The Era -- Day By Day

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

Oh, my, nerves. I hope Jack wakes up and asks Joy to marry him before Downwind does.

 

[Fading Fast]

...("HAH!" says Joe. "How 'bout he do like we gotta do on them trolleys an' sit onna papah. I allays lookunna th' seat, seefIc'nfinea Woil-Tellagram -- it's good 'n sof'." "If he's liketha restat'em judges," adds Sally. "he don' need no paddin'.")...)

seefIc'nfinea

Also, can't they just fix the darn chair. I'm about as hard on wasteful government spending as one can be, but if the chair is really shot, fix it or buy a new one, this shouldn't be news. But in keeping with the spot on spirit of Joe's comments, I'd like to see our politicians (and their families) from both sides of the aisle have to live with the same health insurance policy I have (i.e., sit in my chair) - bet they'd find a fix to that pretty darn quickly.

...An all-time football attendance record will be set in Brooklyn this afternoon as the Grid Dodgers and Giants clash at Ebbets Field. Ten thousand general admission grandstand seats will go on sale in the marble rotunda this morning....

The News has sold this one well over the past several days, I'm really looking forward to the results of the game.

...Rumors out of Boston suggest that troublemaking young slugger Ted Williams may be changing his socks soon. The Red Sox are reported to be considering a trade that would send Williams to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for outfielder Taft Wright, infielder Johnny Rigney, and a bindle full of cash, but Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey is seen as unlikely to go for the bait. Yawkey has nothing but money, and a reputation as a buyer not a seller -- and despite Williams' reputation as a hothead, he is probably the single greatest asset the Bosox have....

Thank God this didn't happen. After the curse of the Bambino, this could have broken Boston for good.

... View attachment 276987 (The irony of the New Deal is that it made a lot of so-called "self made" fortunes possible.)...

Very true. The challenge is when the government tries to do it all "in-house," it often times is a disaster - projects never get finished, the budgets are blown through, waste, corruption, etc. Conversely, a challenge of hiring in private contractors is that the bidding process is often corrupt, as we've seen frequently in the News.

...
(Gilbert Miller is a prominent figure in New York theatrical circles, where wearing a derby in the shower is a habit likely to attract no attention at all.)...

NY East-Coast elitism 1940 style - complete meals delivered for guests by taxi while "slumming" it in Greenwich Village.

... I had totally forgotten our friend the key-swallowing stewardess. Hey Zack Mosley, here's a plot idea! And if you had asked me to guess what would be the oddest story of the day I gotta say I wouldn't have come up with "nudist Canadian Russian Orthodox fifth columnists."....

I'd forgotten about her too. It's nice when they do follow-up stories. Say, whatever happened to the not-skinny female bank robber?

And, seriously, "nudist Canadian Russian Orthodox fifth columnists."

... OK, I'm lost. Extortion racket? Insurance scam? Or just general sociopathy?....

I agree - I don't see it yet. A diversion for some other criminal scheme - I'm lost.

Also, who are Junior's parents?

... Somebody needs to slip poor Peg a copy of "Fashion Is Spinach" before it's too late.....

Also, isn't this town somewhere in an undeveloped part of Florida? How many movie stars are going to be passing through there and how many local customers will have enough money for fancy dresses.

And you don't run into "spiflicated" often.

... Maybe you oughta see what Joy thinks first....

Wonderful example of somebody justifying to themselves exactly what they want to do.

 

[Fading Fast]

If You're Looking for Looks, Here's Your "Look Leader"

Seriously, GM paid an advertising agency to come up with that one?

The Style Car of the United States isn't any better.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Eh," say The Boys. "It's a Chevy. Whattaya want? Call us back when it's time to work on the Pontiac account."

Junior Tracy's story is wildly convulted. When he first showed up he was the unwilling young henchman of a petty thug called "Steve The Tramp," who used him a a lure and a lackey in various criminal schemes. He came to Tracy's attention when he stole Pat Patton's watch -- not hard to do, really. Tracy rescued him and adopted him -- although legal adoptions by unmarried men weren't at all a common thing in the 1930s, he went so far as to change the boy's name to "Dick Tracy Jr." (Since the boy went by "The Kid" at the time, at least that got Chaplin's lawyers off his back.)

