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The Matrix
"Farewell Performance"
Matrix Comics Vol. 2
Story by Jim Krueger
Art by Tim Sale
Color by Jason Keith
1999 |
Can the world’s greatest escape
artist escape the Matrix?
Read the story
summary at
the Matrix Wiki
Didja Know?
This illustrated short story originally appeared on the official Matrix
website in 1999. It was later printed in
The Matrix Comics, Vol. 2 published by Burlyman
Entertainment, a comic book publisher founded by the Wachowskis.
Characters appearing or mentioned in this story
Bixby
psychology student (unnamed)
Agents
Morpheus (mentioned only)
Didja Notice?
On page 4, when the Agents show up observing the escape
artist Bixby, the psychology student imagines at first they
may be the IRS. The IRS is the
Internal
Revenue Service of the United States.
On pages 5 and 6, an advertising poster for Dream Sticks
cigarettes is seen. This is, of course, a fictitious brand.
"Dream sticks" is a term sometimes used for a marijuana
cigarette or opium pipe. The slogan on the ad is "Taste the
Freedom"; many background allusions to freedom are seen
throughout the story.
On page 7, the student visits Bixby the night after he saw
the Agents chase him and asks if the men were IRS. Bixby
chuckles and says, "Yeah...the IRS...they say I'm in the red
by bucketful's." His use of the term "in the red" may be a
joke to himself in reference to being a redpill, a human who
has become aware of the Matrix, as opposed to the bluepills
who are not aware that their lives are just a virtual
reality. The redpill/bluepill distinction is made more clear
in
The Matrix.
On page 8, Bixby's business card refers to him as Bixby the
Incredible, Liberationist for Hire. No first name is given.
Possibly, writer Krueger borrowed the surname Bixby from
that of actor Bill Bixby, best known for playing David
Banner who transforms into the Hulk in the 1977-1982 TV
series The Incredible Hulk; Bixby also portrayed a
magician/illusionist in the 1973-74 TV series The
Magician.
When the student realizes the Agents are not IRS, he guesses
maybe CIA.
The CIA is the
Central Intelligence Agency, one of the major
intelligence agencies of the United States government.
When Bixby literally vanishes in
the middle of his act, he presumably woke up in his pod in
the real world, having been freed by the resistance.
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