Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for August 07, 2024

what the hell is going on?…

a prison break in the works and planning stages?…

Good morning™, Defector Collectors !

Something’s brewing and if Silver is the one reaching out for the plate I would say he is very quick on the draw. So far it looks like he is divorced from the goings on, but is scheduled for a soon to be substantial participation.

I’d been trying for 10 minutes to figure out what to say, when it occurred to me; there’s nothing to say!

Ho hum is not a good thing for a comic strip.

Good morning™, everyone!

Do prisoners still make license plates? When I was selling sign-making equipment, I went several times to a low-security prison where prisoners were making road signs, so maybe they do make license plates.

“D’fectv” is obviously “defective.” Does anyone really know what “hnh” represents? I’m really not sure.

Whose hand is reaching for the defective license plate and why? I’m not sure that it’s Nitrate, but maybe this story will be all about him. I’m not expecting that all the inmates we’ve seen will be doing something together, at least I hope not. I don’t think that “ensemble crimes” work well in this strip.

Did Mumbles just violate a Recycling Law? He might get jail time .

Eh what on earth be going on in here?

Leaving a message?

If Mike Curtis doesn’t want to write this anymore I wish he’d just say so. As good as the art is, the stories aren’t worth following.

first a spoon, now a plate. Someone’s planning a jail break—or a formal dining set.

MOVIE QUOTE

“Where’d they get this guy? Psychos-R-Us?”

Hoodlum pointing at Gary Busey—-LETHAL WEAPON—1987

I’ve been drawn back to the 1939 Edward Nuremoh story,which I’ve commented on before.Basically that if he’d lived to stand trial,his hideously greedy Mother should have split it with him 50/50.

I noticed something in the background of a Sunday strip. Nuremoh is chasing Tess along the cliff edge, throwing rocks at her; after she found out he was a murderer.The family butler is hurriedly explaining to Tracy what was going on.

Mrs.Nuremoh’s expression is NOT of concern for ether Tess OR her son. She seems horrified that the butler is spilling “The Family Porridge” to some horribleworking-class person who isn’t in their League.

Anybody who has t hat collection can see for themselves

A mysterious hand takes the stray license plate to make illicit weapons. Good thing it missed the trash can, because otherwise he never would have had the material to make weapons with…

OK, we’ve got the spoon and the license plate, what next? (Man, I love it when the Warden lets us hold a scavenger hunt!)

It’ll be the old “Stooge Viller naptha” ploy

He said defective, I’ve been working too long with teenagers when I can understand “Mumble-speak”

My immediate thought was that Mumbles was complaining about Da f*cking TV I still prefer that to being forced to believe that he’s the Quality Control guy – with bad eyes! (seeing as how he can’t hit a trash can 3 feet away.)

Yeah, we subscribe to the DefecTV service, too. It does suck.

In response hnh dfctv……………..

1- NARRATOR: MEANWHILE, back at the Prison of Enforced Silence, we learn that Silver’s continued sensitivity to florescent lighting still requires his use of cool shades…

2-: …AND that Mumbles can drop “F-bombs” with impunity in a family-oriented story MUMBLES: D’FCTV. DMIT. I MIST D’FKIN TRSH! WHOCRS? FKIT!

3- SILVER: That moron. I should be in charge of QC! Ain’t nothin’ wrong with this. I’ll put it back in the “good” pile. It’s so difficult to find somebody here who is willing to EARN their twenty-five cents an hour!

Why does a fart smell worse in the shower than in the kitchen ?

The “REJECTS” bin is where they should have put this storyline.

Mumbles as QC in the license plate shop? A little interesting. More interesting is the question who is going to what with the plate Mumbles called deffective?

Oodles will wear the plate,pose as a ten-ton truck, and go out through the main gate

Maybe the license plate number has some kind of significance.

Why does that guy look like Duke from the Doonesbury strip?

Intro (skip if you’ve already read any of the previous intros):

Hello, greetings, casual readers of past Tracy stories. I’m here because I’m on 2 missions. The first is something I’ve never done before, read each Tracy story by Mike Curtis (or his occasional guest writer) in one sitting each. I feel his stories are worth it. IMHO, Curtis is by far the best post-Gould writer this strip has ever had, and we’re all lucky to have him.

My second mission is to provide an immediately useful Featured Comment whenever needed. My 3 friends below will reply to me. You can read their replies if you like, but their only real purpose is to bump up this comment to the Featured Comment.

There are 2 basic types of immediately useful Featured Comments: anytime that day’s strip quotes a real song. I will provide an html to a recording to that song so you’ll know the tune even if you’ve never heard it before. The other type (this type) is to provide you with a Mumblespeak translator when needed.

End Intro

“What’d he say?”

Mumblespeak Translator: He said, “Hnh. Defective.”