Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for February 21, 2020

Good morning™, suppressors!

Didn’t Tess become a private investigator around the time of the threatened divorce? Maybe I’m remembering that wrong.

Good morning™, potential homewreckers !

Panel 3 gives us an indignant Tess and a smug Shaky. She better not buckle or I’m moving to Canada, eh !

I hope Tess calls his bluff!

Why is this strip black and white? It was color yesterday.

And when did Tess and Tracy almost get a divorce?

Woo! Mike Kilian reference! :D

Kilian was the writer of the DT comic strip from 1993 to his death in 2005 (his last strips came out in early January 2006). The “divorce proceeding” Shaky’s referring to here happened in Kilian’s first Piggy Bank story that ran from January 24-May 3, 1994 (that sadly, isn’t in GoComics). Piggy Bank was Tracy’s most frequent enemy in the Kilian years, appearing in no fewer than 6 stories as a main villain. In the last one, he escaped and is still at large. Oh, if only someday, Curtis would have Tracy finally bring this colorful, interesting villain to justice! (HINT! HINT!)

Oh, and the next story after that (the Bad Beard case in May 4-July 24, ‘94) took place on the Tracys’ second honeymoon, which should give you an idea of how that divorce proceeding went. ;)

Ok, so Shaky sets up a phony defense with himself as the repository of his self manufactured alibi information and he threatens to out Tess to her husband with failing to disclose the alibi defense unless she pays him off to keep quiet. This has to be the worst shake down in recorded history. You can’t blame her with staring in disbelief (panel 2) and being righteously indignant (panel 3). I hope she sends him on his way (at the very least) tomorrow.

The Duke of Wellington to a biographer looking for hush money: “Publish and be damned!”

Ah yes. Back to the glorious black and white noire.

Good Morning™, Breaking Up is Hard to Do!

Whoa, did any of you remember that?! Back in the days when Dick Locher was calling the shots (15 years ago), he was going to get Dick and Tess divorced! But that never came to fruition! (that is, until now)

You’d think Tracy would be the first to support Tess…and have Shaky investigated.

Tess has to have more faith in her relationship with Dick to even consider such nonsense.

He has made researches… scary and interesting.

Ah, sweet black and white. As the daily comics should be.

since blackmail is a crime, and paying is a crime to, by just handing over the payout she’s in his power still. She can claim she didn’t know and this will be re-examined. but of course police procedures have NOTHING to do with the tracyverse.

LOL Shaky you have opened yourself to a Whole Lotta Grief!

Tess time to call a hit man and fix the problem

Umm… she DIDN’T withhold evidence… unless she fails to report this conversation to the police!

Call his bluff and call the DA. If he has evidence, let him tell it to them.

Riffin Without…ah, you know

1-JJSS: Ok. You saw my acting chops. Let’s see yours. Scene: I’ve just made a very obscene proposition and you’re really excited about it. GO!

2-BLONDIE: You want me to do WHAT to your WHAT with a WHAT?!?!?

JJSS: Oh yeah baby! That’s it!

3-JJSS: I’ve got chills just thinking about you doing that! BRRRR! Maybe we could lower the curtains and get busy. We wouldn’t want that guy in the audience to wake up and see you with your… BLONDIE: I’m not doing it dimbulb.

JJSS: You’re not a very committed actress.

whoa…..what divorce proceeding? I must have missed that…….

I like the way Tess emphasized what she says in Panel 2 with a fist-pound on her desk!

She’s rejecting you, chum. Go shake it off.

I went back and re-read this week’s strips, just to be sure I wasn’t missing something.

Shaky said, paraphrasing, _

Your agency provided most of the prosecution’s case (which is in itself odd; usually PIs work for the defense.)

I have an alibi for the accused, but for a fee I’ll forget about it.

Tess then asks -

Why should I pay, I’m not a friend of the accused? (which makes no sense, because paying him would keep the alibi quiet)

Shaky answers with a threat about newspaper headlines accusing her of suppressing evidence, which she has not done. Only if she does pay him would that accusation be true)

On day one, a case could be made that he was implying that if his alibi became public, Tess’ agency could be embarrassed because they got their facts wrong and an innocent man went to prison. But he never went there – instead, he’s all over the place with stuff about suppressing evidence.

Perhaps Mike and Joe have a story in mind here that is logical in their own thinking, and maybe it is. But if the readers are this confused after the first week, their story telling skills need to be sharpened considerably. The mystery in a work of detective fiction is supposed to be within the story, not trying to make sense of the story itself.

“Revenge is for suckers.I’ve been grifting 30 years and I never got any”Paul Newman—-“THE STING”(1973).

Whether or not this works depends on how insecure Tess is feeling on any given day.They stuck together when Notta Fallar published those phony “sex liason” films,so I think themarriage is long past any kind of serious doubt.Maybe Mike wants Tess to be “the star”,but it would be boneheaded for her to tackle this thing alone.

Sorry to horn in three times in a row,but I’m curious about the value(and commonness)of a HARVEY COMICS SPECIAL from the late 1950’s called “The Case Of The Purloined SIrloin”.Does anybody besides me actually HAVE this thing?And did anybody notice the book’s “showdown” was a scene for scene replay of when Tracy took down Rughead’s chief goon Happy in 1954?

hmm.. things are either black and white or shady colors.. indicative of the story or lazy colorers?

Someone mentioned"Story telling skills" Surely you jest. BTW Jelly, , any Harvey comic relative to Dick Tracy in near mint condition is probably valuable.

Be with us on Sunday,when Edward Nuremoh is inducted into The BAseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

If ever there were a case for Justifiable Homicide! Pull your piece, blow Shaky Mk.2 away, and cop a self-defense plea, Tess….