ,ink on paper, wait to dry and watercolor (or colour ) I can’t imagine you are doing it the old way …drawing and painting on computer is so forgiving. If I was doing a strip I would use two programs, one to draw up the contents of the panels and color them and then load them into ‘comic life’ to arrange them in order and put in the lettering and word balloons and color the backgrounds….really fun stuff…. so , how do YOU do it?
idarke almost 15 years ago
We’ve entered a world of both shadow and substance. No backgrounds or anything - actually just shadow mostly.
In another comic it would be dark and moody, underlining the clowns evil nature. Here we know by now that it’s just laziness.
jumbobrain almost 15 years ago
and heck, if we’re playin’ show and tell…here’s a commercial art job I did some 20 years ago playing with the classic Tracy paradigm. What’s funny is it was written by the staff of a trade journal for urban planners, and even so it tells a story better than Locher’s stuff:
http://jumbobrain.com/comix/swipes/swipes-body2.html
coratelli almost 15 years ago
My review of the circus storyline:
http://usacomicstrips.blogspot.com/
436rge almost 15 years ago
Hate it when artist take the easy way out and use shadows!
EatDickTracySandwiches almost 15 years ago
Don’t the cops talk to eachother? You think the guy in Panel #1 would know that Dick Tracy is already at that location….
I see that Panel #1 officer also seems very calm considering the fact that there potentially is a murderer around, and that he is quietly holding some type of folder instead of pulling out his weapon on the demonic looking clown that is up in arms.
Never a dull moment!
CougarAllen almost 15 years ago
http://jumbobrain.com/comix/swipes/swipes-body2.html That was great – and it was actually Dick Tracy related! -Cougar :{)
sydney almost 15 years ago
Jumbo,
Good to see you were once into Dick Tracy art too. It’s rather amazing that on both Tracy boards a fair percentage of readers dabled in that as kids (motivated by Dick Tracy) and some even stayed with it and are practising successful artists that post here on occasion. Mattie is trying to make it now. Best of luck to him !
What looks very “familiar” in your pseudo-Tracy is your bad guy Diamond. I’m sure he was inspired by one of the Big Shot boot-leggers that hired Flattop to take out Tracy, See Sunday, 1-30-44. Not Zolla the other black haired boss.
The whole thing looked really good given the need to avoid copyright infringement.
It would be good if others here who share a bond with the original Tracy could put up links so that we could enjoy their work.
I know “Brine” has done so on the Yahoo DT Board and his art is staggeringly good ! Why not share here too Brine?
sydney almost 15 years ago
“EatDTSand”, Has a great point ! The arriving Officer MUST know that a MURDER was committed, and that Tracy was on the case at the Circus. (Homicide, i.e. Lt.Teevo was already called in).
To get that sort of call from the Circus they should have contacted Tracy by Two way Wrist Geenee to find out WHAT the problem was ! That’s simple logic !
But Tracy already had a Squad on guard there. They just dissapeard. Didn’t HQ know this ! Tracy has a Taser on the Geenee, he doesn’t use it in a life or death situation or even call in fresh back up.
How much more ludicrus and infantile can Locher get in “beating down” and rediculing this great comic strip ??
The man should be “fired” on the spot ! He has “shamed” Gould’s great creation ! This is reckless carelessness and incomprtence !
jumbobrain almost 15 years ago
Thanks Cougar and Syndey!
And Syd, you are exactly correct, I swiped Diamond right off of one of the guys who hired Flattop. You’re the only person to catch that in 20 years. Lizz of course inspired the blonde sidekick, and the construction worker was based on Pat Patton. Cookie was an original, it helped that I only needed to draw him once.
The weird part of all that was that after I did it I found a lot of Gould’s technique creeping into my own cartooning. It’s funny, in terms of anatomy and perspective Gould was nowhere near as talented as his contemporaries like Foster or Caniff or Kelly….but his work really packs a visual punch.
Regarding “spotting” (ie, the use of solid black areas for composition). It was a Gould trademark. Here, though, like so many other details it really just seems to be used as a timesaver, like, say, endlessly recycling an exterior shot of a circus tent.
Max Starman Jones almost 15 years ago
The whole reason I added Dick Tracy to my comics list was the excellent 75th anniversary tributes from other comics. I thought, “Hey, I remember this strip. It was fun.” I added it.
The experience has really saddened me. It appears the DT franchise doesn’t care whether the strip lives or dies. In a day when newpapers are shrinking and/or going under, only the best comics survive.
