Adventures of Sprinkles the Psychotic Moose

"The Adventures of Sprinkles the Psychotic Moose" was a comic book series in the Initial Era featuring Sprinkles the moose. It was created by Matt Forrestall in 1992. The series ran for 4 years and produced 13 issues, with Matt writing and drawing every issue.
==The Issues==
===‍Issue #1 (March 1992)===
thumb|left|The Adventures of Sprinkles #1
Issue #1 was published under Fraggle Comics (spelled Fraggle Comix inside this issue) in March 1992. The story starts at Caplo Asylum where Sprinkles and Jack are being held. A worker named Harvey goes into Sprinkles and Jack's cell to find it empty. Sprinkles, standing in the hallway behind him, blows Harvey's face apart with some sort of rocket launching gun.
Sprinkles and Jack climb out the window and down a rope. Realizing the hounds have been released, the duo throw a grenade, blowing up the dogs into little pieces. This causes our heroes to laugh.
Next, Jack poses as "Harvey" and asks another guard, named Jim, for a light. Jack uses the light to ignite a stick of dyn-o-mite which spells the end for Jimbo.
The next part of Sprinkles's plan is to blow up the entire asylum. He's got a canister of gasoline and is about to light it with a match when he is shot through the forearm by Plenisher. The last page shows the New Fantastic 5, a team of superhero parodies, and enemies of Sprinkles: The Plenisher, Sulk, McSpidey, That Bike Dude, and Wolverspleen.
Note: This issue marks the first appearance of Caplo Asylum, The New Fantastic 5, The Plenisher, Sulk, McSpidey, That Bike Dude, and Wolverspleen.
===Issue #2 (May 1992)===
Issue #2 was also published under Fraggle Comics. The story continues where #1 left off. That Bike Dude uses his Glowing Skull to mesmerize Sprinkles. Jack tries to help by disguising himself as a shrub, which is quickly ignited by Wolverspleen's tossed cigarette. The Glowing Skull doesn't seem to work properly on Sprinkles, and he and Jack attack That Bike Dude. Jack blows his skull open with a shotgun blast while Sprinkles dons a Freddy Kruger outfit and claws through his chest. The next target is Wolverspleen who gets his face blasted off by Jack. Jack then cuts Sulk in half with a chainsaw and delivers the now classic line "Run, run, run with intestines" as he pulls the Sulks innerds away. The Plenisher tries to sneak away, but Sprinkles catches him, peppering his body and face with bullets. Jack finishes the job with a chainsaw to the neck. Finally, they face McSpidey, who ends up covered in gasoline and lit on fire as all of Caplo Asylum is blown up.
===Issue #3 (May 1992)===
Issue #3 is titled "Home is Where the Heart Is, Part 1", and the cover promises to reveal some of Sprinkles's past. The issue starts with a recap, which mentions Northwater Woods for the first time by name (the location of Sprinkles & Jack's home). A new character, Ex-Officer Smith is on the trail of the two heroes. His internal thoughts question whether he will capture or kill them, and whether that act would get him reinstated on the police force. Meanwhile at Sprinkles & Jack's cabin, they are watching Itchy & Scratchy on TV. Suddenly, a siren goes off. Jack yells that someone has tripped their alarm system, as Smith launches a rocket at the cabin. It crashes into the window and explodes shrapnel into Jack, injuring him.
Back at the site of the burning Caplo Asylum, we hear a status of the situation from a police officer wearing a Hevard and his doughnut eating Captain. There's 1000 escaped psychos and 5 mortally wounded superheroes. Wolverspleen and That Bike Dude (who refers to himself here simply as "Bike Dude") recover from last issue's battle and vow revenge on Sprinkles and Jack.
