History YMMV / DickTracy

** Tess Trueheart has a moment in the earliest days of the strip. She complains that Tracy never tells her about his plans to arrest criminals, saying she feels troubled Tracy can’t trust his fiancé. He finally caves and tells her not to tell anyone, but that a bunch of criminals are going to meet at a place and be captured. When Tess ruins his plans by telling someone, he complains that he couldn’t trust her with sensitive information after all which... yeah she demonstrated why he can’t. Tess responds to this complaining by claiming that [[InsaneTrollLogic it was his own fault for telling her]], and [[NeverMyFault breaks up with him for daring to bring up the issue]]. While Tracy is slightly sexist in claiming that women are hard to trust with secrets, he’s absolutely right about her, and her response is completely unreasonable.

** A surprisingly alligator-related moment happens in Dick Locher's 'Shirl Locke' storyline. While Crooked Cop Shirl sabotages the bank alarms, we cut to a criminal named "Big Al" planning his bank robberies and crying about it heavily ([[CrocodileTears Get it?]]). You'd think this would tie into Shirl's plans but nope! We cut back to Al once or twice, before he is abruptly gone, never to be arrested or seen again. A new villain abruptly shows up and is unrelated to this guy.

* HarsherInHindsight: Stooge Viller tries to kill himself after being captured by Tracy the first time. Considering he goes on to get himself killed by his daughter and kills Junior's father as well, one wonders if Tracy regrets stopping him.

* AlternativeJokeInterpretation: In the Spots storyline, all the villains are suddenly held at gunpoint by Fresh Upp, and Ogden is punched to the floor by a fellow villain in frustration. He then proclaims "Huh? Am I about to become the Goat of this series?". This likely means he's upset that no one is treating him with respect, but Gould capitalizes ALL of his lettering (GOAT = Greatest Of All Time), and Ogden inexplicably takes the initiative to attack Fresh and stop the situation from escalating right after he says this. As such, the statement could be seen as Ogden's incredibly Meta confusion at what Gould is about to have him do.

** People not familiar with the comic tend to think of Flattop as Tracy’s archenemy. In the actual comic he’s a hit-man for a crime syndicate. His excellent design and [[CrazyAwesome kidnapping of Tracy for a week to use as blackmail against the syndicate]] made him [[EnsembleDarkHorse MUCH more popular than Gould expected.]] Like most villains, he's killed off at the climax of his first story. However, Gould and his successors couldn't resist creating a large family for Flattop, the majority of which are violent criminals who have it in for Tracy.

*** Most people also assume (thanks to association) that Moon people took up the entirety of the comic on arrival. While they were prevalent, a surprising amount of storylines outright did not use Moon-People at all (Haf-n-Haf being the most well known). A much more accurate interpretation would be that '''elements unrelated to "normal" Dick Tracy''' took over the entirety of the strip. These non Moon-people related elements included but were not limited to a [[IncrediblyLamePun gag-comic]] about specks of Sawdust[[note]]This one was nearly as prevalent as the moon-people)[[/note]], Many many talking animals, Buckets that could fly[[note]](Granted the Buckets were introduced as a Moon invention[[/note]], Solving the mystery of an Amelia Earhart {{Expy}}, Advances in science[[labelnote:Examples]]A device that can sense what #'s are being dialed on a phone, Resurrecting people frozen by Ice, and a bunch of other things invented by Diet Smith[[/labelnote]], Newspeople stalling the storyline to insanely long lengths[[labelnote:Examples]]The aforementioned cartoonist, Endless people speculating about Moon-Maid and/or trying to take Photos of her, A Hedda Hopper clone lying to everyone about Junior's baby for pointless revenge[[/labelnote]], And most of all: incredibly bizarre comments and/or fads that kept getting repeated over and over[[labelnote:Examples]]Villains singing about hiding bodies, Villains claiming that they have the constitutional right to illegal things, Police officers jumping up and clicking their heels, Diet Smith or Random drunk people talking/speculating about how physics work on the moon (And being incorrect by modern-day standards)[[/labelnote]].

** The period directly before the Space Era starting once the popular Mrs Egghead storyline ends is generally agreed to be a downward spiral, with the exceptions being the storylines of Halffa Milyon, Flyface, Spots, Mary Steele, and The Brush. Several historians actually somewhat agree that the Moon Period was something of an improvement.

** Toss in Flattop; a one-shot character that everyone assumes was around way longer than he actually was, to the point of considering him Tracy's archenemy.

