Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for August 09, 2012

Smoking Sam. Serious Sam. Scary Sam.

Very serious scary Sam.

Love Scary Sam! Or is that the Green Hornet?! :)

Guessing Pouch will spill the beans.

Yay! Catch’em, Sam! I like him! Compliments to Staton and Curtis, great work! As for Pouch, some chutzpah mentioning the late Johnny Scorn talking to a cop!

I think Sam means business. I wonder what Fritz Ann would think of this side of Mr Catchem!

Pouch was one of the few great characters from the 1970’s. I enjoy his recurring role.

This is serious – it’s one of the few times when Pouch is having a conversation and he’s NOT the scary looking one!

Pouch is one of the rare crooks who got away with it…like Mocco Ribs, Prof. Emirc, and Blaze Rize who killed Flakey Chicken!

Hmmm… Riddle me this. I wear a green derby hat and coat, and have a black mask over my eyes. Who am I?

NICE.

Oh yeah, the Riddler more than the Green Hornet!!

Jeepers, Detective Catchem, I didn’t really mean it! Tough bananas, Pouch!—That’s some serious Will Eisner scary stuff going on there in panel 3 by Joe Staton!

Beautiful guys, just beautiful. This is EXACTLY what I would expect Sam to be like right now. You think anything is more important to him than Tracy? Family? Tracy IS family!

Catchem looked almost like the Lone Ranger in panel 3

Nineteen today! OH NO!!! lol! came close to that elusive top ten two days in a row! :) sam decided to check in on Pouch to see if he has any news huh? good call sam! and doesnt sam look absolutely MENACING in that last panel?!?

i love the colors in todays strip btw… the bright blue in the sky gives you the feeling of a nice warm summer day..amazing what simple colors in the background can do for the “feel” of the panel. and correct me if i am wrong but wasnt pouch a little more friendly the last time we saw him, when he gave tracy info about where putty puss may have been hiding out back around christmas time? maybe its because trcy visited him later at night when it was dark and not so much out in the open like sam is doing. and i thoguht sam was a DETECTIVE too, but pouch calls h im “officer catchem”? jim, can you explain the difference to me? CAN a detective still be referred to as officer, or is it sort of like a “step down” to be referred to in that manner?

The late mystery writer, Robert B. Parker, admitted that whenever he was in a narrative lurch mid-way thru a Spenser novel, he’d resort to his “go-to”— have the bad guys show up @ Spenser’s office. Something in the ensuing exchange would then tip-off Spenser & the plot could continue…

As to how a “go-to” applies to current-day Tracy? Here we have yet another example of the MCS relying on an informant and/or “guest star” to supply plot advancement (& as for informants…let’s not forget that in addition to Pouch, we’ve also seen Barney from the video store + the Kirby-inspired Roach…although the latter 1-off I’m still not sure what purpose he actually served in the Blackjack storyline).

I submit that a lot of police work is based on such grapevine relationships but while folks continually bemoan the MIA trademark Tracy chase scenes, I pine for the days of good old fashioned police procedural & scientific investigation. It was this day x day, using-your-mind & lab resources, that Gould depicted so well…always keeping current w/ the latest technological advances (& no, I’m not just talking about Diet Smith’s high concept-of-the-month).

I challenge the current team to utlilize more creative means to advance the various investigations. Think CSI NY/LA/wherever! Think The Wire! Think of even what Ed Brubaker did on the short-lived GCPD…mashing-up street-level police procedural w/ Batman-level villains!

Great to see Pouch though!

It seems to me that showing Sam smoking so often lately has to be deliberate. Perhaps this will be a major point in a future plot line?

