Atop the Fourth Wall: Where Bad Comics Burn

[Linkara]

Well, Tyr suggested I do this and since he didn't do it on his own, here's the new Atop the Fourth Wall thread. ^_^

You can find it here (http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com) or here (http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/linkara/at4w).

It's Gail Simone approved! Just look back at her old posts and it- ...riiiiight this isn't YABS...

...uhhh...

*Runs*

[Tyr]

In order to further set up shop, and further advance Linkara's fame I thought it would be appropriate to set up the new Atop the Fourth Wall Thread here. I've already gotten Linkara's approval, and he should be along shortly.

For those new to this, this is the thread were we talk about Linkara's video blog site, Atop The Fourth Wall: Where Bad Comics Burn, and his station affiliate, for lack of a better term, Channel Awesome.

It's a place were Lewis Lovhaug aka Linkara reviews, rants about, and ridicules bad comics.

You may all check out Atop the Fourth Wall at...well, Atop the Fourth Wall (http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/)

You may check out Channel Awesome at Thatguywiththeglasse.com (http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/)

And just to get some of your primed, here's a list of some of his greatest hits

Amazons Attack! 1 & 2 (http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/linkara/at4w/5273-amazons-attack-1-and-2)

All Star Batman and Robin 1 & 2 (http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/linkara/at4w/13422-asbr01)

JLA: Act of God Part 1 (http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/linkara/at4w/20443-jla-act-of-god-part-1)

Ultimates 3 1 & 2 (http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/linkara/at4w/16466-ultimates-3-one-and-two)

And Countdown Part 1 (http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/linkara/at4w/9246-cdp1)

And here are some the classic crossovers with Spoony

Warrior #1 (http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/bt/spoonyone/reviews/7238-warrior1)

And My personal favorite...
Wolverine: Adamantium Rage (http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/linkara/at4w/6919-at4wwadm)

You can find many of the sequels to the videos and several others listed for ease of browsing here (http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/linkara/at4w).

And with that I'll relinquish the floor to Linkara and the rest of you, take it away...the rest of you!

[Teal_Lantern]

I'd also put up DKSA #3 as a greatest hits.

[Matthew Brown]

I love this guy's videos! The Power Rangers stuff has been fascinating.

[Linkara]

Ironically, when I saw Tyr hadn't made a thread, I decided to take care of it myself... which is now pending mod approval. XD

Let's just go with this one, though, since it's more thorough. Huzzah!

[Tyr]

Ironically, when I saw Tyr hadn't made a thread, I decided to take care of it myself... which is now pending mod approval. XD

Let's just go with this one, though, since it's more thorough. Huzzah!

Funny Story Lewis, I had made plans to see Sorcerers Apprentice with my folks and my sister who is visiting. I was actually in the middle of making your thread earlier, when I was told we were leaving in 5 minutes, so I canceled that thread and went and saw the film. Sorry for the delay. :Oops:

Looking back, I probably should have stayed and finished your thread, it wasn't a very good film. :sick:

[sk716]

Merged!

Sorry guys. Not used to this approving threads and posts business. In the future PM me or Corrina when she arrives and let us know if you have something waiting for moderation.

[Linkara]

Merged!

Sorry guys. Not used to this approving threads and posts business. In the future PM me or Corrina when she arrives and let us know if you have something waiting for moderation.

Thanks, SK! Will do! ^_^

[Tyr]

Merged!

Sorry guys. Not used to this approving threads and posts business. In the future PM me or Corrina when she arrives and let us know if you have something waiting for moderation.

Darn I was hoping we'd keep the Next Gen title, being Lewis is such a big fan of Star Trek and all, but this will work too.

[XXXenophile]

In hoping you know who doesn't show up here, I say this ONLY as a joke and to make sure this place is christened properly:

Linkara, can we have a review of Vixen please? :lol:

Now NEVER speak of this again. Its been done.

[Linkara]

In hoping you know who doesn't show up here, I say this ONLY as a joke and to make sure this place is christened properly:

Linkara, can we have a review of Vixen please? :lol:

Now NEVER speak of this again. Its been done.

*Narrows eyes*

You have made a powerful enemy today.



;-)

[dmh3000]

Been watching Atop the Fourth Wall ever since the All Star Batman and Robin review and am still a big fan. Nice work Linkara.

It's actually made me think about doing a similar show, but for bad webcomics, but then I remembered I'm not funny and I don't know the first thing about editing a video.

[Tyr]

So Lewis, now that you've made yourself at home here we need to get you a banner that will help promote you work, which you can post in your sig.

[Tyr]

Thought I'd bump this thread to keep it from dropping with a few more of Linkara's greatest hits until we get a new vid.

Oh btw here is the latest vid (http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2010/07/hardcore-station-1.html).

Here are the two big Channel Awesome reunion crossovers

TGWTG Team Brawl (http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/nostalgia-critic/6719-1-year-anniversary-video)

Kickassia part 1 (http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/nostalgia-critic/21882-kickassia-part-01)

The rest of the Kickassia saga can be found by doing a search at thatguywithglasses.com

[dmh3000]

Thought I'd bump this thread to keep it from dropping with a few more of Linkara's greatest hits until we get a new vid.

Oh btw here is the latest vid (http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2010/07/hardcore-station-1.html).

Here are the two big Channel Awesome reunion crossovers

TGWTG Team Brawl (http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/nostalgia-critic/6719-1-year-anniversary-video)

Kickassia part 1 (http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/nostalgia-critic/21882-kickassia-part-01)

The rest of the Kickassia saga can be found by doing a search at thatguywithglasses.com

Linkara as Patton was one of my favourite moments. Also "Are you a nazi Linkara?"

[Teal_Lantern]

Some other memorable one part videos

Superman At Earth's End (http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/linkara/at4w/3252-superman-at-earths-end)

Batman: Fortunate Son (http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/linkara/at4w/10629-batmanfort)

[I've Got the Monkeys]

Linkara, you magnificent bastard, I read your book!

Finally able to post in an Atop the Fourth Wall thread... excellent.

Seriously, though, great site. Great reviews.

[Stressfactor]

I would be remiss if I didn't post links to my favorite of Linkara's Team-up's/Corssovers...

"Alone in the Dark" (this thing still makes me laugh) http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/nostalgia-critic/11343-alone

And "Superman IV" http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/nostalgia-critic/12918-sup4

[Ray G.]

I remember the review of Cry for Justice #7.

That was glorious.

[ZimMan2]

Saaaaaaaay, Linkara, what time is it?

Sorry, I'm still catching up, and just got done with The Spirit review you did with Film Brain. Epic.

[Teal_Lantern]

I remember the review of Cry for Justice #7.

That was glorious.

When was this?

[Linkara]

When was this?

In short: "Up Yours, Robinson."

The far more eloquent text review is here:

http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2010/03/open-letter-to-james-robinson.html

Video to follow next year.

[Matthew Brown]

In short: "Up Yours, Robinson."

The far more eloquent text review is here:

http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2010/03/open-letter-to-james-robinson.html

Video to follow next year.

I'll wait for the film version.

[Linkara]

New episode of AT4W! Witness an awfully boring comic and an awesomely awful comic!

http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2010/08/others-1-and-brute-force-1.html

[Tyr]

Also, not Linkara's but Spoony has got a new one that I think some of you would all get a kick out of. And he's Linkara's partner in crime...so...

Witness the horror that is Dungeons and Dragons...er that is Mazes and Monsters (http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/bt/spoonyone/reviews/27141-mazes-and-monsters)...witness Spoony go completely postal.


New episode of AT4W! Witness an awfully boring comic and an awesomely awful comic!

http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2010/08/others-1-and-brute-force-1.html

Holly crap cyber bear vs cyber gorilla, this is just cracktastic, Scout must know of this....

[Stressfactor]

Science!

That's almost as insane as some of the Silver Age Metal Men stuff..... Almost.

[Stressfactor]

By the way Linkara.... Your worst nightmare.... or 90's Kid's greatest dream...

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2010/07/31/does-thunderstrike-1-by-tom-defalco-and-ron-frenz-herald-nineties-revival/

[Linkara]

Oh, and by the way - I'm going to Power Morphicon:

http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2010/08/power-morphicon-2010.html

[I've Got the Monkeys]

You're going to come back with even more morphers, aren't you?

[Tyr]

You're going to come back with even more morphers, aren't you?

It's Linkara so, of course! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8u7px_GzWQ)

[ZimMan2]

New episode of AT4W! Witness an awfully boring comic and an awesomely awful comic!

http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2010/08/others-1-and-brute-force-1.html

My lord, that was epic. Thank you, Linkara.

[Linkara]

Let's journey into the depths of PSA Hell to uncover one of Dwayne McDuffie's old works!

http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2010/08/amazing-spider-man-skating-on-thin-ice.html

[Hybrid2]

Let's journey into the depths of PSA Hell to uncover one of Dwayne McDuffie's old works!

http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2010/08/amazing-spider-man-skating-on-thin-ice.html

That's the first comic I ever had.

[Tyr]

Let's journey into the depths of PSA Hell to uncover one of Dwayne McDuffie's old works!

http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2010/08/amazing-spider-man-skating-on-thin-ice.html

I already voted for 8 Bit Micky ok!

Stop twisting my arm already! :surrend:

[McIntyre]

Nice review. Seemed like you had a lot of energy this time around which made the jokes work really well.

The comic looks...bizarre. I mean, the choice of Winnipeg as a setting seems unusual especially since the creators clearly haven't been there before. (I googled Winnipeg Mall and, as I assumed, it doesn't exist and I assume it didn't exist then.)

[Linkara]

Nice review. Seemed like you had a lot of energy this time around which made the jokes work really well.

The comic looks...bizarre. I mean, the choice of Winnipeg as a setting seems unusual especially since the creators clearly haven't been there before. (I googled Winnipeg Mall and, as I assumed, it doesn't exist and I assume it didn't exist then.)

Several Canadian fans have pointed out not only does the Winnipeg Mall thing make no sense, but also the flight plan makes no sense since Winnipeg isn't between New York and Frederickton. XD

[I've Got the Monkeys]

Is it just me, or does it seem like Dwayne intended to use a different villain at first, and had to rewrite to Electro? I got a real Chameleon vibe off the story.

[Stressfactor]

And let's make sure we throw stuff in there about hockey because ALL Canadians love hockey, eh? Canadians are alllll about the hockey... yeesh.

[Hybrid2]

Is it just me, or does it seem like Dwayne intended to use a different villain at first, and had to rewrite to Electro? I got a real Chameleon vibe off the story.

That's because Chameleon is in the comic.

[I've Got the Monkeys]

well, that makes sense then.

[Duxdoom]

Is it wrong that I keep telling myself that why these PSA comics always suck is because the writers didn't really care and were only writing them because they were asked to. I mean, I get the feeling that these things were hashed out in an hour and sent to an artist.


Anyways, great episode Linkara. Always enjoyable to see you tear apart this crap.

[XXXenophile]

Just waiting for when Linkara does the PSA Hell review for the Spider-Man/Power Pack children's molestation issue.

[Tyr]

Slightly off topic, but...Channel Awesome's Benzaie continues to show why he is so awesome. (http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/bt/benzaie/specials/27414-benzaies-game-collection)

Lewis, you need to do this with you comic related collection, only to the theme of Superman! :mrgreen:

[XXXenophile]

Slightly off topic, but...Channel Awesome's Benzaie continues to show why he is so awesome. (http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/bt/benzaie/specials/27414-benzaies-game-collection)

Lewis, you need to do this with you comic related collection, only to the theme of Superman! :mrgreen:

I loved at the end he showed the old hand held game Snoopy Tennis.

I've got that one and a bunch of others ones in storage somewhere.

[Tyr]

I loved at the end he showed the old hand held game Snoopy Tennis.

I've got that one and a bunch of others ones in storage somewhere.

I use to have one with Micky Mouse where he had to catch eggs.

[XXXenophile]

I use to have one with Micky Mouse where he had to catch eggs.

I've got a Mickey and Donald as firefighters one.

[Linkara]

Time to venture back into Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force with the comic book tie-in!

http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2010/08/star-trek-voyager-elite-force.html

[Stressfactor]

Is it bad that I laughed my head off at the "Best of Starfleet Security" compilation?

Wow, I never realized that those poor schmucks got so many of the 'one handed shove which sends you flying across the room' routines.

[I've Got the Monkeys]

It's nice to see Munro is still unfraggable.

Also excellent use of the Gonk.

[Karen El]

Linkara, it's all your fault!

I'm now in the middle of playing Star Trek Elite Force. And I'm enjoying it, even though it's a FPS. This is the best (and only) FPS I've played since Portal.

I'm not saying it's as good as Portal. I mean there is NO SIGN of cake, not even a promise. But there's lots of puzzle solving, and it's not too difficult for my simple brain. Shame the character graphics suck, but you can't have everything.

Plus points for gender options on the player character, minus points for having the only other female on the team be the first one captured.

[Linkara]

Linkara, it's all your fault!

I'm now in the middle of playing Star Trek Elite Force. And I'm enjoying it, even though it's a FPS. This is the best (and only) FPS I've played since Portal.

I'm not saying it's as good as Portal. I mean there is NO SIGN of cake, not even a promise. But there's lots of puzzle solving, and it's not too difficult for my simple brain. Shame the character graphics suck, but you can't have everything.

Plus points for gender options on the player character, minus points for having the only other female on the team be the first one captured.

Sadly the sequel did NOT have gender options but did have the option to have a sort of romantic build up with either Telsia or a bikini-clad alien woman! ...Yeah, the second game wasn't quite as good. XD (Story was pretty decent, though)

I think Neelix offers you some cake later, but it's best to ignore anything that comes out of Neelix's kitchen.

