Notta Chin Chillar (née Fallar) was the wife of George Chin Chillar. Notta was a young blonde woman with a shapely figure. Among her notable physical features was an upswept hairdo and a small blonde chin beard. She typically wore a black corset, stiletto-heeled boots, large dangling ball earrings, a feathery choker necklace with matching bracelets, a dagger tucked into her bustier, and a belt around her waist.
Notta and George worked on the Moon as employees of Diet Smith Industries. Notta and George resembled each other, but they were not related other than being married. They were heavy smokers and very affectionate. George called Notta "Doll" and "Baby," and she liked to call George "Baby." The couple was frequently seen embracing and kissing, with George saying "Give," and Notta saying "Take."
Notta’s given name was Notteema Fallar (2/6/1968). She was the daughter of a man who died in prison after killing a judge. Her mother died giving birth to Purdy Fallar, who was a year younger than Notta. Notta claimed to have raised her two brothers, Fuller and Purdy. Fuller was later shot to death in a gang war.
After Notta married George Chin Chillar at age 16, the couple went to work for Diet Smith Industries. It was stated that they had been together for six years at the time of their initial encounter with Dick Tracy. The Chin Chillars eventually requested a transfer to the company's Moon plant. Diet Smith approved the transfer, noting that George was one of his better technicians. Notta's job title was never specified, but given her proven knowledge of Space Coupe controls and how she at times was shown flying a Coupe, it's clear that she knew how to pilot the crafts.
George had a criminal past (7/28/1967), while Notta had lived in "the Twilight Zone of crime" her entire life, engaging in purse snatching, shoplifting, stick-ups, and other types of robbery.
Alliance with Mr. Bribery[]
After George and Notta moved to the Moon, they were contacted by Mr. Bribery, who had been incarcerated after attempting to kill his secretary. Bribery enlisted the Chin Chillars' aid to spring him from prison and recover $100,000 in cash that was orbiting the Earth as a result of an aborted attempt to murder two Space Coupe pilots. The agreement was for Bribery and the couple to receive $50,000 each.
At some point, the Chin Chillars were able to free Bribery from prison and replace him with a body double named Joie Packet. The exact circumstances of how and when the switch took place were not revealed, but it is clear that the authorities did not realize the switch had taken place.
Later, the Chin Chillars stole a police Space Coupe and used it to break Packet (the fake Bribery) out of jail. During the escape, they attached a special wire net cage that Packet had constructed in the prison workshop to the nose of the stolen Space Coupe. The Chin Chillars and Packet then used the wire cage to gather in the orbiting $100,000, after which a timer tripped and the open end of the cage closed. One of the bills got away, but the threesome decided to let it go rather than take a chance on losing what they had recovered.
George continued refilling the barely-conscious Packet's glass with champagne, while Notta took over as the Space Coupe pilot. She opened the Coupe's ejector tube, and after George positioned Packet inside, she closed it. "Orbit him?" asked Notta. George replied, "No, we're going to take him back to the pen." Notta didn’t think much of George's plan, but she complied and piloted the Coupe to the prison. When George gave the signal, she opened the ejector tube and dropped Packet through the roof of the carpenter shop from a great height (6/25/1967). The prison guards opened fire on the Space Coupe, but the Chin Chillars managed to get away unscathed.
Packet's body was not discovered in the carpenter shop until the next morning. He did not survive the fall, though the authorities did not learn until years later that it was actually Joie Packet and not the real Mr. Bribery who had died. Packet's death allowed Mr. Bribery to continue his life of crime under the new alias of Mr. Bigg.
Notta and George could not shake the pursuit, for Diet and Tracy were in a faster, later-model Space Coupe that could not be outrun. Worse, the Chin Chillars had no food and a vacuum bottle only half full of water, while Diet and Tracy had plenty of provisions and could continue chasing the couple indefinitely.
Days passed, and George and Notta's plight became increasingly desperate. They descended into a heavy rainstorm over Japan in an attempt to lose Tracy and Diet, but the storm threatened to wrench the wire cage and money loose from the ship. "Upstairs!" said George, "We can't take this!" When their craft reemerged from the storm clouds, the other Coupe was still following them.
