Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for February 20, 2020

Good morning™, friends of McQueen!

It seems that his intention is to ruin her reputation. That would be bad for her agency, whether it’s warranted or not.

Good morning™, snake bellies !

This guy has some nerve and I can’t wait to see it get broken.

Tess’s reply should simply be: “If you have alibi defense evidence that will assist McQueen, bring it directly to the DA”.

Wouldn’t that be thedaily.com?

The most amusing thing thus far has been Shaky’s sightline. It’s like playing a game of “What’s Shaky looking at now?”

72 Point Type????

That would look like the old newspapers in Perry Mason.

Tess: “I can see it now, in 72 point type. ‘A-hole Thrown Out of Office!’”

She may go on with it, in order to let Tracy know she is being set up for extortion!!!

And you’re a extortionist… and a ham-handed one, at that.

This still doesn’t make any sense. The only way she could be accused of suppressing evidence is if she did pay him. If she just tells him to take a hike, and then calls Tracy to report the incident, Shaky has nothing on her. Yesterday, he was saying, basically, “Pay me or I’ll tell the authorities that McQueen is innocent.” Today it sounds like he is implying the opposite, but in either case, his claim that Tess is withholding evidence is empty. Right now, if he really does know something, he is withholding evidence. It’s all backwards.

Umm… that headline is only applicable if she PAYS him to keep quiet!

Riffin Without A Script goes on. And on. And on.

1-BLONDIE: Let’s see some acting chops. Here’s the set-up: Dick Tracy’s wife who, 1, you have secretly loved for years and 2, looks just like me because, well, I’m hot, gets in trouble and that will send her to prison long enough to get ugly. GO!

2-JJSS: Ok, ahem…NO! It can’t be true! My one true love! BUT WAIT! This is my chance. Tracy will divorce her of course and then she’ll be available AND vulnerable. I’ll just get a sex change, commit a crime, get caught, get convicted and then we’ll be prison lovers. My dreams realized!

BLONDIE: Wouldn’t it be easier to just visit her in prison until, as her only visitor, she falls in love with you?

JJSS: BAH! You have no imagination! BLONDIE: Yeah, well your way, you’ll have no…

JJSS: DICK TRACY! YOUR LOVE WILL SOON BE MINE!

Gesture hypnotically again. The first one didn’t take.

The plot lines are getting poorer and poorer.

Very well drawn today.Shaky 2 has been taking “ham” lessons from Vitamin Flintheart.To me,the point is to lay a guilt trip on Tess that an innocent man might be in jail on her hook.Then he’ll make his next move depending on Tess’ response.Of course,I’d tell my husband if I were Tess.But we might have a little ego on Tess’ part preventing her fromdoing so.

Talk about stuck between a rock and a hard place.

He may have her

Oh,what a tangled web we weave….when first we practice to deceive.

CHESTER GOULD,PROPHET——The “Empty” Williams villain of 1951.A literal “hole in his head” from having a portion of his skull removed to save him from a bullet wound.It was implied that the doctor who did it went insane;hinting it was so weird as to be wrong.These days,removing part of the skull to relieve pressure on the brain from head injuries is considered standard medical procedure.

And there is the sales pitch.

Neil strikes again with deep analysis

He’s a good actor.

Don’t buy in (so to speak) to the extortion attempt, Tess!

But I fear that for the dubious sake of Story-Telling she will….

Why is he piddling about with threat of newspaper exposure when he can take it right to the top ….. with Wendy ?