Jack, bleeding on the floor calls out "I feel a great disturbance in the force... Sprinkles!". Sprinkles is looking for the man who injured Jack, and finds Ex-Officer Smith, who calls Sprinkles "partner". Smith then mentions he's been tracking Sprinkles for a while, and he calls him "Martin". This is the first reference to Sprinkles's real name. Being called Martin enrages Sprinkles and he knocks Smith out. In Sprinkles's thoughts, he confirms Smith was his old partner, and he doesn't want to kill him because Smith knows about Sprinkles's father. The issue ends with a note saying "Continued in Mike Longo's Sprinkles #4" (meaing "Sprinkles the Psychotic Moose" Volume 1, Number 4.)
===Issue #4 (June 1992)===
thumb|left|The Adventures of Sprinkles #4This issue changes the style of the cover page title and adopts the Vigilante Comics logo. It is titled "Home is Where the Heart Is, Part II". It starts with Ex-Officer Smith waking up, and trying to get away. Sprinkles is using his maximum security system (which features, according to Sprinkles's computer screen, mines, robot gophers and bullet cam) to drive Smith away, detonating land mines around the ex-police officer.
Smith jumps a wall and runs into Dr. N. Sane and Bob. N. Sane introduces himself (as the leading psychiatrist in America) and Bob ("my clumsy assistant") and asks if Smith has seen Sprinkles. Bob gets distracted by a fly and eats it when it lands in his mouth. Smith tells N. Sane that Sprinkles used to be his partner and that he wants revenge for something Sprinkles did. He also tells him the location of the cabin ("just over that wall") and that Sprinkles is heavily armed. N. Sane then threatens to shoot Smith now that he has the information he needs, but Smith convinces him they can work together to capture and kill Sprinkles. Wolverspleen and That Bike Dude must have overheard because they join in too. Together, the five of them become The Newer Fantastic 5.
The issue ends saying "Continued in Special Issue #1", which is to become "Sprinkles and Jack Psychotic Vigilantes" Number 1.
===Issue #5 (July 1992)===
Issue #5 is called "I'll Give Ya An Arm... For a Leg". Sprinkles and Jack are about to play poker and drink beer. Jack is ready to cheat, with an ace in his armpit. They two start bickering. Jack says Sprinkles that he thinks he's hot because he's on the ten most wanted vigilantes list. Sprinkles retorts "At least I don't pick my ass while I sleep".
Meanwhile, a man (later identified as Pete O'Brien) is walking towards the cabin. He's not feeling well and says "It's happening again." He screams as he transforms into Anthrax, who's eager to wreak some havoc. He then states that he smells moose.
Back in the cabin, Jack explains that those pubic hairs on the toilet are not his and the stain on the towel was chocolate when (thankfully) the alarm goes off. Anthrax punches through the door, and then zaps Sprinkles with his disease ray. Jack gets mad, grabs a baseball bat and a fish, and rambles on to Anthrax how he's going hurt him.
Notes: This issue is the first in this series to show a character on the cover above the Vigilante Comics logo. This time it is Jack who says "Read this comic if you're planning to lose your bowel functions!" This issue applies liberal use of the "TM" trademark symbol throughout the dialogue.
===Issue #6 (August 1992)===
Issue #6 is called "I'll Give Ya An Arm... For a Leg Part II" and continues the storyline from Issue #5. It starts with Jack threatening Anthrax with a fish, while thinking about Sprinkles's safety and how crazy he is to do what he's about to do. Anthrax is not threatend, and tells Jack how his Anthrax blast only works on mammals. And if he throws the fish at him, he'll just dodge it. Jack replies that he isn't going to throw it at him. And he proceeds to eat the fish, blood and fish guts running down his face. This causes Anthrax to puke, and transform back into his human form. Jack recognizes him as Pete O'Brien, an old friend.
In come two cops, one wearing a Hevard sweatshirt and sunglasses, the other with a doughnut stuffed in his mouth (who's later identified as the commissioner). Sprinkles takes out an ax, splits open the first cop's face and chops off his arm. Jack takes out a circular saw and chops off the other cop's leg, making the doughnut fall from his mouth. Sprinkles offers to trade Jack the arm for the leg, but Jack refuses, saying the leg of a commissioner is worth more.
Notes: Above the Vigilante Comics logo is Henry, who says "This issue has it all! Blood, guts, and the preview of me, Henry, and George in our all new comic!"