This comic is dead. All it has is name recognition. I am painfully embarrassed as I check on it from time to time. BTW that’s now once a week to see if the plot has advanced. This is probably the saddest storyline I’ve seen since I rediscovered DT.
I wish they would just run old strips like “L’il Abner” does. It would be a lot less painful.
jumbobrain almost 15 years ago
Matthew,
It’s been a while since I’ve seen Tracy in a newspaper but I imagine you’re right, especially given that there are a LOT of poorly drawn strips out there these days. Actually this strip is better than some of the others, the angle of the wrist in panel 2 echoes the clown’s head in panel 3, which helps hold the strip together. But still, for random recycling of art and lackluster execution, I think Dick Tracy still wins.
And yeah, Schulz was simply a god. His style has been so influential it’s hard to imagine how fresh and different it must have been fifty years ago. He invented a lot of devices that everyone uses now, like the idea that the gag isn’t the action, but the character’s commentary on it.
jumbobrain almost 15 years ago
Starman, it’s funny that you lament this plot not changing in a week…this story has been going on, with the characters essentially standing around in the tent, since July. I think the comics syndicates have never really understood or appreciated their product– look at the battles Berke Breathed or Bill Watterson faced before they gave up and retired. Some old strips, like Gasoline Alley or Prince Valiant, have stayed strong after their creators retired, mostly because their successors are passionate about them. But you’re right, there’s just nothing here. It really surprises me that any papers still run it at all. Part of the problem, I’ve heard, is that no matter how unpopular a strip is, some readers will complain loudly when it’s dropped. And new strips always take time to find an audience. But if I were an editor, I would drop this strip in a flat second and get in something new and good like Lio or Yenny or the Knight Life.
FLIGHT SUIT almost 15 years ago
Carlo, great stuff! As previously mentioned, it really does bring back fond memories of Tin Tin (everybody, “Strip 4” has been posted).
Jumbobrain: I love that “500 Gigabyte computer!” Really nice illustrations, too!
jumbobrain almost 15 years ago
Flight Suit: Thanks!
Vista Bill Raley and Comet™ almost 15 years ago
I hope we get to see the pig on wheels again before this tale is finally told. He’s been my favorite character in the months gone by as the story unfolds.
FLIGHT SUIT almost 15 years ago
Quick, Mr. Pops, your girlfriend’s here with the getaway car!
http://tinyurl.com/de3kzq
jumbobrain almost 15 years ago
VistaBill, I vote for a new comic strip where the giant crimefighting robot and the pig on wheels elope in the moon coupe! And that might help Dick Tracy after all, since it doesn’t seem like it’s gonna improve until pigs fly.
sydney almost 15 years ago
I’ll agree with Mattie on the advantage of using many areas of black to help the strips stand out. One could say that was a Gould “TRADEMARK” !. And say, at least one good technique Locher “retained” from the master.
Where the current team differs (more Brozman - I think) is they use it EXCESSIVELY on FACES. Not to say that Gould did not on occasion.
Recently I recall seeing an Annie strip, well drawn, but seeming near “invisable” due to the complete absence of black spaces
Morrow Cummings almost 15 years ago
I still think Macy ought to go into a side story with Della. Would make for more excitement and awaken the curious!
Araldite almost 15 years ago
I think I was censored., but apparently not banned.
jumbobrain almost 15 years ago
The excess of talking heads is the biggest problem with the strip at the moment. Except for last week’s tiger moment, we’ve had FOUR MONTHS of nothing but characters standing around talking. I’ve reserved judgment on Brozman’s art because he’s been given so little to work with…though I have to say it’d be nice if he were able to transcend the bad writing with some awesome art, instead of recycling the same half dozen panels ad nauseum.
This strip could be SO MUCH BETTER THAN IT IS. Why isn’t it?
Rakkav almost 15 years ago
What I’m wondering is why the cartoonist himself isn’t weighing in on all this criticism of his work. Defend it, change it, something…
I know that a good many creative people hate conflict more than anything in the world (and I’m definitely one of them), but how about it, Mr. Locher? Are we missing something here? Or being the occasional visitor and fast reader that I am, have I missed something…?
jumbobrain almost 15 years ago
Johanan,
Locher, Brozman and Tribune Media have been repeatedly baited here, to no avail. I’ve also written TMS’ editor twice now, nice civil letters asking why they continue to run such a substandard product, and I’ve never heard back. It’s kind of amazing, when you consider the inherent value in a character like Dick Tracy…he has huge name recognition, up there with Bugs Bunny and Superman. So you’d think even if no one cared about making the strip entertaining, they wouldn’t let a commercial property like this rot on the vine. But they do.