[Tyr]

Oh look, Lewis is pimping Sfdebries review videos which I've just wasted a good hour of my life watching. Thanks a lot Lewis! :evil:

Also, now I'd like to see a "Best of Starfleet security/stormtroopers special" you know some kind of short video with all the best Starfleet security.

[Tyr]

edit: double post

[Karen El]

WTH Star Trek? Second full mission and Telsia has been kidnapped AGAIN. Why didn't you just call her Princess?:-?

Other than that, I'm still enjoying it.

[Linkara]

WTH Star Trek? Second full mission and Telsia has been kidnapped AGAIN. Why didn't you just call her Princess?:-?

Other than that, I'm still enjoying it.

I'm pretty sure it's the last time, but if it helps, pretty much everyone on that mission gets kidnapped. XD

[Tyr]

WTH Star Trek? Second full mission and Telsia has been kidnapped AGAIN. Why didn't you just call her Princess?:-?

Other than that, I'm still enjoying it.

Well...every game needs an excuse to bust out Bonnie Tyler's "Holding out for a Hero" :mrgreen:

BTW Lewis, I know you've gotten this question for maybe the 1000 time, but new board so...Will we be seeing more "Let's plays" from you in the near future?

[Linkara]

Well...every game needs an excuse to bust out Bonnie Tyler's "Holding out for a Hero" :mrgreen:

BTW Lewis, I know you've gotten this question for maybe the 1000 time, but new board so...Well we be seeing more "Let's plays" from you in the near future?

In the NEAR future? Nope. Down the road? We'll see.

[Stressfactor]

And I almost forgot......

Mechakara RESTORED! Insert evil, Vincent Price style laugh here.

[Linkara]

Superman and Big Barda make a porno, part 1.

http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2010/08/action-comics-592.html

[Duxdoom]

I liked this episode. But I cannot wait for the next one. I've got a great feeling about it.

[Stressfactor]

For the HOPR "Time Force" I really expected Linkara to use this song... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO_YmRY23zo (although I generally find the Jonas Bros. annoying)

[Tyr]

Superman and Big Barda make a porno, part 1.

http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2010/08/action-comics-592.html

How could Bryne possible screw up a porno? :scared:

[Tobias M]

Loved the Action Comics review. Dear lord. Why was Byrne's Superman such a jerk? This and slapping Booster around for being too damn attractive for Lois Lane to resist...we should measure the jerkness factor between Byrne and JMS' Supes.

[Linkara]

Loved the Action Comics review. Dear lord. Why was Byrne's Superman such a jerk? This and slapping Booster around for being too damn attractive for Lois Lane to resist...we should measure the jerkness factor between Byrne and JMS' Supes.

...wait, what happened with JMS' Supes? O.o

[FemGeek]

Superman and Big Barda make a porno, part 1.

http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2010/08/action-comics-592.html

Lol, great review. What a horrible comic to happen to anyone. Poor Barda :(
Looking forward to the review of the next issue; Bow-chik-a-b-... ugh, no I can't, too awful.

[I've Got the Monkeys]

Byrne's Superman was also a dick to the Titans in the first team-up issue of Action, but at least there was an excuse for that one.

[XXXenophile]

...wait, what happened with JMS' Supes? O.o

I'm assuming that's a reference to Superman having a stance on illegal immigration.

[Teal_Lantern]

Loved the Action Comics review. Dear lord. Why was Byrne's Superman such a jerk?

Write what you know?

[Allen]

Superman and Big Barda make a porno, part 1.

http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2010/08/action-comics-592.html

When I watched this the other night, I expected it to be the porno making episode, didn't even know there was a part one to this story! It was a great video like always, and very much looking forward to the second one. Poor poor Barda... getting stuck with Byrne writing...

[Suffering Sappho]

Did. . . did I just see. . . NO! NO! NO! DC, that is NOT COOL!
:frustrat: Big Barda deserves so much more respect.

[dmh3000]

Wow, that was just... I have no words for that issue. What the hell?

[McIntyre]

True story: on seeing an Action Comics two-parter in Linkara's upcoming videolist, I thought, "A two-parter? Must be something really special-bad like Superman setting up a porn studio," to which I chuckled to myself.

Funny how things work out...

[Linkara]

True story: on seeing an Action Comics two-parter in Linkara's upcoming videolist, I thought, "A two-parter? Must be something really special-bad like Superman setting up a porn studio," to which I chuckled to myself.

Funny how things work out...

To quote the Doctor, "It's a funny old world, isn't it?"

[Kevinroc]

Man, I'd heard about that story but I'd never actually read it. The ramifications are really... let's just say "uncomfortable" and leave it at that.

(Yikes, I feel dirty just watching the review of that comic.)

[AthenAltena]

Eugh, I want to take a shower after the second part...

WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?! And how in the Hell did that ever get past the editorial board?!

Oh, and good job pointing out the implications that Barda isn't as strong as the others because she couldn't resist the mind control. Bull crap. I wonder how Jack Kirby would have reacted to this considering he was still alive when this was published. Probably not well. I certainly wouldn't hold it against him if he wanted to do something like punch John Byrne full in the face (knowing Jack Kirby he probably wouldn't, but still).

[Linkara]

Whew! Been busy moving, so I hadn't had a chance to post. As such, enjoy first the Top 15 Comics I'll Never Review:

http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2010/09/top-15-comics-ill-never-review.html

And then the 100th Episode from today:

http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2010/09/atop-fourth-wall-100th-episode.html

[DarkKnightJared]

Eugh, I want to take a shower after the second part...

WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?! And how in the Hell did that ever get past the editorial board?!

Oh, and good job pointing out the implications that Barda isn't as strong as the others because she couldn't resist the mind control. Bull crap. I wonder how Jack Kirby would have reacted to this considering he was still alive when this was published. Probably not well. I certainly wouldn't hold it against him if he wanted to do something like punch John Byrne full in the face (knowing Jack Kirby he probably wouldn't, but still).

I think the only thing that probably would have stopped Jack from curb-stomping Byrne for that was old age. I remember reading a story where Jack's co-creator on Captain America had to physically pull Jack back from fighting with the leader of a Nazi sympathizer group that was headquartered just across the street from then-Timely comics.

[spidey_mon]

Link ol' buddy, I'd really love to see you review OMD & OMIT, pretty please
Oh yeah, and review "Lost Girls"

For real? Did you review "All Star Batman & Robin"?

[Linkara]

Link ol' buddy, I'd really love to see you review OMD & OMIT, pretty please
Oh yeah, and review "Lost Girls"

For real? Did you review "All Star Batman & Robin"?

Yep, the first two issues. I've done text reviews up until #5 or 6.

[I've Got the Monkeys]

Here's to another 100 episodes!

[Tyr]

Atop the Fourth Wall 100th now up (http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2010/09/atop-fourth-wall-100th-episode.html)

Congratulations Lewis for making it to 100.

[I've Got the Monkeys]

The sing-along theme at the end was great! any chance of just the video of all you channel awesome guys singing?

[ZimMan2]

That was awesome. Hard rock theme song cover=badass.

[Linkara]

We return to PSA Hell with the celebrity cameo!

http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2010/09/nolan-ryan.html

[spidey_mon]

Speaking of PSA's, what do you think of "Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man 071"?
It's the story about guns

What's the difference between Lewis & Louis?

[Linkara]

We return to the horrors of Silent Hill this week with Silent Hill: Dead/Alive #1 and #2!

http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2010/10/silent-hill-deadalive-1-and-2.html

[Tyr]

I forgot to mention this about the 100th its nice to know how easily you'll cave to your fans demands Lewis. :razz:

And with that...

I the Norse god of justice demand you review an Eric Larson comic!

Or a Todd McFarlane written Spawn comic, they are way overdo!

Oh and I demand you say boner again! Thus Tyr has spoken.

[McIntyre]

Oh man, I remember reading a Silent Hill comic when I was in high school. I think it was the one with the artist, Paint it Black. All I remember aside from it being dull, was that it had a bunch of cheerleaders that end up in Silent Hill and they've got assault rifles or something.

Man that was bad. Though it had a cool premise with the artist using Silent Hill for inspiration for his paintings. That could have gone somewhere.

[Linkara]

My descent into madness continues with Dead/Alive #3 and 4!

http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2010/10/silent-hill-deadalive-3-and-4.html

[Karen El]

Have you considered doing a special or two, focussing on the more terrible butcherings of Kirby Koncepts like Death of the New Gods? You could call it 'Atop The Fourth World'.

Ba-dum!

[Linkara]

Have you considered doing a special or two, focussing on the more terrible butcherings of Kirby Koncepts like Death of the New Gods? You could call it 'Atop The Fourth World'.

Ba-dum!

Not a bad idea. ^^ In other news, Tom Waltz, writer of Silent Hill: Sinner's Reward and the upcoming Silent Hill 8 game, just sent me a review copy of the upcoming Silent hill: Past Life #1 comic. O_O

[dmh3000]

If I sent you a free copy of Gemini Storm #1, would you review it? It has a few inconsistencies and I screwed up the lettering when I was resizing the pages.

I'm planning to fix those issues in future print runs.

I have a pdf of the book if you'd rather I not spend the money.

[Linkara]

If I sent you a free copy of Gemini Storm #1, would you review it? It has a few inconsistencies and I screwed up the lettering when I was resizing the pages.

I'm planning to fix those issues in future print runs.

I have a pdf of the book if you'd rather I not spend the money.

I'm on the fence. I might, but for the moment hold off, since I've got a lot on my plate for October as it is. ^^;

[Tyr]

Not a bad idea. ^^ In other news, Tom Waltz, writer of Silent Hill: Sinner's Reward and the upcoming Silent Hill 8 game, just sent me a review copy of the upcoming Silent hill: Past Life #1 comic. O_O

I just had a scary thought Lewis, maybe you've had it too. What if your reviews have actually increased the sales or said comics?

[Linkara]

The epic conclusion to Silent Hill: Dead/Alive!

http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2010/10/silent-hill-deadalive-5.html

[dmh3000]

I'm on the fence. I might, but for the moment hold off, since I've got a lot on my plate for October as it is. ^^;

Okay, let me know if you do decide to take a look.

[Linkara]

Oh dear, I really need to remember to keep posting this here. ^^;

Anyway, the two year anniversary was last week with another story from the Clone Saga:

http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2010/10/spider-man-greatest-responsibility.html

Then there was that brief review for Silent Hill: Past Life #1 because Tom Waltz sent it to me:

http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2010/10/silent-hill-past-life-1.html

And yesterday, in honor of Halloween and Silent Hill, I did the alternate endings to the Silent Hill review:

http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2010/10/silent-hill-deadalive-alternate-endings.html

And oh yes, new episode today where we look at the very first Superman comic ever made - Action Comics #1:

http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2010/11/action-comics-1.html

[Tyr]

And oh yes, new episode today where we look at the very first Superman comic ever made - Action Comics #1:

http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2010/11/action-comics-1.html

You heard it folks. Linkara trashes classic comics! :twisted:

[Craig C]

You heard it folks. Linkara trashes classic comics! :twisted:

Yeah but he does a great job on the history of the power rangers...speaking of which where's the rest of it you only have seven more to go :lol:

[dmh3000]

Like the AC review. Can't wait to see the rest of Origins Month.

[Tyr]

Wait Linkara is going to trash MANTRA!? The I've been trying to complete my collection forever" MANTRA!? :shock:

[I've Got the Monkeys]

Oh, Tandy Whiz-Kids... will you ever stop being entertaining?

[dmh3000]

Hah, loved the latest on ASBAR 3 and 4. That time thing with Superman has always bugged me, and sadly it only gets worse from there. I do have to make one comment though.

The flashback to the death of Bruce's parents. Remember that he's eight years old (Or in this comic, six, according to Alfred's narration) when that happens. Now, I don't know about anyone else but while I did have a few crushes on some girls when I was eight, I never had any desire to touch them inappropriately. It's just a kid clinging to the hope that his mother is still alive. Also, I'm not seeing the paedophilia with Grayson in that scene. You missed out one key caption box "His voice is a croak. like he's about to cry or something." It's kind of like the line about Carrie Kelly losing her innocence in DKR.

Sometimes a jarring, right out of nowhere scene attempting to humanise an insane hobo is just a jarring, right out of nowhere scene attempting to humanise an insane hobo.

[Suffering Sappho]

Loved that you called out the ableist language in All-Star Batman and Robin. It reminded me why you are one of my favorite comic reviewers :)

[Linkara]

Hah, loved the latest on ASBAR 3 and 4. That time thing with Superman has always bugged me, and sadly it only gets worse from there. I do have to make one comment though.

The flashback to the death of Bruce's parents. Remember that he's eight years old (Or in this comic, six, according to Alfred's narration) when that happens. Now, I don't know about anyone else but while I did have a few crushes on some girls when I was eight, I never had any desire to touch them inappropriately. It's just a kid clinging to the hope that his mother is still alive. Also, I'm not seeing the paedophilia with Grayson in that scene. You missed out one key caption box "His voice is a croak. like he's about to cry or something." It's kind of like the line about Carrie Kelly losing her innocence in DKR.

Sometimes a jarring, right out of nowhere scene attempting to humanise an insane hobo is just a jarring, right out of nowhere scene attempting to humanise an insane hobo.

It's admittedly a bit of exaggeration for comedy with the pedophilia thing. It's incredibly creepy to have him keep smiling at Dick all crazy-like and refer to him as his ward. The ward thing is especially stupid because it's like a Deadpool moment - the word is only significant to US, the readers, for the way he was described in the early days (not that Deadpool is bad, but rather 4th wall-breaking). Having him use it the way he does doesn't make it a neat nod and wink, it just comes off as creepy. As for the mother's breast thing, it's more that there are at least five different ways he could have said it that got the same point across, but he chose to use the language and words that are easily misinterpreted and sound weird when taken out of context. Still, yeah, agree to disagree and all. ^_^


Loved that you called out the ableist language in All-Star Batman and Robin. It reminded me why you are one of my favorite comic reviewers

D'aww shucks! ^-^

Also great to see people still talking about the show here - had thought about reviving the thread, but it had been so long that I was fearful of trying to post a long list of videos that have come since the last one I posted. XD

[dmh3000]

Also great to see people still talking about the show here - had thought about reviving the thread, but it had been so long that I was fearful of trying to post a long list of videos that have come since the last one I posted. XD

We can talk about other things. I for one definitely want to see a Gail Simone All Star Black Canary. But who would illustrate? My pick is either Amanda Conner or Nicola Scott.