* JerkassWoobie

* MemeticPsychopath: Dick Tracy himself is one of the biggest examples in comic strips. This is not at all unjustified, given Tracy's overly violent handling of criminals (A decent example would be his dropping of Napalm on an island full of criminals).

** Of particular note is foreign culture. While African American caricatures were (thankfully) mostly restricted to the 30's and early 40’s era, discomfort happens when Mexico, Cuba, England, or really anywhere outside America is visited.
** Fatty [=McDonald=] used to be plump, but starved herself to become a model. She's praised for her willpower and nobody seems too concerned by this aside from her father (Who just wants her to be a farmer anyways). This is uncomfortable given the Axorexia problems prevalent to this day. Even Gould seems to realize this, and noticeably rushes the storyline.

** From the start of the "Space Era" in the 1960s until Max Allan Collins took over as writer. The space era introduced far too many science-fiction elements into a strip that until then had been more grounded.
** Dick Locher's era as writer.

** Susie Zonn, more well known as Wingy Plenty is a particularly disliked character. While she started out sympathetic as the daughter of Odds Zonn, her traits of "glows in the dark under stress" and "has worse baby talk than characters much younger than her" both didn't really mesh well into any storyline, and came off as more annoying than anything.

** Moon Maid is this for most people who despise the space era.

** Tess Trueheart has a moment in the earliest days of the strip. She complains that Tracy never tells her about his plans to arrest criminals, saying she feels troubled Tracy can’t trust his fiancé. He finally caves and tells her not to tell anyone, but that a bunch of criminals are going to meet at a place and be captured. When Tess ruins his plans by telling someone, he complains that he couldn’t trust her with sensitive information after all which... yeah she demonstrated why he can’t. Tess responds to this complaining by claiming that [[InsaneTrollLogic it was his own fault for telling her]], and breaks up with him for daring to bring up the issue. While Tracy is slightly sexist in claiming that women are hard to trust with secrets, he’s absolutely right about her, and her response is completely unreasonable.

* AlternativeJokeInterpretation: In the Spots storyline, all the villains are suddenly held at gunpoint by Fresh Upp, and Ogden is knocked the the floor whilst begging for his life. He then proclaims "huh? Am I about to become the Goat of this series?". This likely means he's upset that no one is treating him with respect, but Gould capitalizes all of his lettering (GOAT = Greatest Of All Time), and Ogden inexplicably takes the initiative to attack Fresh and stop the situation from escalating. As such, the statement could be seen as incredibly Meta confusion at what Gould is about to have him do.

* AlternateJokeInterpretation: In the Spots storyline, all the villains are suddenly held at gunpoint by Fresh Upp, and Ogden is knocked the the floor whilst begging for his life. He then proclaims "huh? Am I about to become the Goat of this series?". This likely means he's upset that no one is treating him with respect, but Gould capitalizes all of his lettering (GOAT = Greatest Of All Time), and Ogden inexplicably takes the initiative to attack Fresh and stop the situation from escalating. As such, the statement could be seen as incredibly Meta confusion at what Gould is about to have him do.

* MoodWhiplash: Several strips aren't necessarily this when read on a daily basis (as was the original medium), but quickly become this when read in one sitting. The most extreme example of this has to be when Junior's girlfriend dies. Junior is seen mourning her at her grave, saying he'll always love her... [[RefugeInAudacity and the next day's comic]] has the goofy looking Tonsils singing about muddy rainbows while his assistant "[[WhoNamesTheirKidDude Dude]]" forces everyone to listen at gunpoint.

* MoodWhiplash: Several strips aren't necessarily this when read on a daily basis (as was the original medium), but quickly become this when read in one sitting. The most extreme example of this has to be when Junior's girlfriend dies. Junior is seen mourning her at her grave, saying he'll always love her... [[RefugeInAudacity and the next day's comic]] has the goofy looking Tonsils singing about muddy rainbows while his assistant "[[WhoNamesTheirKidDude Dude]]" ([[NotMakingThisUpDisclamer Actual name]]) forces everyone to listen at gunpoint.

* MemeticPsychopath: Dick Tracy himself was seen as this at the height of his popularity, particularly by his spoofs.

** Rhodent is a Rat-Faced villain that would not look out of place in parody comic ''Fearless Fosdick''. It's hard to take them seriously.

** Many people assume that the Space era was widely hated and killed the idea of Dick Tracy existing in a somewhat normal setting with grotesque villains. In truth the strip had been dropping drastically in popularity and quality for a few years beforehand, both being vastly improved by the Space-Era if anything. Additionally [[OlderThanTheyThink several supernatural, unrealistic and/or Sci-Fi elements had been present before the Era began]] [[labelnote:including but not limited to:]] Diet Smith's inventions, A baby with super-strength, Talking crows, Panther-Dog hybrids, The aforementioned baby being able to control said hybrids, etc.[[/labelnote]].