===Issue #7 (September 1992)===
Issue #7 is called "The Return of McSpidey part 1". Sprinkles asks Jack how he knew the guy who was Anthrax. Jack remembers Pete O'Brien in college, when he was excited to get a new strain of anthrax in the lab. Jack reminded Pete of what happened to the kid that inhaled a piece of radioactive cobweb, warning Pete not to drink the anthrax accidentally.
Outside their cabin, that kid who inhaled the cobweb is coming to get Sprinkles. His name is Peter Pecker, photographer for the Daily Gonad, and secret identity of McSpidey. In the background, a bunch of reporters hide in the brush. Jack learns of McSpidey and the reporters from the decapitated beaver cam. Jack wants to evacuate but Sprinkles says not yet. First, they need to kick some ass. He tells Jack to release the robot gophers and ready the van.
The robot gophers dig and burrow their way towards McSpidey and the reporters (one of which is Wetzler). The gophers attack, killing one reporter. Many of the rest run away. But one man remains who has a history with Sprinkles and Jack - the Plenisher.
Meanwhile, Sprinkles is talking to Mr. Fabulous, who calls Sprinkles "Martin" and tells him that the city needs him. Sprinkles tells Mr. F (who he calls "Richard") that he can't put a burden on him. Jack has the van ready, but it's too late. McSpidey has gotten into the cabin and webbed up Sprinkles and the video screen.
Above the logo on the cover is a battle axe with the ad lines "It slices! It dices! It hurts!". At the end of the comic is a teaser for an upcoming story - where Sprinkles and Jack travel to the city to fight a serious threat to humanity. While there, Sprinkles goes over the end after confronting his father, the man he kills. The story is called "The Man inside the Moose" and is promised as an eleven part story from issues 9-19.
===Issue #8 (Late 1992)===
thumb|left|400px|The Adventures of Sprinkles #8Issue #8 is titled "The Return of McSpidey Part II". McSpidey has Sprinkles webbed up and tells him that he's guilty of ruining his career and his self-esteem as a superhero. McSpidy is holding an Acne brand "Blow 'em up kit" bomb. Sprinkles cuts himself out of the webbing with a mini circular saw, and punches McSpidey.
Just then, That Bike Dude crashes through the window on his bike. He's about to attack when he's surprised to see Mr. Fabulous in the cabin. Outside, the Sulk squeezes Wetzler (reporter) the reporters head, asking him where Sprinkles is. Silent, Wetzler gets his head popped.
Meanwhile, back at the cabin, Wolverspleen has joined McSpidey and That Bike Dude, and Burrito Man has joined Sprinkles Jack and Mr. Fabulous. Burrito Man tosses an exploding burrito, but it's caught by Leper, who appears with Flaming Idiot, who threaten arresting him for aiding Sprinkles. Kenpo is also there and threatens back to the D.O.P.E. members.
Sprinkles then shoots Wolverspleen in the head, who mentions as he's falling to the floor that the only way to kill him is to rupture his spleen. Outside, Sulk is still angry and he wants to kill Sprinkles, as told by his Cookie Monster sounding thoughts. In the cabin, Jack puches through Wolverspleen's abdomen. Wolverspleen is afraid that his spleen has been ruptured by Jack tells him it's just his appendix.
Mr. Fabulous and That Bike Dude face off, and TBD tells Mr. F he's got a zit on his face. Mr. Fabulous is about to punch him, but then That Bike Dude uses his Glowing Skull and confounds him. The battle rages on. Sprinkles has McSpidey by the neck. McSpidey wants to shoot webbing at Sprinkles, but his shooter is clogged. Finally it shoots, but it's a egg of some sort. It flies across the cabin and hits Plenisher in the face, just as he was coming in to arrest McSpidey. Jack sprays Flaming Idiot with a hose. Burrito Man tries to capture Leper's head with a butterfly net. Kenpo breathes fire onto That Bike Dude.
