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The structure of Hell, and the basic plot, of Snowball In Hell is based on that outlined in the Divine Comedy, written in the early fourteenth century by Dante Alighieri. The full text of the Divine Comedy--which is in three parts: "Inferno", "Purgatorio", and "Paradiso"--can be read online at www.divinecomedy.org.
Every other in-joke and reference gag in Snowball is somewhat less literary. If you got all these without having to check this page, you probably have not known the touch of a woman, you poor bastard.
The creators would like to credit: A Modern Reader's Guide To Dante's Inferno by Rodney J. Payton, published by Peter Lang; Hell, the translation of Inferno done by Dorothy L. Sayers (it actually rhymes in English, which is kind of weird); and Inferno, the translation done by Mark Musa. The latter two are both published by Penguin Books.
Pages 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • Pages 8-11
| No references. | |
| Page 2 | It's just a splash page, geez! |
| Page 3 |
In Canto I, as Dante finds himself at the base of a small hill and wishes to climb it, he finds his way blocked by three beasts; a lion, a leopard and a wolf. Virgil, his guide, describes the wolf: 97 She fastens, and shall
yet to many more, The Dorothy Sayers edition explains that the greyhound will drive the wolf back to Hell--so obviously Hell is included in the destinations of Greyhound Bus Lines. We didn't know that. See? Learning is fun! Mindy the stewardess is a reference to King Minos, who flings the damned souls to their proper locations in Hell when they encounter him after passing through Limbo (Canto V). We moved him up a bit. |
| Page 4 | Um, none really. |
| Page 5 | Actually, Grimace is widely accepted as a figure of evil. First there's his name: a grimace is defined as a "sharp contortion of the face expressive of pain, contempt, or disgust." Yipe! Also, there's the question of what the hell he is. We have it on good authority that he's supposed to be a giant ambulatory tastebud. Nothing could possibly be more messed up than that. Except maybe this. |
| Page 6 |
In Inferno, the demon who ferries souls across the river Acheron is Charon. In Snowball, it's Cher. Is nothing sacred? Gypsies, tramps and thieves, we heard it from the people in the town, toss!: At the end of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 "Werewolf" episode, Mike and the bots sing a medley of other songs over the end-credits theme (which is just Indian drumming), adding an occasional "toss!" when the song changes. "Gypsies" is one of them. Dare you to drink the water/I don't think that is water: "The Simpsons", the Duff Gardens episode. |
| Page 7 |
Does that big H look familiar to anyone? Here's a hint: you'd need the strength of more than one ordinary man to open those big-ass doors into Hell. Maybe even almost a dozen ordinary men. Certainly more than nine of them, anyway. It's full of ads!: reference to Futurama, when Fry experiences the thirtieth-century Internet for the first time. Of course, that was a reference to "It's full of stars!", from 2001: A Space Odyssey, as Dave Bowman enters the Monolith. It's a reference of a reference--or a "meta-reference", if you will, like Al's name--and it's just one of the ways you can tell you're reading a painstakingly-crafted, quality comic.
We hate you, Fox. You're the official television network of Hell. Kyle's betting you give Greg The Bunny five episodes before you kill it; Mike's more optimistic and says six. The number 27 appears over and over in the mythos and collected songs of "Weird Al" Yankovic, for no reason that he claims to be aware of.
Self-cleaning mutants who leave only the refreshing scent of pine are featured in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie, bless them.
Tree sloths would have made the movie Seven a whole lot better. But then, with their quick-as-Keanu-Reeves wit and their Adam Sandlerian grace and beauty, tree sloths would make any movie better.
We know it's been done before, but it's important never to miss an opportunity. |
Link to Hell!