Then it turned out that Steve the Tramp was actually Junior's stepfather, who had run off with his mother when The Kid was just a baby, stealing her away from her husband, a rough Wild West type miner named "Blind Hank" Steele. It was then revealed that The Kid's real name was "Jackie Steele." Steve the Tramp was working by this time for Stooge Viller -- whose demise we saw earlier this year -- and mounted a scheme to get Junior/Jackie/The Kid back, during which Viller killed Blind Hank. Junior and Tracy were reunited, and Tracy of course became a model parent, carefully supervising every phaase of the boy's life. Nah, actually, he lets him run loose in the street to get mixed up with weird parking lot rackets.

Junior will eventually grow up to become a cop himself, and presently works as a sketch artist at his dad's precinct. He used to be married to a woman from the moon, and has a half-Lunarian daughter who has electrical horns on her head and hangs out with her best friend Little Orphan Annie. (The modern Tracy strip has gotten a bit "Chicago Tribune Syndicate Cinematic Universe" in recent years. Along with Annie becoming a semi-regular, Harold Teen and Walt Wallet have both shown up as guest stars, and I expect at any moment that Andy Gump will appear to give Tracy an exploding cigar.)

 

[Fading Fast]

"Eh," say The Boys. "It's a Chevy. Whattaya want? Call us back when it's time to work on the Pontiac account."

Junior Tracy's story is wildly convulted. When he first showed up he was the unwilling young henchman of a petty thug called "Steve The Tramp," who used him a a lure and a lackey in various criminal schemes. He came to Tracy's attention when he stole Pat Patton's watch -- not hard to do, really. Tracy rescued him and adopted him -- although legal adoptions by unmarried men weren't at all a common thing in the 1930s, he went so far as to change the boy's name to "Dick Tracy Jr." (Since the boy went by "The Kid" at the time, at least that got Chaplin's lawyers off his back.)

Then it turned out that Steve the Tramp was actually Junior's stepfather, who had run off with his mother when The Kid was just a baby, stealing her away from her husband, a rough Wild West type miner named "Blind Hank" Steele. It was then revealed that The Kid's real name was "Jackie Steele." Steve the Tramp was working by this time for Stooge Viller -- whose demise we saw earlier this year -- and mounted a scheme to get Junior/Jackie/The Kid back, during which Viller killed Blind Hank. Junior and Tracy were reunited, and Tracy of course became a model parent, carefully supervising every phaase of the boy's life. Nah, actually, he lets him run loose in the street to get mixed up with weird parking lot rackets.

Junior will eventually grow up to become a cop himself, and presently works as a sketch artist at his dad's precinct. He used to be married to a woman from the moon, and has a half-Lunarian daughter who has electrical horns on her head and hangs out with her best friend Little Orphan Annie. (The modern Tracy strip has gotten a bit "Chicago Tribune Syndicate Cinematic Universe" in recent years. Along with Annie becoming a semi-regular, Harold Teen and Walt Wallet have both shown up as guest stars, and I expect at any moment that Andy Gump will appear to give Tracy an exploding cigar.)

Thank you - incredible background. Please tell me you had to look some of that up to refresh your memory.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Those "Collected Dick Tracy" volumes were a good investment, until the weird moon stuff started in...

 

[LizzieMaine]

While President Roosevelt and Wendell L. Willkie fashioned final appeals to the nation's 50,000,000 voters in this closest national election of a generation, rival party organizations today unleashed last minute drives of record-breaking proportions to capture the vital 47 electoral votes of New York State. In the face of conclusive figures indicating huge New York City losses in traditional Democratic New Deal strongholds and huge upstate Republican gains that have thrown the state into a debatable category, forces supporting President Roosevelt are fighting to keep their city lines intact. Polls pointing to a decreased plurality of 350,000 votes for the President in Brooklyn have caused deep concern among his party managers, who have stated that the President must have at least 400,000 in order to escape defeat in his own state. Republican State Chairman Edwin Jaeckle confidently asserted that Mr. Willkie will win New York State by a plurality of more than 250,000 votes.

