Jason Adams points out that Kemlo is wearing a PETA shirt.

This is a homage/pastiche to, oh, any number of 1960s superhero cartoons and comics (see: Superfriends, etc), where the heroes sidekicks sum up their adventure at the end of an episode/issue, and one of the heroes’ sidekicks closes out the issue/episode with a “funny” one-liner.

I thought the following too obvious to mention, but a number of people wrote in to give the names, so I'm going to list them once and for all. The Seven Sentinels are analogues for DC's Justice League of America (although as Ronald Byrd points out, there are eight members of the Seven Sentinels--perhaps similar to the misnumbering of DC's Seven Soldiers of Victory?). The Scarlet Sceptre is the Green Lantern, the Black Boomerang is the Green Arrow, Atoman & Atomaid are Superman & Supergirl, the Hound & the Pup are Batman & Robin, the Kingfisher & Bluejay have no real parallel, the Sizzler & Scorchy are Flash & Kid Flash, Davy Jones & Davy Jones Jr. are Aquaman (by way of Popeye) and Aqualad, Sun Woman is Wonder Woman, and M'rggla is the Martian Manhunter.

Panel 1. Is it just me, or is the projector the head of a Dalek, one of Dr. Who’s cyborg enemies? (You know, the “Exterminate!” ‘bots.) Others seem to agree with me. (David Alexander McDonald corrects my original error about the Dalek's ontological status.)

Ronald Byrd notes that the "Sentinel Satellite" is similar to the JLA's satellite headquarters, and that Atoman's first name, "Craig," is short and one syllable, like Superman's.

Panel 3. Astro Citizen points out that “Nox the Nebula Drinker” is probably an analogue for Marvel’s planet-eating Galactus (or, as Ronald Byrd points out, DC's Sun Eater or other cosmic threats).

Panel 1. Honesty compels me to admit that I wouldn’t have gotten all of the rooftop scene, so I’ll give credit to James A. Wolf, who said the following: “It's a rooftop concert- like 'Let it Be' with the Beatles.  There's Ringo (From Yellow Submarine) on the drums.  Accompanying him are the Beetle (Marvel) Blue Beetle (DC) and a GI who can only be Beetle Bailey!” David Alexander McDonald notes "On Ringo's drums you can see "Blues Bee--" -- aside from the obvious part (Blue Beetles), this refers to the original name for the Beatles -- the Silver Beatles."

Invisigoth points out the presence of the Sanctum Sanctorum of Marvel's Dr. Strange.

Panel 2. The only graffiti I can make out is “Sigue Sigue Robotn–“ which is a reference to, among other things, the late 1980s/early 1990s techno-lite band Sigue Sigue Sputnjk, who in turn got their name from Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange. Marcelo de Castro Bastos says that "The "TEX" graffitti on the uper left corner bears some resemblance to the logo of the bestselling Italian western comic "Tex," edited by Sergio Bonelli Editore. OK, it's not identical (the "T" crossbar doesn't meld into the "X" like in the logo) but the general shape is similar."

Panel 5. The use here of the “cosmic reset button” is very similar to some other continuity-altering crises, such as DC’s Zero Hour and Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Panel 1. I don’t get the graffiti here, sorry. Anyone?

Bala Menon notes the "Yello Bastard" graffiti and wonders if it's a reference to Frank Miller's That Yellow Bastard. Richard East and Dennis Wood note that it's probably also a reference to the F. Outcault "Yellow Kid" character.

Panel 5. The only graffiti I understand here is “Poppupian,” a reference to the shapechanging race of Marvel’s Impossible Man. (Dave Joll points out that "Poppupian" is in the Impossible Man's signature colors, green and purple.) Bala Menon notes "Mean Machine" graffiti, a reference to Judge Dredd's enemy. Jason Adams wonders if that's a Cyberman head (they're another Dr. Who enemy) on the wall.

Panel 1. Walking along the sidewalk is DC’s Bobo the Detective Chimp.

Panel 6. Invisigoth says, "Personally, Joe's joke about blowing up when asked the right questions smacks of all those old Star Trek episodes where the super-computer makes the fatal mistake of talking to Kirk and trying to answer his questions."

