Any fan of The Simpsons knows that the perpetually put-upon Springfield salesmen Gil Gunderson is a sad sack worthy of anyone’s pity. Whether it’s his inability to peddle real estate, doorbells, or Coleco computers, Gil can just never seem to catch a break. So his fans would likely have been thrilled to see that he was finally stepping into the spotlight, getting his very own superhero treatment in The Simpsons Super Spectacular #7. But, unfortunately (and predictably) for Gil, his superhero life isn’t much more fortunate than his day-to-day.
Making his comic book debut in the Bartman story The Agony and the Ectoplasm, Gil’s super alter-ego is The Salesman, a hero who re-purposes the multitude of items he was unable to offload during his day job into crime-fighting tools. When he first arrives to help Bartman stop a rooftop attack from a three-headed monster made of Springfield’s bullies, he fumbles through his Turbo Charged Vacuum Cleaners and Adamantium Coated Knives before settling on his trusty Encyclopedia Launcher. Unfortunately, it’s loaded with the X volume, which is thin enough to do no damage. Though he accidentally helps win the battle when Three Face trips over Gil’s suitcase, his departure leaves much to be desired.
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Using a “swinging rope” he’d made using a set of now-banned lawn darts, Gil leaps from the rooftop… and promptly falls to his death. His funeral is only attended by Bart, Milhouse, and Mrs. Skinner – who’s only there to rummage through his pockets for the money she feels Gil owes her over a broken juicer. But to Bart’s shock, Gil reappears as a ghost, and offers to use his crime-fighting “skills” to be Bartman’s new (ethereal) sidekick. And having Gil as a partner goes about as well as one might expect.
The disembodied Gil actually scares off police as Snake is robbing a bank, allowing Springfield’s favorite criminal get away. He later shows up at a scene unexpectedly, distracting Bart as he was foiling a robber and leading Bartman to be trampled by a stampede of zombified school children. Searching for advice to rid himself of the ghost, Bart turns to his grandpa. Abe Simpson tells him he’s got plenty of experience dealing with ghosts from his time at the nursing home and that all Bart needs to do is get Gil to “go into the light.”
Later, during a climactic battle in Professor Frink’s lab, Bartman faces off against a version of Nelson Muntz that’s made out of sentient soda (long story). Bart goes to battle with The Fizz as he tells his sidekick to retrieve some tools he’d left in “the light.” The ghost haplessly searches for them, and when he finally sees the light (containing an escalator to heaven), he promptly disappears. But things are never that easy for Ol’ Gil. Heaven – where we catch a glimpse of Bleeding Gums Murphy, Frank Grimes, and Maude Flanders – doesn’t want him and neither does hell. So his soul is just unceremoniously returned to his body.
But since this is The Simpsons‘ most downtrodden character here, poor Gil doesn’t exactly come back to life. The story’s final panel sees a now-rotting Gil surrounded by flies and saying his farewells to Bartman, warning Bart not to shake his hand too hard or he’ll pull it off. With the character now undead, it could be interesting to see some sort of Gil Gunderson/Marvel Zombies crossover, but the guy probably deserves a break at this point.