Night of the Automated Dead
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| Night of the Automated Dead | |
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| US Publish Number | 73 |
| Written by | Eric Rogers |
| Art by | James Lloyd |
| Published (US) | 19 November, 2014 |
| Title reference | The 1968 film Night of the Living Dead |
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"Night of the Automated Dead" is the seventy-third comic issue, released on 19 November, 2014 in the US.
The Story
Synopsis
If you thought computer viruses were bad, just wait until Planet Express' morally bankrupt bending unit starts spreading a social disease of his own around New New York City, causing a calamitous epidemic of robot zombies!
Act I
Onboard the Planet Express ship, Bender is awoken by Fry and Leela who tell him that he must deliver a giant supply of robot chicken soup to Chapek 9, as every robot on the planet has come down with a robo-cold. Bender sees this as an opportunity to infect himself with the cold so he can take sick days away from his job, and so, purposely infects himself whilst delivering the soup. However, his efforts fail, so he files a complaint with Planet Express, annoyed that he is still not sick after being completely exposed to the virus. This shocks the professor, who immediately takes Bender to the lab to have his tubing flushed out (the professor calls this a "soul rejuicination"), believing the virus is evolving into something even more contagious and potentially lethal. After draining Bender of the fluid, Scruffy exposes of it by pouring it into the street, where it seeps through the cracks in the ground and lands in a pile of deceased robots buried under the building. The fluid turns them all into zombies, but instead of looking for brains, they look for "boards".
Act II
The crew (bar Zoidberg, who thinks the robo-zombies want to play board games) barricade themselves inside the Planet Express building, whilst the robo-zombies spread through New New York and infect other robots. Bender decides to leave but is stopped by the professor, who explains that the robots that were buried under Planet Express were all defective. Back when he worked for Mom's Friendly Robot Company, he buried the robots in a secret grave for Mom, who bought his silence about the burial with a deal on a property adjacent to the robot grave, which is where the Planet Express building was built (and thus is one of the most expensive plots of land in New New York). Bender attempts to leave again, but is attacked by a robo-zombie at the front door, causing the zombies to flood into Planet Express and destroy all of the electronics. Leela decides to lock everyone in the employee lounge where there are no machines to attract the robots. Meanwhile, Nixon announces martial law until the robot zombie epidemic is over, but threatens to nuke the city if it isn't eradicated within a week. The professor decides it's up to them to find a cure for the virus, so he uses Leela's wristlojackimator to attract and capture a zombified Bender. The robots break into the laboratory whilst the professor works on the cure, so Leela throws Amy's phones at them to keep them occupied. The professor places the antivirus inside Bender, reverting him to his normal self, then pushes him into the crowd of zombies. The zombies then begin to eat Bender and revert to their normal selves, and so on and so on until the infection is gone. After the crisis is over, the crew thank a badly-damaged Bender for saving the city, but due to his annoyance at them for sacrificing him to the zombies, he tells them to bite his shiny metal ass - only to realise his ass was eaten.
Production
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Additional Info
Trivia
- With this issue, Futurama Comics surpasses the original run in number of installments.
- The plot of land the Planet Express building is on is one of the most expensive in New New York. Farnsworth was given it as a bribe from Mom for not telling anyone about the robots she buried there.
- Leela refers to her wristlojackimator as a "comm device".
- Amy has ten phones, one of which she uses for sexting.
- Hermes apparently celebrates his birthday during this issue, and the crew surprise him with robo-strippers (though none of this is shown, only mentioned by the professor).
- Writer Eric Rogers originally pitched the story for this issue to the show itself, but David X. Cohen never liked it enough to make it into an episode. [1] [2]
Allusions
- Click here to see cultural mentions made in this issue.
- The issue's title is a reference to the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead.
- The film's director, George Romero, is mentioned in the issue by Hermes.
- The crew delivers Robot Chicken [3] soup to Chapek 9.
- Bender rides the soup can a la Dr. Strangelove.
- The Hypnotoad apparently has a spin-off show called Game of Toads, a reference to Game of Thrones, previously referenced in Futurama.
Continuity
- On seeing zombie Calculon, Fry reflects on the time they killed him.
- It is possible that due to the zombie antivirus, he may be alive again. However there's no evidence of this.
- Amy says Leela reads e-books about the lives of courageous koalas, a reference to the running gag of Leela reading books about brave animals.
Goofs
- On the last page Morbo says "...I only hope for all of our sakes...", however the "f" in the word "for" is missing.
- When Bender says "Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, professor?!", Professor Farnsworth responds with "Not quite. You see, the robots...", suggesting Bender's line has been altered from the first draft of the comic.
Quotes
Bender: Oh, it's just you two. I was just having a nightmare that someone was asking me to do actual work.
Fry: I have those nightmares, too! Sooo scary.
Farnsworth: I'm stunned you aren't dead, Bender. This is some truly ganked-up fluid flowing through your body.
Zoidberg: It's so nasty-looking, even I don't want to eat it! And I once used one of Hermes' dreadlocks as a breadstick!
Fry: Bender, didn't you hear what they said? Dead robots are eating the living ones! I think you're at least one of the two!
Appearances
Characters
Places
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Miscellaneous
Comic Credits
- Script
- Pencils
- Inks
- Colors
- Robert Stanley
- Letters
Notes
- ^ Eric Rogers (22 November 2014). Eric Rogers. (Twitter.) Retrieved on 23 November 2014.
- ^ Eric Rogers (22 November 2014). Eric Rogers. (Twitter.) Retrieved on 23 November 2014.
- ^ See also Robo-chicken.
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