@ Tommygunner: You said you don’t remember Sam menacing anyone like that.He doesn’t do it very often. But ,where Tracy is concerned, he can get pretty serious. If you have a chance, look at Sam’s face during the search for Tracy and the kids, when they went missing in the speed boat on the lake, in the 1950’s Tonsils story. He looked pretty grim in some of those close up panels.Also, during the old Pearshape story, Sam was holding a couple of crooks at gun point. One of them moved. Sam shot a bullet right over his shoulder and said “I said stand still. DID YOU THINK I WAS KIDDING?”

Good morning all…

One has to love that Sam look. You know that he’s ticked, and you just know that he will find his pal. DT knows that his pal(s) are on the case.

Yup, DT is Family to several in this thing.

Sam in a Humphrey Bogart mode!Never seen that before!And he’s stepping up, at least for the moment, as main character! Wow!

Wham, that was unexpected!.Detective Sam Catchem has now been reduced to the status of “officer” THANKS TO THE FACT THAT HE LOST DICK TRACY!!!.Sammie has now sunk down to threatening good old slot necked clown**Getcher Balloons** in order to get his Dick back. Seriously, threatening a clown? Getcher Balloons seems down today. He has not sold a single balloon in days! .I am not yet completely sold that he has selling balloons as his HIGHEST PRIORITY. Rumors are that selling balloons isn’t even on his list. Finding Dick doesn’t seem to be either. * He Knows Nothing!*.Sammie’s smoking seems not only to get in his eyes in the last box. But his daily smokings disspite all the information about SMOKINGS bad side effects. We now know that *SMOKING WILL SMASH ALL YOUR FACIAL FEATURES TOGETHER IN A DISTORTED WAY**——-as seen today in the MIDDLE SQUARE. All of Sammie features are now smashed forward together! Really got to get him to quit smoking!!! NOW——-.Need to find ‘bodies’ to fill these slot, guys who we feel are better, soon. It’s gonna be a while. Panda Panda has lost an average of thirty pounds and Lieutenant Teevo continues to get digested today.As good or as bad as the strip is today, it’s always fascinating. Just look at former Detective Sammie, despite a smashed in face in the second frame he continues to stink in the last one. .

Just like Eva’s not ready for LIO’s commitment in today’s LIO comic strip, our Sammie’s not ready to quit smoking.**.Too bad I really liked that guy……. Oops, that Officer.

….love the Pouch character…..can’t wait to see how he has info to help with this particular case, as seems to be basically Stilletta working solo (well, with her “slave” or whatever…). I mean, it’s not like she’d run over and tell Pouch afterwards, or that he even could have “gotten the license number”, lol. But……I’m guessing there’s a clever connection that will be revealed in a day or two…..there always is nowadays!

Pouch should make Sam buy a balloon in return for the info, right?

Note the “Do Not Mess With Me Face”. Unless Pouch wants to be folded into one of his pouches like a Pillow Pet he had best start talking

Regarding Sam’s rank:.Sam is a member of the Police Department’s Bureau of Detectives, and , being Tracy’s second-in-command (at least in the M.C.U. if not in the entire Bureau), probably holds the rank of lieutenant or, at the very least, sergeant..Still, he IS a police officer, and someone unfamiliar with the rank structure (or someone wanting to diminish him) might refer to him as “Officer” rather than his actual title..Tracy is routinely addressed (improperly) as “Detective Tracy” rather than “Chief Tracy,” for example..For that matter, Patton’s actual title is “Superintendent,” just as Bandon’s actual title before him as “Commissioner,” but both are (were) routinely addressed as “Chief” to denote the fact that they are (were) the City’s police chief..I’m a sergeant, and, as a uniformed policeman, my insignia of rank is plainly visible on my sleeves, yet I am addressed as “Officer” just about every single day. I don’t take it amiss, nor do I correct the person addressing me. “Officer” is a proud title, and I do not feel diminished by people addressing me so.

I imagine Sam’s voice in panel 3 as being like the Shadow’s!

Love it. Could almost smell Sam’s tobacco breath!

I like this Sam …

Be afraid Pouch…Be very afraid!

Shades of Chester Gould…