Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for December 12, 2020

Another PSA on locking your doors.

No search warrant Sam? He didn’t even identify himself as a police officer.He’s dressed plainclothed.

Now, this has got to be the Sweatbox Ending to end all Sweatbox Endings!

Did I miss something? Like, the rest of the story?

Great! By tomorrow’s strip, Sam will have single-handedly combed through six years of incident reports from the park; reorganized and cross-indexed them before putting them back; disassembled, diagnosed, repaired, and reassembled the office’s multi-function digital print workstation; used his grandmother’s recipe to cook up a huge batch of potato latkes so the precinct could share some Hanukkah cheer; staked out the park overnight to compile surveillance photos and studied for the lieutenant exam during breaks in activity; travelled crosstown and back to surprise the morning shift back at HQ with doughnuts from Dinkel’s Bakery; and used the Microsoft Office Suite to prepare a presentation on his park-surveillance findings in time for the 7:45 morning briefing. Only when he offers to hand-wash the road salt off every MCU-members car will Tracy finally realize that Sam is on a “sugar” high and get him some help…

“(snif) Nope, don’t like it. It’s cut way too much.”

Good morning™, interferers!

So, Sam gets hit with a dose of the “candy” that’s not “medicine.” I wonder what the effects of that are, administered in that way.

Gweedo’s got a point. They should be busting “Dollar” Bill, not the buyers.

Good that it is not fentanyl: Bioavailability

92% (transdermal)

89% (intranasal)

50% (buccal)

33% (ingestion)

100% (intramuscular)/> 55% (inhaled)

Common side effects include vomiting, constipation, sedation, confusion, hallucinations, and injuries related to poor coordination. Serious side effects may include decreased breathing (respiratory depression), serotonin syndrome, low blood pressure, addiction, or coma.

In 2016, fentanyl and analogues were the most common cause of overdose deaths in the United States at more than 20,000, about half of all opioid-related deaths. Most of these overdose deaths were due to illegally made fentanyl.

A few details missing in this story arc….

Sam just walked into their house?

And was that stupid?

Once again todays scrip has great images , But what happened to the Yeti and is Daisy still in the pit , and the rock were is it and what will happened to it if some one else finds it ? I suppose that there is no Roscoe today either .

I don’t think Sam’s walked into their house; they look like they can only afford an apartment. And if the drug buyer left the door open – Sam’s not standing near it – Sam won’t need a warrant.

We never left our doors open, in fact we rolled a towel into a tight strip and placed it at the door bottom to keep smells from migrating into the hallway. These people deserve to be busted for incompetence if nothing else.

I’m sure Sam has backup… right?

Sam’s really pushing for Cop of the Year lately…. and wow, four panels today!

Wow, this story is ending already? That was quick…and now Sam is a coke fiend! Nice work!

CHOOOO….CHOOO… CHUGGA CHUGGA CHUGGA CHUGGA… CHOOOOO CHOOOO!

1- CATCHER RYE: Here honey. Shall I heat up a big frying pan?

2- SAM: CLICK IT OR TICKET! Wait, that doesn’t work in this situation…

3- COCO FIEND: Say, have you always had those unsightly blotches on your cheeks? SAM: Sadly, yes.

4- COCO: THIS FACE POWDER WILL HIDE THOSE!

SAM: Suddenly, they don’t bother me anymore. Nothing does…WHEEEE!

Happy Hannukah, Sam

Sam oughta know better than to move in like this without backup.

People who don’t do drugs should not draw people who do drugs. That’s gotta be 1/2 an ounce or more on the mirror.

The last panel doesn’t seem realistic to me. She’s never waste her “medicine.”

Marvelous! Pusher man will try to cut a deal with the District Attorney for a light sentence. Customer has a court date for assaulting an officer. Whoa! I had to go back and look….she threw the product in Sam’s face….will he require medical leave? Will pusher man be running out the door with handcuffs dangling on his wrists? I can’t wait for tomorrow’s chapter.

Okay, WTF is going on?. We’ve seen over a half dozen characters, and about 3-4 drug dealers.Pouch, Tiger Lilly, Cheesecake, unseen Auntie Bellum. Who are today’s people? Why can’t these guys either hire a writer or learn how to tell a story. Terrible, just all over the place.

With the amount of lethal levels of fentanyl contamination being found in today’s cartel-based cocaine, with that amount Sam could already be dead. Fentanyl was brought to you today by the Rockefeller Drug Laws.

“Blow is a candy!”

“Blow is a medicine!”

“Candy!” “MEDICINE!”

“You’re BOTH right, folks! Just let me explain…”

Seems that we’re missing a few strips here….

(Was it in The French Connection II that Popeye Doyle gets hooked? Doubt that a sprinkling as shown would do that, though…)

Coca leaves are brewed for tea to ease pain and perk you up.

and suddenly Sam’s an addict

Kids let this be a lesson to you..!

Pocket sand! She-SHA!

Ahh, original formula Coca-Cola® (contained coca leaves, source of cocaine). The 19th century was in some ways far more liberal than is the 21st….

Sam’s inadvertent encounter with blow, courtesy of the blonde addict, probably won’t be disabling in itself; but will it give the Bad Guy a chance to turn on him? Did he actually have the cuffs fully hooked? Is there any back-up lurking off-stage?

As may be, this is just the lowest rung on this ladder of criminal activity. There are several steps up yet to be taken down, to mix a metaphor: Dollar Bill, Aquarius, possibly Auntie Bellum (who remains a wild card)….

Sam gets some free ‘’booger sugar.’’

Sam the snowman! Does this count as a “Rudolph” crossover?

Realizing what she did, she desperately starts trying to snort as much as she can off Sam’s face.