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"Of Hunan Bondage" Part 2
Buckaroo Banzai: The Prequel #2
Moonstone
Story: Mac Rauch
Story consultant:
W.D. Richter
Art: W. Chew Chan
Covers: Ken Wheaton and Paul Mounts (A) and Joe Corroney (B) |
Buckaroo and Peggy are captured and tortured by Hanoi Xan for
the secrets of the OSCILLATION OVERTHRUSTER.
Story Summary
Picking up from last issue, Buckaroo and Peggy are captured by
Hanoi Xan's men. Xan then has them both tortured in separate cells
in an attempt to gain the technology of the
OSCILLATION OVERTHRUSTER. Buckaroo finally agrees to build him one in
exchange for Peggy's freedom.
Later, a large Mongolian guard in Xan's employ reveals to
Buckaroo that he is really a Blue Blaze Irregular and will help
him in any way he can. Buckaroo builds a small overthruster
device in an attempt to allow himself to pass through the walls
of Xan's compound. While chomping down on the device in his
mouth, Buckaroo has the Mongolian swing him into his cell wall;
his head and torso pass through and he gets a glimpse of beings
in the 7th dimension before being pulled out again. Just then,
Xan arrives and the two men make a break for it. They head
straight for Peggy's cell, but find it empty. They then manage
to free a number of other captives and they all grab guns to
defend themselves against Xan's men, but are soon cornered and
all looks hopeless.
Meanwhile, Rawhide, Perfect Tommy, Reno, and Illinois Mongoose
have been tracking Buckaroo down, and they crash through the
compound's wall with the Jet Car. This gives Buckaroo the
break he needs to escape, but there are a number of injuries and
Illinois Mongoose later dies from his wounds.
Buckaroo's double, Wilbur, also dies back at the Institute,
having choked on one of Mrs. Johnson's meatballs.
Making it back to the States, Buckaroo and the Cavaliers bury
and remember Illinois Mongoose and Wilbur. They also vow to get
Peggy back from Xan.
THE END
On cover A, Peggy is wearing earrings in the shape of the
stylized BB of the Banzai Institute.
On page 2, Rawhide identifies the tire tracks in the
Changsha desert as Michelins.
Michelin is a French company which manufactures tires
sold around the world.
Also on page 2, Perfect Tommy comments on a disappearing
cactus in the desert, calling it a Potemkin Saguaro. The
saguaro, of course, is a cactus species. The Potemkin
reference may be to "Potemkin Villages", an idiom based on
the myth of Russian minister Grigory Potyomkin's alleged
attempts to impress Empress Catherine II on the occasion of her
tour through Crimea in 1787 by having the local peasants
build fake villages along the banks of Dnieper River. So,
Tommy is referring to a fake cactus.
On page 8, Buckaroo has a vision of Isaac Newton, Galileo
Galilei, and Albert Einstein. He comments that he was just
pondering Newton's theory of light. Though he's more known
for his theories of gravity, Newton also theorized on the
refraction and particle-like properties of light.
On page 9, the Mongolian mentions heavy water. This is water
in which the hydrogen component is mostly deuterium (heavy
hydrogen, containing both a proton and neutron at its
nucleus, as opposed to just a proton) instead of standard hydrogen.
Page 9 suggests that Buckaroo Banzai is of Mongolian
descent.
Also on page 9 is the first mention, chronologically, of the
Blue Blaze Irregulars. The Blue Blaze Irregulars are
described more fully in
Across the 8th Dimension
and are a civilian group of volunteers around the world that
help Buckaroo in his adventures as needed.
The term "khan" used by Buckaroo's rescuer is a Mongolian
term for "king".
On page 10, Rawhide suspects the World Crime League is
getting protection from the PLA in China. The PLA is the
People's Liberation Army, the army of communist China.
Also on page 10, Rawhide comments that the PLA's stronghold
looks tighter than Fort Knox. Fort Knox is the United States
Bullion Depository, where the U.S. Federal Government's gold
reserve is kept, at Fort Knox Army Base in Kentucky.
On page 13, as Buckaroo passes through the wall with his
miniature overthruster, he sees three beautiful naked women
who welcome him to seventh heaven. This is a reference to
the seven heavens described as part of the cosmology of many
religions, such as Judaism and Islam, among others. The
women also refer to it as the seventh dimension, a
call-forward to the eighth dimension which we will see in
Across the 8th Dimension.
As Buckaroo and the Mongolian escape their cell on page 14,
notice the Deathhead guards attacking them are carrying dwarves on
their backs. Perhaps these are representative of the death dwarves later
mentioned in the novelization of
Across the 8th Dimension.
Notice also on page 14 that Xan is in the background of
panels 3 and 4, and appears to be riding on some kind of
floating device.
Near the end of the story, Illinois Mongoose dies of his
wounds and is buried by the team.
However, in "Return of the Screw" Part 1, Buckaroo remarks
that Illinois Mongoose died while climbing the Himalayas on
his honeymoon; no mention is made of what seems to be his
death in this adventure.
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