Meanwhile, despairing of their pal ever returning with the promised pork chops, Wackey and Gab have stepped out and are on their way to pick up their own dinner at The Coffee Pot when they abducted at gunpoint by a woman calling herself Circe. Apparently, Circe is simply a misandrist with a particularly bizarre plan for exacting her feminine vengeance.
Despite their skepticism, a quick dosing of Circe's "pig medicine" and Midnight's sidekicks become swinekicks.
We next learn that the mystery man buying all the pork is named Quimby. If you want to get a sense of Quimby, try to imagine an anti-Ron Swanson and I think you'd be pretty spot on.
The next couple of panels are confusing. I think we're to understand that Circe has set up in Doc Gage's basement. Further, we're supposed to divine that Midnight followed Quimby around town, but for some bizarre reason didn't overtake him to demand an explanation until he arrived at Gage's. Mind you, the exact location of Circe's lab is not specified...However, I can't make sense of these panels with any other explanation:
A quick inspection of his late friend, reveals that Gage took a rap to the head...though apparently with more long-lasting consequences. About this time, Midnight spots his caged pals, and Circe is breathless at the prospect of another "pig-man" for her collection.
The femme fatale protests that she didn't kill the doctor, and Midnight compliments her on an "almost convincing" act.
Meanwhile, Sniffer Snoop is still in search of dinner when he spots our old pal Quimby attempting to scale a security fence at the Kirkey Packing Plant. Concluding that the Kirkey Plant will reward him handsomely for capturing a thief in the act, Sniffer gives chase and--like Midnight before him--follows Quimby all the way back to Circe's lab before overtaking him. (Makes one wonder just how fleet of foot that little shrimp Quimby is. After all, he's been running around all day...toting a large amount of pork...and still manages to outrun two regular crimefighters!)
In any event, Sniffer charges in as Circe is delivering her manifesto about the mission to turn all men into pigs...oh yeah, and she totally has no idea what happened to Gage.
Despite getting the drop on her and being armed himself, Sniffer somehow manages to not subdue or shoot the deranged vixen...and even manages to get himself stuck with her porcine transformation serum, and then somehow locked in the cage with Doc and Gabby! (Yeah...real helpful there Sniffter.)
Quimby--who's suddenly reappeared--explains it's getting harder and harder for him to locate meat sources. It's so bad, he pleads, that he had to "risk" swiping his most recent haul from the Kirkey Packing Plant.
At this point, Midnight--who for some inexplicable reason was never locked up or shot or injected by Circe despite all the time she's had him down in her basement laboratory, abruptly decides he's got more important things to do than stop this mad scientist or free any of his caged roommates.
Meanwhile, a distraught Hotfoot decides he can wait no longer for his master and sets out to find Sniffer Snoop. Apparently, the bear cub follows his scent because suddenly el oso blanco arrives at Circe's Lab, where the aforementioned ne'er-do-weller is given to a surprising (and, frankly, kind of unbelievable) fit of panic at his sight!
Circe recovers pretty quick, though. Grabbing the nearest needle, she decides she'll just turn Hotfoot into a pig too. Unfortunately for her, in the melee she gets confused and injects him with the antidote. When Hotfoot, then pursues his piglike master and roomies, the little bear's bites transfer the antidote to them and everyone is returned to normal. (Yeah...because that's how medicine works.)
While Wackey and the others are busy cornering Circe, Midnight is crashing through an office window over at the Kirkey Packing Plant. Just before he does so, Gustavson treats us to an omniscient narrator view of the office interior, explaining just who was behind the fatal attack on Gage.
While delivering his standard beating of the bad guys, Midnight lets Kirkey know that he's owed an extra blow or two for the blackjack slug he gave Midnight back at Dr. Gage's home. Bereft of his muscle, Kirkey promptly surrenders and begins spilling the beans on all his criminal activities. After acknowledging that he clubbed Midnight, the packing plant impresario admits to following Gage to the home of the late vet's lab assistant, where he knocked Gage unconscious and left him in a freezer to die of hypothermia. Suddenly putting two and two together, Midnight leaves Kirkey with the cops and rushes back to Circe's lab.