Tracy and Diet taunted the Chin Chillars by showing the food and drink they were enjoying on the closed-circuit TV. When the Chin Chillars' water ran out, George attempted to crash into the other Space Coupe (7/8/1967), but an automatic built-in pole reverser made it impossible to crash the Coupes.
Determined to avoid capture, George threw the Space Coupe into a steep dive straight toward Earth (7/9/1967). The extra weight of the wire net cage and the $100,000 gave the Chin Chillars extra speed, but diving into Earth's atmosphere caused the money to catch fire. The couple began to panic, and Notta urged George to take the Space Coupe back into space. George complied, but the money continued to burn. Diet and Tracy laughed at the Chin Chillars' misfortune.
In desperation, George once again sent the Space Coupe straight down, announcing he would put out the fire by standing the Space Coupe on its nose in a river. The extra speed combined with the friction of Earth's atmosphere caused the already-weakened wire cage to break up. As Diet and Tracy continued their pursuit, debris from the disintegrating cage damaged the left rear magnet of their Space Coupe, making it uncontrollable at high speeds. Diet and Tracy had to end their pursuit, but were able to return home. The Chin Chillars avoided capture and put out the fire by landing the Space Coupe in a river, but what remained of the money was burned beyond recovery (7/16/1967).
As the Chin Chillars were preparing to cut the Space Coupe motor and die in orbit, George suddenly remembered where they could get food and water. He flew the Space Coupe to Shelter 733, one of the emergency supply stations on the Moon provided by Diet Smith Industries. Notta was sick and weak from hunger, but when the couple finally ate, she began to feel better. She despaired over the loss of their jobs and the $100,000, and the fact that they were now murderers. George and Notta spent two nights together at the shelter before taking the remaining shelter provisions and returning to space.
Captives at Piggy Butcher's Farm[]
George decided that he and Notta needed to go into hiding. Against his wife's protests, George piloted the Space Coupe to the farm of a former criminal associate, the mob boss Piggy Butcher (7/30/1967). Notta warned George that Piggy Butcher was brutal, but George assured her that Piggy liked him.
George landed the Space Coupe at Piggy's farm, disguising it as a silo. He and Notta emerged from the Space Coupe, explained their plight to Piggy, and pleaded with the gangster to take them in. They offered to work for Piggy and use the Space Coupe to help with his business. Piggy was unsympathetic to their troubles but showed keen interest in Notta (7/31/1967, 8/1/1967).
Piggy decided to take the Chin Chillars in and put them to work, not as employees but as slaves. His men forced George and Notta at gunpoint to clean the horse stables, prepare Piggy's food, and clean the kitchen. The couple was then forced to work through the night to remove the police insignia and flasher from the Space Coupe, and into the next day to prepare breakfast and work again in the horse stables. Desperate for sleep but fearful of being shot, the couple continued to work. Notta became despondent.
Piggy took an increasing fancy to the flirtatious Notta, who sought to seduce him. As Notta attempted to become closer to Piggy (with mixed success), George noticed that there was no longer a night guard on the Space Coupe. Despondent over his and Notta’s miserable situation, George decided on an escape plan. The couple planned to wait until Piggy and his men went to bed, then climb aboard the unguarded Space Coupe and fly away. Unbeknownst to the Chin Chillars, Piggy had bugged the stables, and he and his men overheard George's plan (8/11/1967). The escape attempt was foiled when Notta's ankle was caught in a trap set by Piggy's men.
Piggy's House Mother[]
After the Chin Chillar's failed escape attempt, Piggy decided to "promote" the couple. He announced that George's new job would be "Engineer" of the Space Coupe, while Notta's role would be to serve as "House Mother" for himself and his men (8/15/1967). As Engineer, George was forced to pilot the Space Coupe under cover of darkness and carry an armored car back to Piggy's secret underground steel mill. The vehicle was then stripped for parts and melted down for steel. Piggy held Notta hostage to ensure George's cooperation.
