Jessica finds herself on the wrong side of the law again when a comic strip character based on her image, Jessica Fox, begins making libelous remarks and blackmailing thinly veiled Expies of real people. The cartoonist, Stan Hatter, claims that he never wrote the offending strips, and the two find themselves with a common enemy.
This episode includes examples of the following tropes:
- Always Murder: The sergeant originally thinks Mr. Watanabe's death was suicide, given that they find his body on the sidewalk. However, Jessica notices a crack in an award in Stan's apartment (where Mr. Watanabe supposedly jumped) and wonders if it could have been murder. She's right. The killer threw Mr. Watanabe's body out the window after hitting him to keep anyone from realizing that it was murder.
- Artistic License – Law: The episode is predicated on the idea that a comic strip that prints fantastical satire of real life events would be liable for libel, rather than being fair use as parody: though this part is believable, as such cases do happen. Where it gets daffy is in how Jessica herself ends up also liable for libel for no reason than having also been satirized by the same strip, which would be rather like Bill Clinton suing William Shatner because Animaniacs made fun of both. The episode acts as though Jessica would have to spend a lengthy legal process to prove in court that she had nothing to do with the strip - no matter how obvious - when such a frivolous suit would more likely simply be dismissed.
- As Himself: The real newspaper cartoonist Mell Lazarus appears as himself. Whiting introduces him to Jessica, and he tells them about Watanabe's death.
- Batman Gambit: Jessica realizes that they have no evidence to convict the killer as is, so she convinces Sgt. Redmond to help her with a sting. She leaves a message on Stan's answering machine, saying the police intend to go over the apartment with a fine-toothed comb tomorrow. As she expected, Teddy hears the message and goes to clean up anything that could potentially incriminate him, allowing them to catch him in the act.
- Blackmail Backfire: Teddy claims Mr. Whiting was a better boss than Stan, citing that he let him keep any blackmail money that came in. Jessica points out that this also left him in a very risky position, given that blackmail victims (especially guilty ones) often kill their blackmailers.
- Double Take: When Stan Hatter quips "See you in the funny papers", Jessica laughs and then jerks her head to look at him, probably because he'd said he was going to write out Jessica Fox.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Jessica gets the idea that leads her to a glove the killer wore upon seeing Lt. DiMartini back into a plant. The plant in Stan's office had been moved when the killer stashed the glove under it.
- Hollywood Law: Somehow Jessica is legally liable for statements made by an unauthorized parody of her.
- I Didn't Mean to Kill Him: Teddy says he never meant to kill Mr. Watanabe. He was working on one of the forged strips when Mr. Watanabe surprised him and later heard the noise as he bumped into something. Mr. Watanabe was a skilled martial artist and Teddy struck at him with the award to avoid being killed.
- I'm Your Biggest Fan: Stan Hatter tells Jessica that he's a big fan of hers, and he wrote the character of Jessica Fox because he figured that there was no one better to solve a mystery.
- Plagiarism in Fiction: Mr. Whiting claims that Stan stole the idea for Hattersville from him and he alleges that was why he was hunting down dirt on him. We never find out for sure one way or the other.
- Pulled from Your Day Off: Sgt. Redmond isn't impressed when the glove Jessica and Lt. DiMartini found comes back without any indications that could lead them to the killer. She gripes that she had to cancel an evening with her fiancé and waste two highly-priced theatre tickets for this. Luckily, Jessica still finds a way to nab the killer.
- Real Men Wear Pink: When Jessica notes that plants turn toward the light, Lt. DiMartini, a tough police officer, instinctively calls it heliotropism. She looks at him, and he confesses that he grows orchids.