(Mr. Willkie clearly isn't doing much to get the hepcat vote.)

Greek troops continue to hold off Italian attacks in Epirus in fierce hand-to-hand combat, and are reported to have won a second chain of hills in a counterdrive into Albania to cut off the Italian supply route thru Koritza. The Greek High Command stated today that a strong Italian thrust against the Greek left flank was repulsed by grenades and bayonet fighting.

British bombers this morning caused Rome's first air raid alarm since July 24th as they carried the air war to Naples for the second consecutive night, but Italian authorities say no bombs actually fell on the capital. The alarm sounded at 3:45 am local time, and the alert held for an hour and forty-five minutes.

Nationwide polls report a slight edge for President Roosevelt with one day left before the election. With all factors taken into consideration the consensus of available surveys is that the President will be re-elected with a total of 38 to 44 of the 48 states. The poll conducted by Dr. Elmo Roper for Fortune magazine predicts that the President will receive 55.2 percent of the popular vote, while the survey conducted by Dr. George Gallup's American Institute of Public Opinion predicts a Roosevelt victory with 52 percent of the popular vote and a total of 276 electoral votes, compared to 255 predicted for Mr. Willkie. Outlier among the polls is the Dunn Survey, which forecasts a Willkie win with 364 electoral votes from 29 states. In 1936, the Dunn Survey predicted a Landon victory with 33 states, but Mr. Landon won only two states.

All Loew's Theatres in Brooklyn will flash instant election results by private direct wire from the Brooklyn Eagle's Election Headquarters tomorrow night. Returns will be flashed on the screen without interrupting the film program as soon as they are received.

(One more day.)

(Just one more day.)

(We'll wait till the votes from Childs are in.)

The Eagle Editorialist formally endorses John Cashmore for reelection as Brooklyn borough president, stressing that though the paper backs Mr. Willkie for president, it continues to support the Democratic slate down-ticket. The EE particularly commends Mr. Cashmore for leading the fight to save the sugar-refining industry in Brooklyn, and the push to build a new naval super-drydock on the Brooklyn waterfont. Mr. Cashmore has done a great deal in the eight months since he replaced the late Mr. Ingersoll, and he deserves election to a full term.

(Mr. Lichty continues his crusade against the military-industrial complex.)

The Football Dodgers just can't get the hang of the Giants, losing yet again to their cross-borough rivals by a score of 10-7, before a record-setting crowd of 32,958 at Ebbets Field. The Giants took full advantage of every break that came their way in the tense contest, while the Dodgers kept missing chances to get ahead, fumbling themselves out of a possible touchdown, and then fumbling again in the fourth period to give the Giants the route to the winning score. Brooklyn also lost out on two chances for field goals when kicker Ralph Kercheval limped onto the field with his injured toe and missed both opportunities. The use of the wounded Kercheval caused much second-guessing of Coach Jock Sutherland, who defended his decision, noting that Kercheval seemed fine and "couldn't miss" during pre-game workouts. The loss drops the Football Flock into third place in the National Football League Eastern Division.

Erasmus Hall has a chance to upset old rivals Manual Training tomorrow afternoon at Ebbets Field, with 20,000 expected to witness the game. It's the 33rd Election Day meeting between the two schools.

Your favorite commercial programs will remain on the air as usual on Election Night, but will be freely interrupted for news of election returns. Fibber McGee and Molly, on the air over WEAF at 9:30 pm, have even scripted a pause into their program to allow for the returns to the broadcast. Most programs on NBC and CBS will be interrupted during the regular musical interludes. WOR and the Mutual network plan to offer continuous election coverage thru the evening. Independent station WNEW will report only "factual information" about the returns, without analysis, and will insert bulletins thruout the regular overnight "Milkman's Matinee" program.

