Duckman - Seasons 1 and 2 (part II of III)

Moving on from part one to part (and, by extension, disc) two:

Not-So-Easy Riders: (w: Joe Ansolabehere & Steve Viksten; d: Paul Demeyer) Owing $30,000 to the IRS and with less than a day to pay it, Duckman hits the road, with Cornfed in tow. Dogging their trail is the merciless Agent Dennehey (John Spencer, amusing). Though Duckman renouncing material possessions late in the episode isn’t totally convincing, this is still a funny installment, especially in Duckman’s desperate attempts to raise the cash for the back taxes.

It’s the Thing of the Principal: (w: Ron Lux; story: Lux & Eugene Stein; d: Igor Kovalyov) Ajax isn’t himself, lately. There’s a simple explanation for that: he’s in love. Unfortunately, it’s with the cute vice-principal (causing a minor misnomer with the episode title). When the two of them decide to get married, Duckman and Bernice trail them to a hotel, posing as a newlywed couple. The episode detours from the main story to explore the tension (sexual and otherwise) between Duckman and Bernice…which would be a problem if it weren’t so damned funny.

Cellar Beware: (w: Ladd Graham; d: Norton Virgien) Frightened by a sales pitch from home security salesman Terry 'Duke' Tetzloff (John Astin), Duckman quickly has installed the Interlopen Fuhrer 2000, which proves to be too effective when Duckman tries to fix it himself. A good episode, highlighted by Astin’s voice-work, Bernice’s sniping and the escape from the security system’s firepower. [Apparently, this is missing the scene where Duckman breaks into I’ve Written a Letter to Daddy (presumably because Warner Bros. wouldn’t cough up the rights; the song was written for Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?), but the edit is fairly seamless.]

American Dicks: (w: Jeffrey Astrov & Mike Sikowitz; d: John Eng) The reality series "American Dicks" (pause for laughter) goes to Duckman to solve the show’s 100th case...mainly because a detective’s strike has exhausted all of the other options. I can never get enough of the faux-shaky cam gags that come with a reality TV take-off in animation, and this is no exception. The crossovers with other "American (fill in the blanks)" shows are also amusing.

About Face: (w: Jim Pond & Bill Fuller; d: Raymie Muzquiz) Duckman falls in love with the voice of a helpline worker, but when he meets the woman - named Angela - he finds that her voice is the one beautiful thing about her. A complete makeover could change things, however. In spite of the comic trappings (the emergency montage, the total darkness scene), this is a fine stab at drama, as Duckman starts to feel that he isn’t good enough for the beautiful swan that Angela becomes. The last scene is a heartbreaker.

Joking the Chicken: (w: Jeffrey Astrov, Mike Sikowitz and Michael Markowitz; d: Jeff McGrath) A group of comics asks Duckman to investigate rising comic Iggy Catalpa, whose clean humor seems to win over the public. Some fine satire - courtesy of a Congressional hearing and a rousing speech at the end - and amusing one-liners from Catalpa’s manager, the suspicious Moe Needleman, make this a riot. Though juvenile, the title is also funny.

Features on this disc include:

- 'Six Degrees of Duckman', which allow you to peruse the main characters’ bios, likes, dislikes as well as short reels showing them at their best…or worst.

- 'Designing Duckman', where creator Everett Peck and show runners Ron Osborn and Jeff Reno talk about how the show was developed beyond its former life as a Dark Horse comic.

- 'What the Hell Are You Starin’ At?!' features Peck, Reno, Osborn and the voice actors examining the mythos and characters.

The last disc contains the whole of season two. Stay tuned.