Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for April 28, 2013

The return of Mysta!

Great story line!

The possibilities are endless!

So, this is not Moon Maid, but the New Moon Maid. A clone,

So Dr. Sail is “in charge.” Hmm. Interesting as well that they agree Mysta is a clone. If the clone job is a fake, why would they pretend it wasn’t fake when speaking privately? Unless one knows it’s a fake and the other doesn’t, which is possible.

The above been said, this story line promises. I am excited. Moreover: Staton’s art here is pure platinum. This is waaaaaay better art than you would expect to find in a comic strip. Waaaaaay better. This is a real masterpiece. Bravo, Mr. Staton! Bravo!

There’s something funny going on here. The entire mystery revolves around whether Mysta is the original Moon Maid or not. It seems unlikely we would learn the truth right at the beginning of the story. I’m skeptical of what these doctors are saying, especially given Zy Ghote’s history of fraud. Should we really take what a con man says at face value?

A good Crimestopper Textbook today. I am amazed at how many people use a wireless router without ever configuring it.QUIZ TIMESo tell me people, what three things should you do on your wireless router to ensure security on your home network?

Good morning everyone…

wow!

Now I see that there’s a chance this is not really a clone, but a “fake clone”, i.e.. the Real Moon Maid. What a mysta-ry!

Glad I stayed up for this one. This is great!!

We’re off to a great start. Lots to think about here and to think this is only the beginning. Mysta wants to “return” to the moon? Is that a Freudian slip? Is Dr. Sail admitting this is the real Moon Maid? If Mysta does get to the Moon, how will she react when she finds out the moon colony is abandoned and her parents are gone? And just why does a clone’s face need to heal anyway? So many questions!

Much to take in here. I’m enjoying it all.1) Moon Maid is too cute. She sizzles in more ways than one, plus her pearl necklace is back!2) I have no idea what to make of the conversation. I don’t trust Dr. Zy Ghote at all, and Dr. Sail is an unknown. So I’m pondering their words but not accepting anything they say at face value.3) Zy Ghote: “We want to announce OUR new Moon Maid.” Somehow I doubt Mysta thinks of herself as an owned woman! Also, it seems Zy Ghote is interested only in fame and fortune, not what’s good for Mysta.4) I like the moon globe and Space Coupe model.5) Why again does Mysta’s face need healing?6) “Diet Smith said”? Is he involved in this?

“That’s what HE says.” Finally, someone NOT saying, “That’s what SHE said.” More importantly, why hasn’t her face “healed”? Healed from the car blast? Or, from the cloning process? Or both?

Does she know she’s a clone? If she doesn’t and has Mysta’s memories, wouldn’t she be frantic to get back to her family?

We’re just underway and I can already tell this story has been worth the long wait. Booyah!

But if this is a clone..Why does she have damage to her face that needs to heal? Damage to me implies accident. Say like being blown up in a car..

You can see this is going to be a juicy tale. Joe Staton’s art is inspiring people, Mike Curtis has us reasoning in circles, and after three days of story we’re already in deep waters. Is it the original or cloned Mysta, who are Stellaluna and Retik, what’s up with the two doctors, is Diet Smith involved, why is Mysta healing, and will she go to the moon? Plus we haven’t even touched yet on Honeymoon, Junior, Governor & his wife, Notta & Purdy Fallar, and the other characters who are supposed to appear in this story. I admit it, I’m already thrilled with this Mysta-ry, and early indications tell me it’s only going to get better. WOW.

Gracious, what a great strip. Just a conversation in an office, but so much to see and so much to talk about. The art is out of this world. ;) You can see Joe Staton enjoys the space stuff. The moon globe and space coupe model are very nice, and foreshadow the events being discussed. Showing Mysta popping with laser energy is cool, too. In both of her scenes, she seems to be welcoming us to the party, once looking at camera, the other with arms outstretched. Excellent, creative work by Joe Staton here. And did I mention the story? We learn a lot about Mysta and the doctors today, and yet we’re no closer to solving the mystery than we were before. In fact, now we have even more stuff to puzzle over and discuss. That’s some very good story telling, folks. We’re lucky to have Mike Curtis and Joe Staton and the rest of Team Tracy doing this strip.

Possibility: the “clone” turned out to have a different face than Mysta for whatever reason (I can think of a couple) and the doctors did plastic surgery that’s supposed to make her look more like the original.

Finally, the story we’ve been waiting for. Has anyone else been as anxious as me to get this thing going? It feels like it’s taken ten years, but at last it’s here. Hooray!

Maybe this “Dr. Sail” is scamming Dr. Zy Ghote. He says “I was amazed that my cloning worked considering how little I had to work with” – Maybe Dr. Sail is conning him into thinking it worked, because Zy Ghore wants it to work, and it would therefore be easy to convince him. So, if somehow this is really the true Mysta, just like it actually was really Mumbles, not a clone, Sail is controlling things to make Zy Ghote believe what he wants to believe. How this could be really Mysta, I don’t have a clue. ?