The "promotion" to House Mother meant that Piggy and his men took complete possession of Notta, making her their personal attendant and slave. Piggy stopped referring to Notta as George's wife, but rather as "our House Mother". While continuing to sleep in the stables (at first), Notta spent most of her waking hours in the house with Piggy and his men. She was responsible for serving Piggy beer and meals, and meeting his physical needs. Notta also served Piggy's men, and they, too, referred to her as "our House Mother." She was now a shared possession in every sense of the word, though primarily for Piggy's pleasure since he was the boss, and the one whom Notta had sexually propositioned. At first Notta was brought back to sleep in the stables after Piggy turned in for the night, but this also began to change, as Piggy began ordering her to his bedroom late at night, ostensibly to serve him hot cocoa. Their relationship became more overtly physical and intimate. It is unclear how much George knew about his wife's activities.
With Notta now almost constantly at his side, Piggy became increasingly obsessed with the House Mother. He gushed openly to his men of his affection for Notta, despite the fact that he was the main cause of her distress. For example, after showing initial fascination with Notta's beard, Piggy grew to dislike it and complained about her unwillingness to shave it off. Piggy asked Jer if any of his men had a lady's razor, intending to use it on Notta. Soon after, Piggy's men lathered Notta's chin and began to forcibly shave off her beard, but Piggy stopped them when she cried out in pain. This left Notta with two small beardson the sides of her chin for a time. Piggy found the incomplete shave amusing, but Notta sobbed inconsolably. George swore to kill Piggy one day for humiliating his wife.
The Space Coupe Is Found[]
While Piggy’s mind was fixed on the House Mother, the police had used triangulation to track the Space Coupe to gangster’s farm. One night, Tracy and Sam Catchem were surveilling the farm in air cars, and Notta spotted them (9/6/1967). After a quick discussion, she and George decided they preferred the prospect of jail over their miserable existence in Piggy's service. Notta tried unsuccessfully to get the attention of the police by taking off her corset and waving it at the end of a pitchfork. This failed to attract the attention of the police, who flew away.
While Notta was tending to Piggy’s needs, George toured the farm after 3:00 a.m. and discovered it was sitting on top of a large underground steel mill (9/9/1967). Tracy and Sam had already surmised this fact, and they returned to the farm a few nights later to continue their air surveillance. George spotted their air cars and woke Notta to tell her. However, the couple was once again unable to get the officers' attention.
Two nights later, George spotted Tracy and Sam's air cars once again. George ordered Notta to "get something to wave," and Notta complied by removing her corset. This time, the couple was able to flag down the police. Notta and George pleaded with Tracy for help and agreed to work for the police to spy against Piggy. Tracy and Sam flew away before they were seen by Piggy's men. Tracy later returned to the farm and gave the Chin Chillars a 2-Way Wrist TV to communicate with them (9/29/1967). One of Piggy's henchman soon discovered the device, but the couple had already provided the police with the critical information needed to raid Piggy's compound (10/1/1967).
The House Mother's Treachery[]
Piggy was oblivious to Notta's scheming, and had convinced himself that the Little House Mother cared for him. The henchman who discovered the Wrist TV brought the device to Piggy and convinced him that their operation may have been compromised. Piggy then summoned Notta and George and demanded that the Chin Chillars explain what they were doing with the Wrist TV. He handed the device to George and demanded that he make it work. George cleverly turned the device's microphone on, which allowed Tracy, Sam, and Lizz Worthington to discover that the Chin Chillar's cooperation with police had been revealed (10/9/1967).
Realizing that the Chin Chillars were in danger and that Piggy had been alerted to their investigation, the police took action. Tracy and Sam went undercover to observe Piggy's stolen car operation and underground steel mill. Tracy managed to re-acquire the stolen Space Coupe after subduing an armed guard (10/15/1967). Moon Maid and Junior then joined Tracy in the Space Coupe, which was used to capture Piggy and free the Chin Chillars. With Piggy asleep in his bed, and the Space Coupe silently hovering outside his bedroom, Tracy and Moon Maid entered through a window. Moon Maid quickly stunned Piggy with her laser while Tracy took his picture.
The Chin Chillars were untied and then handcuffed, and taken into custody along with Piggy. Law enforcement then began their successful raid on Piggy's farm. During the raid, one of Piggy's men blew up a hidden bomb that destroyed the steel mill and killed twenty-two men who worked for Piggy with a flood of molten steel (10/30/1967). Many other men who worked for Piggy also died in the raid.