PS Found the panel I was talking about.

http://verydemotivational.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/129118955003654402.jpg

[Linkara]

WOW, Frank. Just WOW.

[dmh3000]

I'd still work with the guy if it meant getting published by DC, though I don't think he works with writers any more. He prefers to do as much as he can to keep control.

I actually would like to take over Dark Knight, Boy Wonder if they're done with it. Start it off with Alfred discovering there's a gas leak in the Batmobile that causes people to go nuts if they breathe in too much. Also, that's not Dinah Lance as Black Canary, it's a woman named Maggie O'Brian (Because she's Irish) who finds Dinah Lance beating up some muggers and says "Here, take the costume, I'm going back to Monaghan" or something. I'm thinking Diana was hit on the head or something.

[Linkara]

And next up is the review of the Lady Gaga comic, along with an alternate take on it by Liz. ^_^

http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2011/04/lady-gaga-1.html

[Lew'sGhost]

And next up is the review of the Lady Gaga comic, along with an alternate take on it by Liz. ^_^

http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2011/04/lady-gaga-1.html

As someone who knows Dan, the writer, I found this especially entertaining. He's actually written a lot of good short horror stories. (Some of which I've illustrated). I actually practiced laying out this script because I thought I might do a better job with the layout. I do know that the last full page panel of Lady G was actually entirely the artist's idea and not Dan's... so your hunch that it was an existing pin-up may not be far from the truth.

[McIntyre]

I remember seeing Chris Sims's review of this comic quite some time ago. I forgot about it until now.

I am re-scarred all over again.

[Lew'sGhost]

I remember seeing Chris Sims's review of this comic quite some time ago. I forgot about it until now.

I am re-scarred all over again.

This one?
http://www.comicsalliance.com/2010/06/14/lady-gaga-comic-bluewater/1#c28624546

[McIntyre]

Yeah, that's the one. *Shudder*

Thought it went into greater detail, guess that's why so much of the comic seems new to me.

[Craig C]

I don't know if there is enough alcohol to drive that review of lady gaga from my mind but I'm going to try. You sir are braver than I am for actually reading and then reviewing it

[Linkara]

As someone who knows Dan, the writer, I found this especially entertaining. He's actually written a lot of good short horror stories. (Some of which I've illustrated). I actually practiced laying out this script because I thought I might do a better job with the layout. I do know that the last full page panel of Lady G was actually entirely the artist's idea and not Dan's... so your hunch that it was an existing pin-up may not be far from the truth.

Oh, really? I'd love to get some insight from him if at all possible on the comic. ^_^

...Though of course if you ever show him the review, try to remind him I'm playing a character and while I didn't like the comic, the show is meant to be a bit exaggerated. XD

Yeah, the last page was just... bizarre and out of place.

Also, how did the attempted layout go?


I remember seeing Chris Sims's review of this comic quite some time ago. I forgot about it until now.

I am re-scarred all over again.

It was actually Chris Sims' article that inspired me to actually do a review on it, since otherwise I just assumed it'd be a boring biography comic and while people on twitter just looooove to send me info about "ZOMG did you hear so-and-so had a comic?!" I try to ignore most of it because of the tendency of bio comics to just be dull retreads of wikipedia. I do applaud the writer for wanting to do something different with it, but the result was not what I'd consider a good story.

[Lew'sGhost]

Oh, really? I'd love to get some insight from him if at all possible on the comic. ^_^

...Though of course if you ever show him the review, try to remind him I'm playing a character and while I didn't like the comic, the show is meant to be a bit exaggerated. XD

Yeah, the last page was just... bizarre and out of place.

Also, how did the attempted layout go?



I sent Dan the link to your review... I really hope he takes it well- I will say he's always been one of the most professional writers I've ever worked with. Your reviews are always honest and entertaining, including this one. I think he'll survive it. :) Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? Bluewater actually planned to do another version of Lady Ga Ga that was more of a straightforward bio because this issue generated a ton of... feedback for them. I'm not sure if they ever released it though.

As a little exercise I had the bright idea of interpreting about five pages of the story script with layouts in pencil on paper (which means I threw it away afterwards, and they were just horribly rough breakdowns anyway, sorry). This was after it had been published but before I had read the printed comic. The idea was to see how I would have handled the art compared to the other guy. My layouts weren't that much different really. The biggest difference was my panel sizes were a lot different. I tend to try to really emphasize what I think are the focal images of the page (as much as the dialogue permits me). I wish now I would have gone more into the character and set design with it (and kept the sketches) because I remembered thinking that the protagonist didn't look anything at all like what I had pictured from the description in the script. Although technically it was right, I guess, and the artist did a pretty rapt job of incorporating Dan's little anecdotal elements like the Freddie Mercury shirt.

I've honestly really enjoyed Dan's shorter scripts... below are some pages from a short horror story we did called Food. I realize by industry standards my art should likewise be skewered, but hey, it's just a fun hobby to me for now. (Astute readers may actually recognize some people on the second page as (a) poster(s) here who agreed to do small cameos. That's Supposed to be Food Network's Andrew Zimmern in the upper right). This artwork is probably two years old by now and is one of my first all-digital efforts... so it's a little cringe-worthy to me as well. That's growth for you.

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii281/Randylbishop/Page_1v3-2.jpg

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii281/Randylbishop/Food5-1-1.jpg

When/if I ever do manage to get a full length book published, I will contact you for critique!

[dmh3000]

God I hate Bluewater. I've worked with a number of artists they screwed over, since they only pay back end and never release their sales numbers or tell the artists when they'll be paid. Simon, the artist of Just Another Day, is still waiting on money he was supposed to get a year ago.

Also, most of the celebrities they do comics about don't know they exist. They're just cheap attempts to cash in on a person's name.

[Linkara]

God I hate Bluewater. I've worked with a number of artists they screwed over, since they only pay back end and never release their sales numbers or tell the artists when they'll be paid. Simon, the artist of Just Another Day, is still waiting on money he was supposed to get a year ago.

Also, most of the celebrities they do comics about don't know they exist. They're just cheap attempts to cash in on a person's name.

Indeed. The unauthorized bio comics are bad enough (I thought those went out of style in the 90s), but the failure to pay creators thing cheeses me off.

[Lew'sGhost]

I've learned from the internet that back end deals are bad news, and almost never pay a dime. But I'm also amazed to see on this same internet that it is the most common type of offer out there. What sucks is when you are at the bottom, that is exactly the kind of deals you are offered, and almost nothing else. Part of it is paying your dues, but at some point you have to say enough is enough and start charging. I mean, I would honestly care more about my end product if I knew it was going to be published ahead of time, and was compensated for my time. This care would likely translate into better pictures as it has on a few little projects I've done (in the instances I've known). There's always new stuff to learn and no matter how good you get, there is always more there. I just wish there was more clear cut guidance of where and what to charge. The gap between basic accounting and art is often not very well bridged for a lot of us indie undergrounders. But even so, I'd still probably draw comics even if I had to pay to do it... which is vanity press and bad and cause for concern I guess. But there you have it. Everyone should do what they love.

[JBK405]

Hey Likara, big fan (I found my way to TGWTG.com in general by following one of your quotes on TvTropes.org to the main page). I watched both your review and Liz's rebuttal and it seemed to me like you each approached it from different angles. Your review focused more on the technical aspects of the comic, what was directly on the page in front of you, whereas Liz focused on the thematic background and message of the series. The McDonald's performance is the perfect example of how that leads to different interpretations. If, on the page, all we have is an image of a person singing with the image of Lady Gaga beside him without any sort of narration or exposition to explain that it's a metaphorical inspirational presence ("And, as he sang, he could imagine that she was there with him, which gave him strength..."), and earlier in the comic he's had a dream about taking Gaga's place, I would also interpret that as a basic delusion or hallucinatin. However, if you're operating on the assumption that he is a closeted man, perhaps transgender or bisexual or anything else not covered in the range of "normal," and the comic is about how Lady Gaga is an inspiration for him, then even without any sort of explicit "This is a metaphor" statement you can still interpret it as a non-literal representation of what's happening, his imagination as opposed to an actual break from reality.

Since I haven't read the comic, and probably never will, I can't comment on if I agree with either interpretation, but they both have valid points, depending on how you approach the issue. Very interesting.

Incidentally this was the first independent Liz production I've seen, I hadn't read her blog or seen her anywhere apart from her guest-spots on AT4W (Which have been, almost uniformly, awesome). I noticed that, in the beginning, she was saying how she disagreed with "Linkara," but as the video progressed she began to say how she disagreed with "Lewis." I'm aware that Linkara is a scripted character portrayed by Lewis, you're no more him than any actor/writer is the character they portray, but as the primary (Or sole) writer of the series Linkara, of course, represents your viewpoint and beliefs. I think I read somewhere on-line (It's amazing how it all blurs together and you can't recall where you read something) that you've described the Linkara character as yourself "with the volume turned up." You embellish and exagerrate and yell a lot (And have a magic gun), but the opinions on the comic expressed on the series represent (At least generally) your actual opinions in real life. Where do you draw the line between Lewis and LInkara?

Also, irrelevently, Liz is about three times as aweome now that I've seen this video. Any member, or former member, of the SCA is aces in my book, especially with a Nerf Longstrike in the background of her video.

[Linkara]

Where do I draw the line? Hard to say. Get me in a conversation and I'll ramble for hours on pointless comic trivia and details and rant about the things that irritate me. It's why I let people refer to me as either Lewis or Linkara in interviews - there's a line somewhere, but it's blurry.

In other news, my review of the Star Trek: The Motion Picture comic is now available for your viewing pleasure, as well as a four-minute recap of the storyline of the show up to now.

Story recap: http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2011/04/atop-fourth-wall-story-recap.html

Star Trek: TMP #1-3: http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2011/04/star-trek-motion-picture-1-3.html

[dmh3000]

Out of curiosity, are you ever going to take a look at Batgirl Redemption? It's quite possibly the comic I own that pissed me off the most, I just wanted to know if it was going to be featured.

Also, loved the latest review.

[Linkara]

Out of curiosity, are you ever going to take a look at Batgirl Redemption? It's quite possibly the comic I own that pissed me off the most, I just wanted to know if it was going to be featured.

Also, loved the latest review.

The one where Beechen attempted again to fix his past errors? Ehhh... I'm iffy on it. I really get the impression he was trying, but since he doesn't truly understand the character or her relationship with her father it just doesn't work.

In other news, let's enjoy Jesus fighting the Greek Gods. http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2011/04/godyssey-1.html

[Tyr]

In other news, let's enjoy Jesus fighting the Greek Gods. http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2011/04/godyssey-1.html

Wait, seriously? How can someone possibly screw up so much potential awesome?! :shock:

Edit: Ok I can see where your coming from Lewis, being from a Christian background myself. But you got to admit it's still an awesome premise.

Also a muscular Jesus isn't all the far fetched if you think about it. Dude was a carpenter, which meant having to haul some heavy stone (being wood was in short supply). Plus he had to haul a big ass cross up a hill...

[Deegan]

I know I'm late to the party here, but please tell Liz I really appreciated her review on that Lady Gaga comic. While I don't think it's a good comic it makes me feel a bit bad for the writer, who's intentions probably got drowned out because a lot of people were prepared to hate the thing (myself included) and just dove in to mock it.

[dmh3000]

I wonder if Liefeld will ever release a new creator-owned series through Icon or if Marvel will avoid that knowing his history?

[Deegan]

Liefeld still gets regular work, and his friends in the industry still think highly of him. I don't see why Marvel wouldn't allow him to do a pitch unless it had chance of traction. Plus there was that Armaggedeon Now series he did, but I don't remember what year that came out.

[dmh3000]

Loved the Ultimatum review. And it gave me an idea for a show.

(I can't believe it took me nearly 50 takes to do this.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htw2LtmFlUY

[Linkara]

Loved the Ultimatum review. And it gave me an idea for a show.

(I can't believe it took me nearly 50 takes to do this.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htw2LtmFlUY

Hey, even when I have the whole thing scripted and a laptop with my lines behind the camera as a teleprompter I'll still screw up my lines half the time. XD

Subsequently, links for the Ultimatum review, since I have been negligent in posting the episodes here:

http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2011/05/ultimatum-1-2.html
http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2011/05/ultimatum-3-4.html
http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2011/05/ultimatum-5.html

[Stressfactor]

Also.... You're honestsly going to review an 'explotation' movie? You who don't really care for porn and, you know, a lot of those explotation movies are about a jump to the left and a step to the right away from porn?

Oh, this I can't wait to see.


Also, while it was interesting seeing you and Brad review a comic together it was kind of jarring since Brad swears a lot and you tend to be more funny and creative in faux-swearing since you don't like to swear much. It just pointed up how different your two styles tend to be.

The TGWTG crossovers are often interesting but some, to me, do end up not working well all the time because the two different styles of the reviewers don't always mesh.

[JBK405]

This probably isn't the right place to talk about it, but I'm not a registered member of TGWTG.com (I should probably change that) so I can't mention it there, but I just saw Nostalgia Chick's Les Miserables video and that ending was unbelievably awesome!. Linkara your cameo was great and so was everything else in that entire damn song! I'm a Les Miserables fanatic (The soundtrack is playing right now) and you guys just nailed it! Honestly, blew my damn mind. I'm illegally downloading it right now just so I can have a copy forever (I wold totally buy it if you guys actually released it for sale).