Panel 1. The newspaper’s name, “Nova Express,” is a reference to the William S. Burroughs’ novel Nova Express. The logo for the “Nova Express,” as Astro Citizen points out, is the same as the Marvel hero Nova. Bala Menon points out what I should have remembered, that the Nova Express was also used in Moore's Watchmen. Ronald Byrd and Dave Joll note that Nova actually called his delivery service this. Ronald also deciphered the newspaper headline: "The headline reads "Golden Age and Modern Clinton Team Up," a reference to team-ups between the two Flashes, the two Green Lanterns, and so on." Cap'n Ben Hilton adds that this is based on an old article in The Onion.

Panel 1. Ronald Byrd says, "Cephalo the Subjugator is probably a reference to Starro the Conqueror, who was the JLA's opponent in their first appearance."

Panel 4. I was unaware of the provenance of "short-eyes," but Kieran Cowan says that it's real world prison/criminal slang for a child molester.

Panel 2. Ronald Byrd says, "The fact that the Scarlet Sceptre has only one weakness, hyperradiation, is reminiscent of the silver age Green Lantern's sole weakness to yellow."

Panels 1-4. The lyrics of “Like a Pistol” are references to the stereotypical aspects of supervillains. Ronald Byrd points out that "The music group the Snoopy Girlfriends is a reference to such prying female leads as Lois Lane, Vicki Vale, and others."

Jim McNamara says "The "Like a Pistol" musical sequence, beginning on pg. 11 and continuing through the capture of the Wonder Woman-esque character, reminded me very much of the television show "Homicide: Life on the Street." "Homicide" often had music play over action sequences, with little to no dialogue save for the lyrics. Again, I'm not sure if this was delibrate, but found it interesting nonetheless."

Panel 1. The murals/paintings on the wall are done in the style of the ancient Greeks, most likely as a reference to the pedophilic aspects of some of that culture and as a counterpoint to “Sun Woman,” who herself has a Greek name (Delia Spyros).

Panel 2. Cap'n Ben Hilton, among many others, sees similarities between the girls here and the large girl on the right and the Holiday Girls & Etta Candy, the Golden Age Wonder Woman's girl sidekicks.

Panel 1. I had a long day of teaching undergrads and couldn’t identify any of the flying folks. Luckily, Astro Citizen was better than I, and contributed this: “In flight we see (just going off the page) one of the Super Trio from the "Big Guy & Rusty" 'toon, the Blue Falcon's car(?), the gargoyle-looking girl from DC's Omega Men, and Japan's Gigantor.” (Fonzie thinks it's Tetsujin 28, not Gigantor.)

As will be mentioned in panel 2, this is Sentinel Spire, a reference to the various headquarters of the JLA, on whom the Seven Sentinels are based. Astro Citizen notes, "Also, the Sentinel Spire, with the merged S and 7 at the top, looks based upon the most recent Fantastic Four skyscraper, with the giant 4s lining the top of the building." Doug Tonks sees the Sentinel logo, the merged S and 7, as resembling the logo of DC's Sovereign Seven.

Lancelot Falk says that the flying car is the Impossibles', from the eponymous Hanna-Barbera cartoon.

Panel 3. The array of trophies is a reference to the JLA’s trophy halls. The reference, by the Wolfspider, to the Sentinel's last base being not convenient, is a reference to the JLA's habit of putting their headquarters in hard-to-reach places, like geosynchronous orbit and on the moon. (Ronald Byrd says it's a more specific reference to the JLA's original hq, in a cave.)

Astro Citizen pointed out that the model behind the "secretary" seems to be the Hulk-meets-Cthulhu. Bala Menon notes that "You've got a slightly modified Kanjar Ro's Slave-Ship of Space there, not to mention one of the Key's Keys. Hmm ... the Gentleman Ghost's hat?" Richard East thinks that the ship is "the boat from Horus Lord of Light."

Panel 4. Richie “Taps” Minelli, with his habit of verbally drumming and his hepcat delivery, is a reference to Snapper Carr, the sidekick of the Silver Age JLA. Ronald Byrd says, "Minelli is dressed in green plaid, which was for a long time the color of choice for Johnny Thunder of the Justice Society, who played a role in the JSA somewhat similar to Snapper's in the JLA."