After the Chin Chillars had been brought to jail, Notta was shown consulting with Piggy's unnamed attorney. The attorney urged her and George not to talk to the police. It is not clear if the attorney was also representing the Chin Chillars or was just giving them some advice.
Piggy was released on bail (11/12/1967), and the Chin Chillars were eventually released on bond (12/22/1967). George and Notta later skipped bond (1/14/1968) because they were determined to find Piggy and get their revenge.
Revenge of the Chin Chillars[]
Piggy had suffered a string of losses and descended into alcoholism and depression. Meanwhile, the Chin Chillars wandered the streets of the city, seeking Piggy and plotting their revenge. After a long search, the Chin Chillars finally found Piggy drunk and nearly unconscious, whereupon they dragged him to their basement apartment (1/19/1968). George sent Notta to a hardware store to buy some rope, which was fashioned into a noose. The noose was placed around Piggy's neck, and George and Notta hoisted the incapacitated gangster onto a table, intending to torture him before finally killing him (1/20/1968).
The police were looking for Piggy and decided to question the Chin Chillars to see if they might know of Piggy's whereabouts. Tracy was able to track the Chin Chillars to their apartment by investigating a pair of prescription sunglasses that George had left at the Moon shelter during their escapade in the Space Coupe.
The police appeared at the Chin Chillars' apartment just as the couple was about to take their revenge against Piggy. This enraged George, who began shooting wildly through the apartment door. Return shots were fired, and Tracy kicked down the door to find George dead on the floor (1/22/1968). Piggy was also discovered to be dead from strangulation. A sobbing Notta claimed that she and George had been trying to help Piggy because he was so hungry and cold. Tracy didn't believe Notta's story, and she was taken into custody (1/24/1968).
Notta's Brother[]
In prison, Notta wept over her fate. She became non-communicative and suicidal. The police consulted her for background information about her brother Purdy Fallar, who had confessed to committing a murder on the Moon. Notta refused to speak, and Tracy discovered a mini-pistol that she had hidden in her mouth (2/4/1968). Notta would not say whether she had planned to use the mini-pistol to commit suicide or escape from prison. After this, she began to cooperate.
Notta cried throughout her interrogation, but especially broke down when she learned that Purdy had confessed to a murder. She defended Purdy's reputation, insisting he was "kind and gentle and decent". While Notta and her other brother Fuller had turned to crime, Purdy was supposedly the good brother who was law-abiding. Notta's mood seemed to improve after receiving a visit from Purdy. She passed the time in prison by combing her beard, singing, and playing the guitar. Notta also used narcotics, as revealed when Purdy supplied some to her on a subsequent visit (3/15/1968).
Despite Notta's insistence to the contrary, Purdy was a criminal and a murderer. He became a central player in a gold smuggling operation with Mr. Intro. Tracy eventually confronted Purdy on the Moon and took him into custody, but Purdy apparently froze to death while attempting to escape. A scientist named Dr. Klippoff later attempted to revive Purdy from his frozen state. Purdy revived partially, enough to convince Tracy to allow him to meet with Notta to see if her presence might spur further progress (7/13/1968). Upon seeing her brother, Notta’s initial reaction was to become angry and slap Purdy because he had not helped her escape prison as he had promised. She then broke down, crying and apologizing, only to conclude that Purdy was dead after all.
The revival of Purdy Fallar was deemed a failure, and Notta was returned to her jail cell, where she mourned her brother’s fate.
The Return of Notta[]
Years later, Notta was shown to be out of prison and holding a grudge against Dick Tracy. Notta was caring for her brother Purdy, who was shown to be alive but in a persistent vegetative state. Purdy's need for constant care was how Notta was able to secure her early release from prison.
Notta was working for Mr. Bribery (who was now using the alias Mr. Bigg), the leader of the Black Hearts gang. Her exact role in the organization was never specified, but it involved trafficking in contraband (presumably drugs, or possibly weapons).
