Jones Family

The Jones family, originally from Cookson Hills, Oklahoma, is an infamous family that has seen several members pitted against the world-famous detective Dick Tracy.

The center of the family has been Floyd "Flattop" Jones Sr. who first appeared in December of 1943. Due to the character's popularity, his relatives have been subsequently introduced by Chester Gould and each creative team since.

The first member to appear chronologically was Frizzletop, who was revealed in 2012 to be the cousin of this complicated family. Frizzletop was the key in identifying the most recent member to appear- "Mrs. Flattop" Stiletta Jones.

Poptop, the patriarch of the Jones clan, distanced himself from much of the rest of his family, deeming them an embarrassment and disgrace. His unnamed wife, the mother of the family, has not been seen. During the 80th Anniversary Flashback storyline (which was set in the days when Dick Tracy first joined the plainclothes squad), it was implied that the Jones family matriarch was still alive at the time.

Flattop Jones

SharptopUncle01 — Sharptop (center) with his aunt and uncle.

Flattop was the son of Poptop Jones and an unnamed mother. He was possibly the twin of an unnamed sister (Auntie Flattop). He had 2 older brothers, Sharptop and Blowtop. It is unknown which brother is the oldest. Blowtop is the only member of the family to not carry the Jones genetic trait, a flat-shaped skull.

As youths, Flattop and Sharptop spent a significant amount of time living on the farm of an unnamed Aunt and Uncle. The Aunt's facial features tend to indicate that she was Poptop's sister (she shared the familial eyes, nose, lips, and chin, but not the flat skull).

The couple was religious, and attempted to instill traditional moral values in the boys. Sharptop adopted these values, but Flattop resisted and was punished with physical violence.

Flattop Sr. married at a young age. His wife was Stiletta, a African-American girl with a talent for knives. The couple had two children: Angelica "Angeltop" Jones and Floyd "Flattop" Jones Jr.

Flattop Sr. had encountered Dick Tracy twice prior to his demise. The first documented time revealed was in 1986, when Tracy disclosed that Flattop and his gang had been employed by the Nazi spy "Boche" AKA Pruneface to abduct Professor Roloc Bard and kill FBI agent Jim Trailer. Flattop's signature form of treachery was to turn on his employers in an attempt to extort more money (which he did with both with Pruneface and later with Zola).

Flattop spent some time operating a bank robber, becoming known as "The Robin Hood of Cookson Hills". He sometimes worked with his brother Blowtop.

Flattop later branched out and became a contract killer. Flattop's weapon of choice was a gun with a silencer attachment. He was hired to kill Dick Tracy, and this ultimately led to his downfall.

Later, Flattop drowned in the pilings of a replica of the Santa Maria and his death site was made a landmark.

Blowtop Jones

In 1950, Blowtop would blow up Tracy's house and kidnap his adopted son Junior, in an attempt at revenge for the death of his brother. Blowtop was sent to prison for 20 years, but was granted an early parole. He apparently reformed and was wealthy from a trust fund that had been set up for him, which later funded his niece's activities.

Flattop Jr.

Flattop Junior was only 6 years old at the time of Flattop Sr.'s death and had no real connection to his father other than his nearly identical resemblance. Flattop Jr. started a crime wave with Joe Period, killing Nothing Yonson and creating havoc. Flattop Jr. abandoned Period and hid out with a girl named Skinny whom he later killed. Flattop Jr. was driven insane and was literally scared white by her clinging ghost. Flattop Jr. was killed by policewoman Lizz, the sister of a girl Joe Period had killed.

Angeltop Jones

Flattop's daughter Angelica wrote a book entitled "Sins of the Father: My Life as Flattop's Daughter" and arrived in Dick Tracy's city with her boyfriend, the son of the Brow. Tracy was kidnapped, Vitamin Flintheart was shot and Junior Tracy

provided a link to the boyfriend. Tracy was taken to the replica of the ship where her father was drowned in and threw Tracy bound and gagged into the cold water. Lizz and Sam Catchem came to Tracy's rescue, but not before a kerosene lamp was broken and the ship engulfed in flames. Angeltop was presumed dead.

