Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for December 28, 2019

Roper and Nomad bid farewell to Tracy and his town

Pan Am jet whisks them away, this duo of renown.

Close calls with bombs and ‘gators. Splitface a vile beast

One redeeming quality. In his wee heart at least

There remains room for Clybourne. The bird he trained to steal

Risked it all to get him back. This folly did reveal

Splitface not irredeemable. Back to the institution

Mend his bad ways? Find better days? Offer up restitution?

An unlikely path. Consumed by wrath. Every move so wrong

Nomad knows what he desires: Chop Suey from Ma Jong.

Good morning™, chop suey diners!

They’re stomping on back to their usual grounds on board an anachronistic plane. Maybe now we can get going on a better and more original Dick Tracy story. (Is a non-revenge plot too much to hope for?)

As we fly off into the sunset on a mysterious ghost plane and leave behind the scattered hope’s and dreams of a coherent storyline we say “so long” to disappointment and “hello” to “Tomorrow, tomorrow I love ya tomorrow!”.

And Chinese food!!!

What we need is a whole new intriguing master criminal – and a befitting story line to keep us enticed until Tracy brings about his/her ultimate demise…

Barely finished this article on Steve Roper and Mike Nomad’s history, characters, villains and timeline. Had no idea this all would wrap so quickly! Yikes. Early on, Steve Roper featured lots of Dick Tracy inspired villains like the gaunt Meatless, the pin striped Zebra, the always shivering Chilly Mac, Glossy Vaneer, Roper’s arch enemy, Snapper, etc. Plus the dirt on Ma Jong! Check it out if interested. https://www.markcarlson-ghost.com/index.php/2019/12/28/steve-roper-and-mike-nomad/

Good morning™, mile high club diners !

Fini~

I wish they would bring back Steve Roper and Mike Nomad in their own comic strip again. It was a great comic strip. To bad the writer felt that he had no more material. In my opinion, he should have kept Steve Roper and Mike Nomad and deep sixth Mary Worth which he continued (uninteresting story line).

Chop Suey or a Poo Poo Platter?

Didn’t the writers get the memo that Pan Am no longer exists?

As Roper and Nomad fly into the sunset we bid farewell!!!

WHY did Joe and Mike use Pan Am? They could have just used an unmarked plane. But they took extra trouble to make sure everyone KNEW it was Pan Am.

We should use the down time to check in on Mole, the Plentys andsome of Tracy’s other friends…

1-CAPTAIN: What’s happening? I thought we wrapped this up yesterday?

2-CLUELESS: Well there’s been a development. I accidentally hijacked the plane while you were napping. CAPTAIN: GEEZ LOUISE! How the hell did you manage that?

3-CLUELESS: Well, I was singing Sinatra: ♪♫ Take me to the moooon ♪♫ when the gun fell out of my pocket. I guess that’s not a farfetched demand in Tracy world.

CAPTAIN: Dammit! No beaches and weird chicks with horns. I hate the moon!

CLUELESS: Yeah. I wish I’d been singing about Margaritaville …

Is Nomad flying the plane?

That would explain the anachronistic Pan-Am DC-10, it’s a private jet and Nomad likes retro.

Yeah, I know, the passenger seat behind him is a problem. I’m going to call it the navigator position and ignore reality. Won’t be the first time.

Does a clean break / storyline’s end on a Saturday signal that another of the dreaded Minit Mysteries is coming?

Sad :(

Make sure you get that chop suey with the fried spiders!

and then, somewhere over Lockerbie, Scotland…

And so Mike Nomad, who turned out to be the hero of this story (the guy who actually captured Splitface and Clybourne), and his sidekick, Steve Roper (who long, long ago earned top-billing in his strip, even though Mike took over the actual starring rôle), fly off past the sunset (so, they are headed more or less north) aboard their Pan Am DC-10, into their Long Ago stomping ground. Ta ta, guys.

Now what? A few days of filler and then a new tale for the start of 2020?

Any of you on this board can start your New Year’s Resolutions off with this – DON’T SLAM THE STRIP SO MUCH.

I’ve seen nothing since Staton and Curtis took over this strip that’s anywhere nearly as bad as the last 18 months of the late Mr. Lochner’s efforts. You’re better off than you were. Unless things go the way Mr. Lochner’s did, you’ll stay that way.

So they did a clinker – big deal. Let’s see what the next tale brings about.

Bring back Brenda Starr?