Mr. Fabulous gets out of the Glowing Skull trance and remembers the bomb. Sprinkles yells "Everybody out" and they all flee the cabin. Sprinkles looks back and yells that Jack is still in the cabin. Mr. Fabulous sympathizes that he left his comb in there too. Leper and Flaming Idiot (who has been extinguished), as well as McSpidey, Wolverspleen and That Bike Dude decide to leave. Just as Sprinkles is about to head back to the cabin, Sulk punches him down. Then a shot blasts through Sulk's head. Ex-Officer Smith is there, and goes to save Jack. Jack, however, saves himself, and gets the van out before the cabin explodes.
Mr. Fabulous apologizes for the cabin, and then Plenisher, who has been covered by the goo from McSpidey's web egg and now has antlers arrives. (He calls himself the New Plenisher, but he will be known as Caribou.)
Notes: This issue's cover is a gatefold (the first in the Vigilante Comics line to do so) that features many characters: McSpidey, Leper and Flaming Idiot (from D.O.P.E.), That Bike Dude, Cyber Sprinkles, Mr. Fabulous. Above the logo is the Brim, asking "Where's the babes?". The captions on the front say "20 pages! Biggest to date! Destined to be a classic!". Inside the book is an advertisement for the upcoming Man inside the Moose story, with hints of people dying, cops being maimed, Sprinkles getting a costume, old friends returning, new enemies abounding. There's pictures of old and new characters, including Buckethead, Dr. N. Sane and Bob, Cyber Sprinkles, Ex-Officer Smith, and Caribou.
===Issue #9 (1993?)===
The title on the cover is "The Death of Jack" with an * saying "He'll be back". Inside, the title is "The Man Inside the Moose Part I". The cover image is a parody of The Death of Superman comic book.
The story starts with Caribou threatening the heroes outside the destroyed cabin. Jack shoots at him, to no avail. Caribou grabs the gun with his plasma like tentacles and then stabs Jack through the midsection with a giant blade (His "body" can be reformed and solidified). Caribou threatens Sprinkles next. Sprinkles is looking a Jack, waiting for him to get up. "My God, could he really be.." dead. Jack's death hits Sprinkles hard, and this raw emotion transforms Sprinkles back into human form. A human is of no interest to Caribou, apparently, as he now walks away. Mr. Fabulous wonders if Sprinkles is going to give up on crime fighting. Ex-Officer Smith tells him that Sprinkles is made of sterner stuff, as Sprinkles zones out as if in a trance (which reminds Smith of a previous time).
Sprinkles, deep in thought, remembers back. How he was kicked off the police force after he became a moose. And how he didn't mind since most cops were fat and lazy anyway. How he walked on the rooftops, and realized the city was doomed and that he was a psychotic savior. He saved a woman from being assaulted, killing the assaulter. Then he's shot in the leg by Buckethead. Out of the shadows steps Jack, asking Buckethead "Hey pal, you ever dance with yourself in the pale lamp light" (a Batman reference). This gives Sprinkles the chance to take out Buckethead. That was the first time Sprinkles and Jack met.
Sprinkles wakes up from his trance, and gathers Mr. Fabulous, Kenpo and Smith to the van, to head to Quadropolis to exact some revenge.
The epilogue shows Jack recovering and Cyber Sprinkles kidnapping him.
===Issue #10 (1993?)===
"The Man Inside the Moose Part II" starts with Jack waking up in a strange place. Cyber Sprinkles tells him he's in the lab of Dr. Geneius, Quadropolis' leading geneticist. Geneius wants Jack to give him the location of Sprinkles. He also reveals he is the engineer of Sprinkles. And Cyber Sprinkles reveals that Sprinkles is his son. Jack doesn't believe it as Sprinkles told him his father was dead. Cyber Sprinkles tells Jack that Sprinkles doesn't know he's alive. Instead, he was saved by Dr. Geneius. Cyber Sprinkles starts to tell Jack the whole story...
