The Amazing Screw-On Head



""There are two histories, one that is told and one that isn't. I, Abraham Lincoln, do order that America's strangest, most secret histories will only be recorded in one book. These are the adventures of the Amazing Screw-On Head.""

An Eisner-award winning one shot comic book by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola. Adapted into a pilot episode for The Sci Fi Channel by Bryan Fuller, creator of Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls and Pushing Daisies with Paul Giamatti as the title character.

Both feature a Victorian robot who works as a secret agent for President Abraham Lincoln, who has the ability to place his head onto different robot bodies for whatever occasion suits him.

See it here.

This comic/tv pilot contains examples of:
"Zombie: I hear you're a demigod. That must be fantastic for you.
 * Adaptation Expansion: The TV Pilot gives much more detailed back story
 * Affably Evil: Emperor Zombie
 * Alternate History
 * Ambiguously Gay: David Hyde Pierce as Emperor Zombie

Demigod: I don't know about fantastic...

Zombie: I do!"

"Head: America is counting on me Mr. President, and by America, I mean The World."
 * Animated Adaptation: Contrary to most animated adaptations of Mignola's work, this one retains Mignola's own art style, with a lot of blacks. It is awesome.
 * Battle Butler: Mr. Groin.
 * Arguably Emperor Zombie as well (Or Mr. Zombie, as he is called when the demigod shows up).
 * Emperor Zombie twice, actually..
 * Better Than It Sounds: A robotic head of the Civil-War era fights a former butler-turned Zombie, his former lover turned vampire, their henchmen, consisting of two paranormal old women and a monkey to stop them from unleashing a demon from a melon sized jewel with the help of his butler and stuffed sentient dog.
 * And substantially more humorous than you'd think it would be thanks to Fuller's trademark dark themes with equally dark comedy.
 * Black Comedy
 * Eagle Land

"Emperor Zombie: There... there's actually a little joke in here - Gung was funny!"
 * Chiaroscuro: Mignola's trademark style.
 * ~Everything's Better With Monkeys~: Ricky
 * ~Everything's Deader With Zombies~: Emperor Zombie!
 * Evil Is Not a Toy: Subverted. Gung the Magnificent tries to tell Zombie the Demigod is too dangerous to summon, when it shows up, it's really kind of shy, and gladly accepts Zombie as its second in command.
 * Evil Is Petty: Emperor Zombie has a self-described "petty vengeance fetish" against Screw-on Head's butlers.
 * Evil Laugh: Zombie unleashes one when he becomes able to read the Scroll Of Gung - but ends up giggling uncontrollably.

"Emperor Zombie: You let me down. You went on and on about how sweet the candy was, then told me not to put it in my mouth and got mad at me when I did.
 * Evil Tastes Good:

Screw-On Head: If by 'candy' you mean 'ancient forbidden evil' then, yes, I told you not to put it in your mouth."

"Lincoln: Groin's just looking out for your behind, Head, you can't keep him at arm's length!"
 * Exactly What It Says on the Tin: The Museum of Dangerous Books and Papers.
 * Geeky Turn On: Zombie gives us a villain variation with Patience.
 * High Turnover Rate: Head's Manservants.
 * Historical In-Joke: The Homestead Act.
 * Hurricane of Puns:

"Emperor Zombie: ] Here it is! Bangang Pagro-Esh... the Left Eye of Nog... the jewel worshipped by the wizards of Mu and the black priests of Atlantis, finally passed down to Gung the Magnificent who was chosen by the GODS to conquer the world with it! And now, it's mi...
 * ~Hey, It's That Voice!~: Paul Giamatti, David Hyde Pierce (aka Abe Sapien in the first Hellboy movie), Patton Oswald.
 * Also Corey Burton (Most of the voices of Batman the Brave And The Bold, Shockwave of Transformers Animated) voices Abe Lincoln and the monster that Emperor Zombie frees.
 * Letting the Air Out of the Band: When Emperor Zombie discovers the legendary jewel he's been seeking is actually a mouldy old turnip.
 * Losing Your Head: The main character lives in this trope.
 * Mood Whiplash:

[Suddenly notices what he's holding]

Emperor Zombie: Ew! It's not a jewel, it's a dirty old piece of crap!"

"Screw-On Head: DAMN YOU, MR. MANIFO -- excuse me. DAMN YOU, EMPEROR ZOMBIE!"
 * Nigh Invulnerability: Mr. Dog!
 * Ninja Zombie Pirate Robot: The entire premise.
 * One Episode Wonder
 * Quirky Miniboss Squad: The werewolf old woman and her cannibal partner. And a monkey.
 * Really Seven Hundred Years Old: Patience
 * Role Association
 * Sealed Evil In A Can Turnip
 * Skyward Scream: Head attempts one of these when Zombie abducts Patience.


 * Steampunk
 * Too Good to Last: The pilot, despite being awesome, was never picked up by the Sci-Fi network.
 * ~What Do You Mean, It's Not Awesome?~: The show can be summed up as this.
 * Wolf Women