Panel 5. Ronald Byrd says, "I'm not sure what the statue in the Sentinels' rec room is supposed to be a reference to; it appears to be a man stealing a child from a woman who is holding another child, but beyond the obvious child-molestation motif its meaning is unclear to me.  Notice that the Scarlet Sceptre is wearing a miniature of his sceptre on a necklace; Davy Jones's pipe is nearby." I'm fairly certain that the statue is a duplicate of a classical statue, but I can't recall which one it is.

Science Dad says, "Didn't anyone notices the Scarlet Sceptre's AE: James NILE ( a famous river) is coincidentally similar to that of Green Lantern: Hal JORDAN (another famous river)?" To which Herbert West responded, "Along the same name correlation that Science Dad noted, the Hal JORDAN - James NILE similarity: The guy with the trick boomerangs, a Green Arrow type, in named Gilbert MARCHIONESS (a female term for Marquis, i.e. a nobleman), to go along with Oliver QUEEN."

Panel 2. Bala Menon notes that “The locker they found stuff in probably belongs to Davy Jones :-)"

Panel 5. “Jonah Hex Mex” is apparently a Mexican restaurant run by irascible DC cowboy bounty hunter Jonah Hex.

I can’t make out the sign to the immediate right of Harry “The Word” Lovelace.

“Green Apple Green Grocer” is a reference to the Green Lantern/Green Arrow comic book, whose logo was done in this way. “Neal O’Neil, Prop.” is a reference to Neal Adams and Denny O’Neil, the artist and writer who made the Lantern/Arrow book great (for a short time).

“Good Vibranium” is a reference to “good vibrations” and the Marvel Comics super-element “vibranium,” which absorbs vibrations.

Note the synthetic person, similar to the dearly-departed Sung “Girl One” Li, in the lower right. Jason Adams and Dave Joll wonder if they are Marvel's Cloak and Dagger.

Panel 3. With Lomax, the Hound, being the Batman analogue of the Seven Sentinels, the butler would be an Alfred analogue. As a few people pointed out, including Kieran Cowan, the butler is drawn to resemble Michael Gough, who played Alfred in the most recent series of Batman movies.

Panel 5. The Hound’s trophies and alternate costumes are similar to Batman’s, as the Hound’s Kennel is similar to Batman’s Bat-Cave.

Panel 1. The Hound-mobile? Lenny, among many others, adds that the various objects in the room have analogues to those in the Bat-Cave, including analogues of the Riddler, Joker, Penguin, the Giant-Penny, and the giant robot T-Rex. Jason Adams and John Dorrian wonder if the giant coin is a big dog collar. John Dorrian notes that the Penguin here seems to be the Jack-a-Dandy from Moore's Supreme. Richard East notes that the toy elephant ride on the far left is from Moore's The Killing Joke.

Panel 1. Invisigoth says, "The hound doesn't appear to have watched those old Batman and Robin public safety commercials that tell the audience to buckle up. If he made those things too, it's just another way of showing he's a hypocrite."

Panel 2. David Alexander McDonald says, "The showdown between the Houndmobile and Duane echoes the showdown between Batman (in the Batwing) and the Joker in the Batman movie, when the Joker pulls out a ludicrously huge gun and shoots the Batwing down, knocking himself off his feet as he does so."

Panel 2. “Slick Willy: no friction spray” is a play on Bill Clinton's label of "Slick Willy." That label, in turn, was the Republican response to Ronald Reagan’s deserved label, the “Teflon President.” Just as Reagan’s many misdeeds never seemed to affect his popularity, at least while he was in office, so to did Bill Clinton’s misdeeds not affect his popularity. The “no friction spam” also refers to the frictionless field surrounding DC’s Flash.

“Stuffit Rings: Holds up to 5 cu. ft.” is a reference to the costume-containing ring of the Silver Age Flash.

“General Immortus” is a reference to the immortal enemy of DC’s Silver Age Doom Patrol. He is combined with a version of GE’s logo.

