Pomp and Circuitry

"Pomp and Circuitry"

Plot

  Dean and Hank Venture finally "graduate" from their educational sleeping beds, and must decide whether they should go to college. Dean meekly accompanies his father, Dr. Venture to his father's alma mater, State University. But Hank decides to join the secret paramilitary organization SPHINX In a subplot, the disgraced supervillain Phantom Limb escapes from prison and recruits a slightly insane Professor Impossible to help him recover his lost limbs so that he might wreak revenge on the Guild.

Connections to Other Episodes

• The Diamond Dogs were first seen in the episode Shadowman 9: In the Cradle of Destiny

• Baron Underbheit is seen homeless, having been banished from Underland in the episode Love-Bheits.
• It becomes clear that Dr. Z lied to Rusty and Jonny when he said he was retired in the episode "Self-Medication."  In the scene of the council chamber his voice and silhouette reveal that he is a member of the Council of Thirteen of The Guild of Calamitous Intent!

Cultural References

• Billy Quizboy describes the information imparted to Hank and Dean via their learning beds as "more dated than Funk & Wagnalls," a reference to the now out-of-print Funk and Wagnalls encyclopedia.

• Brock Samson complains that the S.P.H.I.N.X. operative he is working with at the Vatican is a graduate of the Albert Merrill School. The Albert Merrill School was a vocational-technical high school located in New York City which offered computer, electrical, and engineering training to individuals without a high school diploma.The school's television advertisements (which featured Jimmy Randolph) were almost ubiquitous on New York City television stations. The school was successfully sued for admitting students it knew could never pass its courses (such as those who did not speak English)

• Hunter Gathers references Honeycomb cereal when she says "this isn't the Honeycomb fucking Hideout".