When are you releasing an album? I'd even be happy with a Harvey Finevoice production!

Oh, did they have you perform the role of Thernadier because you could pull off the accent?

[dmh3000]

Loved the Punisher and Eminem review, but as a Punisher fan I feel I must point out two things.

1. Barracuda realising the whole torture scheme is stupid but not caring is actually in character. Dude gets a hard on from watching people get tortured. Same with Punisher wanting to kill Eminem for attempting to murder him. One of the main things about his character is that Frank Castle is a massive hypocrite, but will ignore anyone who calls him out on it. He's right because he says he's right. I'm not saying you're wrong about either points, they are still stupid, but I just wanted to point that out.

2. You've admitted to not being a Garth Ennis fan, so I'm not surprised you missed this. The whole boat sequence was almost a direct rip off from Barracuda's debut in Punisher MAX (Volume six for anyone interested) except Barracuda dumped Castle in the Atlantic, just off Florida, to watch him get eaten by sharks which is why he didn't add weights. He also sang, though in MAX he added more F words.

PS I wholeheartedly agree with TGWTG.com doing something like a musical. Perhaps the fourth year anniversary?

[The Xenos]

Why would you want to remind us of this horror?!

Justice League of America (1997) - A Review
http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/teamt/nash/specials/31547-nash-justice-league-of-america-1997-a-review

Wasn't the Green Lantern movie painful enough? Too soon, man. Too soon.

[Craig C]

Why would you want to remind us of this horror?!

Justice League of America (1997) - A Review
http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/teamt/nash/specials/31547-nash-justice-league-of-america-1997-a-review

Wasn't the Green Lantern movie painful enough? Too soon, man. Too soon.

At least they didn't do Jonah Hex

[JBK405]

Linkara, great review on the ads (Honestly, how many Hostess ads are there? They're everywhere), but I've got some thoughts on if you decide to do it again (What? A fan with suggestions on how to improve somebody elses work? Surely you jest). Your review was good, and very similar to the Nostalgia Critic's review of old cmmercials, but I think he had an unfair advantage (In a way) because much of his audience saw those ads while growing up, whereas a lot of your ads were unseen even by regular comic readers (They had to have been reading specific issues at a specific time, whereas TV commercials are on many different channels for months on end). I think, because it's possible that some of your viewers might not have seen any of the ads before (Whereas for NC the odds are good his viewers have seen at least one or two of his ads), your review would need a bit more structure to compensate. I can think of two ways to do this.

The first is to have a single theme to the ads you review. Perhaps they're all ads for other comics, or they're all ads for video games, or they're all from a single company or produced during a single year. You can examine them in different ways, comparing them to one another, so that even if your viewer doesn't actually know those ads he can still view the subject critically (Many of the comics you reivew I've never read at all, but I still enjoy your show because your style and thoroughness allows me to keep up even if I don't know the specific details).

The second idea is to limit yourself to a a single comic and the ads therein. This way, like with my other idea, you can integrate the ads into a narrative as a coherent whole. You can examine how the ads break up the story, how the art compares/contrasts with the art of the issue itself, etc. (I was reading a DC Showcase from the '70's a few days ago and it took me something like five minutes to realize that I was now reading an ad instead of continuing the story. I'm not exactly proud of that). Maybe try to figure out the rationale behind putting this ad into that comic; is it because they thought the readers would be likely to buy the product, or because they were just going for market saturation?

I think doing your next ad-episode (Assming you do another one) this way you can make it fit more with your usual style, which is a single narrative per episode as you move from point to point. It can also allow for some more detail, which can get your audience involved even if they don't know that ad personally, which is how some of your fans (Well, myself anyway) still enjoy episodes you produce of comics we don't know. By giving more detail and a single narrative it "pulls in" the viewers more than several separate vignettes that we don't have any persona history with.

Still, it was a hilarious episode and I had seen several of those advertisements before, though I've seen a few more Batman Hostess ads than I have the Fantastic Four. Good stuff L.

[sunbird]

I was astonished to see a friend of mine (you know of him as Welshy) in the beginning of the second review of Rise of Arsenal. Glad to see he's still intent on destroying his liver.

[Linkara]

I was astonished to see a friend of mine (you know of him as Welshy) in the beginning of the second review of Rise of Arsenal. Glad to see he's still intent on destroying his liver.

Welshy's been a longtime help to Channel Awesome and only in the last few months has become a full-fledged video producer. ^^ The man does good work.

@JBK - thanks for the suggestions! ^_^

[Tyr]

So Lewis, when are you going to invite the Last Angry Geek to this neck of the internet woods? I think he'd fit right in here.

[I've Got the Monkeys]

Linkara... Where the heck did you find The Mighty Murdered Power Ringers? Some deep dark parody hole with Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters?

[Linkara]

Linkara... Where the heck did you find The Mighty Murdered Power Ringers? Some deep dark parody hole with Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters?

Fan donation. XD And a big heaping thanks to Nat Gertler for the cameo and for not minding that I ripped this thing apart! The man is awesome.

[Linkara]

Time to enter another dimension: the Twilight Zone #9!

http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2011/09/twilight-zone-9.html

[ZimMan2]

Okay, wow. It's been a while since this thread was dusted off, but after seeing the latest episode, I just wanna say:

LINKARA used LOGIC BOMB! (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LogicBomb)

It's super effective!

MISSINGNO. used SUICIDE!

LINKARA got away safely!

Yeah, I'm sure someone else made that joke already, but I couldn't resist.

Great episode, man.

[JBK405]

Linkara, I just got caught up on everything since the Symbiotes (I'd fallen a bit behind) and I must say it was hilarious to go on a four episode binge. I, too, remember MISSINGNO., and I was sorely tempted to pull out my old copy of Red after I finished your review to fight the Elite Four just one more time.

Moving on to Secret Origins month was also a treat, as I'd actually forgotten that was upcoming. I knew the general origin stories of all three characters/teams already, but I never read the actual comics, so it was quite a shock to see how they were originally portrayed. I also found it surprising just how much of a tool Mr. Fantastic was, and the team as a whole, considering they probably killed a dozen people in their rampages as they united to fight the Moleman and we learn that the blame for their transformations really does fall squarely on Reed's shoulders (I'd gotten so used to Dr. Doom's compulsion to falsely blame Reed for his own scarring that I'd never even considered he might be legitimately at fault here). Very nice takes on all of them.

I did have a question for you that occurred to me during your live show (Which was also hilarious) after the traditional "I am a man" presentation. You remarked how you were "just a meme" and I was wondering what it's like being a celebrity (on-line, at least) in the new media age. It used to be that celebrities only became celebrities after working at that specific goal (Publicists, agents, other Hollywood cliches, etc.) and essentially had a career as a celebrity, in addition to their regular career which made them famous in the first place (Assuming they were famous for something, and not just famous for being famous), while it seems to me that you (And other internet celebrities) never make that transition into the "celebrity machine." Does being famous (On-line, at least) have an impact on your life, or is your fandom so esoteric that it never bleeds into reality? Are your fans "cooler" since they see you as "one of them" and don't obsess over you like some people do over film and TV stars? Is it just a 9-5 (Or whenever you work) job for you?

How's that go?

[JBK405]

Okay, I just did take out my old copy of Red and re-beat the Elite Four (And my rival, Blue) and man was that boring. I mean really boring. I suppose it wasn't really fair to the game, I continued my old saved game from who-knows-when, so I had a plethora of Level 100 pokemon to chose from (I eventually settled on Blastoise, who was my original starter pokemon, a Mew, two Mewtwos, Gyardos and Aerodactyl), so I just wound up hitting "A" over and over again since I never had to worry about switching out pokemon, using items, or even really strategizing at all.

Maybe I should start over and play the whole game through all over again....

[dmh3000]

Just wondering, how's the Q&A video from the live show going? I've always found these to be interesting.

[Linkara]

Linkara, I just got caught up on everything since the Symbiotes (I'd fallen a bit behind) and I must say it was hilarious to go on a four episode binge. I, too, remember MISSINGNO., and I was sorely tempted to pull out my old copy of Red after I finished your review to fight the Elite Four just one more time.

Ah, good times. ^_^


Moving on to Secret Origins month was also a treat, as I'd actually forgotten that was upcoming. I knew the general origin stories of all three characters/teams already, but I never read the actual comics, so it was quite a shock to see how they were originally portrayed. I also found it surprising just how much of a tool Mr. Fantastic was, and the team as a whole, considering they probably killed a dozen people in their rampages as they united to fight the Moleman and we learn that the blame for their transformations really does fall squarely on Reed's shoulders (I'd gotten so used to Dr. Doom's compulsion to falsely blame Reed for his own scarring that I'd never even considered he might be legitimately at fault here). Very nice takes on all of them.

Well, of course it's always important to remember the time they were written it - it's of course easy for us these days to point out the dialogue and story that indicate that, yes, Reed Richards is to blame for all this crap, buuut I'm sure it's been retconned with better dialogue along the way. XD Plus I hope more logical reasons that Sue and Johnny are on the flight.


I did have a question for you that occurred to me during your live show (Which was also hilarious) after the traditional "I am a man" presentation. You remarked how you were "just a meme" and I was wondering what it's like being a celebrity (on-line, at least) in the new media age. It used to be that celebrities only became celebrities after working at that specific goal (Publicists, agents, other Hollywood cliches, etc.) and essentially had a career as a celebrity, in addition to their regular career which made them famous in the first place (Assuming they were famous for something, and not just famous for being famous), while it seems to me that you (And other internet celebrities) never make that transition into the "celebrity machine." Does being famous (On-line, at least) have an impact on your life, or is your fandom so esoteric that it never bleeds into reality? Are your fans "cooler" since they see you as "one of them" and don't obsess over you like some people do over film and TV stars? Is it just a 9-5 (Or whenever you work) job for you?

How's that go?

There's a LOT to go into there. People handle it differently - some people don't really care for all the adolation and fame and would just prefer to keep people out of their own affairs, others are more comfortable embracing their fandom and talking about their personal live to their fans. As for me, as someone who has a big enough ego to really love having fans and whatnot, I love the attention and praise. XD By the same token, however, I also went from BEING a fan to being more of a celebrity. As such, I saw things a lot more from the perspective of a fan and understood what a fan wants and appreciates. As such, I consider it to be vitally important to have a lot of fan interactions - not necessarily on a lot of stuff that occurs in my everyday life (I really don't need people to know what restaurant I happen to be visiting on any particular day). More like I need to be able to talk to fans at conventions, I need to stop while I'm walking and just talk to them, even if briefly - I need to answer questions, I need to answer e-mails, I need to read the feedback and change what isn't working, I need to do requests, etc., etc.

As much fun as I have in doing it, it is all part of the job for me. Without those fans, I wouldn't be invited to conventions, I wouldn't be able to do this as my regular job. I owe them for the time, the fanart, just the investment they make in my show. Ultimately, creative decisions come down to me, but they're the people I truly work for and why I endeavor to create enjoyable content on a week to week basis and why I feel like I failed them if I don't deliver it (or I deliver it late, etc.).

[Linkara]

Just wondering, how's the Q&A video from the live show going? I've always found these to be interesting.

I do apologize that those are taking so long - with the double feature, the storyline stuff coming up, and just generally everything else that happens I haven't gotten around to editing it into something viewable. It'll happen, it's just other stuff came on my plate (including the revised Electric Tale of Pikachu episode, which thankfully got fixed by Phelous because he has MAD After Effects skills).

[Craig C]

Loving the second annual origins month my only complaint is it seems to short but other than that awesome loved the origin of Allen Scott it was pretty cool also I remember you saying you don't know Greek mythology all that well, neither did the writer back then because Mercury was the Roman equivalent of Hermes the messenger of the gods, and Diana was misnamed if her Mother was to name her after the goddess of the moon in Greek Mythology she should have been named Artemis since again Diana is the Roman equivalent of Artemis

[Linkara]

It seems shorter this year primarily because it TECHNICALLY is shorter. I did the double feature on the second week of it so we'd get four episode out of Secret Origins Month, but I skipped the first week because I didn't have enough time to put an episode together before Youmacon.

[JBK405]

I really don't need people to know what restaurant I happen to be visiting on any particular day.

So you're not going to tell us where you buy your socks? Dang, there go my plans.

[JBK405]

Hey Linkara, I just caught up and saw your end clip where you joked about drinking to wipe out your memories of Blue Beetle, and I was wondering what about the series you had problems with?

Personally, I had a problem with almost everything (And ranted about every issue in the "New Comics" thread each month), but I was wondering what stuck out for you to stick it into a different review?

[Linkara]

Hey Linkara, I just caught up and saw your end clip where you joked about drinking to wipe out your memories of Blue Beetle, and I was wondering what about the series you had problems with?

Personally, I had a problem with almost everything (And ranted about every issue in the "New Comics" thread each month), but I was wondering what stuck out for you to stick it into a different review?

It was already not FEELING like the book I loved, from the lack of telling his family and friends about the scarab, to the entire idea of a reset in general, the lack of any Blue Beetles beforehand, plus just the villains' utter stupidity of not being able to put two and two together about him. The lack of jokes, the somber attitude, the scarab not being a friend and ally to Jaime (admittedly, that happened over time, but this scarab's attitude... confuses me), and then ending issue 5 with Paco getting a suit and going on a hunting spree? That made me drop the book. Then I saw what happened in issue 6 and that just pissed me right the hell off to high heaven.

Jaime would never.

NEVER.

Hit Brenda. Not even as a ploy, not even as a trick. If the scarab had made him do it, he would have been clawing at his own back for the rest of his life trying to pull that goddamned thing off his spine. I like Tony Bedard, I really, honestly do, but he doesn't get why the original book was so damn good. And if this is editorial mandate, then the editor doesn't know what was so damn good about this book.