* Stooge Viller is offered 10 Grand if he can "Queer the Dick and ruin him for good with the big shots".
* AccidentalInnuendo: The Narrator announces "Well! It looks like a '''warm''' day for Tracy with the Summer Sisters. Hm?", while one of them reaches for Tracy's butt. She's pickpocketing him, but we don't learn that until the next day's strip.

** Tess Trueheart has a moment in the earliest days of the strip. She complains that Tracy never tells her about his plans to arrest criminals, saying she feels troubled Tracy can’t trust his fiancé. He finally caves and tells her not to tell anyone, but that a bunch of criminals are going to meet at a place and be captured. When Tess ruins his plans by telling someone, he complains that he couldn’t trust her with sensitive information after all which... yeah she demonstrated why he can’t. Tess responds to this complaining by claiming that it was his own fault for telling her, and breaks up with him for daring to bring up the issue. While Tracy is slightly sexist in claiming that women are hard to trust with secrets, he’s absolutely right about her, and her response is completely unreasonable.

** Of particular note is foreign culture. While African American caricatures were (thankfully) mostly restricted to the 30's era, discomfort happens when Mexico, Cuba, England, or really anywhere outside America is visited.

** Most people assume (thanks to association) that Moon people took up the entirety of the comic on arrival. While they were prevalent, a surprising amount of storylines outright did not use Moon-People at all (Haf-n-Haf being the most well known). A much more accurate interpretation would be that '''elements unrelated to "normal" Dick Tracy''' took over the entirety of the strip. These non Moon-people related elements included but were not limited to a [[IncrediblyLamePun gag-comic]] about specks of Sawdust[[note]]This one was nearly as prevalent as the moon-people)[[/note]], Many many talking animals, Buckets that could fly[[note]](Granted the Buckets were introduced as a Moon invention[[/note]], Solving the mystery of an Amelia Earhart {{Expy}}, Advances in science[[labelnote:Examples]]A device that can sense what #'s are being dialed on a phone, Resurrecting people frozen by Ice, and a bunch of other things invented by Diet Smith[[/labelnote]], Newspeople stalling the storyline to insanely long lengths[[labelnote:Examples]]The aforementioned cartoonist, Endless people speculating about Moon-Maid and/or trying to take Photos of her, A Hedda Hopper clone lying to everyone about Junior's baby for pointless revenge[[/labelnote]], And most of all: incredibly bizarre comments and/or fads that kept getting repeated over and over[[labelnote:Examples]]Villains singing about hiding bodies, Villains claiming that they have the constitutional right to illegal things, Police officers jumping up and clicking their heels, Diet Smith or Random drunk people talking/speculating about how physics work on the moon (And being incorrect by modern-day standards)[[/labelnote]].

** Many people assume that the Space era was widely hated and killed the idea of Dick Tracy existing in a somewhat normal setting with grotesque villains. In truth the strip had been dropping drastically in popularity and quality for a few years beforehand, both being vastly improved by the Space-Era if anything. Additionally [[OlderThanTheyThink several supernatural, unrealistic and/or Sci-Fi elements had been present before the Era began]] (including but not limited to: Diet Smith's inventions, A baby with super-strength, Talking crows, Panther-Dog hybrids, The aforementioned baby being able to control said hybrids, etc.).

** If a main character is arrested for murder (punishable by execution), they did not commit the crime. This happens quite often.

** A surprisingly alligator-related moment happens in Dick Locher's 'Shirl Locke' storyline. While Crooked Cop Shirl sabotages the bank alarms, we cut to a criminal named "Big Al" planning his bank robberies and crying about it heavily. You'd think this would tie into Shirl's plans but nope! We cut back to Al once or twice, before he is abruptly gone, never to be arrested or seen again. A new villain abruptly shows up and is unrelated to this guy.

** A surprisingly alligator-related moment happens in Dick Locher's 'Shirl Locke' storyline. While crooked coop Shirl sabotages the banks, we cut to a criminal named "Big Al" planning his bank robberies and crying about it heavily. You'd think this would tie into Shirl's plans but nope! We cut back to Al once or twice, before he is abruptly gone, never to be arrested or seen again. A new villain abruptly shows up and is unrelated to this guy.

* MemeticPsychopath: Dick Tracy himself was seen at the height of his popularity, particularly by his spoofs.