The Cure for the Common Clod

"The Cure for the Common Cold" is the eleventh comic issue, which was released 23 January, 2003 in the US and 23 September, 2004 in the UK.

Act I
Fry catches a disease while on a delivery. Leela checks the shipboard medical books and diagnoses Fry with something thought to have been eradicated centuries ago; the common cold. At Planet Express, Fry sneezes over Amy, Leela and Hermes during a medical exam from Zoidberg. The cure for the disease has been forgotten, and because the cold is so contagious Fry is quarantined. The Professor explains why he, Bender and Zoidberg couldn't have been infected. They then watch in disbelief as Leela strips naked and jumps into a tree outside to gather acorns. She has reverted to her primal state due to the mutated cold virus, so has Hermes, who is still his normal bureaucrat self. They realise Amy may be infecting everyone else in the city, so they head to her sorority's lingerie rave. Amy never made it to the party, but had been spotted at the library.

Act II
They leave Fry in his bubble at the door and enter via the roof. In her primal state Amy is busy trying to prove Riemann's Hypothesis, the Professor explains that this will take days and that she is contained. Satisfied that the city is safe, they exit via the front door, which sends Fry's bubble rolling into the city's water supply, where it splits open. The next day everyone is acting weird because of the virus. The Professor decides that he should use one of his doomsday devices. The others stop him when Amy returns feeling better after blowing her nose. She and other infected people are hacking up huge germs, these come together through reverse mitosis and form a single gigantic germ. Leela's mutant metabolism creates a germ that is an antibody, but it's too small. They enlist the Sewer Mutants to produce more antibodies, they agree because they believe the infection will be like a party (which it seems to be for them). The antibodies head to the surface and merge, where they destroy the giant germ. A ceremony is held at Citihall to thank the mutants.

Trivia

 * The Australian Guy is seen amongst the crowd of infected New New Yorkers, implying that he's not a slave anymore. Also seen are the Omicronians, who are on Earth for some reason. (the crowd contains over 60 characters we've seen before and a few we haven't.)
 * The ship has its own library.
 * The Professor started the tradition of Lingerie Raves when he was in Kappa Kappa Wong.

Inside References

 * "Robots only get sick in crappy science fiction stories". This occurs in "Fry and the Slurm Factory" and this comic.

Outside References

 * The title character of Where's Wally/Waldo is seen in the crowd holding an arrow pointing himself out.
 * The start of the comic refers to Mad Magazine.
 * Fry is quarantined inside a bubble called the "Travolta 3000", a reference to the 1976 made-for-TV movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble, which starred a young John Travolta.

Characters
(In alphabetical order)


 * Amy
 * Bender
 * Dwayne
 * Fry
 * Hermes
 * Leela
 * Leg Mutant
 * Mayor C. Randall Poopenmeyer
 * Morbo
 * Prof. Farnsworth
 * Raoul Inglis
 * Sal
 * Turanga Morris
 * Turanga Munda
 * Vyolet
 * Zoidberg

Comic Credits

 * Script
 * Patric M. Verrone
 * Pencils
 * Tom King
 * Inks
 * Phyllis Novin
 * Colors
 * Joey Mason
 * Letters
 * Karen Bates
 * Editor
 * Bill Morrison
 * Dr. Feel Good
 * Matt Groening