NBC Television will cover the election returns with charts, maps, and tables to illustrate the figures as they come in. Coverage will begin over W2XBS with a simulcast of Lowell Thomas's regular 6:45 radio news period, and will continue thru the night.

(It's a pity the World's Fair is over, because they could be out there making a fortune with this kid.)

(HAH!)

(It's always the biggest crooks who take the greatest umbrage.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

I don't know which is the real highlight of the campaign news today, the "Martin, Barton, and Fish" speech or Mrs. Willkie inventing the mosh pit.

One. More. Day.

"Oh do come outside so I can show you around! I bet you don't have swamps like this in Beverly Hills!"

All right Earphone Guy, we've waited long enough. WHAT'S YOUR GAME?

"Tilda, Tilda, She Just Killed Ya."

Here's the rope, kid. Go ahead and hang yourself.

Nothing's ever easy.

"Oh, and I wired home for my trunk. It'll be here tomorrow."

Awwwwwww. "Wait'll I tell ya about this girl I met, Mom -- her name was Senga, and I learned a lot from her!"

You know, I don't think an endorsement from Bucky Walters is going to go down too well in Brooklyn.

 

[Fading Fast]

.... View attachment 277317
The Football Dodgers just can't get the hang of the Giants, losing yet again to their cross-borough rivals by a score of 10-7, before a record-setting crowd of 32,958 at Ebbets Field. The Giants took full advantage of every break that came their way in the tense contest, while the Dodgers kept missing chances to get ahead, fumbling themselves out of a possible touchdown, and then fumbling again in the fourth period to give the Giants the route to the winning score. Brooklyn also lost out on two chances for field goals when kicker Ralph Kercheval limped onto the field with his injured toe and missed both opportunities. The use of the wounded Kercheval caused much second-guessing of Coach Jock Sutherland, who defended his decision, noting that Kercheval seemed fine and "couldn't miss" during pre-game workouts. The loss drops the Football Flock into third place in the National Football League Eastern Division....

...NBC Television will cover the election returns with charts, maps, and tables to illustrate the figures as they come in. Coverage will begin over W2XBS with a simulcast of Lowell Thomas's regular 6:45 radio news period, and will continue thru the night....

Had to be very cool for the, what, several hundred viewers?

... (It's a pity the World's Fair is over, because they could be out there making a fortune with this kid.)...

Is that an ascot and Tweed sweater on Sparky? Also, we might have the first sighting of a man with a WASP waist.

... (It's always the biggest crooks who take the greatest umbrage.)...

True, and a variation of there being no criminals in prison, if you just ask the prisoners.

It would make a ton of sense for Bill to just tell Slim why he's here. There is no reason to keep the Leach angle a secret.

...

Marsh is in heaven. Dan Dunn is so opera.

A... View attachment 277331 "Oh do come outside so I can show you around! I bet you don't have swamps like this in Beverly Hills!"....

Exactly. I'm thinking a boutique dress shop in the rurals of the Everglades might not be a great idea. Well, maybe she can sell online, oops.

... Here's the rope, kid. Go ahead and hang yourself.....

Memo
Date: 11/4/40
From: Accounting
To: Mr. Wumple
Re: New salesman's expense account

Receipts.

(end memo)

... Nothing's ever easy.....

Caniff's good.

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[LizzieMaine]

"And with friends like that...."

I used to have one of those "Autodex" things on on my desk at the radio station, filled with the names of Important People, all of whose names I have now completely forgotten.

 

[Fading Fast]

You'd still see these on desks up through the '90s.

"And with friends like that...."

I used to have one of those "Autodex" things on on my desk at the radio station, filled with the names of Important People, all of whose names I have now completely forgotten.

At one point, I had one too, but mainly remember using the big round ones, the "Rolodex," where you wrote out the information or stapled the card to the insert. It was ugly, but it held a lot of info. Like you, 99% of those people are long forgotten (as I'm sure I am to them).


