Title: "Home Ecch!"
Story (out of 24 pages): 6 p.
Writer: Nathan E. Stowe
Penciller: Scott J. Hanna
Letterer: J. Antwon Shea
Colorist: Newton E. Haas
Summary:
To get a needed credit to graduate from high-school, Jon and Larry take a home economics class. However, following the steps to prepare a simple cake recipe gives them no end of trouble--and it doesn't help that this project is nearly half their grade! Will they rise, fall flat, or just be ill-bred and loaf their way through the class because they simply don't have the crust?
Notes
page 1. Trivia: The number to the home ec room is 406A. This refers to this story's production code, #DABF-06a.
page 1. Jon alludes to the Archie comics--specifically the 1987 live-action TV movie Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again (aka "Return to Riverdale") in which Archie Andrews and his classmates have grown up and are attending their 15-year class reunion. The Archie kids have indeed been around better than fifty years, having debuted in 1941, yet are still most often depicted as teens.
page 1. "Julia Kidd" is a caricature/parody of famed TV chef Julia Child, perhaps best known for her high (and oft-mimicked) baritone voice, who passed away in August of 2002. The "brandy" gag, besides setting up an obvious cameo, refers to Child's reported love of spirits (although wine is often used in cooking, only a cup or less is required, and not the entire bottle). Child, though a gourmand, did enjoy fast food on occassion (fries were a favorite) and even once suggested that the McDonald's restaurant chain begin offering a selection of adult beverages for more refined palates!
page 1. Scarface was revealed to be taking a home ec class in "Who Decapitated Codger Carbuncle?". This is to date the only story where he or any of the other members of Moneran's gang appear without Monty.
page 3. The gag of a number of people adding yeast to a fomenting batter, unaware that others have done so, was lifted from the Three Stooges' Beer Barrel Polecats (1946).
page 4. One of the HE students bears a striking resemblance to Top Grunge from Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
________________________________________________
Title: "Ketchum's Couch Trip"
Story (out of 24 pages): 6 p.
Writer: Jahnesta T. Owen
Penciller: Scott J. Hanna
Letterer: J. Antwon Shea
Colorist: Annette T. "Jo" Shaw
Summary:
World-renowned pychoanalyst Dr. Zigmund Fraud recieves a new patient: a visibly-stressed Will I. Ketchum. When the doctor mentions the name "Buddy", the dogcatcher freaks out.
Ketchum has a flashback to when he first met his four-legged foe five years ago, when he was a rookie dogcatcher and Buddy was only a puppy. He tells of several more encounters over the years, all of which end badly for him.
The doctor can't help but wonder if it might not be a self-fulfilling philosophy that sets Ketchum up to fail each time. He simply can't believe a cute little pooch can be so horrible...but will an appearance by Buddy himself change Fraud's mind?
Notes
The title is a pun on the comedy The Couch Trip, about a mental asylum escapee (Dan Akyroyd) who pretends to be a radio psychologist (Charles Grodin), and another disturbed character (Walter Matthau) who uses blackmail to horn in on the farce.
The plot bears some resemblance to "Freudy Cat" (McKimson, 1964), which was also set in a psychiatrist's office, was largely told in flashbacks, and ended with a twist. The difference here is, that picture was culled from clips of previous Sylvester/Hippetty Hopper cartoons, and this one is all original animation and writing.
Zigmund Fraud is an obvious parody of Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). He was last seen in a cutaway gag in "Fishy Business".
________________________________________________
Title: "A Rash Decision"
Story (out of 24 pages): 10 p.
Writer: Nathan E. Stowe (j)
Penciller: Ethan W. "Meat" Jackson
Letterer: Jose A. Wheat
Colorist:Theo A. "Jet" Swann
Summary:
Billy has a severe itchy red rash all over his body. His pediatrician suggests it may be caused by stress and--inspired by an idyllic painting of trees and a lake hanging on his wall--advises Josh to take him camping in order to relax. Josh agrees.
However, once the boys get out in the woods, mishap after mishap occurs--mostly because Josh, for all his bluff, doesn't know what he is doing and tends to completely make up or disregard basic safety rules--and just ends up causing Billy more pain and anguish.
Notes
The plot and many of the jokes in the story owe much to the Three Stooges. The concept of taking someone on a trip to relive stress or pain was used in several shorts, such as Idiots Deluxe(1945) and
Pardon My Clutch (1948). The exchange (page 15) about a rash being caused by excessive use of the brain was lifted from the latter, and Billy's line about "lucas sites" (a pun on leucocytes, or white blood cells) on page 16 is a take on the "Paris sites" (parasites) joke from Restless Knights (1935).
The gross-out shot of Billy's rash on page 15 recall the work of John K., known for his very disgusting and detailed closeups of things like hairy butts and rotting teeth in Ren and Stimpy (and not for the first time in this comic, either). Also, Billy's facial expressions when shocked or angry are very reminiscent of Ren's.
The flashbacks include panels from "Fishy Business",
"Ear-Phonies" and
"Small Medium at Large".
________________________________________________
There are two pages of filler in this issue:
"Activity: In the Drink". Unscramble the names of eight soda brands.
"Activity: The Clone Warps". Match the two identical twins in a botched batch of doubles.
|
Look inside! |
![]()
|
Click on the thumbnail to see full-size image. |
|
|
|
This
Site has been designed for 800x600 resolution and Macromedia
Flash Player 5.
________________________________________________________________________________
|
 |
|
|
Billy is sick, and know-it-all big brother Josh decides the sure cure for him is a camping trip. But will he need a vacation to recuperate from his vacation? In "Ketchum's Couch Trip", the man with the net but no gain goes to see a psychiatrist to look for the reasons behind his failure to catch a certain little brown beagle. And Jon really takes the cake--and bakes it, no less--in "Home Ecch!"