[Tyr]

I don't know if we ever go to this, or if it was on your top 11, but what were your thoughts on the Civil War?

[Craig C]

Woo Hoo new storyline can't wait to see who the big bad is for this one

[Patrick Gerard]

http://continuity-error.blogspot.com/2007/02/godzilla-vs-barkley-or-shut-up-and-jam.html

Get your hands on Godzilla vs. Charles Barkley.

Also the Spidey/Power Pack comic. Pre-Spidey Peter Parker got molested by a guy who looked like Uncle Ben. Rumor was the writer wanted it to be Uncle Ben. Mark Millar has cited it as his favorite Spider-man comic before.

[stevapalooza]

Loving PSA month. Well, loved. I guess it's over now. The Christian Bale Batman voice cracks me up every time. Especially when he's waxing poetic about Alberta.

[I've Got the Monkeys]

I particularly like Linkara's variation on the Mark Hamill Joker voice.

[Linkara]

I'm glad PSA Hell Month went over so well with everyone. ^_^

In other news: a horrible, horrible movie - http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/linkara/at4w/35427-at4w-southland-tales#josc660859

[I've Got the Monkeys]

You Poor man. haing to watch Southland tales more than once to script that thing...

[JBK405]

You poor unfortunate soul. As much as I enjoy AT4W (And much of TGWTG.com), I've got to wonder what it is that drives you people to put yourselves through this. It's inhumane.

We should start a political action group to keep reviewers from being exposed to this sort of content.

[Dreg]

I really liked the Titans #1 review. I know that feel, bro.

Here's a suggestion for a future review: Flash Volume 2: Hell to Pay (#127-129)

In it, Mark Waid and Brian Augustine essentially wrote the same plot for One More Day several years before it appeared in Spider-man comics. It's also got it's share of goofiness and fun.

[Tyr]

Hey, Lewis, you probably don't remember this, but...

A couple of years ago I started a thread about Southland, followed with a review, and you posted similar feelings about the movie, and I said "hey, maybe you should do a review about this movie."

Point is, eventually, everyone does what I want. :smug:

[Patrick Gerard]

You Poor man. haing to watch Southland tales more than once to script that thing...

I LOVE that movie.

[Patrick Gerard]

Okay. Saw the review.

The whole point is that everything, starting with the destruction of Abilene, is an alternate timeline that has to be closed off or it will end the main timeline.

It's the exact same device as the tangent universe in Donnie Darko. There are direct references to it with Boxer's vehicle in the desert. Specifically, the receiver and the vessel. There are a set of rules that have to be followed to save the universe when a timeline diverges due to an incursion from a possible future. Fluid karma is the stuff Donnie sees coming out of people's chests; it's literally wish fulfillment which is a tangible energy here because Von Westphalen's whole power source relies on time paradoxes and the time paradoxes began with Abilene, which was an explosion caused by Von Westphalen.

The point is, both Roland and Santeros were in a similar position to Donnie Darko. Except instead of the jet engine being the metal receiver for the time portal, Santeros' car was. They were inside it. The baron blew up the car to ensure that the tangent universe did not get reintegrated with the main timeline, causing the end of reality.

Because of the different setup to this tangent universe, this winds up serving as a reverse Donnie Darko. Donnie commits suicide to save the world by closing off his paradox whereas Roland reintegrating with himself closes off the timeloop and ends the divergent timeline, thus saving the main one.

Also, the things you thought shouldn't be funny were intended to be funny. John Lovitz shooting Amy Poehler? The lightning revelations? The excessive Robert Frost references? All intentionally hilarious.

The premise with tangent universes is that they skew human psychology and in this case, it becomes a bad action movie because Boxer Santeros is one of the people involved in creating the tangent universe.

And, ultimately, Richard Kelly movies are intentionally "shaggy dog" stories filled with surreal buzzwords that almost but don't quite connect and require a minor psychotic break to grasp, which I actually think is cooler than having a plot. And with regards to the idea of failing as a filmmaker by requiring supplemental material, I think that's the point he's playing with most. It's like how Alan Moore started writing for Jess Nevins' annotations of his work.

The prequel comic isn't really that relevant. The "Theory of Time Travel" from Donnie Darko is what's relevant here. Remember the book he had? That is basically your decoder ring for Richard Kelly movies, which all rely on a fantasy form of physics and intentionally non-realistic psychology.

But, hey, the real point in many ways is to rebel against the idea of plots, reasons, continuity, and quality to deliver brutal scenes that make you laugh or cry.

[Linkara]

Well, of course you're free to like the movie if you do. ^^ I personally find it unbearable, but that's a pretty good interpretation of it.

That being said, I still think there a number of major plot holes. Cheri Oteri and John Lovitz seem to be fully aware that Ronald and Roland are time-displaced duplicates. How do they know? If they know, why aren't they trying to kill one or the other to prevent them from touching? The end of the world is more important than blackmail money or political agendas.

Why does Serpentine want Roland and Ronald to meet? The Baron actually doesn't seem to be involved in the majority of events and is just confused by the things that transpire - it's only Serpentine that actually knows the ins and outs of what's happening. Even if she didn't know about the world collapsing, clearly she WANTED the two Sean William Scotts to interact, but then why did she blow up the car? And if it was for some other reason, she seemed to want them to interact anyway, so why didn't she use the resources of the Baron to actually make it happen?

How did Sean William's Scott's entourage know that the screenplay would come to pass? And if the end result of all their cryptic talk in the bookstore was just "show Boxer the dead body, explain what happened in the desert," why the hell didn't they just kidnap him right there and explain it at that point?

Why the gun in the fire extinguisher box? Who put that there and why did they let Boxer get a hold of it?

How did Boxer know ANYTHING about temporal and quantum physics when it came to creating this tangent universe?

Why do Ronald and Roland "integrate" with one another when all they are is the same person at two different points in the time stream, one of which is from a timeline that no longer happened because he went back in time and is 69 minutes older than the other? They're not two halves, one is just from the future. It would make no sense that they would "integrate," simply that their touching is a paradox that cannot be reasonably resolved by the universe.

And wait, if your theory is correct, why does the alternate timeline begin with the nuking of Abiline instead of the time travel? If the movie is trying to break the fourth wall and be a split from the REAL WORLD, it needs to be more explicit. Furthermore, WHY does it have to be closed off?

I admit, I've never actually seen Donnie Darko, so some of this stuff may be explained there, but it seems kind of... off.

And hey, again, if you like the movie and prefer this mode of storytelling is better than traditional ones, that's fine... but the thing is that most filmmakers need to understand and follow the rules of storytelling before they can bend, break, or just play with them. Before Donnie Darko, he only made two short films in film school. His script for Holes turned a children's story about kids being forced to find treasure in the desert into a story about sexual awakenings and a literal deus ex machina. I personally just don't think he was quite ready as a filmmaker for something like this.

[XXXenophile]

You Poor man. haing to watch Southland tales more than once to script that thing...

My friend told me about the review. I said "As usual, a movie I own that I still haven't watched. Need to watch it then watch the review."

He goes "Wait a minute, you've got the 3 prequel graphic novels they did don't you?"

I said "Yep, those I have read."

And I could just hear him shudder afterwards.

[JBK405]

That was quite a review; I had no idea until it started that it would be such a large crossover (And a @#$%ing Delorean!). I think that was the largest collection of reviewers I've seen in one production (Not counting Kickassia and Suburban Knights and the like).

I also managed to catch up a bit on your regular reviews (Hey, I'm hitting the busy season at work, I've missed a lot of stuff), you're correct that the Superman: Grounded arc was horrendous (I've loved, and still love, JMS, but I don't know what he was thinking). Regarding his Wonder Woman story, which you mentioned you hadn't read, I'm not sure if that would work for a future review for you. Everybody's opinion differs, but to me it seemed like the series as a whole was worse than the sum of its parts; without going into events that covered multiple issues and the ending (By which point JMS had left the series) nothing's really stand-out bad and ripe for mockery.

Then again, I could be wrong, it's been a while since that re-write happened.

[Linkara]

I really liked the Titans #1 review. I know that feel, bro.

Here's a suggestion for a future review: Flash Volume 2: Hell to Pay (#127-129)

In it, Mark Waid and Brian Augustine essentially wrote the same plot for One More Day several years before it appeared in Spider-man comics. It's also got it's share of goofiness and fun.

I've mentioned it on the show before, and I'm not reviewing it at all.

It's One More Day done RIGHT, with the hero and their love WINNING. =D

[dmh3000]

You said you wanted to review Garth Ennis but didn't want to offend Preacher fans. Well I think I have the perfect comic, which even his fans, myself included, can admit has none of Ennis' talent. The Boys. The aim of it, Ennis has admitted, was to out-Preacher Preacher, everything offensive in that is cranked up, at the cost of any story telling potential.

For anyone unaware, The Boys is about a team sponsored by the CIA whose job is to make sure superheroes don't abuse their power. And superheroes are owned by a company called Vought-American who merchandise the heroes they create, who are all carbon copies of Marvel and DC heroes (It's part of the offensive thing), and want to gain total power over America. And the leader of the team is a psychopath who doesn't care about national security, he just wants to screw with the heroes every which way he can, since the Superman expy raped his wife and the unborn foetus that was conceived killed her and nearly killed the Leader with its heat vision. No, I did not make that up. The whole thing is Ennis' long-winded Take That against the superhero genre.

However, much like Preacher, it fails because Ennis takes it too far. Most of the 'supers' in the comic have a closer resemblance to 90s Image anti-heroes than DC and Marvel. The argument can actually be made that Ennis hates anti-heroes who are presented as being as noble and pure as the traditional superheroes (Eg. Youngblood) even though that was not Ennis' intent.

Anyway, I figured it'd be perfect for Atop the Fourth Wall since it has everything Linkara hates in regards to superheroes, plus it is legitimately a bad comic since it's too focussed on presenting everyone as an asshole and seemingly does everything it can to make us hate the protagonists.

[I've Got the Monkeys]

Wait... so why was Nash pregnant?

[Linkara]

You said you wanted to review Garth Ennis but didn't want to offend Preacher fans. Well I think I have the perfect comic, which even his fans, myself included, can admit has none of Ennis' talent. The Boys. The aim of it, Ennis has admitted, was to out-Preacher Preacher, everything offensive in that is cranked up, at the cost of any story telling potential.

For anyone unaware, The Boys is about a team sponsored by the CIA whose job is to make sure superheroes don't abuse their power. And superheroes are owned by a company called Vought-American who merchandise the heroes they create, who are all carbon copies of Marvel and DC heroes (It's part of the offensive thing), and want to gain total power over America. And the leader of the team is a psychopath who doesn't care about national security, he just wants to screw with the heroes every which way he can, since the Superman expy raped his wife and the unborn foetus that was conceived killed her and nearly killed the Leader with its heat vision. No, I did not make that up. The whole thing is Ennis' long-winded Take That against the superhero genre.

However, much like Preacher, it fails because Ennis takes it too far. Most of the 'supers' in the comic have a closer resemblance to 90s Image anti-heroes than DC and Marvel. The argument can actually be made that Ennis hates anti-heroes who are presented as being as noble and pure as the traditional superheroes (Eg. Youngblood) even though that was not Ennis' intent.

Anyway, I figured it'd be perfect for Atop the Fourth Wall since it has everything Linkara hates in regards to superheroes, plus it is legitimately a bad comic since it's too focussed on presenting everyone as an asshole and seemingly does everything it can to make us hate the protagonists.

Oh, I despise the Boys. However, like Preacher, it has its fans and I'm almost dead certain they'd jump down my neck for hating it.

[Craig C]

Oh, I despise the Boys. However, like Preacher, it has its fans and I'm almost dead certain they'd jump down my neck for hating it.


Bite the bullet dude, any one of the comics you review has the potential to have fans that would jump down your neck for hating it. Besides you could always have one of your alter ego's do the review.

[Benel Germosen]

I would like to write a comic that Linkara reviews.

[dmh3000]

Oh, I despise the Boys. However, like Preacher, it has its fans and I'm almost dead certain they'd jump down my neck for hating it.

Didn't stop you from doing Miller and Liefeld, but it's your show. Can't wait to see Battle for Bludhaven. I'm guessing that's when the latest plot will be shown?

[Linkara]

Didn't stop you from doing Miller and Liefeld, but it's your show. Can't wait to see Battle for Bludhaven. I'm guessing that's when the latest plot will be shown?

The latest storyline began last week with Batman: A Word to the Wise. XD

[Tyr]

I would like to write a comic that Linkara reviews.

I can totally see you publishing a comic just so Linkara would trash it.


Didn't stop you from doing Miller and Liefeld, but it's your show. Can't wait to see Battle for Bludhaven. I'm guessing that's when the latest plot will be shown?

I think for Lewis to review it, either it has to be entirely bad in Lewis' eyes or something he hasn't read yet but was told was bad. I don't think he'll go after the boys just because he himself personally doesn't like the subject matter, but he knows plenty of people who like the comics.

On the flip side, hey Lewis, you ever thought about doing something similar to what Lindsy did recently? You know, a list of top ten guilty pleasures comic book list?

[dmh3000]

On the flip side, hey Lewis, you ever thought about doing something similar to what Lindsy did recently? You know, a list of top ten guilty pleasures comic book list?
That could be interesting. Or maybe something like Doug's "Top movies he likes but everyone hates (http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/specials/29799-top-10-movies-doug-likes-but-everybody-else-hates)" video?

[stevapalooza]

Loved the Spidey/SNL team up review. I've known about that comic for years, but could never bring myself to buy it.

I'm surprised SNL never really did ask Stan Lee to host. He was pretty hip in the 70's.

[Linkara]

Loved the Spidey/SNL team up review. I've known about that comic for years, but could never bring myself to buy it.