Meanwhile, Sprinkles (the human) and company are driving, they take the exit for Quadropolis and get stopped by a mob of superheroes running from a giant blob that's attacking the city. In the group of heroes is a Darth Vader lookalike, Psycho Fish, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, the Twix Rabbit, Eggman, and the Brim, among others. There's a poster for Nazi Biker Mice From Hamburg, a movie, on the wall of a movie theater, and a billboard for Kool-Ade, chocked full of Vitamin Z. Mr. Fabulous and Kenpo got scared and make excuses to leave, but don't. Just then, Dr. N. Sane asks "Where are you, moose?" and Sprinkles transforms back into the moose, answering "I'm right here!", and gets ready to fight N. Sane. In the background is Potted Plant Man in a window.
Back in the lab, Cyber Sprinkles has finished his story, which explains his loyalty to Dr. Geneius. Jack doesn't buy it. Geneius slaps him and says "I'm your master now." Jack then breaks free from his restraints with a until-now hidden power where his hand is glowing with energy. Cyber Sprinkles threatens to cut Jack open with his Psionic Antler (which gets a giggle from Beavis from "Beavis and Butthead"). Jack reveals the glow to be Mentos, one of which he eats. Then he gives a wink and a thumbs up as he punches Cyber Sprinkles in the groin as the Mentos song plays in the background. Jack makes his get away and finds a door that leads to a hangar with a personalized jet.
Back to Sprinkles, who's ready to tangle with N. Sane. Powdered Toast Man walks by in the background.
Notes: This issue marks the first appearance of Dr. Geneius, and the first time Dr. N. Sane's glasses are tinted.
===Issue #11 (1994?)===
This issue features two covers (only because the first one was thought lost to the ages and Matt made a second one in 2001 to replace it). The story picks up with Sprinkles and N. Sane about to fight. N. Sane wants to bring Sprinkles back to his asylum, and Sprinkles asks who's going to make him. Just then, Buckethead jumps in, answering that question. He's wearing a McSpidey T-Shirt. Sprinkles laughs since he could easily defeat Buckethead one on one, but then Buckethead calls out a bunch of racial henchmen. Mr. Fabulous, Smith and Kenpo offer their help, but Sprinkles tells them he'd like to take care of them.
Meanwhile Jack is flying Geneius's jet over Quadropolis. He's excited to see the jet has a Yoo Hoo dispenser. While enjoying the chocolatey drink, Jack thinks about the story that Cyber Sprinkles had told him:
It started back in 1970 when Jonathan Sprinkles (who is now Cyber Sprinkles) was a hunter living in a cabin in Northwater Woods (the same cabin Sprinkles and Jack lived in). Jonathan has previously been a police officer in Quadropolis, but after the Superhero Emergence in 1968, he left the city due to his fear of people in capes. He and his wife lived a survivalist lifestyle, living off the land. Unfortunately it wouldn't stay peaceful, as two maniacal men were interested in Jonathan. Dr. N. Sane wanted him for his asylum (Dr. N. Sane's Home for the Mentally Unfit), and Dr. Geneius wanted him as a subject for his animal / human thought experiments. The two men met at a Mad Scientist Convention in Chicago and decided to work together to capture Jonathan. While Jonathan was hunting, Dr. Geneius disguised himself as a bear, knowing Jonathan had a love of wrestling bears if he could get them from behind. Jonathan stepped right into their trap. He was then a subject in Dr. Geneius's lab, where Dr. G. was trying to transfer brainwaves from a moose into Jonathan. The experiment seemed to work as Jonathan started mooing. But then he broke his shackles and walked out the door. He was able to get far away from the lab before his moose urges took over. He grazed, he mauled, and he ...ahh.. mated. With a moose. His seed impregnated the moose, and she gave birth to a human-looking baby - Martin Sprinkles. After a while, Jonathan remembered he was human and went back to find his human wife. At his cabin, he ran into Dr. Geneius, who had heard he had a child and he wanted the child too. Jonathan put up a fight, but ended being shot in the head and shouler, possibly more. Severely injured, Jonathan was taken to Geneius's lab where the doctor turned him into a cyborg. Jonathan's genetic makeup had changed from the previous moose experiment, and caused him to physically change into a moose man, now a cyborg moose man - Cyber Sprinkles.
