May and June Summer were identical twins from Hometon who came to Dick Tracy'scity seeking careers in radio. Young, blonde, and attractive, their singing pleased some and annoyed others.
They first came to Tracy's attention when they tried to pick his pocket, and he arrested them. Instead of putting them in jail, Tracy decided to drop the charges and send them back home on a train with Pat Patton.
The Summer Sisters, who proved to be rather accomplished thieves, stole Pat's gun and his wallet after trying him up. After buying new outfits and trying to destroy their frilly dresses, they met Vitamin Flintheart who was looking for them to put into his show. The Summer Sisters refused his offer because they believed him to be a police spy, due to his habit of spending time at police headquarters. After they rebuffed him with a slap to the face, Vitamin made note of where the sisters were hiding.
Meeting The Brow[]
Nearly out of money, the Summer Sisters found a pair of field glasses on their windowsill, which had been left there by Spy 26 prior to his arrest by Naval Intelligence. When the sisters tried to pawn the glasses, they were captured by Agent 12 who took them to his boss: the Nazi spy known as the Brow. The Brow first tried in intimidate the sisters by breaking their wrists, then recruited them with a "job" of picking up reports from his spy operators.
In order to ensure the Summer Sisters' obedience, the Brow imprisoned one sister in his "chair of horror", (which attached to an automated leg clamp with spikes on it) while the other sister got the reports. Dick Tracy tracked the girls to the Brow's hideout and surreptitiously advised them to cooperate with the Brow until Tracy was ready to arrest him.
Escape Into Danger[]
By this time, the Summer Sisters had realized just how evil the Brow was and that he could quite easily murder both of them. They decided to get Pat's gun and use it to escape. During their next encounter, when Brow asked for his spy report, June shot and killed two of the Brow's men and had the Brow release her sister. When he tried to grab a hidden gun, May shoved a nearby desk against him, knocking him unconscious and into his spike machine.
The Summer Sisters led Tracy to the hideout where the bodies of the Brow's men were, but the Brow had escaped. Despite Tracy's concern that their lives were in danger, Chief Brandon had the sisters moved to hotel, escorted by Officer Murphy. The Brow and his accomplice Doc were waiting for them.
The villains ambushed the taxi in which the Summer Sisters were riding and killed the driver. The taxi was then forced off a bridge into a lagoon. Murphy survived but the Summer sisters were trapped and drowned. After he had recovered the victims, Dick Tracy later tracked down the Brow and brought him to justice.
Appearances In Other Media[]
"Dick Tracy in B Flat"[]
The Summer Sisters were characters in the humorous radio program "Dick Tracy in B Flat" produced in 1945 for Armed Forces Radio. The 3 sisters (May, June, and July) were played by the Andrews Sisters.
1990 Movie Continuity[]
The Summer Sisters do not appear in the 1990 Dick Tracy feature film. However, they are minor characters in the follow-up novel Dick Tracy Goes to War, written by Max Allan Collins. In the book, the sisters are one of several acts that perform at Vitamin Flintheart's Stage-Door Canteen.
Trivia[]
The Summer Sisters were reportedly both inspired by and named after Chester Gould's daughter Jean (AKA June) and Jean's childhood friend May Sebastian.
In addition to their skills as singers and pickpockets, the Summer Sisters also had some ability at using firearms. June attributed this to their rural upbringing.