It was eventually revealed that Bribery had planned for Piggy Butcher to kill the Chin Chillars so that they would not be able to reveal that he was still alive, but Piggy became so distracted by Notta that he decided to let her and George live as his slaves. When Bribery later recruited Notta into his new criminal organization, she was presumably unaware of this intended treachery.
Notta's Revenge[]
Notta continued to work for Bribery, presumably engaged in the trafficking of controlled substances. In this capacity, Notta met and befriended Blaze Rize, who was also working for Bribery (3/31/2015). Blaze moved in with Notta to help her care for Purdy, and Notta and Blaze became close. It was eventually revealed that Bribery was financially supporting Notta and Purdy because Purdy knew the location of a large stash of gold on the Moon that Bribery intended to recover.
When Notta learned that Dick Tracy had traveled to Cuba to pursue the fugitive known as Specs, she contacted Bribery and prepared to exact her revenge against Tracy (2/18/2016). Blaze initially declined to cooperate, but Notta assaulted Blaze to keep her from leaving. The insane criminal Putty Puss was enlisted to aid in Notta's scheme. Notta had Putty Puss change his face to resemble Dick Tracy's, then staged a video that showed Notta engaged in a physical tryst with "Tracy" (4/12/2016). The video with accompanying photographs were then leaked to the TV news reporter Wendy Wichel. Wichel's station broadcast the video, causing a scandal that threatened Tracy's reputation, since it appeared to show the famous police detective cavorting with a convicted felon.
Tracy was later vindicated when video evidence proved that it was Putty Puss who appeared in the salacious video and photographs. Shortly thereafter, Blaze agreed to aid the police in an effort to break free from Notta. When Tracy and Lizz arrived at Notta's home to arrest her, Notta deduced that Blaze had betrayed her. Notta and Blaze had a physical altercation that resulted in Notta's gun going off and shooting through a window. Further commotion ensued, during which Purdy was motivated to stand up and restrain Notta from further violence (6/19/2016). Notta, stunned by Purdy's action, began sobbing and was taken into police custody.
Notes[]
Notta's birth first name was "Notteema" (2/6/1968), but family and friends called her "Notta" for short. This was a play on words, since she was the only daughter of a family that already had a son (thus making her "not a feller"). Brother Purdy was born later, further adding to the joke.
Regarding Notta's married name, it was never clarified if "Chin" was George's middle name or part of a compound surname. The two words were never shown to be hyphenated, but both names were always used together (e.g., Notta never went by "Mrs. Chillar"). Given this evidence, and regardless of the intended relationship of the two names, "Chin Chillar" was in effect George's unhyphenated last name, and thus became Notta's married last name.
The Chin Chillars were said to have married at age 16 and had been together six years when she and George stole the Space Coupe and landed at Piggy's farm. This would make Notta approximately 22 years old at the time she first appeared in the strip.
Some readers thought that Notta and her husband dressed to look like beatniks or hippies. Notta and George stated that they dressed in a way reminiscent of the "good old days" of the Gay Nineties. Because of the apparent unhappiness of their lives, the Chin Chillars pretended that they were from a happier era and dressed as part of an escapist fantasy. Notta's "Gay Nineties" look was also in keeping with Moon fashions.
As Piggy and his men prepared to shave Notta, she begged them to stop, insisting that she highly valued her beard because it had taken "a year" to grow it (9/23/1967). After Notta's shave, she regrew her full beard in less than two months. Notta has apparently kept her full beard since then.
Early in the story, Notta was often shown with a daggertucked intothe right sideof her bustier, adding an element of danger to her appearance. While being chased by Diet and Tracy, Notta brandished her dagger and said she woke up each morning hoping Tracy had dropped dead. After this, the dagger was never seen again. The brandishing scene was also notable because it was the only time Notta was ever depicted without a beard.
