Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for March 31, 2021

Good morning™, everyone!

Auntie Bellum lays down the law! She’s been pushed around a little too much. I guess that bringing in tea is the last duty that Oscar will perform for her. Her brother appears to have been banished from the hotel as well, so Aquarius will not be meeting up with his dad this time.

“Oh man, I knew I should have brought coffee.”

Wow, is she gonna feel stupid when she finds out her brother wasn’t lying!

I was half expecting to see her get out of bed and kick him out!

“It’s a miracle!”

Good morning™, shocking developments !

Way to go Girl !  Cheesecake wonders what she just walked into. I believe Neil said Steph would not be there when Alex arrives. At best they may cross paths in the parking lot. Oscar is at his kiss up-suck up best but it didn’t save him. What good will the bugged conversation do him now ?

A herd of lions is no match for Peggy’s ferocity.

The center of attention now surrounding Auntie Bellum now makes the previous shtick of hiding her for months seem all that much more unnecessary – if not downright silly.

Yeah, fire Oscar and chase off that no-good brother who’s… uh… telling you the truth. Of course, until she actually consults with her attorney, that Power of Attorney is still in effect – and he can do all sorts of nasty things. And that bugged plant is still in her room, so they can listen in on what she’s doing.

I thought Oscar is an employee of Stephan. It turns out that Auntie Bellum is his primary employer. I won’t be surprised if he is also connected with still another party.

How is she going to revoke the power of attorney without contacting a lawyer?

With that, I wonder if Stephan will try to have Peggy declared incompetent to manage her own affairs’, and, have himself appointed her guardian.

Atta girl!

“No, take a minute and drink the TEA first. It’s REALLY good. Drink it, and then fire me.”

And the next victim in this caper steps up to the plate… so to speak…

Wait until the police arrest Aquarius. Maybe Auntie will try to cancel them, too.

Who was Oscar working for? He appeared to be Stephen’s employee (and the liaison to Peggy). If he was Peggy’s employee he obviously sucked at the job (and why was he doing so much work for Stephen?). Is this just an angry comment and not supposed to make sense?

And who has the real money? Were Peggy and Stephen equally provided for in the will, or did the real dough go to Peggy and her removing Stephen’s POA will mean financial ruin for him?

I can’t wait for those meddling kids to pull off some rubber masks and explain what’s going on around here!

Now with Aunt Bellum in the picture, the story goes on and on and on…..ZZZZZ!

1-AUNTIE PEGGY: MARALAGO! THAT’S A NURSING HOME FOR RICH PEOPLE! GET OUDDA HEAH BEFORE I TROW YOU OUT, YA BUM YA!

2-MR. BIGG: Mark my words, you’ll rue this day, Sister Auntie Peggy!

3-BIGG JR: Let’s have tea to celebrate this glorious reunion between you and your brother!

AUNTIE PEGGY: You need to call a lifeline or buy a clue ya simp! Now do a Michael Jackson and Beat It!

SINISTER BIGG JR: Perhaps you should take a moment to consider the tape I have of this recent conversation in which you appear to have knowledge of the holes in the rowboat and sand in the life jackets You should know – THEY DON’T BRING YOU TEA IN PRISON!

AUNTIE PEGGY: Oh…ummm…forgive an old gal’s crankiness. Please, sit, stay and chat while I figure out how to get you in a rowboat!

POWDER NOSE: Anyone else want Tofu with their tea? PEGGY & OSCAR BIGG: NO!

I’ve just finished “True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee,” and I’m seeing unsettling similarities between Auntie Bellum’s scheming relatives and hangers-on and the entourage who surrounded the Marvel titan in his final years. The listening device even strikes a chord. I wish Stan had had someone like Tracy looking out for his interests.

Now this lady knows how to clear a room. Get ’em Auntie!

Ooooh!!! Mary Worth angry…you won’t like her when she’s angry. Love all the comments from folks who seem to be taking this seriously. I think they’ve been locked up too long.

I think her “firing” of Oscar is tied up, in her own mind, with her chasing Stephan out and deciding to change the POA, because she sees Oscar as being Stephan’s lackey. “I just kicked Stephan out, so consider yourself gone as well.” But stuff like that takes time – they could do a lot of damage before she ever got a lawyer over there. And also, who paid for that expensive hotel suite? If they signed the register, her position could be especially precarious, I would think. It was Oscar who took here and Cheesecake there, after all. This could get messy.

Stephan marched himself out the door and Auntie Bellum just showed Oscar the door. Hmm…“Executive Suite” probably owned by her. Ms. Bellum does not come across as one who would stay in a “Roach Motel”.

I’m starting to like Ms. Bellum.

Somebody’s getting cut off the family will.

Wow, unexpected, but welcomed!

Wow! Cheesy just managed to dodge being trampled by Big Bull Bellum as he angrily stomped out of Peggy’s Executive Suite apartment in the fancy Pierview residential hotel. And Stephan’s flunkie Oscar finds himself fired from Peggy Bellum’s service, too. Auntie is cleaning house and seizing back control of her affairs (if she can carry out her threat to revoke the POA in a timely manner).

But, even so, how well can this work out for Auntie Good Guy? She is now dependent on Cheesecake Kelly, a well-meaning coke-head whose primary allegiance is to Aquarius Alex, and on Alex himself, her devoted but crooked, drug-distributing nephew. How reliable can he be? —Would you bet your life on Alex Bellum?

I thought bringing tea to Auntie Bellum was Aquarius’s job.

Uh, oh—“I’m about to…” (tell the cops / change my will / revoke my PoA / reveal the location of the treasure map / etc.) usually bodes ill for the speaker.