"Final Detention"
"Bait and Cackle"
"Birth of a Salesman"
Writers: Eric Rogers; Tony Digerolamo; James Bates
Artists (p, i, c): John Costanza, Phylis Novin, Nathan Hamil;Phil Oritz, Patric Owlsey; Hamil; John Delaney, Novin, Art Villanueva
Publisher: Bongo
In "Birth of a Salesman" Bates employs a time-honored Bugs Bunny scheme for Bart to sell what appears to be unsellable. Bart probably would have bowed out were there not be a principle at stake--namely the designation of best salesman of the class, which is contested by Nelson and Milhouse. Throw away gags service the story's central comedy theme well, and the joke involving Burns and Smithers is a sure-fire gut-buster.
The art by Delaney, Novin and Art Villanueva brings to the table sharp detail which enhances the humor of the mcguffin. Of particular note is the body language that issues the embarrassment Bart feels after failing and failing again as well as the aftermath of the fight that ensues over Bart's technique.
Tony Digerolamo takes a traditional father and son excursion and turns it into pure slapstick merriment, which is hilariously directed in an over the top fashion by Ortiz and Novin while Hamil provides some unusually subdued rustic colors.
The story that simply wowed me belongs to Eric Rogers. At first I thought "Final Detention" was merely a clever concoction making smart use of a curse nuanced with a grade school setting. Then it hit me. "Final Detention" spoofed the last act of Jaques Tourneur's horror classic Curse of the Demon. In it the runes scrawled on a slip of paper serve as a magical homing device for the Demon, and this scrap of paper takes on a life of its own though the final act.
In Rogers' story a supernatural detention slip seeks out Bart. Though whomever the slip passes to winds up in the hell of detention. Costanza provides some very animated Simpson doings for this tale. The more physical comedy takes a backseat to what is essentially action over a minor punishment raised to the nth degree.
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