Back in Quadropolis, Sprinkles is fighting the henchmen. The first one lands a punch, but Sprinkles rips out his eye, and then throws it down the mouth of another henchman, who then gets gored by Sprinkles's antler.
===Issue #12 (1996)===
This issue featured a color cover, and first few pages are colored too, the first Vigilante Comic to showcase full color. Also it contains a page up front - Sprinkles: Future News. This edition mentions the Sprinkles web site, hosted by Boston University, where Matt (and Mike) were pursuing higher education.
In the story, Sprinkles is fighting Buckethead's henchemn. The first one takes a shot at Sprinkles and grazes his head. Sprinkles takes a battle axe to him, chopping off his head. Sprinkles grabs the next henchmen, throws him up in the air and catches him on his jagged antlers. Buckethead complains that he'll never be a great crime lord again if Sprinkles keeps killing all his henchmen. Potted Plant Man can be seen in the background in a window sill.
The blob then comes in, out of control. N. Sane yells for Buckethead to escape with him in the Sane-o-Copter. The heroes try to plan their next move against the blob, when Jack arrives in the jet. Jack, who has now grown a goatee, turns on the after burners and burns up the blob. The crisis averted, Kenpo and Mr. Fabulous leave. Jack tells Sprinkles that he's got a lot to tell him, but just then Peter Pecker steps in and takes their picture with a huge flash. The two heroes are temporarily blinded.
The issue ends with a Moose Mail Bag, where Matt prints questions from "readers" and answers any questions they have. This issue features a letter from Stan Lee.
===Issue #13 (1996)===
This issue is titled "More Villains Than You Can Shake a Stick At". It starts with a chainsaw wielding killer (named Buzz) on a rooftop. He says he's been paid to take out. Another killer has been hired to go after Smith, too. His name is Red. The killers decide to attack at the same time.
Inside a building, Smith tells his fears that he's being targetted to Jack and Sprinkles. Just then the chainsaw wielding killer jumps through the window. He trips and falls on his face, amidst the broken glass. Red shows up in the room at that point.
Meanwhile, downstairs in the same building, the elevator controller lets in a man with hypnotic glasses (Mr. Hypno). He hypnotizes the worker to take his clothes.
Back at the fight, Red tells Sprinkles this is not his concern, he's after Smith. After some squabbling, both Red and the chainsaw guy go after Smith.
Outside, McSpidey is coordinating an attack on the heroes with Boner (formerly That Bike Dude) and Weaseline (formerly Wolverspleen). Boner and Weaseline disguise themselves as pizza delivery men and go into the building. They discover the de-clothed elevator operator and decide to take the stairs. They make it to the hallway outside the apartment where Sprinkles, Jack and Smith are, and they run into Mr. Hypno.
This issue also features Sprinkles: Future News, and the Moose Mail Bag, and the cover features a Stan Lee parody, Dan Pee.
===Issue #14 (Unfinished)===
Issue #14 of AOSTPM was never completed, but 5 pages were pencilled and partially inked. Entitled "Grudge Match!", it continued the story in Issue #13 as Buzz and Red continue their assault on Ex-Officer Smith. Meanwhile, Jack takes on Boner and Weaseline while McSpidey shows up for revenge against Sprinkles. Sprinkles and McSpidey begin to battle and that's where the story ends.
From Matt: I'm not too sure where I was going with the overall McSpidey story, but Buzz, Red and Mr. Hypno would eventually team up in later issues. The team would also later include a character called Stryker. Prior to this issue, none of these guys had ever met, but they were all ex-convicts who were actually put away by Smith and Sprinkles but innocent of their crimes. After meeting each other and getting defeated by Smith and Sprinkles in issues 13-whenever, they would have eventually gone on to form a vigilante team called The Unforgiven. All of the members of this team started life as doodles in the margins of my college notebooks.
I can't remember now who the mysterious person was who put the price on Smith's head, and I may never have known. Looking at the unfinished pages now, even issue #14 started losing coherence as it progressed.
Category:Comic title