Late at night in a big city, Ace Savvy and One-Eyed Jack are trapped by the diabolical Wild Card Willy. As the two superheroes are being lowered into a shark tank, Ace Savvy announces that he has back up. After tossing a deck of cards onto the floor, a van full of superheroines arrives to save Ace Savvy and One-Eyed Jack, quickly take down Wild Card Willy and his goons.
It turns out that Lincoln and Clyde have just made a comic book based on Ace Savvy, which they show to Rusty, Liam, and Jordan. When they're asked where he got the idea to use the superheroines, Lincoln says he based them on his sisters, since they always have his back (except for Lola). The boys say that they are submitting it to the creator, Bill Buck, because if they win, they get to meet the creator of Ace Savvy in person. While everyone is confident that Lincoln and Clyde will win, Principal Huggins arrives, and warns the two that school is a place for learning, not for doodling. Because of this, he confiscates the boys' comic, and refuses to give it back to them until 5PM, not before giving them detention. However, the post office closes at 4PM.
To make sure Lincoln and Clyde don't try to get their comic book back, Principal Huggins has the boys clean up chalkboard erasers in a classroom. Lincoln suggests that they escape, but Principal Huggins has the door locked and the window welded shut. Just as Lincoln suggests another plan to escape with pencils, the door suddenly unlocks. It turns out Lola used her tiara to unlock the door (as she said their idea wasn't any good). She, along with Lana, are setting them free because they won't let the principal take away their chances of winning the competition and making them famous.
Upon arriving to the principal's office, an assistant, named Cheryl, informs Principal Huggins that there are bats loose in the gym (courtesy of Lucy), prompting him to exit his office and take care of the situation. However, now they need to think of way to get rid of Cheryl. Lisa arrives, telling Cheryl that she assessed the school's budget, and explains that it has some major flaws. Despite doubting her, Cheryl is proven wrong when Lisa presents her with all of the information she went through. With Cheryl distracted, Lincoln and Clyde dart into Principal Huggins' office to find their comic. However, the moment they find it, Principal Huggins arrives back to get his stuff before heading off, including the satchel the comic was in.
Lincoln, Clyde, Lana, Lola, and Lisa burst out of the school, and notice that Principal Huggins is getting away. At that moment, the van arrives, carrying the other sisters (Lucy was somehow in the van already). Realizing the boys' chances of winning are in jeopardy, Lori immediately guns it and Luna plays some action music as they give chase. Lynn tries to catch the comic with her boomerang, but only succeeds in getting a raccoon. After a brief moment of tension with Scoots at a crosswalk, Luan grabs a banana Lola was eating, and uses Lana's slingshot to fling the banana peel in front of Principal Huggins. His cart hits the peel, causing him to swerve out of control, and in the process, lose the comic. Lincoln and Clyde get the comic back, and are prepared to head to the post office, when suddenly, the engine breaks down. However, Leni (along with a farmer) are able to get the van to the post office by being towed there (by using Leni's sash). Upon arriving, Lincoln and Clyde discover that Principal Huggins is submitting his own comic. Caught in the act, Principal Huggins tries to escape, but trips on Scoots. Lincoln and Clyde realize that Principal Huggins deliberately took their comic away just so he can eliminate them from the competition.
Principal Huggins, admitting defeat, tells the boys that when he was young, he didn't have many friends, but he had Ace Savvy. Because he had Ace Savvy, it helped him cope with his lonely childhood, and he wanted to win the competition to meet Bill Buck to thank him for creating Ace Savvy. Lincoln and Clyde, realizing that this means a lot to Principal Huggins, decide to make one last altercation to their comic. With the help of Principal Huggins to buy them enough time, Lincoln is able to rewrite the ending to his comic and submit it with Principal Huggins credited as a co-writer.
Ace Savvy and One-Eyed Jack are about to arrest Wild Card Willy, when Wild Card Willy admits that the only card game he knew was Solitaire. Having a change of heart, Ace Savvy and One-Eyed Jack decide to let Wild Card Willy assist them in taking down another enemy named The Old Maid (portrayed by Scoots).