The couple of security items that no one has mentioned yet are:.Hide the SSID. That way the router will not broadcast its name to anyone within range. It will be “invisible” to anyone who does not know it is there and does not know its name. Once the SSID is hidden, they have to know and enter it as well as the password to get on..Change the IP address of the router. They usually come with 192.168.1.1 as the address. All devices attached are then assigned address of 192.168.1.xxx. A hacker simply starts “pinging” in that range until he finds your router or any attached devices. Change the address and the hacker then has billions of numbers he has to try rather than just a handful to find your network.

(20+ years in the IT field. Do computer security for a living.)

Ok, so we now know that this Moon Maid is NOT a clone. Mike would not have given that away on the third day of the adventure. Still remains to be seen if she is Mysta or someone/something that Zy Ghote is trying to pass off as the original MM. Like he did with Mumbles back 1979.

Yes! Now we’re rolling. I like today’s installment and have enjoyed the discussion and am excited to see what happens next. I have no evidence to prove who Mysta is, but my hunch is she’s the original. I don’t know how that could be, but that’s what my gut tells me. One way or another, we’ll have fun sorting it out.

In addition to above -I’ve restricted my IP range to the number of devices in use. Also restrict router to connect only to specified MAC id of my devices.

Zy Ghote says, “I just did the grunt work.”While we have no reason to believe that the fraud is capable of cloning (a human), I’ll wager that he does not think of cloning as “grunt work.” What kind of medical work might he see in this light? So much to ponder. I’m loving this story.

I used to have a moon coupe model kit, too!

Mysta’s as charged up for this story as we are. Bring it on!

I think it’s a clone, albeit a faulty one, otherwise, why have a grand event to “introduce her to the World”?

It would be even cooler if she was a robot being touted as a clone!

I guess nobody caught Dr. Sail’s full name — S. Tim Sail (AKA "Stem Cell).

What does “grunt work” mean? And the matter of the face “needing to heal” might mean she is not the real Mysta but somebody else in disguise. What if the two docs are deceiving each other? But I think she’s a real lunarite, laser power would be difficult to fake. Who knows?

“Considering how little I had to work with”All he needs is a few cells. Even a body in small pieces as Mysta’s was would provide enough cells for experimentation.

Clones don’t have the memories of the original.

I’m inclined to think Mysta (great name) is really a clone.And while Dr. Ghote’s cloning process is better than before, it isn’t 100% successful.Mike already has me hooked on this one.-—————————————-One thing I am certain of is today’s art – Joe’s pencils and inks really pop with Shane’s colors and shading.Great stuff!

I’ve been wondering for days what word game Dr. Sail’s name entailed, and now I know! “S. Tim Sail” = “stem cell.” A bit of a reach, but still good.

Excellent strip today, gentlemen. One of the best strips, since your 9/11 strip last year.

It’s an exciting day! I love seeing Mysta again and I’m sure she’s the real one! I need to get used to calling her that, but I like the new name! Moon Maid was a favorite of mine when I was a girl. I followed her story and collected it and talked to friends about her all the time. Yes I was a geek but a popular one, and my friends liked her too! I even dressed up like Moon Maid. One time was for Halloween when I was young, and once at a costume party when I was in high school. I remember getting lots of compliments and everyone knew who I was! It was like that in those days. People think only men loved Moon Maid and while they certainly did, there were lots of girls when I was younger who loved her too. The clothes she wears and the power she has over men and being from the moon and fighting crime and having a great daughter like Honeymoon and always smiling, what is not to love? She is an exciting person who makes people happy. Sorry to get all emotional, but I just want to say how happy I am with this story and hope Mysta doesn’t die in the end or anything. NO! We saw her die before, never again. I love all the comments here about her! I’m not the only one who is happy to see her again. I’m excited to see what happens next!

I think that the doctors, using moon technology have come up with a way to restore her memories but the process is only partially complete. Her memories of helping to solve crimes has returned which is why she wants to stop robberies. Her memories of Junior and her family have not yet returned.

I’m more interested in the Crimestoppers comments here than the storyline. C’mon people, let the story get started good before attempting to guess the ending.

Fastastic art today.

PLEASE let it be the real MOON MAID and not a clone. It just would not be as meaningful. I hope that Team Tracy takes note that MOON MAID is popular, and has been missed. If it was going to be a clone story, I hope that they turn it around and make her the real deal. She would be an asset to the strip!

I can’t believe this strip still pretends there are moon-people, more than 4 decades after it was proven to be just grey rocks. There’s imagination, and then there’s just foolishness — couldn’t they retro the backstory to have her be at least from Mars?

Looks like Moon Maid has a hankering for giant escargot!

Uh, what happened to B.B. Eyes, Blackjack, Mumbles and Stilleta? Are they going somewhere with this?

I have a feeling I’m going to love this story. But no pressure, guys. :0)

I thought of that! I wish I could too but I can’t find those photos and don’t know where they could be. I can tell you the blonde wig with the flip hairdo was the hardest part of the costume to get right. Being strapless was a challenge too but that worked out okay. My mum helped me everything and I can tell you I was four alarm hot. I remember how exotic it felt to wear boots that long. Some of the girls were mad at me because their boyfriends wanted to talk to me so much. I came alone to that party so I sure didn’t mind. Girls remember these things, and now you know part of why I like Moon Maid so much!

This beautiful strip deserves a 100th comment!