What’s the deal with Slug’s illustration here? I gather he is holding a “black ace” (flying ace) but what’s with the chicken drumstick?
Look at the plate, looks like a turkey, not a chicken. Slug is fond of portraying Cecil Adams as a turkey wearing a mortarboard.
Might that be a cooked goose?
There appears to be a syringe in Wild Bill’s arm, which is odd. I suppose you could could stretch that to represent plugged, if you were limber enough.
Bill is getting “shot”.
I actually though the syringe was a dart, like a tranquilizer dart. Somehow that made sense at the time.
I forgot about Cecil being depicted as a turkey.
But it seems like if we’re representing a black ace there should be some reference to 8 or a pair of eights or a black 8?
Bill is holding a black ace and “eats”?
A lot of times the older columns cover two or more topics, and the illustration illustrates both. When those old columns were archived, the two topics were split into two archive items, which sometimes makes the illustrations somewhat enigmatic. I bet the Dead Man’s Hand item was originally paired with something poultry-related.
Ate with an Ace.
Huh. I was ready to accept Manduck’s explanation, assuming the other article was about tryptophan (hence the syringe and turkey leg).
Maybe it really is “eats” = “eights”. Maybe Slug didn’t hit his stride until later.
Yes, that’s Wild Bill standing with a “black ace.” And he has “ate.”
And yes, Slug likes to portray Cecil as a turkey. Please see here;