Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for June 09, 2013

I won’t say what “ IT” is , but “IT” is about to hit the proverbial fan!

Good morning all…

Sparkle won’t be able to assist in this mystery.

Has Sparkle lost her memory? Another interesting turn of events, if so!

With all due respect…Good Morning, VistaBill!

Sparkle’s sprawled amongst the trash and debris in the streetKnocked back on her keister when Mysta she did meet.She’d borrowed such a good life, assuming Mysta was deadShould have stuck to corn pone on the radio instead.Could that be Pappy’s pick-up truck to haul away the trash?Fog is lifting from her brain, time to make a desperate dash.Mysta’s note has blown away, Sparkle never saw the threatOf revenge so out of character for her dear old friend and yetSomething here not ringing true: Is Mysta manipulatedBy Sail and Ghote, the crooked pair, a scheme unanticipated?The truck travels on, now leaving town, a road trip unforeseenFertilizer bags her mattress, Sparkle feels cold and unclean.Keep on truckin’ through the dusk; gloaming brings starry nightDrop the load in Dogpatch, which should suit Sparkle just right.

Whoa, I didn’t expect this. Note gone + Sparkle confused = Mysta off the hook?

oh no

I hope the Fertulizer is going for original use not the McVeigh nasty

Uh oh, I wonder where Sparkle is about to end up… there’s NO way that nice new looking pickup belongs to BO!….. It no doubt smells like him though!

Morning, VistaBill, cpalmer, margueritem, Pequod, etc.!Looks like Sparkle is dazed by that electric shock. And who knows where she’s headed, crawling into the back of that truck. (Yeah, before anyone says it, I know, Mike, Joe, and the Shadow all know, but they aren’t talking.) So it looks like Sparkle’s going to end up as a missing person!The plot keeps thickening!

Poor Sparkle. I wonder if she’ll remember anything about being zapped. Actually I hope not so Mysta doesn’t get the police after her!

“Pappy.” “Gotta get back to Sunny Dell Acres.”She’s confused, but I’m wondering how much of her memory is gone. Wouldn’t she want to go home, rather than where her parents live? Why does she need to “get back” to Sunny Dell Acres?

Tracy will find the note, sparkle won’t be found and Moon Maid will get arrested for murder!

Sparkle needs to lay off the caffeine flakes.

Pappy Yokum from Lil’ Abner has dropped by in his S-10?

Still dazed, Sparkle manages to crawl into a pickup full of fertilizer, thinking it’s Pappy’s (!) truck. How long will this disorientation continue? Would Team Tracy terminate Sparkle to make room for an ersatz Moon Maid? (I doubt it.)How soon will S.Tim Sail and Zhy Ghote make their play for Diet Smith’s Space Coupe? What will happen to Clone-Moon Maid? Tension, apprehension, and dissension have begun!

I want to see what happens when Mysta zaps that Bardoll dude. I’ve been wondering if he has some kind of defense for that. But for now, gotta worry about Sparkle.

Oh, god. I can’t wait for tomorrow. I’m really worried about Sparkle Plenty…

This storyline it’s exciting!!

Happy Sunday, you all! Sparkle won’t remember anything, and Mysta will go away with aggression and blackmail, an act ver unlike the Mysta we knew.rather worthy of a vulgar mobster, really.. But Mysta is unbalanced, so we can pardon her.

I wonder if Sparkle has stumbled into a bombing plot of some sort, with all that fertilizer in the truck. Maybe we will go down the path of a second story arc here, before the whole Moon Maid mess gets cleaned up. Or, maybe this is a set-up for a story which will follow, after this current story concludes. But, then again, sometimes a fertilizer truck is just a fertilizer truck.

This is the first great Staton/ Curtis continuity. Particularly after the lifeless Fishface and Thunderchild episodes, this one is a real pleasure. And you know why? No more limits on the length of the story arc. At last…………

…..so maybe Sparkle gets blown to bits, Junior ends up back with Moon Maid, Dr. Sail brings Sparkle back to life, and we now have this in reverse, lol

This getting really silly. Someone from the studio would have checked for her out back before now. And why woulod a truck full of fertilizer be parked back of a radio station?Have followed this arc with my mouth shut up until now, but it’s turning into just a silly soap opera, not a Dick Tracy crime caper.

Out of left field the note blows away and Sparkle stumbles into a fertilizer truck headed who knows where.

This is extremely reminiscent of how Gould constructed his stories. Bravo, Mike!

Gould’s tales often included strange coincidences. The bomb plot mentioned earlier would be Gouldian as well—a hard-core, gritty detective story somehow intertwined with the soap opera melodrama of Sparkle and Moon Maid.

This is truly the first great Curtis/Staton epic.

Junior or Honeymoon (both now at home) will realize something is amiss when Sparkle does not return home when expected. They will also be aware that her last known location was the radio station. An MCS investigation of the site will turn up the note.

Moon Maid (whom Tracy will expect is an imposter) will be the prime suspect in Sparkle’s disappearance.

Meanwhile (or as Mike would say, Elsewhere) Sparkle will be held captive by terrorists involved in a bomb plot. It will seem like Tracy is on the wrong track.

This plot twist today has unlimited possibilities.

We are nearing the end of part one of a three-part story apparently so there is much excitement to come and more than one plot line. As for the man with the dog, he’s either walking away along the path or else he’s walking towards us across the path, which seems much less likely.

Mysta is very sweet and innocent and I don’t think she meant any harm to Sparkle but the fertilizer in the truck could be a bad sign.

I’m loving this development. I was set for Mysta to be an outlaw and wasn’t happy about it. Now everything’s back up in the air in terms of how the Sparkle Zap plays out.

….why does everything have to be logical and make sense for certain people who have NO trouble, however, accepting moon people, 110 year old characters acting 30, every police bullet successfully hitting a criminal, and every criminal bullet missing the good guys, and so on and so forth…….hey, this is supposed to be a fun fantasy…..a comic strip….relax and enjoy the ride!!! (if not the coloring, lol)

Sparkle’s sprawled among the trash and debris in the street

Knocked back on her keister when Mysta she did meet.

She’d borrowed such a good life, assuming Mysta was dead

Should have stuck to corn pone on the radio instead.

Could that be Pappy’s pick-up truck to haul away the trash?

Fog is lifting from her brain, time to make a desperate dash.

Mysta’s note has blown away, Sparkle never saw the threat

Of revenge so out of character for her dear old friend and yet

Something here not ringing true: Is Mysta manipulated

By Sail and Ghote, the crooked pair, a scheme unanticipated?

The truck travels on, now leaving town, a road trip unforeseen

Fertilizer bags her mattress, Sparkle feels cold and unclean.

Keep on truckin’ through the dusk; gloaming brings starry night

Drop the load in Dogpatch, which should suit Sparkle just right.