If it's a slow enough salacious-news day, the story to the right could make it to the Daily News' Page Four - it's got all the necessary elements.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"I wennaschool wit' a goil name Mynah," says Sally. "Had six toes on each foot." Joe gapes with amazement. "She soun' like a rare boid awright. 'Magine havin' six toes on each foot." "She haddaweah size quadripple-E shoes. Haddagoallawayta Long Islan' City tagettem." "Long Islan' City," marvels Joe. "Waaaaaaaaaow."

 

[LizzieMaine]

Wendell L. Willkie is leading President Roosevelt by a 4 to 1 margin in scattered early returns from six states tonight. A United Press roundup of returns from counties in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Alabama, Missouri, Kansas, and North Carolina show the Republican challenger leading the Democratic incumbent in the popular vote, 2061 to 495.

(The edition of the Eagle that we're using is the six-star 7th Sports Extra, which usually comes out in the early evening and is generally used to carry the latest racing results.)

Mr. Willkie cast his vote this morning at P. S. 6 in Manhattan, where Democratic State Chairman James Farley was also to vote. Smiling, his hair disheveled, the Republican nominee exchanged a hearty handshake with Democratic former Governor Alfred E. Smith before moving into the polls.

President Roosevelt cast his ballot shortly after 12:30 pm at his hometown of Hyde Park, spending exactly sixty-five seconds behind the green curtain of the voting booth. "Good morning!" declared the President. "How is everybody?" he added as he stepped past a battery of newspaper photographers and newsreel cameramen to enter the white frame Hyde Park Town Hall. The President then greeted Mrs. Emma Crapser, chairman of the local Election Board, who confirmed his name and identified him as "voter number 292." Omitted was the usual question of the President's occupation, and his usual reply of "farmer."

Some of the nation's fastest voting was reported today in Brooklyn, where a sizable number of the borough's 1,110,000 eligible voters stood in line for up to an hour at neighborhood polling stations, but once at the voting machines passed thru at the rate of one a minute. Thruout the country all indications are that this year's election will surpass the 1936 turnout of 45,700,000.

In Brooklyn's New Deal stronghold, where the anti-third-term campaign crystallized into a challenge of normal Democratic supremacy, key districts indicated that from the moment the polls opened at 6 AM, the voting machines were producing ballots at the rate of 100,000 per hour.

Erasmus Hall and Manual Training will clash at Ebbets Field today in their traditional Election Day high school football grudge game. The Erasmus-Manual classic dates back to 1909, and going into today's game, each side has won 13 games with six games in the series ending in ties. Erasmus has won every game since 1937, but Manual goes into today's contest a slight favorite to win. Erasmus is presently 0-4 on the season, with Manual holding a 2-4 record.

(Alllll right then. What this is all about is a pamphlet distributed by mail to voters in the Bronx over the signature of this American Protestant Defense League contending that Protestants were discriminated against in hiring in favor of Catholics and Jews, and that the remedy to this was to vote for Mr. Willkie. Since Mr. Flynn is the head of the DNC, what the Rev. Little is alleging here is that Bronx Democrats are mounting what they call today a "false flag" operation to suggest anti-Semitism and anti-Catholicism among the Republicans. The Rev. Little, whose organization *is* anti-Catholic and anti-Semitic, obviously doesn't want anybody else working his side of the street.)

Bookmakers in Brooklyn are offering 2 to 1 odds in favor of President Roosevelt's reelection. Betting offices in the Wall Street district reports there are plenty of takers at 2 to 1 for Roosevelt, but very little Willkie money is to be found. Odds that Willkie will carry New York State were running 6 to 5 yesterday, but the quotation today had shorted to 11 to 10, or even money in some locations.

("Yahhhhh, keep ya mind on th' election, sailor!")

Election returns will be announced for the stage at all Century Theatres in Flatbush tonight. At the Patio, see Tyrone Power and Linda Darnell in "Brigham Young, Frontiersman" and John Barrymore in "The Great Profile." (Somebody with a real sense of humor put that bill together.)