I'm surprised SNL never really did ask Stan Lee to host. He was pretty hip in the 70's.

I'd guess it was a matter of not being quite as MUCH in the public eye as he is today. And even then SNL only rarely goes outside of movie/TV/music stars, and when they do it's either a politican or sport star.

[Duxdoom]

Haven't seen the review, but I do own the issue. My favorite part of the issue is Garrett Morris as Thor.

[Tyr]

Slightly of topic, and has the potential to start some drama, but I just have to say this to vent, and it's related to Lewis so....Ran across some vids while looking at Tropes VS Women in Videogames of a certain youtube personality and former staff member of channel awesome. The fellow had a rather colorful anti-feminist rant I found quite annoying.

Then I stumbled on a vid where he talked about leaving Channel Awesome. While he said he wasn't going to rant about it he aired out some dirty laundry in a complete and utter unprofessional manner, complained that he wasn't getting top billing because Channel Awesome wanted to give billing to new talent he claimed wasn't nearly as good as he was, and said some nasty things about Linkara, he used a proxy and a lot of passive aggressive bs cause he didn't actually have the balls to insult Linkara directly.

Most of you know that I'm not a man prone to ill will upon others but...fuck it....the man is a arrogant, whiny, misogynistic, douchebag, who gets away with his crap because those he attacks society has pegged as acceptable targets, he's a coward and a bully and I hope some form of justice is delivered upon him. I'm not going to mention who this is or post any links to the video in question, cause I don't think its a good idea to draw attention to this person. But I think Lewis has a pretty good idea who this person is.

Anyway I have to get that off my chest. Sorry about that.

[stevapalooza]

It's "Bleuuudhaven", Linkara. "Bleuuudhaven." Honor the umlaut!

[JBK405]

I just caught the Bludhaven videos and it really does seem like the comic was horrid. Unless you completely misrepresented what happened or the characters I don't see how they expected to get a coherent story out of all these elements. When you can't even keep art consistency from panel to panel you're in trouble right off the bat.

I must say I'm surprised, though, since Gray and Palmiotti are normally great writers. Nobody bats 1000, of course, and I've read more than my share of bad work from good creators, but I'm still shocked that they managed to just so completely lose control. Internal inconsistency, mischaracterization and such just wouldn't be what I'd expect.

Ah, well, at least All-Star Western is good.

[t.c.johnson]

I have talked to Gray about Bludhaven. (Really, really nice guy). He said that it was not his best work and was worried about it damaging his Freedom Fighters series coming up.

According to him they just did not have the lead time they normally had on a project and they rushed it. He also said editors asked for changes and they did not have time to really plan out how to incorporate the changes into the story.

[dmh3000]

Can't wait for #200. How long have you been preparing for it?

[dmh3000]

Loved the 200th, probably one of your best.

[Corrina]

Hey Linkara,

I had my son write the report on Doug Walker's panel:
http://www.wired.com/geekmom/2012/07/the-nostalgia-critic-at-connecticon/

I know he'd be thrilled to know you and the gang read it...:)

[Linkara]

I have passed it on to him. ^_^

And thanks to everyone else who has posted and yep, BfB definitely feels rushed, so thanks for the confirmation, t.c.!

And Tyr, in regards to the person in question, the Distressed Watcher, I saw that video, too. I actually don't think he was badmouthing at all, and in regards to Mike Ellis' remarks... well, I AM a bit anal sometimes. XD

[Stressfactor]

Regards to the 200th episode. COULD NOT AGREE MORE!

The whole thing was really a classic case of that problem that seems to be occuring more and more in comic books -- someone has a story they want to tell with a certain character and a certain way they have decided to tell it and if the plot doesn't fit the characters well the hell with adapting the plot -- "we'll just bend all the characters out of shape and suddenly alter decades worth of characterization in order to make them fit the plot."

Although that was a really interesting insight that, despite Peter's claims, he's never really taken responsibility.

Still.... Hero makes deal with, at the very least, a major demon. HERO. Makes deal with an emissary of HELL. What's wrong with this picture?!?!?!

Plus, on top of all that, one of the CLASSIC outcomes of such deals is that they're ALWAYS supposed to bite people in the ass.

And, as you pointed out, there are NO outward signs of Peter having any 'distress' or 'soul in torment' from losing his marriage. He continues his life just as before so.... the lesson that comes out here is basically that 'Go ahead and make a deal with a demon and it will really have NO impact on your life or heroism WHATSOEVER.'

[Corrina]

I have passed it on to him. ^_^

And thanks to everyone else who has posted and yep, BfB definitely feels rushed, so thanks for the confirmation, t.c.!

And Tyr, in regards to the person in question, the Distressed Watcher, I saw that video, too. I actually don't think he was badmouthing at all, and in regards to Mike Ellis' remarks... well, I AM a bit anal sometimes. XD

You are awesome! Thank you.

[Stressfactor]

Oh, and to add insult to injury....

Apparently the marriage of Storm and Black Panther is over -- ending in an annulment.... which is basically a Catholic version of a divorce. (Storm and Black Panther were married according to Catholic rite? Huh.)

The Spider-Marriage had to be eliminated by a deal with a freakin' DEMON because divorce or annulment would "age the character too much" but it's okay for Storm and Black Panther to get a divorce because no one's worried about it "aging" the characters too much. And all this despite the fact that Storm should actually be about the same age as Peter, maybe only one or two years older.

Marvel officially sucks at this.

[Dreg]

Oh, and to add insult to injury....

Apparently the marriage of Storm and Black Panther is over -- ending in an annulment.... which is basically a Catholic version of a divorce. (Storm and Black Panther were married according to Catholic rite? Huh.)

The Spider-Marriage had to be eliminated by a deal with a freakin' DEMON because divorce or annulment would "age the character too much" but it's okay for Storm and Black Panther to get a divorce because no one's worried about it "aging" the characters too much. And all this despite the fact that Storm should actually be about the same age as Peter, maybe only one or two years older.

Marvel officially sucks at this.

I'm not too upset by this, as the marriage really kept Storm out of the spotlight for some reason. Glad they ended it in the simplest way possible, so people can just move past it. Would have preferred a divorce to an annulment, which kind of mitigates what I assume was a meaningful relationship. Hope she comes back in a big way and leads a team again.

[Stressfactor]

I'm not too upset by this, as the marriage really kept Storm out of the spotlight for some reason. Glad they ended it in the simplest way possible, so people can just move past it. Would have preferred a divorce to an annulment, which kind of mitigates what I assume was a meaningful relationship. Hope she comes back in a big way and leads a team again.

I was more pointing out how Marvel bloody well tries to talk out of both sides of it's mouth. Refusing to accept divorce, annulment, or legal separation for Peter but yet it's okay for other characters who are actually about the same age as Peter.

[Lady_Hawkeye]

Oh, and to add insult to injury....

Apparently the marriage of Storm and Black Panther is over -- ending in an annulment.... which is basically a Catholic version of a divorce. (Storm and Black Panther were married according to Catholic rite? Huh.)

The Spider-Marriage had to be eliminated by a deal with a freakin' DEMON because divorce or annulment would "age the character too much" but it's okay for Storm and Black Panther to get a divorce because no one's worried about it "aging" the characters too much. And all this despite the fact that Storm should actually be about the same age as Peter, maybe only one or two years older.

Marvel officially sucks at this.

Wow, didn't know that Storm or Black Panther where married as Catholic, kinda weird as I would not see them as such but then how did they get an annulment, being Catholic myself (in name only mind you ;) ) if I remember it correctly, in oder to get an annulment, you have to be able to prove that either you never did the woopy with you partner or prove that one of the two was not of sane mind when they got married..... I don't see any of those working for them really.

Then again, A few years ago in my part of the world, Celine Dion's husband (who had been married before) managed to get an annulment so he could get married to Celine and it's pretty much known that what did it was a big, thick brown enveloppe of money so that could explain it for the king of a nation too.

As for One more day, Having seen Linkara's video, what bugs me so much is that for an "epic" storyline that would change everything, it's just so freaking boring. I mean nothing happens except for Spidey going from point A to B and whines. And really, this is the supposed tragic end to a loving couple and we barely see Mary Jane in it except at the very end. What the heck!!!

By the way Linkara, loved your "little girl" awkward walking bit. It made green tea come out of my nose :)

Catherine

[Stressfactor]

Wow, didn't know that Storm or Black Panther where married as Catholic, kinda weird as I would not see them as such but then how did they get an annulment, being Catholic myself (in name only mind you ;) ) if I remember it correctly, in oder to get an annulment, you have to be able to prove that either you never did the woopy with you partner or prove that one of the two was not of sane mind when they got married..... I don't see any of those working for them really.

Then again, A few years ago in my part of the world, Celine Dion's husband (who had been married before) managed to get an annulment so he could get married to Celine and it's pretty much known that what did it was a big, thick brown enveloppe of money so that could explain it for the king of a nation too.

As for One more day, Having seen Linkara's video, what bugs me so much is that for an "epic" storyline that would change everything, it's just so freaking boring. I mean nothing happens except for Spidey going from point A to B and whines. And really, this is the supposed tragic end to a loving couple and we barely see Mary Jane in it except at the very end. What the heck!!!

By the way Linkara, loved your "little girl" awkward walking bit. It made green tea come out of my nose :)

Catherine

Yeah, ran into a more full explanation and apparently Storm and Black Panther were married by a high priest of one of the clans of his country... and Black Panther asked to have the marriage annuled according to the rites of his people... Of course as king of the country he is head over all the clans so basically he did it as royal fiat.

Still... smacks of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon.



P.S., if you ever want to see MJ and Peter's relationship written gloriously, deliciously RIGHT pick up the prose book The Darkest Hours by Jim "The Dresden Files" Butcher.

Butcher not only GOT what made Peter and MJ's relationship WORK he also did a great job with Peter's 'voice' -- his quippiness and odd life. As an extra bonus Butcher threw in a terrific supporting role for Doctor Strange which was some of the best-written Strange has been in a long time.

Butcher also set up what I thought would have made a great concept for a Strange ongoing which could have been combined with BKV's mini-series "Doctor Strange: The Oath".

I really wanted to see an ongoing series where Stephen Strange and Night Nurse ran a clinic for low-income people during the day and then Night Nurse ran an underground clinic for superheroes out of the space at night with Strange helping out when he wasn't having to be off fighting demonic entities.

Any time I start missing what Peter and MJ were like I go and pull out "The Darkest Hours" and re-read it.

[Lady_Hawkeye]

Yeah, ran into a more full explanation and apparently Storm and Black Panther were married by a high priest of one of the clans of his country... and Black Panther asked to have the marriage annuled according to the rites of his people... Of course as king of the country he is head over all the clans so basically he did it as royal fiat.

Still... smacks of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon.

kinda makes a bit more sense that if was a Wakanda ceremony than a Catholic one......

Off topic but having just had my name changed legally to Catherine and since I love Lord of the Rings, I should have totally had my name changed to Catherine of Aragorn :)

Catherine

[Linkara]

Well, sad to hear about another marriage ending. Weren't they teasing Sue and Reed getting a divorce at some point, too?

Otherwise, the only other thing to say aside from thank you for the kind words once again are two things of note:

-Someone ATTEMPTED to have Joe Quesada watch my review, but he basically said he didn't feel the need to "read" it (he probably didn't even visit the blog to know it was a video), and frankly I'm not surprised nor upset. He feels it helped the character, I don't. I doubt we're ever going to see eye to eye on this, nor do I expect him to suddenly watch my video and realize, "What a fool I've been!"
-Apparently the folks at CBR are seething about the episode. XD Like Quesada, I haven't checked it out myself, but evidently they're regressing to personal insults against me instead of actually arguing against my points since, well, there isn't really anything they can argue against. Except for my voice. My voice can get grating even to me, and I love the sound of my voice. XD

[Lady_Hawkeye]

P.S., if you ever want to see MJ and Peter's relationship written gloriously, deliciously RIGHT pick up the prose book The Darkest Hours by Jim "The Dresden Files" Butcher.

Butcher not only GOT what made Peter and MJ's relationship WORK he also did a great job with Peter's 'voice' -- his quippiness and odd life. As an extra bonus Butcher threw in a terrific supporting role for Doctor Strange which was some of the best-written Strange has been in a long time.

Butcher also set up what I thought would have made a great concept for a Strange ongoing which could have been combined with BKV's mini-series "Doctor Strange: The Oath".

I really wanted to see an ongoing series where Stephen Strange and Night Nurse ran a clinic for low-income people during the day and then Night Nurse ran an underground clinic for superheroes out of the space at night with Strange helping out when he wasn't having to be off fighting demonic entities.

Any time I start missing what Peter and MJ were like I go and pull out "The Darkest Hours" and re-read it.

Thanks I will have to go check that out for sure.

A few years ago, when I was stupid enough to think I was going to write comics for a living (admit it, we all had that time in our life :) ) I had this idea of writing a Doctor Strange comic where the tag line was something like : He's the hero who has saved the world the most times......you just don't know about it. My pitch was that Strange was that one guy who was there agains't crazy demons, sorcerers, eldritch stuff all over the place but kept it quiet so that the human race and other superheroes would not go crazy like all those Lovecraft stories.

Catherine

[JBK405]

Linkara, that was a heck of an episode (Plus, great opening. Was that a clip from every episode?). It's when you review stuff like this that we can tell just how passionate you are about the medium and the stories and characters. I know "Linkara" is a character and the entire affair is scripted, but the fact that you really disliked the story came through.

Personally, I particularly liked your focus on the "Wow, our fans are losers" bit; it's a massive pet peeve of mine, but I simply cannot accept the casual contempt that some producers have for their own fanbase, often based on outmoded "basement dweller nerd" concepts (Sure, I fit as the dateless loser cliche, but not everybody is me). It's insulting, inaccurate, and has (On more than one occasion) caused them to lose revenue as I wil not give my money to somebody who insults me for doing so (How does that old saying go? Getting punched in the groin and paying for the honor?).

