Pinky and the Brain: March 1997
Cover
Drawn by: Walter Carzon and Mike DeCarlo
The Brain is dressed up as a mummy, awakened, slavering, and on a rampage. He's standing in front of a background of hieroglyphics carved into a stone wall. The logo is carved, as well.
Credits
Synopsis
A small basket floats down the Nile River in ancient Egypt. A woman lifts it from the water, to reveal Pinky and the Brain on their way to the Pyramids. The plan is to plunder the treasure within them, and gain power with the riches. The Brain has one half of an ancient amulet with a map to the treasure; the other hangs around the Pharaoh's neck. The Brain is inspired by the natives' superstition, and decides to disguise himself as the mummy of an ancient Pharaoh to gain access to the palace.
Once disguised, the Brain goes up one side of the pyramid, and Pinky attracts a crowd to the other. The Brain's dramatic entrance is spoiled when he falls down the pyramid, but he manages to get the current Pharaoh's attention anyway. He says that he will prove his claim to be an ancient Pharaoh by visiting three curses on the city before nightfall. The Pharaoh agrees.
After Pinky gets him some supplies, the Brain makes the first curse happen: he turns the Nile blood-red. The Pharaoh calls for a cup of the transformed water, and has one of his subjects drink it, only to discover that the red fluid is not blood, but rather cherry soda: Pinky has substituted cheeries for yak's blood in the recipe. The Brain fast-talks his way out of it. The next curse is supposedly a plague of locusts, but Pinky has substituted coconuts, which fall on the crowd. As the sun sets, an eclipse starts, and the Brain claims he has caused it. The crowd hails him as the returned Pharaoh, and the current Pharaoh gives him the other half of the amulet.
The Brain enters the pyramid, and the current Pharaoh follows him. He accuses him of being un-Pharaoh-like, and the Brain replies that only a true Pharaoh would know how to gain access to the riches. He opens the door and falls down the staircase, coming unwrapped in the process. The Pharaoh sees this, and banishes the mice. They join the Exodus, across the Red Sea, which has parted...
Did You Notice...
The title, and some of the plot elements, refer to the film The Man Who Would Be King.- The credits panel is done pictorially, in the style of ancient hieroglyphics. The drawings show each stage of the process of creating a comics story.
- Pinky's building a sand model of the Eiffel Tower as the Brain explains his plan.
- Billy Mumy appeared in the early 60s TV series Lost in Space. He currently does some voice acting for cartoons, including the Kids WB series Superman.
- Walk Like an Egyptian was The Bangles' biggest hit, in 1986. The video showed people walking as Pinky does in the next-to-last panel on page 4. (BC)
- The current Pharaoh's appearance refers to Yul Brynner, who played that role in The Man Who Would Be King.
- Fizzies were an instant drink tablet, which could be added to a glass of water to make a carbonated drink. They were available until the 70s, at least, though I haven't seen them in some time.
- The parting of the Red Sea is shown as it was in the film Exodus. The curses are taken from that story as well.
Technical nits
The Brain's wrapping is a little inconsistent: sometimes it covers his cheeks, sometimes not.- "Possess" is misspelled on page 10. (EC)
- There's an empty word balloon in the last panel on page 11. (DG)
Credits
Synopsis
The Brain has discovered an important fact about the most powerful men in the world: they all have belonged to the same fraternity, Kappa Delta Gamma. The plan for tonight is simple: They will join the local chapter of that fraternity and capture the distinguished alumni when they visit.
They arrive on campus just as the Dean's leaving. He's ordered a cleanup in the fraternity's ways, and they're looking for a new leader who won't interfere with their fun. The Brain is tailor-made for the job. Before assuming his position as leader, he must go through initiation: he has to read all of Hamlet's soliloquies backwards while standing in the middle of campus with a pair of harem pants on his head. This accomplished, the mice are declared members of the fraternity, and Pinky is named president. This is sufficient for the Brain's plan.
At the initiation party, Pinky starts a game of Presidents, which quickly turns into a discussion of the powers of the executive and legislative branches of the US government. This turns out to be a Good Thing the next day, when the essay question on the test is that very thing. The fraternity brothers listen respectfully when the Brain prompts Pinky to suggest calling all their distinguished alumni together for the homecoming parade, and gain commitments from a good number of them.
The theme of the parade is announced as "Better Living Through Science". The Brain quickly comes up with the design for the parade float: a cage on top of a car, which can be made to lock its occupants inside. The distinguished alumni arrive and get in the cage. The frat brothers have one more thing for the Brain's initiation: he gets to play the lab mouse on top of the cage.
They enter the parade, and Pinky, who is driving, has a minor problem: he can't see a thing. He tries anyway, but loses control when he throws the switch to lock the cage, and then shocks the Brain when he applies the electricity to the cage bars. The float crashes, and the distinguished alumni escape, foiling the Brain's plan once again.
Did You Notice...
- The plot is loosely based on the film Animal House. Otis Day and the Knights performed at a party given by the fraternity in that film, and a major test and a parade float were crucial plot points.
- The distinguished alumni, at the bottom of page 26: Rush Limbaugh, George Bush, Bill Clinton, Saddam Hussein, and Prince Charles.
- The Stanislavski Technique is an acting method that calls for the actor to put himself in the frame of mind of the character. It's very simple for the Brain to put himself in the frame of mind of a lab mouse.
Technical nits
- This issue arrived two weeks late, on the Wednesday after Martin Luther King Day in the US. One poster to Usenet took this fact and the three Ks in the initiation scene on page 22 and decided that the story was a thinly veiled slam at the Ku Klux Klan. Nobody I've spoken to knows where he got this idea; it was certainly not intended. The delay in publication was caused by a mixup with the artwork.
- The distinguisned alumni's clothing and hair vary in detail and color as the story progresses.
Jay Maynard, jmaynard@phoenix.net
Last updated 27 March 1997