Astro Citizen added: “The customers in the Quick Shop giving the Sizzler the stink-eye are a purple Flash, the Bionic Woman and the Six Million Dollar Man (remember the lame fast-running sequences?), and the Kingdom Come Kid Flash. "El Bandito" is either a human Speedy Gonzales or Go-Go Gomez from the Dick Tracy cartoons. “

Bracket Creep said that it's actually the Frito Bandito, and that "The guy in the pink hat in the lower right is Speedy Alka-Seltzer, of TV commercials older than I am."

Fonzie pointed out the presence of a lottery ticket with the logo of the Fantastic Four, on the wall below the Lotto ad.

Lenny points out that the age to buy alcohol is 23, based on the sign on the wall on the left.

Jeff Bar says, "The Aisle 5 overhang lists "Hi-Cal" foods, the opposite of the Lo-Cal section you might find in normal supermarkets; which is, of course appropriate for the nutritional needs of the speedster patrons of the Quick-Shop."

James A. Wolf points out the presence of the 6 Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman below and to the right of the "Slick Willy" sign. Tony Williams says, "To the right of the Kingdom Come Kid Flash, under the GE sign is the head of Marvel's Quicksilver looking over the stack of stuff - you can tell by the hair licks."

Panel 2. Astro Citizen points out that the car is Dastardly and Muttly’s car from Wacky Races.

Panel 1. Ronald Byrd says, "Here we see an example of one of the less-mentioned powers of Superman and Supergirl (and thus of Atoman and Atomaid): super-ventriloquism."

Panel 2. Atoman (the name of a real Golden Age hero, by the way), being the Sentinels’ Superman analogue, has a Fortress of Solitude analogue, as seen here. We can even see the farm couple who were presumably his childhood parents, as the Kents were Superman’s. A Bottle City of Kandor-like city is visible in the lower right.  Astro Citizen adds that “obscured by the golden spaceship is an homage to one of those "Secret origin of the Batman/Superman team-up" stories, and the bronze statue is of Geezer, a Li'l Abner-meets-Superman character from Superman #25 (1943).”

Invisigoth says, "The booth by the Japanese armor is set up to resemble the chamber that robbed Superman of his powers Superman II, but it might just be made up to resemble the sound-proof booths used in the 50s rigged game-shows. The Japanese Armor may be a homage to the warsuit Superman kept in his Fortress of Solitude."

Jason Adams points out that one of the pictures on the wall seems to depict Atoman personally dropping an atomic bomb on Japan; John Trumbull sees a resemblance between his pose in that picture and the cover of Action Comics #1. Doug Tonks sees the poster as being "a typical Shuster Superman pose (Superman 4, Superman 10, Action 45, etc.)."

John Trumbull also says, "The giant book behind the statues of Atoman's parents is also similar to the diary the pre-Crisis Superman kept in his Fortress of Solitude.  He would transcribe his thoughts onto it in Kryptonese."

John Dorrian and Gary Greenwood note that the samurai is the robot samurai from Terry Gilliam's Brazil.

Panel 3. “M. Mallah” is a reference to the DC’s villainous talking ape. (Thanks to the many people who corrected my original howler on this one.) As a few folks pointed out, the joke is that Monsieur Mallah is a French ape, and a brasserie is a French cafe.

David Alexander McDonald notes that the half-track on the left is another Wacky Races vehicle. Lancelot Falk notes that it's the Army Surplus Special.

Panel 4. Just as Superman’s Fortress of Solitude is built of invulnerable material, so too is Atoman’s Fallout Shelter built of invulnerable “impregnium.”

Panel 2. “Stanley Lieber’s Hyper Bowling” is a reference to Stan Lee’s (real name: Stanley Lieber) tendency towards hyperbole.

“Amazo Copying” is a reference to the ability of DC’s robotic villain Amazo to copy the powers of the Justice League.

Panel 3. “Asimov’s Laws” are more commonly referred to as the “Three Laws of Robotics.” Coined by writer Isaac Asimov, they are:
1.A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2.A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3.A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

John Trumbull says, "I think it's also interesting to note that Joe Pi asks about Asimov's laws on page 25 right before he breaks the first law by subtly persuading Atoman to commit suicide.  And Joe Pi is quite skilled at siege negotiation, as we saw in issue #11.  This, combined with his "accidental" disabling of his taping system, leaves little doubt that Joe knew exactly what he was doing here."

