Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for September 23, 2011

Awesome to see Tracy in uniform!!!

Salutations All!

I’m glad to be seeing some of Tracy’s history.

That fat-fendered police car would place this flashback in the 1940s if we were being sticklers for that sort of thing.

Not that we are, of course. This is the DT universe!

I sort of wish the colorist had taken note of the way Shane colored the Sundays for this. The “flashback” panels should be gray-scale, no color.

“no way” was not an expression when people drove cars like that

Try thinking of something that would pass TMS standards. Hmm… Maybe “Eat lead” would have worked.

Wow. Wasn’t expecting this. When the strip started there was no indication that Tracy had been a cop when Brandon asked him to join the force as a detective. He was just a bright young guy.

They could of said, “No way copper!” I am not use how old both Mike and Joe are but I am thinking that they are how should I say this… “No way!” would be speaking more in the current vernacular.

Love the flashback (even with anachronistic dialogue)! I’d like to know more about Jerry—or is he just (unfortunately) cannon-fodder?

Zyreenesque said, 35 minutes ago

“no way” was not an expression when people drove cars like that-——————————

But this is the DT universe, where the dividing lines between different eras are intentionally blurred. We are not being asked to believe the action in that scene literally took place in the 1940s, because that would make Dick at least 100 years old, assuming the current story is taking place in the year 2011.

OK, maybe Dick might be as young as 80?

The very first story was Tracy looking for a man. The officer said it was only just a “woman” in cell. Tracy took a swing. But the way the “woman” moved to avoid the punch convinced this woman was a man. And also he was the person he was looking to find. He was given the invitation to join the plain clothes.

Good flashback in the last panels.

Revolvers! “Automatics” were probably a little rare back then. Looks like Jerry’s the target of those shots. I don’t give him much of a chance here.

Wow! Dick Tracy’s “origin” story!If I remember correctly, Chester Gould launched the strip without a backstory, getting right into Tracy in action.A great way to celebrate Tracy’s 80th anniversary! Thanks, guys!

I thought Tracy was always in Plainclothes, after all that was the original name of the strip. Plainclothes Tracy. He was never in uniform. He helped the police track down his future father-in-law’s killer and joined the force aft that.

There was a Sunday page such as Rene Tray descibes. The original Sunday pages were not part of the regular continuity for the first several weeks, according to the books I have. The actual story started with Dick getting ready to propose to Tess. We were not told what he did for a job. Then Emil Trueheart was killed in a robbery, and Tracy was a witness. He and Chief Brandon reached an agreement,and Tracy was on the force in plain clothes, going after Big Boy and his gang.

@lilyslore: “He was never in uniform”. Not at the start, but there was a story arc early on where he got into a tiff with Tess, and it affected his job performance, and Chief Brandon put him on patrol duty in an outlaying suburb of the city for a while, until he got his head together. I guess it was almost kind of a soap opera type of story.

We will have to wait and see, if the current team is revising the history a little bit, or if this ties together somehow.

I really like the look of the car in the flashback. Of course, as others have pointed out, we cannot be specific about dates, but it would have been long enough ago so that, even in the DT universe, styles would have changed.

“there was a story arc early on where he got into a tiff with Tess, and it affected his job performance, and Chief Brandon put him on patrol duty in an outlaying suburb of the city for a while”

I’m finally getting into my Dick Tracy Vol. 1, and just finished that story last night. I’m on March 15, 1932 now.

I think Mike is sort of allowed to take liberties with the story, since a lot of it doesn’t really make sense. Dick just joins the force, and everyone is making him out to be this hero who’s been around for a while and has cleaned up a good portion of the town. Even Big Boy, whom Dick has never met and knows nothing about, says “Tracy knows that’s the only ditty I can play on the piano.”

He does??

Also, all of these Hy Habeas clones are messing with my head.

Wow, six shooters and all! Now, how cool is that? I love it.

Actually, it happened like this:Tracy – “Hands up! Drop the weapon”Thug #1 (shoots twice)Thug #2 – “No, Way Truong! No shoot’em copper” The police historian, who was taking notes at the scene, lost it in syntax. Hence, an early example of errata in the transciption. That, Boys and Girls, is the way it happened!

The M1911 semiautomatic had been around since, well, 1911, but it was too powerful and too difficult to aim accurately for police work, and other semiautomatics weren’t as reliable as revolvers. You’re right about Jerry…no Kevlar vests in those days.

I like the way the flashback is being handled with Sam telling Lizz the story. That way the current storyline/crime can be advanced at the same time that the tale of the past is told.

At least Tracy did not reply “Way!”

Tracy joined the plainclothes squad in October 1931, when Tess was kidnapped by Big Boy’s gang, and Emil Trueheart (Tess father) was killed in a robbery. There never was any indication about his life before that. I suppose he could have been an uniformed cop, before. The sunday page of October, the 4th, 1931 (his first appearance) shows he already knew chief Brandon.

This is NOT how all this happened in the beginning! Tracy was a mere civilian engaged to Tess Trueheart when two of Big Boy’s thugs murdered her father and kidnapped Tess. Brandon invited Tracy at that time to join the plainclothes force. He was never in a police uniform until he was demoted and assigned to a spot in the sticks. Keep with the history, guys!

Yes, we are sort of revising the history slightly. In real life Tracy could not go from civilian to plainclothese “just like that.”He would have to have some time in uniform. Just stay with us folks, we promise youo an exciting ride.

IMO This is the best way to explain Tracy’s history.As much as I love the strip, it always bothered me that Tracy went straight to detective. The rest of the force would of been up in arms over it.I think team Tracy will play it like this.Tracy was a patrolman, after the death of his partner Jerry, Tracy then takes a leave of absence.Finally, after the events with Tess’ family, Tracy gets the invite back to the force in plain clothes/ detective. I think it makes a little more sense then,“Hey, you want to be a detective?”“Sure!”But, that’s just my opinion….

The antenna on the car top is also an anachronism, I believe. (I’m not an auto buff. Just old as dirt.)

Hey; if history can be revised to declare we “won” in Vietnam, I guess we can’t begrudge the new team some revision and give them some latitude, it’s only a comic, although please guys, remember Flattop’s dead and died very creatively>

FYI, Police were using revolvers even in the 80‘s …

Where does the robbery and murder of Tess’ father at his grocery store fit into all this?

What is with all of the spoilers today? Now we all know that…CLICK HERE FOR SPOILER

You will not believe what is coming up in the next three panels in this flashback!

A NEW origin story for Tracy? THIS i don’t like!