EDIT: Oh, and I meant to ask, was that really Dan Jurgens you met at the convention?

EDIT THE SECOND: Also, loved the inclusion of Les Miserables (I @#$%ing love that play, I was singing along to the credits), but did you ever consider usig the TGWTG version recorded for the Nostalgia Chick? You guys sounded great!

[Stressfactor]

Well, sad to hear about another marriage ending. Weren't they teasing Sue and Reed getting a divorce at some point, too?

Otherwise, the only other thing to say aside from thank you for the kind words once again are two things of note:

-Someone ATTEMPTED to have Joe Quesada watch my review, but he basically said he didn't feel the need to "read" it (he probably didn't even visit the blog to know it was a video), and frankly I'm not surprised nor upset. He feels it helped the character, I don't. I doubt we're ever going to see eye to eye on this, nor do I expect him to suddenly watch my video and realize, "What a fool I've been!"
-Apparently the folks at CBR are seething about the episode. XD Like Quesada, I haven't checked it out myself, but evidently they're regressing to personal insults against me instead of actually arguing against my points since, well, there isn't really anything they can argue against. Except for my voice. My voice can get grating even to me, and I love the sound of my voice. XD

Sue and Reed have skated pretty close to divorce at least one other time in the 1980's or 1990's IIRC so it wouldn't surprise me if Marvel tried to go back to THAT well again.... but if so it's pretty stupid.

It's kind of like I mentioned something in passing on my Facebook page about the handwaving away of Lois and Clark's relationship and one of my friends, who I doubt has EVER picked up a comic book in her life responded "How DARE they mess with Lois and Clark?!"

And that's the thing. When couples in fiction are "right" they're "right" and NOTHING can really change that. Fans would never, really WILL never except anyone for Clark except Lois on a permanent basis.

And the same is true of the FF. They're a FAMILY first and foremost and Sue just would never leave her family and while she might be able to push Reed out the family would remain off-balance without his logical influence. Besides which, at this point he is as much a part of the family as the rest of them are.

Despite all the childish Namor crap readers are never really going to accept anyone for Sue except Reed nor anyone for Reed except Sue.

Likewise, I don't think, no matter WHO they keep having Peter date, they're ever going to get rid of the shadow of MJ. Hell, after all these years they still can't get rid of the shadow of Gwen and the tragic end to her and Peter's relationship.

[Stressfactor]

P.S., in regards to CBR, in the immortal words of Bette Middler (among others) "Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke."

Your criticism was valid and, as you point out, they can't find fault with your critique because you based it on the merits of the story and pointed out the flaws.

I mean, if you want to love something DESPITE it's flaws (or because of them) that's fine (Hell, I'm a Classic Series Doctor Who fan, wobbly sets and William Hartnell blowing his lines and all) but don't go around trying to deny those flaws BECAUSE you love something.

[JBK405]

Apparently the folks at CBR are seething about the episode. XD Like Quesada, I haven't checked it out myself, but evidently they're regressing to personal insults against me instead of actually arguing against my points since, well, there isn't really anything they can argue against. Except for my voice. My voice can get grating even to me, and I love the sound of my voice. XD

To quote High Lord Aquitainus Attis, ad hominem "is a notoriously weak logical argument. And is usually used to distract the focus of a discussion—to move it from an indefensible point and to attack the opponent."

[Corrina]

Fun Fact: Butcher used Spider-Man as a basis for putting together Harry Dresden. Well, the Spidey archetype. So Butcher writing Spider-Man is coming full circle for him. :)

Ah, CBR.

[Keith P.]

Wait wait wait.

Jim Butcher is going to be writing Spider-man?

[Corrina]

No, I was responding to Stress, who was talking about the Spider-Man novel that Butcher wrote. Which is very good.

But somewhere in the depths of my Yahoo mail is an email from Butcher essentially saying he planned to kill Harry in book eight. (This was when he'd just published the first book. We used to hang out on the LKH list when it was a good list. He likely doesn't remember me but I have a good friend who beta reads fro him. Very nice guy, Jim Butcher. Deserves all his success.)

Damn, that list was epic back in the day. Butcher was team Richard and a very eloquent romance writer was Team Jean-Claude and they used to have the best and most respectful debates about the Anita Blake series. Until it trainwrecked, anyway.

Murphy is a tribute to Anita Blake as she used to be, IIRC.

[JBK405]

Ghost Story did pretty solidly confirm that Harry is a Marvel guy as opposed to DC; there'd been some pretty heavy hints before (He does, after all, follow the Tau of Peter Parker) but after he spends five chapters debating which of the X-Men he is (And actually vocalising BAMPF!) there really can't be any debate anymore.

[Keith P.]

Oh.

/sadly watches his giant nerd boner wither away.

[dmh3000]

Well, sad to hear about another marriage ending. Weren't they teasing Sue and Reed getting a divorce at some point, too?

Otherwise, the only other thing to say aside from thank you for the kind words once again are two things of note:

-Someone ATTEMPTED to have Joe Quesada watch my review, but he basically said he didn't feel the need to "read" it (he probably didn't even visit the blog to know it was a video), and frankly I'm not surprised nor upset. He feels it helped the character, I don't. I doubt we're ever going to see eye to eye on this, nor do I expect him to suddenly watch my video and realize, "What a fool I've been!"
-Apparently the folks at CBR are seething about the episode. XD Like Quesada, I haven't checked it out myself, but evidently they're regressing to personal insults against me instead of actually arguing against my points since, well, there isn't really anything they can argue against. Except for my voice. My voice can get grating even to me, and I love the sound of my voice. XD
That's basically it. I just had a look and people are either saying the liked the review or saying it sucks while admitting they didn't watch the video or, as you said, complaining about your voice.

I'm seven pages in by the way, and not one poster has attempted to make an argument beyond that besides one guy who said your opinion doesn't count because you're not a pro publisher.

[Patrick Gerard]

I don't think it's so much that Quesada or others opposed to the Spider-marriage see their fans as losers.

I think it's that they see Peter Parker as a cross between Archie, Charlie Brown, Jerry Seinfeld, and Oedipus.

He's the eternal teenager who pontificates on his life, never gets the girl, makes observational humor about urban life, and suffers endlessly.

Frankly, I think they're probably wary about what Slott and others have done but figure at least with things in irresolution, they can always make Spidey into an emo wisecracker later. And they'd rather keep him forever too young to drink if they could.

[Linkara]

That's basically it. I just had a look and people are either saying the liked the review or saying it sucks while admitting they didn't watch the video or, as you said, complaining about your voice.

I'm seven pages in by the way, and not one poster has attempted to make an argument beyond that besides one guy who said your opinion doesn't count because you're not a pro publisher.

I love THAT one especially, then, since the ending thesis of the review is that customers ARE critics and we should express our opinions on a story in the hopes of improving things.

[Tyr]

I have passed it on to him. ^_^

And thanks to everyone else who has posted and yep, BfB definitely feels rushed, so thanks for the confirmation, t.c.!

And Tyr, in regards to the person in question, the Distressed Watcher, I saw that video, too. I actually don't think he was badmouthing at all, and in regards to Mike Ellis' remarks... well, I AM a bit anal sometimes. XD

I think he was, and he was obviously bitter, but trying to play it like he wasn't. But I won't argue with you. I simply do not like the man, I find him detestable. And I never really thought his work on Channel Awesome was all that good to begin with.

[dmh3000]

I don't think it's so much that Quesada or others opposed to the Spider-marriage see their fans as losers.

I think it's that they see Peter Parker as a cross between Archie, Charlie Brown, Jerry Seinfeld, and Oedipus.

He's the eternal teenager who pontificates on his life, never gets the girl, makes observational humor about urban life, and suffers endlessly.

Frankly, I think they're probably wary about what Slott and others have done but figure at least with things in irresolution, they can always make Spidey into an emo wisecracker later. And they'd rather keep him forever too young to drink if they could.
That's why I've stayed away from main universe Spidey in favour of Ultimate Spider-Man. 160 issues by the same writer with no interrupting crossovers (Save Ultimatum) and it ended with what is quite possibly one of the best hero deaths I've ever seen. Haven'tread the Miles Morales issues though because my rule with Bendis is always wait for the trade.


I love THAT one especially, then, since the ending thesis of the review is that customers ARE critics and we should express our opinions on a story in the hopes of improving things.

I'm pretty sure he was one of the folks who didn't watch it, or watched five minutes and based his opinion around that.

[Stressfactor]

I don't think it's so much that Quesada or others opposed to the Spider-marriage see their fans as losers.

I think it's that they see Peter Parker as a cross between Archie, Charlie Brown, Jerry Seinfeld, and Oedipus.

He's the eternal teenager who pontificates on his life, never gets the girl, makes observational humor about urban life, and suffers endlessly.

Frankly, I think they're probably wary about what Slott and others have done but figure at least with things in irresolution, they can always make Spidey into an emo wisecracker later. And they'd rather keep him forever too young to drink if they could.

Linkara and others are referring to specifically that part in the story where Peter meets an 'alternate version' of himself -- the one who is a videogame designer and this version of himself then proceeds to insult videogame fans by basically saying flat-out that people play videogames not for entertainment and enjoyment but because they're such sorry sacks of crap that they have to play games to vicariously live lives that they can't have..... Which doesn't really explain the popularity of games like Silent Hill because somehow I doubt that people would REALLY want to live in a creepy town where they're likely to get attacked by monsters and things at any turn. Or the Resident Evil games where you're basically stuck in a zombie apocalypse.

On top of all that this alternate version of Peter? He's overweight, and nerdy to the point where HIS GLASSES ARE HELD TOGETHER BY TAPE AT THE CORNER!!!

Seriously. That sterotype went out sooooo long ago it isn't even funny. And I would also imagine that many game designers would NOT like the implications that they're overweight losers who dress like sterotypical nerds. In point of fact, most game designers I've seen interviewed dress like everyone else -- jeans and T-shirts and sneakers.

[JBK405]

Whoa...getting a bit dark there Linkara. What did 90's Kid ever do to you?

......

Well, apart from supporting the grimmification of comics and helping to usher in the age of violence and (further exagerrated) exploitation of the late eighties/early nineties.

[Linkara]

Whoa...getting a bit dark there Linkara. What did 90's Kid ever do to you?

......

Well, apart from supporting the grimmification of comics and helping to usher in the age of violence and (further exagerrated) exploitation of the late eighties/early nineties.

I try to make sure that everything that happens on the show happens for a reason, and I can assure you there is a reason for this. ^_^ It's just things are moving on a lot quicker than I had originally planned because I need this phase of the storyline concluded before October.

[Patrick Gerard]

Linkara and others are referring to specifically that part in the story where Peter meets an 'alternate version' of himself -- the one who is a videogame designer and this version of himself then proceeds to insult videogame fans by basically saying flat-out that people play videogames not for entertainment and enjoyment but because they're such sorry sacks of crap that they have to play games to vicariously live lives that they can't have..... Which doesn't really explain the popularity of games like Silent Hill because somehow I doubt that people would REALLY want to live in a creepy town where they're likely to get attacked by monsters and things at any turn. Or the Resident Evil games where you're basically stuck in a zombie apocalypse.

On top of all that this alternate version of Peter? He's overweight, and nerdy to the point where HIS GLASSES ARE HELD TOGETHER BY TAPE AT THE CORNER!!!

Seriously. That sterotype went out sooooo long ago it isn't even funny. And I would also imagine that many game designers would NOT like the implications that they're overweight losers who dress like sterotypical nerds. In point of fact, most game designers I've seen interviewed dress like everyone else -- jeans and T-shirts and sneakers.

Right on. I missed that.

As someone who is 3 hours from a masters that's pretty squarely about narratology, I'm gonna say that people are drawn to stories because stories vicariously take people places they can't go. It could be a matter of physical boundaries or societal taboos blocking someone's ability to do what a story does but, ultimately, stories are a problem solving mechanism. Stories are a technology, a holistic psychotherapy. They solve problems for the reader.

Games and stories are structurally different but fulfill much the same function. This is in part because, as Aristotle noted in the Poetics, stories are simulations. The user delves into the unconscious with an avatar and emerges with answers or the illusion off answers. The quality of result might differ based on the remedy needed or the skill of the folks who assembled the game or story.

You delve into a simulation. You emerge with problem solving insight or courage.

It's medicinal.

Sure, medicines can be abused or toxic in the wrong combinations. But you might as well claim food, air, or water are poison simply because they CAN be dangerous.

In this case, it sounds a bit like a heart surgeon calling his patients idiots for seeing a brain specialist when they have a headache.

[JBK405]

Oh, Linkara, you're not evil, you're just....evil-ish.

Guardian of Gotham did look truly atrocious, filled with all the problems of poor execution of a (theoretically) sound concept. The art, bizarre writing and off-ness leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and I didn't even actually read the dang thing.

Also, as a Steph fanboy, I have to gleefully applaud her inclusion (yes, I'm obsessed with her character, let's move on).

On a new topic, while writing this the internet kept going and switched to another video and it is such a shift to go from this episode to your very first video review. It's such a different style, and a different volume.

[Lady_Hawkeye]

Yeah, Guardian of Gotham was very mediocre, I mean it get's it so wrong on just about every level both storywise and art.

I know it's Jim Balent and all that but making your women dress and pose like that in just about every panels kinda makes it icky and quite frankly not something that should be published by DC using big names like Catwoman.

Every time we would see Brook, she would be wearing a skimpier and skimpier uniform (I worked as a maid in a bed and breakfast and yeah, trying to do a good job wearing that, not to mention those crazy heels, would be impossible) and wow, so many bending over and panty shoots..... Not a good way to attract female readers DC.