Angeltop survived and got plastic surgery for her severe burns and reconnected with her boyfriend Brow Jr. The pair killed Dr. Will Carver as "payment" for his reconstructive surgery. Angeltop seemed to have become mentally unstable, as she tried to kill Diet Smith on his "Fusion Now" whistle-stop tour in 1981. She also plotted to kill everyone at the wedding of Junior Tracy and Sparkle Plenty, months after kidnapping Lizz and nearly starving her to death. The Brow's son freed Lizz, seeing that Angeltop had gone too far. Despite his professing love to her, she severed ties with him permanently.

Quiver Trembly, the terrorist niece of Shaky, freed Angeltop weeks after her arrest during a prison transfer and they laid low for a while with new ally Prunella LaBoche, granddaughter of Pruneface. The three women plotted to use a nuclear weapon on the opening of Diet Smith's first Fusion plant, but ally Egan Oipse was killed while fleeing FBI agent Jim Trailer. They claimed to have a Xylon bomb, but accidentally made it known to Tracy that this was bluff. The last time Angeltop was seen alive was in a shootout with Tracy in the plant where she refused to be taken in and blew herself up with a bomb. "Top of the world, Pa!" were her last words to Flattop before her demise.

Hi-Top Jones

Angeltop's son would encounter Dick Tracy later. Harold "Hi-Top" Jones, a part African-American teenager who was as much a delinquent as his uncle Flattop Junior. After a few encounters with Tracy and the police he was sent to jail for life, primarily for the murder of fellow teenager Tim Vick.

Sharptop Jones

Sharptop Jones was revealed to be a law-abiding college professor whose body was "possessed" by the spirit of his deceased younger brother Flattop. Sharptop claimed that both he and Flattop had spent time in their youth working on the farm of a church-going Aunt and Uncle. While Sharptop claimed that he had gained moral guidance and values from this experience, it was implied that Flattop had been the victim of physical abuse by this uncle, which may have contributed to his warped personality and violent, anti-social tendencies. Flattop's "spirit" eventually left his brother.

Stiletta Jones, "Mrs. Flattop"

Stiletta Jones later revealed herself, bearing several grudges against Dick Tracy. Immediately after the successful (though bloody) raid of the second Mr. Crime's headquarters, Tracy was taken away in an ambulance supposedly to a hospital but instead taken to a warehouse. Stiletta was the driver of the EMS vehicle and planned to keep Tracy weak until the time is right to kill him.

Meanwhile, Jones cousin Frizzletop revealed to longtime friend Chief Pat Patton her connection to Flattop and his famous family. Frizzletop stated her belief that Stiletta Jones was back in the United States to exact her revenge for the loss of her family at Tracy's hands. Tracy escaped Stiletta's trap, and she went into hiding, waiting for the right time to strike again.

Stiletta eventually took up residence with Blowtop, with whom she had a warm relationship. Stiletta developed a plan to kidnap Dick Tracy's newborn grandson, to which Blowtop objected. Undeterred, Stiletta assaulted Blowtop, hospitalizing him. She then contacted the Nitrate siblings (Silver and his sister Sprocket) in an effort to purchase Flattop Jr's car from them. She attempted to recruit Sprocket into her kidnapping scheme, but Sprocket disapproved. The two women fought, and Stiletta was killed.

Screen shot 2013-05-01 at 2.14 — Possible Jones relative?

Other Joneses

Several other characters with the surname Jones have appeared in the strip, including Athnel Jones, Model Jones and her family, and Normal Jones. It was explicitly stated that Normal Jones was no relation to the criminal Jones Family. No connection has been implied with the other Jones characters.

Additional members of the Jones family were seen in portraits at Auntie Flattop's home, but they have not been indentified.