(So don't start in complaining, Mr. Schroth. Technology marches on. "Fantasound" is just a corny Boys From Marketing name for stereophonic recording -- and "Fantasia" is the first time most Americans will ever hear a stereo soundtrack.)

Six more AFL unions have joined the striking Teamsters protesting the use of non-union Parks Department workers in the removal of furnishings from the World's Fair. Some seven hundred workers staged a general walkout today in sympathy with the Teamsters, who struck a week ago. With the exception of carpenters, the new walkouts mean that every union worker involved in Fair demolition is now on strike, bringing the razing of the exposition to a complete halt. Union workers note that, while ownership of Fair property will eventually pass to the city, it will not do so until the end of February 1941, and therefore union contracts made with the Fair corporation remain in force.

("As Maine Goes, So Goes Vermont." -- popular political joke of the late thirties.)

Most married women who work outside the home do so out of necessity, according to a study revealed in a new booklet published by the National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs. The study also documents that the work done by these women is seldom in lines where men suffer from significant unemployment and that there is therefore little competition between women and men for jobs. According to census figures cites in the study, there were over 10 million working women in the United States in 1930, with a third of them married -- and both of those figures have increased substantially over the past decade. MOre than two thirds of the married women working in 1930 were employed as domestic servants or in low-paid manufacturing or clerical jobs.

(That explains the Dunn Survey.)

Reader Leo Brown writes from the Flatlands that you'd better vote for Mr. Willkie today -- or you may never be allowed to vote again.

Rumors are howling around Brooklyn today that Kirby Higbe is on his way to the Dodgers, but team officials deny that any final agreement with the Phillies for a trade has been reached. Team President Larry MacPhail has long coveted the hard-throwing righthander, and is conveniently out of town today and unavailable to clarify the situation. The substance of the current rumor is that Higbe and catcher Ben Warren are Brooklyn-bound in exchange for $75,000 in cash and a package of players to be headed by some combination of Johnny Hudson, Joe Vosmik, and Luke Hamlin. MacPhail has made it clear that he intends to get Higbe from perpetually impoverished Phillies president Gerry Nugent, but has stated that no deal will be finalized until the Winter Meetings.

("Howya say'at name, anyways?" wonders Joe. "Hidgebee? Heyegbee? Higgbah? Hig-bay?" "Red Ba'bah says 'Higgbee,'" insists Sally. "Ahhhhh," snorts Joe. "Whassheeknow? He don'eev'n tawk English. W'attahell's a 'catboid seat" ennyway?")

Brooklyn's own Carla Thompson, the singing winner of a recent Major Bowes talent competition, will appear as Fred Allen's guest tomorrow night at 9 PM on WABC. Carla, who lives at 1423 Sterling Place, Crown Heights, is a graduate of P.S. 120 on Barren Island and Girls' Commercial High School.

(Barren Island was a nasty place -- the center of Brooklyn's glue-factory and bone-rendering industry. Carla's come a long way. Tune her in here, starting at 17:30. The recording doesn't include her song, but the interview is fascinating, especially the moments her native accent slips out.)

(Yeah, he'll ratum your woogly!)

("Make small of us" -- Vintage Phrase That Has Disappeared.)

(Now what?)

(BUM'S AWAY!)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

The Davises were celebrities enough in their previous fields of endeavor to get their wedding photo printed in "Life" back in '39, but this new career track comes as something of a surprise.

To coin a phrase -- "Oy."

"And in summation...."

"That number does not answer anymore." Well, good, at least you're not a collaborationist.

Uh, last we saw of them they were "away from the telephone."

I still don't get the point, unless this is some kind of shakedown against Tracy.

You know, a spinoff strip where Tilda goes around whacking annoying people with a saucepan would be great -- the 1940 version of "The Outbursts of Everett True."

It's too bad Wilmer can't go see my late uncle, who was a mark for every salesman who ever came thru.

