Didja Notice?

 

On page 2, one of the girls who has broken into Snake's house begins singing, "Are you sleeping, are you sleeping, Farmer John, Farmer John." She is singing an old French nursery rhyme, "Frère Jacques". The English version of the lyrics actually refer to "Brother John" or "Friar John"; the girl's use of "Farmer John" may be a joking reference to the Farmer John brand (and mascot) of meat products.

 

On page 4, one of the girls tries to trip Snake with a crowbar, but he easily dodges it and says, "C'mon, try again," to which she responds, "Those are some funny last words," and he replies, "I'm not dead yet." His "not dead yet" statement may be intended as a callback to all of the "I heard you were dead" remarks Snake has received from the people he's met starting in Escape from New York.

 

Page 6 reveals that Snake's dog is named Fresno. Obviously, the dog must be named after Fresno Bob, a former partner of Snake's as mentioned in Escape from New York.

 

    Pages 8-9 take place "14 years ago", presumably shortly after the events of "Dead Man's Switch". On page 8, Snake goes to a used car lot to get a car, but doesn't have any money; the lot's owner recognizes him as a fellow crook and gives him an old taxi cab; the cab may intended as a callback to Cabbie's ride in Escape from New York.

   Snake drives the cab out into the desert somewhere, where he digs up a duffel stuffed with cash which he uses to buy a beat-up old house. He told the used car lot owner that he was going home, so possibly this house was his parents' home. In the novelization of Escape from New York, it was stated that some crazies had taken Snake's parents hostage in their home and the USPF had simply taken out everyone in the house with flamethrowers, tied all the victims together with the criminals, buried them in a pauper's grave, and confiscated their savings for "restitution".

 

On page 8, the used car lot owner says, "holy moley". The slightly different spelling, "Holy Moly" was first used by the super-hero character Captain Marvel in Whiz Comics #2, February 1940.

 

    The news reports Snake listens to on the radio as he drives into the city on page 10 imply that liquor and tobacco are illegal in the United States. The news indicates a series of distilleries have been taken down in Chicago and several rogue tobacco farms in Durham, North Carolina have been burned out (Durham is known for its tobacco industry).

   It's not revealed what city Snake is in, but is probably Cleveland, Ohio, as the radio mentions the Cuyahoga Health Department; Cuyohoga is the name of the county in which Cleveland is located and it's clear in Escape from L.A. that Snake had engaged in some activities in Cleveland at some point before the L.A. adventure.

 

On page 10, it's reported that the Cuyohoga Health Department has instituted a boil order for the rest of the week and advised shelter for children and the elderly during the upcoming weekend thunderstorms. A boil order is a public health advisory to boil all local water before drinking due to contamination by pathogens. In the novelization of Escape from New York, it is stated that all the chemical-gas weapons used in the wars has made the air toxic in some locations, especially when weather brings the gas down from the higher atmosphere; possibly biological weapons were also used, causing water contamination by pathogens.

 

Mel, Snake's cigarette supplier, refers to him as "Bob". In Escape from New York, Hauk reads Snake's name from a file as S.D. Plissken, which does not seem to translate into a "Bob" nickname. In Escape from L.A., a USPF Duty Sergeant refers to him as "S.D. Bob Plissken"; possibly "Bob" is simply an alias Snake as adopted here and it eventually becomes known to the authorities by the time of Escape from L.A.

 

Snake's interaction with Mel indicates that he distills his own moonshine to trade for cigarettes.

 

This issue indicates that Snake has registered his house in the name of "Bob Helman". In Escape from New York, another of Snake's old partners, Brain, is said to have the real name Harold Helman. It would seem that Snake has taken this alias partly from Fresno Bob and partly from Harold.

 

The two lawyers who visit Snake about the government's eminent domain claim on his property are from the firm of Cundey and Wallace. This is a reference to Dean Cundey, a cinematographer who has worked on several of John Carpenter's films, and Tommy Lee Wallace, a producer, director, and screenwriter who worked with Carpenter on Halloween III and Big Trouble in Little China.

 

On page 18, a USPF officer calls for the bearcat to brought in in the siege on Snake's house. "Bearcat" is a colloquial term for a police armored vehicle, derived from the Lenco BearCat (Ballistic Engineered Armored Response Counter Attack Truck) brand of same.

 

On page 22, panel 3, we see Snake setting the timer on a wrist band. It comes into play again in "Burning Down the House", to detonate the bombs he's set in his home to keep it out of the government's hands.

 

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