Upon arrival, he finds all his buddies are back to looking like regular ole hominids. A broken Circe is crying about how she still loves Jim, and it was only her grief that drove her mad. "If only he were still alive!"
This our cue for the improbable wrap-up scene as Doc Wackey announces that Gage is alive. "He just needed a little reviving!"
Despite their skepticism, a quick dosing of Circe's "pig medicine" and Midnight's sidekicks become swinekicks.
We next learn that the mystery man buying all the pork is named Quimby. If you want to get a sense of Quimby, try to imagine an anti-Ron Swanson and I think you'd be pretty spot on.
The next couple of panels are confusing. I think we're to understand that Circe has set up in Doc Gage's basement. Further, we're supposed to divine that Midnight followed Quimby around town, but for some bizarre reason didn't overtake him to demand an explanation until he arrived at Gage's. Mind you, the exact location of Circe's lab is not specified...However, I can't make sense of these panels with any other explanation:
A quick inspection of his late friend, reveals that Gage took a rap to the head...though apparently with more long-lasting consequences. About this time, Midnight spots his caged pals, and Circe is breathless at the prospect of another "pig-man" for her collection.
The femme fatale protests that she didn't kill the doctor, and Midnight compliments her on an "almost convincing" act.
Meanwhile, Sniffer Snoop is still in search of dinner when he spots our old pal Quimby attempting to scale a security fence at the Kirkey Packing Plant. Concluding that the Kirkey Plant will reward him handsomely for capturing a thief in the act, Sniffer gives chase and--like Midnight before him--follows Quimby all the way back to Circe's lab before overtaking him. (Makes one wonder just how fleet of foot that little shrimp Quimby is. After all, he's been running around all day...toting a large amount of pork...and still manages to outrun two regular crimefighters!)
In any event, Sniffer charges in as Circe is delivering her manifesto about the mission to turn all men into pigs...oh yeah, and she totally has no idea what happened to Gage.
 |
| Midnight looks super engaged here, doesn't he? |
Quimby--who's suddenly reappeared--explains it's getting harder and harder for him to locate meat sources. It's so bad, he pleads, that he had to "risk" swiping his most recent haul from the Kirkey Packing Plant.
At this point, Midnight--who for some inexplicable reason was never locked up or shot or injected by Circe despite all the time she's had him down in her basement laboratory, abruptly decides he's got more important things to do than stop this mad scientist or free any of his caged roommates.
Meanwhile, a distraught Hotfoot decides he can wait no longer for his master and sets out to find Sniffer Snoop. Apparently, the bear cub follows his scent because suddenly el oso blanco arrives at Circe's Lab, where the aforementioned ne'er-do-weller is given to a surprising (and, frankly, kind of unbelievable) fit of panic at his sight!
Circe recovers pretty quick, though. Grabbing the nearest needle, she decides she'll just turn Hotfoot into a pig too. Unfortunately for her, in the melee she gets confused and injects him with the antidote. When Hotfoot, then pursues his piglike master and roomies, the little bear's bites transfer the antidote to them and everyone is returned to normal. (Yeah...because that's how medicine works.)
While Wackey and the others are busy cornering Circe, Midnight is crashing through an office window over at the Kirkey Packing Plant. Just before he does so, Gustavson treats us to an omniscient narrator view of the office interior, explaining just who was behind the fatal attack on Gage.
While delivering his standard beating of the bad guys, Midnight lets Kirkey know that he's owed an extra blow or two for the blackjack slug he gave Midnight back at Dr. Gage's home. Bereft of his muscle, Kirkey promptly surrenders and begins spilling the beans on all his criminal activities. After acknowledging that he clubbed Midnight, the packing plant impresario admits to following Gage to the home of the late vet's lab assistant, where he knocked Gage unconscious and left him in a freezer to die of hypothermia. Suddenly putting two and two together, Midnight leaves Kirkey with the cops and rushes back to Circe's lab.
Upon arrival, he finds all his buddies are back to looking like regular ole hominids. A broken Circe is crying about how she still loves Jim, and it was only her grief that drove her mad. "If only he were still alive!"
This our cue for the improbable wrap-up scene as Doc Wackey announces that Gage is alive. "He just needed a little reviving!"
 |
| There's a lot of words you could use to describe a story like this but I don't think "simple" is one of them, Midnight. |
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