OK, so Poison, Lilacs, Goofy, Beezie, Shadow, and Pop are all present and accounted for -- but who's this random kibitzer in the beanie with his back to the camera? G'wan, punk, this is a private party.

I'd pay a lot to see Mamie and Willie's wedding album.

 

[Fading Fast]

...Election returns will be announced for the stage at all Century Theatres in Flatbush tonight. At the Patio, see Tyrone Power and Linda Darnell in "Brigham Young, Frontiersman" and John Barrymore in "The Great Profile." (Somebody with a real sense of humor put that bill together.)...

... (So don't start in complaining, Mr. Schroth. Technology marches on. "Fantasound" is just a corny Boys From Marketing name for stereophonic recording -- and "Fantasia" is the first time most Americans will ever hear a stereo soundtrack.)...

But you gotta love a hippopotamus in a tutu dancing in a ballet. That's passion.

...("Howya say'at name, anyways?" wonders Joe. "Hidgebee? Heyegbee? Higgbah? Hig-bay?" "Red Ba'bah says 'Higgbee,'" insists Sally. "Ahhhhh," snorts Joe. "Whassheeknow? He don'eev'n tawk English. W'attahell's a 'catboid seat" ennyway?")...

"Whassheeknow? He don'eev'n tawk English. W'attahell's a 'catboid seat" ennyway?"

... (Yeah, he'll ratum your woogly!)...

When this strip started, I was hoping it was going to have much more of a baseball angle to it than it has had. So far, it's had a few good and funny storylines, but overall, it spends too much time repeating the same joke. My early grade is a generous B-.

... (Now what?)...

For God's sake, just tell him what Leach is up to.

. 277637[/ATTACH] (BUM'S AWAY!)

...
To coin a phrase -- "Oy."...

I had to read it twice to untangle all the nuanced religious-group connections and alliances being implied or stated. I'll add a "vey" to your "oy" and say "oy-vey."

... Uh, last we saw of them they were "away from the telephone."....

I assume they are looking for the three women. I doubt they glanced around, didn't see them and decided to get a beer.

How funny would it be if Pat did pick up the phone at the Explorers Club:
"HuShee! Great to hear from you, how is everyone?"
"We've been kidnapped by a powerful and evil warlord who is threatening to turn the DL and me into his concubines and kill Raven if her bank doesn't pay a large ransom."
[A distinct swallowing sound can be heard amidst a loud, happy crowd noise in the background] "Hmm, that's a tough one, is Dude with you?"
"Did you hear me, we are in dire straits?"
"If you do see Dude, tell him they've expanded the beer list here at the Club."
"Men."
"Just kidding, now, where are you?"
"You're not funny."
"Come on, you're smilin' a little bit."

...
I still don't get the point, unless this is some kind of shakedown against Tracy.....

I'm lost too. My last thought was a diversion for something else, but I can't really see it. Bring back the fire-breathing submarine-airplane tank, at least that I understood.

... View attachment 277657 OK, so Poison, Lilacs, Goofy, Beezie, Shadow, and Pop are all present and accounted for -- but who's this random kibitzer in the beanie with his back to the camera? G'wan, punk, this is a private party.....

More importantly, when's he gonna see Lillums? As you noted, he's got a few new Senga-learned tricks to show her. "Oh, Lillums..."

 

[LizzieMaine]

How funny would it be if Pat did pick up the phone at the Explorers Club:
"HuShee! Great to hear from you, how is everyone?"
"We've been kidnapped by a powerful and evil warlord who is threatening to turn the DL and me into his concubines and kill Raven if her bank doesn't pay a large ransom."
[A distinct swallowing sound can be heard amidst a loud, happy crowd noise in the background] "Hmm, that's a tough one, is Dude with you?"
"Did you hear me, we are in dire straits?"
"If you do see Dude, tell him they've expanded the beer list here at the Club."
"Men."
"Just kidding, now, where are you?"
"You're not funny."
"Come on, you're smilin' a little bit."

And meanwhile, Terry and Connie look at each other, check their guns, grab Stoop, and head out the door.