From: dvandom@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Dave Van Domelen)
Subject: Annotated Slapstick #4, my version
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1992 04:56:13 GMT

My newsreader ate the Dec 11-18 stuff, so I don't know if an Annotation has 
been done on this one.  Redundancy has never deterred me, so here goes.

COVER: Corner Box character refers to Superman's death, making yet another 
Marvel reference to it.

Page 1: Entire page done in Kirby Style.
     Panel 1: Slapstick's name done up like Superman's in the old comics.  
Mike's name in circle similar to that of Siegel and Shuster.
     Panel 2: Slapstick is using Orion's (New Gods) flight thingy.  Background 
is typical Kirby Space.
     Panel 3: Funhouse of Solitiude obvious reference to Superman's Fortress of
Solitude, lots of "Kirby Bits" in foreground.
     Panel 4: "Disguised as mild mannered reporter...."  Need I say more?
     Panel 5: Right out of the Superman cartoons by Fleischer, flag and first 
half of the caption.
     Panel 6: Kirboid breakdown

Page 2:
     Panel 1: Mike is wearing what seems to be a Nexus shirt.  The mug in the 
foreground escapes my analysis.
     Panel 2: Poster in background has woman with whip.  You may commence
thinking of Mike as a bit of a pervert.
     Panel 3: Calendar in background has "AAAIIIEEE" written across it.  
Deadline pressures, Mr. Fry?
     Panel 4: Okay, who's at 281(2?)-0812.  Note that the symbol on Mike's 
shoes is the Superman diamond.  More Superman references, eh?

Page 3:
     Panel 5: So Freudian I could puke.  Mike really needs a girlfriend.

Page 4: Try as I might, I couldn't find anything here.  Jimmy's running out of 
steam perhaps?

Page 5: There *is* no page 5.

Page 6: Standard Calvin and Hobbes type meal scene

Page 7: There is no page 7 either.  I smell a conspiracy.

Page 8:  More evidence of Calvinist mealtime stuff.
     Panels 2-3: Uncle Jar-Head?  Could Slapstick be related to a certain 
crown-wearing character from Another Company?

Page 9:  Might as well have not been a page 9, nothing annotable happens here.

Page 10:
     Panel 1: Morones may be the Ramones.  Dr. Smith and the Robots?  Oh, the 
pain, the pain....  A flag flying at night?  For shame.
     Panel 2: I can't quite place the lyrics, but I'm sure this is a parody of 
a real song.  Mike's bubble covers the restaurant's name, but judging from its 
menu (Foo Young Con Pollo, Sopa Wonton, Chow Mein De Vegati...) I'd hazard a 
guess that it is "ChiSan".  More cameos by Bill & Ted.

Page 11: MIA.

Page 12: Panel 4: Tower Records is a real store, which is odd since in previous
issues they used parody names for realworld businesses.

Page 13: Guess what...

Page 14: Neutron Bum also seems to have to power to remove all injokes and 
obscure references from his vicinity.  Watch out MST3K!

Page 15:
     Panel 2: "Most ordinary of citizens" indeed!  I would quibble about 
innocent blood being "spilled".  Vaporized is more like it.
     Panel 3: Robbie's shirt says "Dumbg..."  Any ideas folks?
     Panel 4: Rocket J. Squirrel has Avengers priority?

Page 16: It hadda happen.  Ditko's most recent Marvel creation (Spit, er 
Speedball) meets the incarnation of Ditkoid art, Slapstick.

Page 17: Okay, Neutron Bum quotes umpteen thousand people, saying "I'm mad as 
@*!!#$ and I ain't gonna take it no more!"  Weak reference.  Lotsa Kirby Krakl 
in Panel 5.

Page 18: Panel 3: Yak?  CBS reporter on the scene.  Fireman seems to be number 
V8, as in "I couldda hadda..."

Page 19: Panels 3-5:  For those who read no other Marvel titles, Daredevil *is*
blind.

Pages 20-21: Neutron Bum blew 'em up, I guess.

Page 22: Do you know how long I've been *waiting* to see someone try to put out
Ghost Rider's head?

Page 23: Weird seeing Speedbump referred to as a "professional".

Page 24: Panel 3: Slapstick is lucky he survived goosing Nita.  Based on Marvel
Boy's presence, this is sent some months ago, before the Indignity Wars.  This 
fits with Sue Storm's costume and Thor's appearance.

Page 25:
     Panel 1: Bob's Diner, featuring "Slacko Cola" is a blatant Subgenius 
reference.  J.R. "Bob" Dobbs is the object of devotion (or whatever) of the 
Church of the Subgenius, a Dallas organization dedicated to roughly equal parts
sex, drugs, hideous music and weirdness.  Slack is a quality all people should 
haev but that the Normals and the Conspiracy rob from us.  The Slacko Cola logo
is in the same 'font' as the Coca Cola logo.
     Panel 2: "Bob" himself, pipe in mouth.  In case anyone doesn't get it, Fry
put a small pad with the name "Bob" on it at the bottom of the panel.

Page 26: Tom DeFalco ate it.

Page 27: "For this I'm missing the Morones?"  Steve, dude, the theater they 
were playing at is probably rubble by now.  Sorry.

Page 28:
     Panel 3: "Ain't I a stinker?"  Bugs Bunny line.
     Panel 4: Reference to the "Damn fine coffee...and HOT!" line from Twin 
Peaks, a TV series with a plot slightly less convoluted than the Terra Mosaic.

Page 29: Panel 5: "Ten points"?  What game is that?

Page 30: Panel 4: "They're not gonna get rid of me...not by a *long shot*!"  
Longshot is pretty gotten rid of at this time. }->

Page 31: No annotation, just a comment.  Going monthly eventually killed What 
The?!, since the good ideas dried up fast.  If Slapstick gets a regular book, 
make it quarterly, or do the Robin/Lobo/Ambush Bug thing and give him an LS 
every year.  Preserve the creative juices, eh?

     Dave Van Domelen, waiting for the Slapstick/Suicide Squid crossover
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