Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for March 30, 2020

Is this the wrap-up …

Quiver is very wise.

Good morning™, police welcoming committee!

If Quiver gives herself up, she gives them all up.

Good morning™, hemmed in fugitives !

Are the sirens really a good idea ?  If the Shakester were a smart crooky he would take the store man hostage to gain some time and leverage to get further down the road before abandoning the car and going into the woods for a Gould style grisly finish.

I suppose by having the sirens on they hope to flush Shaky like a rabbit or quail, and then give chase. Tracy loves it when his cursorial instinct is excited.

Looks like it’s time for our regular lame, pathetic ending.

Next please!!!

At least Quiver has a head start shaking with fear…

So, this has probably been brought up, but why we have these characters with shaking problems driving vehicles?

What will now transpire? I am staying tune!

I have a feeling he will surrender!!!

All 3 are squeezed into into the front seat. Guess there is no center console in Quiver’s car.

Edison is thinking that she should’ve stood in bed this morning.

Quitter! Quiver is a quitter, Quiver is a quitter! Hah-hah! Quiver is a quitter!

Quiver is a Smart Girl—she’d never last in a gunfight with Tracy

Where is the action in panel 2 taking place? Is it still in the store?

And who is actually driving the car? Is Quiver leaning in the window? Kneeling in the open door?

This is the point where Shaky pulls out his gat and shoots it out with the fuzz. To paraphrase Jeff Foxworthy: if you have to look up the meaning of “gat” and “fuzz”, you might be a millennial.

World’s shortest car chase scene

PLEASE let their car stall on the train tracks!

This story (if you can call it that) is nothing short of painful

She’s one smart lady

One out of three with a brain. Not an honest brain, but a brain nonetheless.

At least Quiver is showing some common sense.

Riffin Without A Script

1-MEW, MEW, MEW. Editor’s Note: That’s what my wife thinks sirens sound like. She’s pretty normal otherwise though.

2-JAY: If there was an earthquake, do you think WE would STOP shaking? CUZ: Let’s ponder that on our way home.

3-WHATSRNAME: I called shotgun! JAY: No, I did!

CUZ: IDIOTS! I can’t shift into drive!

JAY: WOOO HOOOOOO! THAT AIN’T THE GEAR SELECTOR BUT YOU JUST SHIFTED ME INTO OVERDRIVE!!! WHATSRNAME: Ewwwww…

1/ When this story began, I thought Mike was reviving the original Shaky which would have required a retcon that would not only affected Shaky’s death but in turn affected the succeeding arcs involving Breathless Mahoney and again in turn Heartless Mahoney and Restless Mahoney. In other words, a major retcon—bad idea. Like the Flattop family, it turned out to be another Shaky relative who looked just like the original and with the same shaking quirk.

“OK,” I thought, “not the most original idea but I could go with that.” But then, I tried to figure out exactly what Shaky II’s plot was. He said revenge. But if that were the case, why now? So he decided to blackmail Tess. Silly motive. Silly plot.

For the life of me, I still cannot figure out exactly what was the leverage he was trying to hold over Tess. Private Detectives generally work for the defense. The District Attorneys work from the evidence presented to them by Police Detectives. If Tess would have been working for the Prosecution, they won. The guy was put away and according to the guy himself he only had two months left before getting out on parole. Yet, he agrees to aid Shaky (who he’s never met before) and possibly blow his parole for half a grand—a measly $500. Silliness continues.

Another silly moment was when Shaky went to HQ and announced himself. Like, that’s really operating under the radar (sarc).

After the trap set by Tess, Tracy, and Adonis went South and Tess and Shaky were both shot. (Tracy standing 3 feet away misses Shaky’s torso, misses Shaky’s gun arm, and hits him is his left arm causing him to reel with his gun arm and shoot Tess. (sort of like Tracy’s fault). Even though Tracy has no backup present, the he and Adonis let Shaky escape trying to tend to Tess.

Once again..Neil knows. Now all Shakes has to do is find a pier with a hole in it, climb in, and hope for a sudden snow/ice storm. Next up, A Breathless Mahoney retread

I don’t think the voluptuous and tantalizing Edison has actually committed any crimes has she? Maybe Tracy will let her go.

Sirens wail! Whole lot o’ shakin’ goin’ on! Family turmoil! Quiver sensibly wants to surrender—a scenario in which she has little to lose. Shaky wants out—outta town, preferably! The comely and delectable Edison is relegated to backseat driving and worried looks, for the moment—how long will she stand by a man seemingly on the verge of going down?

Still don’t understand why a criminal on the run after a shoot-out with the cops would parade around with a tin cup. I get the feeling Joe & Mike really wanted to to bring Shaky back, in one form or another, but really had no story idea for him.