Panel 5. The little suit in the bottle on the right is similar to Mr. Mxyzptlk’s, the superpowered imp who periodically bedevils Superman.  Astro Citizen adds, “the three cylinders on the right show the costume of Mr. Mxyzptlk, the super-hero costume of Judy Jordan (a Lana Lang-analogue from Supreme), and ??? (Yosemite Sam in outer space?). Beneath them is Darius Dax's robot and a Mars Attacks/Toy Story thing that looks like something from Squeek the Supremouse's hole, both from Alan's run on Supreme.”

Kieran Cowan sees the suits in the bottle as being cereal mascots': Lucky the Leprechaun and Captain Crunch. Guy Hoyle wonders if the "Yosemite Sam" costume is a reference to "Superman's worst foe ever, Terra-Man, the cowboy with the atomic 6-guns and the winged horse!"

Panel 1. Atoman’s vulnerability to differently-colored soundwaves is analogous to the pre-Crisis vulnerability of Superman to differently-colored kryptonite.

Panel 2. Astro Citizen notes, “The Room of Sounds may be in reference to Superman's never-named room of Kryptonite samples.”

Panel 6. Jason Adams notes the presence of the plow on the right, possibly the same one that Superman used at the end of Kingdom Come.

Panel 5. Kieran Cowan sees similarities between Atoman's end here and Superman's end in Moore's "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?"

Panel 5. “My Stereo” is a reference to Marvel’s sfx villain Mysterio, whose helmet and chest buttons are similar to the “My Stereo” sign logos.

Invisigoth says, "I believe the RV behind Joe's legs is Evel Knievel's motor home that parents would not buy me when I was little."

Panel 4. Not getting these references, sorry. Help! (I think that's Marvel's Skurge on the far left, entering the building.) Fonzie notes the Shoveler, from Mysterymen. Kenneth Graves notes that along with the Shoveler is Screwball and Jackpot, also from Mysterymen and wonders if that's H.R. Puffenstuff being brought in. Richard Schwerdtfeger says, "That is definitely H.R. Pufnstuff being arrested. The midget cops' names escape me right now (Klink and Klank?), but they are from the same show too." Tynne Fanel identifies the cops as Cling and Clang.

Gmoney23 says, "the guy between Screwball and the Shoveler is Wally Tortellini from Justice League vol 2 issue#40-something, where down on his luck gambler Wally Tortellini wins various super-villain's weapons from them in a card game such as: Sonar's sound gun (which is the only one I can remember of hand) and others as well."

To my MSTie (Club Member #40002) shame Astrocitizen caught the Satellite of Love before I did. The Satellite, on the billboard on the right-hand edge of the panel, is from Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Panel 1. As a number of people pointed out, correcting my overly-simple note, that's a combination of DC's Blue Devil and Marvel's Daredevil swinging by on the right.

Panel 2. On the far right, in the wheelchair, is Dr. Strangelove, from the eponymous film. I don’t know who that is with him; Astro Citizen calls him “another Dr. Octopus sight gag.”

Panel 3. On the right is Eddie Murphy as Dr. Dolittle. I’m blanking on the other two figures with him. Kieran Cowan, among several others (including Richard East), wonders if the man on the right might be Rex Harrison as Dr. Dolittle. Kenneth Graves wonders if that's Marvel's Man-Wolf between them. If there's a medicine-related joke about Man-Wolf, I'm unaware of it. Perhaps he can't communicate with ordinary humans, thus requiring the presence of Drs. Dolittle?

Panel 1. Not getting these references apart from Reuben Flagg, from Howard Chaykin’s American Flagg, next to the stop sign. Oh, and that’s Laura Merkel, from Kyle Baker’s Why I Hate Saturn, on the far right, reading the My Neopolitan.

Brenda Clough wondered if the Topo who owns the restaurant is the Topo who was Aquaman's octopus sidekick during the Silver Age. Bala Menon also i.d.ed Topo, and added,

Raoul (cat with the bowtie) would be Reuben Flagg's cat. The two guys on the left look like analogs of Matt Wagner's Mage characters ... the Kevin Matchstick and the Kirby Hero analogs, specifically. The middle couple look familiar ... Mike W. Barr's Maze Agency, perhaps?