The gang meeting with Bill Buck (with Principal Huggins passed out).
Bill Buck, reading the comic in his studio, applauds the boys for making a comic that has a lot of heart. When the boys say they did this because they wanted their principal to meet him in person, Principal Huggins, at a loss for words, passes out from over-excitement. Suddenly, the sisters arrive, and begin to surround Bill to talk about the comic, causing Bill to remark "This is kind of a... full house!"
When "Shell Shock" was uploaded to Nick.com's episode playlist after its premiere, this episode was accidentally uploaded along with it half a day ahead of schedule. It was removed later and uploaded again after its actual premiere.
Irony: Wilbur tried to sabotage Lincoln and Clyde's chances of winning the contest, but in the end, he helped them to improve their comic.
Moral:
Don't abuse your authority for personal benefits.
Don't try to fulfill your dreams by ruining the dreams of others.
References
Pulp Friction - The title of this episode is a pun of the 1994 film, Pulp Fiction.
Additionally, the song heard during the title card presentation sounds very similar to the movie's main theme.
The title may also be a pun on pulp magazines, also referred to as "pulp fictions". These were magazines that contained "low quality" tales of fiction, as well as early superhero comics.
Stan Lee - Bill Buck could be a reference to the founder and creator of the Marvel Universe.
Bill Finger - Bill Buck could also be a reference to the co-creator of Batman.
Total Drama - In the scene where Principal Huggins leaves his office, music from the show was heard.
Transformers - After Principal Huggins leaves the office, Clyde states that there was more to Huggins than meets the eye which references Optimus Prime from the live action film series.
Monopoly - The "get-out-of-gym pass" that Principal Huggins handed out to Lee is a reference to the Get Out of Jail Free card from the board game.
Teen Titans - Lucy's outfit is similar to Raven's outfit.
Mario Kart - Luan using a banana peel to slow down Principal Huggins is based of how a banana peel can be used in the game to slow down the other racers to win a race.
The Powerpuff Girls - This episode starts with the city skyline, which resembles The City of Townsville, the setting of the cartoon, which Savino worked on previously.
Full House - When Bill Buck mentioned the classic TV's sitcom, the show's premise is also a group of large families.
Kamen Rider Hibiki - The Night Club using a guitar to battle her enemies is based on Kamen Rider Todoroki, a hero from the program and how he used a guitar themed device called the Ongekigen Retsurai to battle monsters.
Kamen Rider Decade - At the beginning of the episode, Ace Savvy uses cards to summon his allies. This is based on how a rider from the show, Kamen Rider Diend, can summon riders using cards.
Cardcaptor Sakura - This could also be a reference to the manga and anime series, in which the main character also summons allies from cards.
The Joker - Luan's alter-ego is directly named after the DC comics villain, only much more heroic.
Harley Quinn - The Joker's, or Luan's alter ego, pigtails are styled after the DC comics character from DC Superhero Girls.
Errors
When The Eleven of Hearts (Leni) was introduced, her eyelashes were missing.
So, Lori decides to remove her eyebrows.
When Lucy praises Leni for her plan to help the van move, Lori's eyebrows are missing.
Despite going to the same school with Lincoln, Lana, Lola, and Lisa, Lucy somehow is in the van before the aforementioned.
In the end credits, Jessica DiCicco's name is spelt as Jessica DeCicco. This is the third time an error like this has occurred, the first being "A Tattler's Tale", and the second being "Snow Bored".
In the Brazilian dub credits, Coach Pacowski (Jorge Vasconcellos) was accredited even he never spoke on the episode, and Lucy (Tônia Mesquita) isn't accredited.
In the Latin American version of this episode, Principal Huggins singing Boyz Will Be Boyz is dubbed, but the song in the radio isn't.
Running Gags
When Lincoln needs to come up with something, one of the twins say it's already taken care of.
The announcer introducing the characters by their card power.