Notta's elaborate and carefully-combed hairdo often changed in appearance during her 1967 story, with the hair on top sometimes piled higher and sometimes noticeably shorter. This is suggestive that Notta often reset her hair, which would have been a necessity, as even simpler beehive hairstyles do not stay in place for very long, and especially not while having to constantly meet the needs of Piggy and his men. Indeed, a beehive style as complex as Notta's would have needed almost constant maintenance, requiring her to recomb and reset her hair 3-4 times per week at minimum, and more likely daily in order to maintain the elaborate styling. Certainly this would have been a challenge when living at the farm, since her personal time was seriously curtailed. Given how long Notta's hair must have been, how elaborate and gravity-defying her hairstyle was, and how much drying, combing, and hairspray would have been required to restore it after each washing (beehive hairdos can be set only if the hair is completely dry), it seems likely that Notta received help from one or more of Piggy's men to assist with her hair care, given that George was confined to the stables.
Notta's stiletto-heeled boots were not shown for the first 24 days of her story. When they were finally revealed, they were colored black. Thereafter and to the end of the story, Notta's boots were always shown to be either white, or sometimes colored yellow in the Sunday strips. She evidently owned several different pairs of boots, though this was never clarified.
In a number of scenes, George and Notta were shown to be about the same height. However, toward the end of the couple's stay at Piggy's farm, Notta was shown to be noticeably taller than her husband, sometimes as much as half a head taller.
During her 1967 story, Notta was known only as the wife of Chin Chillar. She was addressed as "Mrs. Chin Chillar" only once, by Bribery's double in the very first scene in which she appeared (06/14/1967). Once the body double was returned to prison, she was thereafter addressed in the strip by her pet names: Doll, Baby, Little House Mother, Sweet Little Dame, etc. The frequent use of these terms of endearment encouraged increasing affection for Notta on a subliminal level. Notta's first name and maiden name were not revealed until she had appeared in the strip for nearly eight months (2/6/1968).
Of the four main characters in the 1967 story, Notta appeared in far more total panels (240 between 6/12/1967 and 11/7/1967) than "Bribery" (20 panels), Piggy (133), or her husband (198), even though Notta was ostensibly more of a supporting character. When all panels through 7/24/1968 (her last appearance until 2013) are included in the calculation, Notta's importance to the ongoing story completely eclipsed that of Piggy and the others. Based on total number of appearances, Notta Chin Chillar dominated the Dick Tracy strip for more than a year.
In a 1968 NBC television documentary, Chester Gould identified Mrs. Chin Chillar as one of the most popular characters in the history of the Dick Tracy strip. Gould had reportedly intended to end the Chin Chillar story in late July 1967 after the bearded couple lost the $100,000 they had captured in orbit, but fan response was so strong that he decided to carry the Chin Chillars into the Piggy Butcher tale which followed.
Mrs. Chin Chillar was one of the most overtly sexual and provocative villainesses in the history of Dick Tracy. Prior to her re-appearance in the strip, writer Mike Curtis commented publicly that he had received more requests for Notta's return than any other single character.
Dick Tracy's newspaper circulation reached an all-time high during Notta's original story, with more than 1,000 U.S. papers carrying the strip as of December 1967. Notta's popularity can be partially attributed to the fact that more people were reading Dick Tracy when she appeared than at any other time in the history of the strip.
In 2005, Notta was the subject of a pair of original artworks by the pinup/good girl artist Al Rio. Pollyanna, dressed as Moon Maid, also appeared in one of them.
In 2012, there was some speculation among readers that Notta was the mysterious "new" Moon Maid, due to Notta's Moon connection, her history of dressing similarly to the original Moon Maid, and the "new" Moon Maid's habit of covering the lower part of her face (presumably to cover Notta's beard). The identity of the "new" Moon Maid was eventually revealed to be Glenna/Mindy Ermine.
Notta engaged in some flirting with Blaze Rize, causing some speculation about Notta's sexual preferences. The 9/4/2015 strip implied some level of physical intimacy between Notta and Blaze, as they were shown spending time together in a non-work-related capacity. However, Blaze eventually became convinced that Notta's affection was intended only to manipulate her into helping with Purdy's care and gaining revenge against Dick Tracy (12/02/2022).
After being released from prison before her 2013 reappearance, Notta reverted to using her maiden name, and has mostly been referred to as "Notta Fallar" ever since. The exceptions were on 5/3/2013, when Tracy addressed her as "Notta Chin Chillar," and 5/4/2013, when she was referred to as "Mrs. Chin Chillar."