Gsstro points out that the man leaning over next to Reuben Flagg's child is a miscolored C.K. Blitz, also from American Flagg. Several people pointed out that the two lamp-like things behind him are Blitz's bodyguards, also from American Flagg. Herbert West adds that the bodyguards' names are Bert and Ernie.

Panel 4. Bala Menon notes, "The guy's facemask looks reminiscent of Marvel's Orka, another underwater character (appropriately enough for the seafood restaurant)."

Panel 6. Is that one of those Dragonball Z characters, cooking? Kenneth Graves identifies him as Goku.

Richard Schwerdtfeger points out that "Behind Kemlo's head might be Merman, from He-man and the Masters of the Universe."

Panel 1. Invisigoth says, "Notice how high the speedometer readout on Traynor's car goes. He drives one suped up hotrod."

Panel 2.  Guy Hoyle says, "Traynor's car looks a lot like one of those plastic model car kits you used to see advertised in comics in the 1970s. Sorry, don't remember the names of the cars or the companies."

Panel 4. Is that “Chateau Nefaria,” a reference to Marvel’s crime family Nefarias, on the wine bottle?

Panel 1. Kieran Cowan notes that Traynor's lover is an analogue of Hans Hendrickson of the airman Blackhawks. Bala Menon notes that "Pierre from the Skysharks sounds like Andre of the Blackhawks. And it looks like he wound up with Mademoiselle Marie."

Panel 3. Bala Menon says, "Since Skyshark's named Wulf, this sounds like a close analog to Airwolf (who was one of Airboy's partners)."

Panel 5. On the left are Dorothy, Jack Pumpkinhead, the Gump, Tiktok, and possibly some other characters from the Oz books. (Jason Adams and Rejustus add that they are seen as they appear in the Return to Oz.) To the right is the Great Glass Elevator from Roald Dahl’s Willie Wonka and the Great Glass Elevator. To the right of the Elevator are Peter Pan, Tinkerbell (thanks to Doug Tonks for pointing this out) and Wendy and John and Michael Darling from J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan.  Below and to the right of that is the flying Car Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang.  Above that is the famous silhouette from ET.

Invisigoth wonders if that's the Leaning Tower of Pisa behind Wendy Darling. Stephen Mellor identifies the character on the far right as the protagonist from Maurice Sendak's In the Night Kitchen; Jean Rogers identifies said protagonist as Mickey. Tom Wu adds that his plane is one he made himself from dough, and that it's for sale at Amazon.com at this page.

As Alicia and NME noted, Kemlo's shirt says, "Who Let Me Out," a reference to the insanely popular song, "Who Let the Dogs Out?"

Jason Adams points out the presence of a sword on Smax's back. This would be the singing sword from issue #6, page 5, panel 3.

Thanks to: Alicia, as always; Jason Adams; Roosta Adsit; Astro Citizen; Jeff Bar; Marcelo de Castro Bastos; Bracket Creep; Michael Brown; Ronald Byrd; Brenda Clough; Kieran Cowan; John Dorrian; Richard East; Lancelot Falk; Tynne Fanel; Fonzie; Richard Franklin; Gmoney23; Kenneth Graves; Gary Greenwood; Gsstro; Cap'n Ben Hilton; Guy Hoyle; Invisigoth; Dave Joll; Matthew Krull; Lenny; John Lynch; David Alexander McDonald; Jim McNamara; Stephen Mellor; Bala Menon; NME; Rejustus; Chris Roberson; Richard Schwerdtfeger; Science Dad; Semicyon; Doug Tonks; John Trumbull; Herbert West; Tony Williams; James A. Wolf; Tom Wu.

Notes to Issue #1
Notes to Issue #2
Notes to Issue #3
Notes to Issue #4
Notes to Issue #5
Notes to Issue #6
Notes to Issue #7
Notes to Issue #8
Notes to Issue #9
Notes to Issue #10
Notes to Issue #11
Notes to Issue #12
Notes to Deadfellas
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