I should also mention that I saw the video for Future Shock and jeez, if someone would have told me earlier that gender changes can cause head explosions, I would have started my world domination plans much much earlier :)

Catherine

[dmh3000]

I just picked up the Knightfall re-release with all the Knightquest comics in it (Volume 2) and it's rather striking to see Balent back then. He was the artist on Catwoman and did a much better job. Also Moench is actually good too. It's especially odd when you remember that he's the writer who actually wrote the breaking of the bat. That's right, the guy who can't stop writing about how awesome Batman is was the same writer who gave us Bruce Wayne's greatest defeat.

[Corrina]

Moench's work on Batman is incredibly under-rated and undeservedly forgotten.

[I've Got the Monkeys]

I just picked up the Knightfall re-release with all the Knightquest comics in it (Volume 2) and it's rather striking to see Balent back then. He was the artist on Catwoman and did a much better job. Also Moench is actually good too. It's especially odd when you remember that he's the writer who actually wrote the breaking of the bat. That's right, the guy who can't stop writing about how awesome Batman is was the same writer who gave us Bruce Wayne's greatest defeat.

Speaking of... Where the hell were the Knightquest Search issues? We just got Crusade...

Linkara - new storyline is great. But what I really liked was your new post-modern "previously on".

[JBK405]

Moench's work on Batman is incredibly under-rated and undeservedly forgotten.

I haven't read much of his work, but (Going by the reviews) the issue isn't his Batman work directly, it's when he's writing something that isn't Batman but is still writing Batman regardless. When Baman isn't the star of the work, but is still the smartest, best character who the other characters can't get over it moves past "Hero of the story" to "Mary Sue."

Then again, like I said, I haven't read much, this is just going off the reviews.

[Lady_Hawkeye]

I just picked up the Knightfall re-release with all the Knightquest comics in it (Volume 2) and it's rather striking to see Balent back then. He was the artist on Catwoman and did a much better job. Also Moench is actually good too. It's especially odd when you remember that he's the writer who actually wrote the breaking of the bat. That's right, the guy who can't stop writing about how awesome Batman is was the same writer who gave us Bruce Wayne's greatest defeat.

Oh yeah, I remember Balent during Knightfall and you are right, it was actually pretty good.

The issue where Robin his caught in a fight between Bane and Killer Croc was really well drawn, especially those two baddies. He made them look really imposing.

Catherine

[dmh3000]

Speaking of... Where the hell were the Knightquest Search issues? We just got Crusade...

Yeah, that kind of annoyed me too. I was hoping to finally read those. Then again, they collected 27 issues together for volume two, I guess they didn't have room?


Oh yeah, I remember Balent during Knightfall and you are right, it was actually pretty good.

The issue where Robin his caught in a fight between Bane and Killer Croc was really well drawn, especially those two baddies. He made them look really imposing.

Catherine
Completely agree, that's one of the best moments in the crossover. Seeing the difference between then and now is like reading Batman: Year One and then checking out All Star Batman and Robin. It just leaves you wondering what happened (I mean, I know what happened to the pair of them, they got too self-indulgent, but still).

[JBK405]

Linkara, this was a great episode (Plus, new outfit during the review itself). The conflict at the end was a thing of true beauty, and it reminded me of the climax of What's So Funny About Truth, Justice & the American Way? (And the adaptation as Superman vs the Elite). I truly must stand and applaud.

The one thing which I expected, though, was for you to put in What a Wonderful World (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5TwT69i1lU) (Or a song like it) somewhere during the review. Jazz was a style built on emotion, but not all emotion is pain and hurt, there was joy and happiness in there.

[Craig C]

Been loving the story arc you have going with this one. Also was cool to see you on WTFIWWY live and I have to ask when are you and Nash going to get together for a review of another superhero pilot tv movie or movie in general because you still have Aquaman, and the Dr Strange pilot and the Roger Corman Fantastic Four plus Trial and Death of the Incredible Hulk

[Stressfactor]

Been loving the story arc you have going with this one. Also was cool to see you on WTFIWWY live and I have to ask when are you and Nash going to get together for a review of another superhero pilot tv movie or movie in general because you still have Aquaman, and the Dr Strange pilot and the Roger Corman Fantastic Four plus Trial and Death of the Incredible Hulk

Oh, I've got a BETTER one!

The 1970's Japanese live-action Spider-Man series!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMDZ1c3VJ6w

This thing is so weird it loops around and becomes AWESOME! Plus, it's perfect for Linkara since it's kind of like if they crossed Spider-Man with Power Rangers (So not even kidding on that!)

[Linkara]

Oh, I've got a BETTER one!

The 1970's Japanese live-action Spider-Man series!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMDZ1c3VJ6w

This thing is so weird it loops around and becomes AWESOME! Plus, it's perfect for Linkara since it's kind of like if they crossed Spider-Man with Power Rangers (So not even kidding on that!)
MarzGurl and I keep talking about doing it, I just need to have the time to actually watch it. XD

And thanks for the kind words about the storyline! Basically I've realized that I'll never top the escalating threats of the Entity arc, so I decided it was best to turn the show inwards and do character development. ^_^

[Stressfactor]

MarzGurl and I keep talking about doing it, I just need to have the time to actually watch it. XD

Doooo Eeeeeet!

I'm up to the fourth episode now and while the final fight scenes get a little repetative the stuff leading up to it is... interesting... to say the least.

Some of the 'wall crawling' effects aren't half-bad considering the time period and there is an acrobative component to them that the 1970's live-action American Spider-Man series lacked. Although that may not be a good thing as the 'putty' analogue here keeps doing random backflips while charging their opponent for no good reason. Also, surprisingly, there is a certain amount of charm and, 70's hair aside, the bulk of the cast is pretty good looking too.

[JBK405]

Happy anniversary Linkara!

Interesting new opening and the return of a meme (Gotta love the classics). Did you plan the break in the story, or did it just happen because of the event? I also caught your cameo for That Scifi Guy; it's so nice to know what you've got coming up for us.

Spinning off your reviews from the past few weeks, have you read Greg Rucka's Whiteout series? They take place in Antarctica and REALLY sell the setting; Rucka did history, environmental and political research and put the story IN Antarctica. I suppose it's too late for a mention in the reviews....since they're already up...but they show what a comic in Antarctica can really be, the isolation and distance and danger of the environment around them, instead of just putting snow on the panels. It's also just a good story (I found the first story better than the second, but what sequel ISN'T caught in the shadow of its predecessor?).

[Linkara]

Happy anniversary Linkara!

Interesting new opening and the return of a meme (Gotta love the classics). Did you plan the break in the story, or did it just happen because of the event? I also caught your cameo for That Scifi Guy; it's so nice to know what you've got coming up for us.

Spinning off your reviews from the past few weeks, have you read Greg Rucka's Whiteout series? They take place in Antarctica and REALLY sell the setting; Rucka did history, environmental and political research and put the story IN Antarctica. I suppose it's too late for a mention in the reviews....since they're already up...but they show what a comic in Antarctica can really be, the isolation and distance and danger of the environment around them, instead of just putting snow on the panels. It's also just a good story (I found the first story better than the second, but what sequel ISN'T caught in the shadow of its predecessor?).

Break in the story was necessary, unfortunately. I've been burned out on storyline for a bit now and needed a break to catch up on Longbox of the Damned stuff. Otherwise I had figured it'd work well for the story to end in Power & Responsibility since it was also about trusting people... didn't quite work out, but whatcha gonna do?

And nope, never read Whiteout before. Thanks for the recommendation!

[JBK405]

It's a great series, and also serves as a sort-of prequel to Rucka's Queen and Country series (When he was first writing Q&C the main character was supposed to be Lily from Whiteout, but he eventually decided to split them into two different characters). However, the screen adaptation was....let's go with "flawed" (And I say that as huge Kate Beckinsale fan).

[JBK405]

Oh! I forgot to mention that (get this), when the trailers for the movie came out it was hyped as a horror/thriller and a lot of people got a monster-movie vibe, so there was actually confusion and a lot of theories from people who didn't know the source material that it was a remake of The Thing.

[Lester C.]

I just heard Angry Joe name drop Linkara which has pushed Linkara's cool points through the stratosphere. :shock:

[Hybrid2]

Maven of the Eventide swore revenge on Limkara,for making her say good things about Twillight.

He is screwed.

[JBK405]

She managed to make it to 4, I'm impressed.

[JBK405]

Topical Joke of the Week!

Interesting way of covering those jokes, since it lets the viewer know what's going on and, if they're watching the episode a year from now, they get that it's an issue of timing and not some sort of joke that they simply aren't "getting."

Nice recap of the full relaunch at the opening, including some great recommendations (Although I'm not reading Batman or GL).

Have you given any thought to doing origin comics for the individual Titans?

[Lester C.]

Just saw L.A. Noire review and Linkara made a guest spot, kinda, on the Angry Joe Show. That's beyond mindblowing, for normal people it's like a kid you know hanging out with the President Of The United States, that's how big this is for me.

[dmh3000]

I was just wondering, since the annual Youngblood review is coming up, have you read any of Peter David's old But I Digress columns from the nineties where he commented on Images business practices? He apparently used to get a lot of flack for that even though he was just as harsh on DC and Marvel, who he was still writing for at the time.

For anyone interested I'll post some of the links here.

Liefeld, I mean Kingman taking over X-Force, I mean X-Cels. (http://www.peterdavid.net/2004/10/27/the-kingman-name-withheld-transcripts/)

Image's announcement and confusion over Erik Larsen saying at Marvel they were 'holding back.' (http://www.peterdavid.net/2005/06/29/image-the-beginning/)

Image = Sesame Street. (http://www.peterdavid.net/2009/06/08/image-son-of-sesame-street/)

Countering Image's claims that only the artist should be listed as creator. (http://www.peterdavid.net/2010/07/05/the-wacko-theory/)

Liefeld swiping other artists Part One (http://www.peterdavid.net/2010/08/20/giving-credit-where-credit-is-due/) and Part Two (http://www.peterdavid.net/2010/08/23/giving-credit-where-credit-is-due-part-2/).

Hypocrisy for Image cancelling books for 'lateness.' (http://www.peterdavid.net/2010/08/06/image-barney-and-more/)

Pointing out how he actually was on board for much of Images's ideas and yet was still branded as an Image hater for one or two negative columns. (http://www.peterdavid.net/2011/01/14/image-concerns/)

Here's my favourite one. In 1993, Todd McFarlane decided it would be a good idea to debate Peter David by doing no research, not bothering to stay on topic, trying to get the marketing people to present himself as the under dog and David as Jabba the Hutt and leave David no choice but to accept or be branded a coward. Here's a .pdf copy of the Debate itself (http://padwp.malibulist.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/greatdebate.pdf), George Perez's sum up of it (http://www.peterdavid.net/2010/08/30/the-great-debate-results/),David's after thoughts (http://www.peterdavid.net/2010/09/02/after-the-great-debate/) and the parody (http://www.peterdavid.net/2010/09/17/the-less-than-great-debate/).

There's more on David's site but there are about 400 columns uploaded and I don't want to go through them all, but I suggest anyone interested check them out, there's some good writing there.

[Linkara]

Thanks, sir! Some of this is giving me inspiration for a future episode or two that I need to write. ^_^

[Craig C]

loved The Christmas Carol/It's a Wonderful life storyline you did it was a great character story in my opinion and would love to see more of those. Also love the nod to the '80s cartoons you do when you go to commercial although I wish you could have some of your villains in on it to or Snowflame. Just got done watching the car wash of doom review that you did and found myself chuckling at it cause I remember reading it when I was younger. Also looking forward to the next HOPR review when you have time for it. Can't wait to see how your mysterious gunman storyline play's out it should be interesting and entertaining.

[JBK405]

Lewis, I need to ask, where are you finding all these old PSAs? Did you inherit a bunker full of old '50's film reels or something?

[EmarAndZeb]

My guess is the Internet Archive: home of the Wayback Machine; home of a lot of weird, public domain shit.

http://archive.org

[Linkara]

My guess is the Internet Archive: home of the Wayback Machine; home of a lot of weird, public domain shit.

http://archive.org

Yeah, pretty much the Prelinger Archives.

[JBK405]

Oh.

The inherited bunker would have been cooler. Imagine what else could have been in there!

[Astonishing X-Fan]

So is there a way to watch this stuff on an IPad?

[EmarAndZeb]

So is there a way to watch this stuff on an IPad?

Have you tried his Blip channel (http://blip.tv/at4w)? Blip's got a mostly HTML5 interface, I believe.

[JBK405]

Glorious.....GLORIOUS!

Insano! Star Wars! Mother-frakking NEUTRO!

My God, it was beautiful!

[dmh3000]

Loved the ending. Awesome job. And it's nice to see Insano being a legitimate threat. Glad you got Spoony as well so you could have some good old fashioned fisticuffs.

Also, you may get your wish for Youngblood dying. I check ICv2's Top 300 lists and Youngblood #75, which was promoted as a big deal, sold only just over 6000 copies in December. I think what I find the most hilarious about this is that back when Liefeld quit DC comics, he went on a tirade about how Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo weren't the reason Batman was selling 160k copies a month, citing that Capullo's run on Haunt didn't sell that high. However, when you check the numbers, Haunt under Greg Capullo's pen sold 18-20k copies per month. Liefeld's The Infinite, on the other hand, sold only 7k for its 4th issue. And both titles were written by Robert Kirkman.

[JBK405]

!משפח! אתם מדברים עברית

Wow, Marville #4 just looked like a mess. A bizarre, surreal, badly written mess (With a shocking lack of promised raptor-batting, too). The internet did exist back in 2002, a lot (Or rather, all) of these errors could have been avoided with even the most basic of research.

Maybe it came across differently when you were reading the actual comic, but did it seem to be trying to relate to comic book writing, trends, production, etc. in any way, or did they just abandon that concept completely?