As for the comic: wow, I thought that the prequels took the original Star Wars sage, raped, killed, raped, buried, exhumed, raped it again and then did the same thing to everyone who liked it. But this? This looks like a crossover between the carebears and the smurfs!
As for the review: I liked it, I thought it was bizarre that you went for action in the middle of the thing. I know you give the show a bigger focus on story, but just stopping the review for several minutes to have a fight-scene just feels weird. Not bad, mind you, just strange. I would recommend you keep it at the end of the videos like you did before (it worked alright, didn't it?), but that's really just my personal taste.
Oh and tat GoldenEye-clip, man, you need to warn me before you do that, because it was one of the funniest things I've ever seen (even without the context).
Oh and that clip at the end, that was really cool. Was that taken from some movie, or is it a costume of yours?
Now, (I think I have to be cautious here) let me say that I think that there is something about Liz that irritates me, I think it's that she's rather androgynous, with the deep voice and all. Am I the only one thinking that? But I liked her nonetheless.
By the way, you made a spelling mistake, Liz' blog (which I've visited I think when the last review came out) is called "The Foundry", not "The Foundary". Shame on you.
Somehow I enjoyed this a lot more than the Mecha-Kara finale. Also, Liz seemed a lot more natural this time around (though she did a fine job last week too).
ooookay....i really liked this review. it was great seeing you 2 together teaming up for a really bad, or rather extremly childish comic. the fighting was awesome (mechakara-final flashbacks anyone?); ilaughed so hard at "I am destracting you, so she can stab you".
with all that said, there is something I didn't like: why in the name of heiniker are you fussing about the fact that the ewoks defeted the stormtroopers, and by that helped defeat the empire? I still don't get why people have a problem with that. It was supposed to be like the vietnam war, where a small country defeted a big one....well... you get the idea...i hope.
still an awesome video. looking forward to the next and of course to the 100th one.
"By the way, you made a spelling mistake, Liz' blog (which I've visited I think when the last review came out) is called "The Foundry", not "The Foundary". Shame on you."
While it is called "The Foundry," because that URL was already taken, she spelled it with an "A."
Damn you, the horse you rode on and every slovenly humanoid I come across for the rest of existence. You made me remember Ewoks:- The Battle for Endor.
I've spent most of my adult life trying to block out the fact that I still own that film on VHS. It sits there, locked at the bottom of a filing cabinet with a sign on the front saying "Beware of the Leopard." It stays there as a constant reminder that as bad as the Phantom Menace was, it could have been worse.
As for the comic, I'm not surprised in the slightest that there was an Ewoks comic. Hell the only thing I am surprised about is that in all my research I haven't found a cuddly Ewok.
Onto reviewing the review ( ahh meta, how I love thee):- It was great to see more of Iron Liz in character and to see her play off Linkara (and Finevoice). We definably got a better feeling for her personality here than last week. While we didn't' get that cohesive a review how many times can you shake your head in despair.
The interval, or attack by the Shades was interesting (What Power Rangers theme was that?") but a little anti-climatic. Half way through the review we knew it wasn't the end and it just felt a little off. That didn't detract from it, but it didn't help.
Still it was a good fun review that carried the overall story along, gave Liz a chance to shine, and highlighted an awful comic. Not bad.
Especially after reminding me of one of the worst films I've ever seen!
Thomas AKA Mountain King
PS. Fantastic gauntlet for Lord Vyce, even though I expected him to shout "I'll get you next time Linkara!" and you missed a golden opportunity with the Robotic shades. The reason robot minions are so often used in children's cartoons is that they can blow up. TV producers frown on violence to living things (hence why Cobra Pilots in Gi Joe always have parachutes) but robots are okay to smash and destroy. That's why the Foot, in the 80's Turtles cartoon at least, are machines.
Ok this was a really nice end/beginning to the arc. Liz is so much better when she isn't acting like linkara. Not that I didn't enjoy her review last week it just seemed more natural this go around. Plus friggin twinkle and icingdeath you can't get much more epic than that.
Really looking forward to the upcoming story arc and excited to see more of lord vice. lewis keep up all the good work your reviews just keep getting better and better and ignore the requests for one more day the less this is mentioned the easier it is to purge from my memory.
O.O Iron Liz is a Drizzt fan. She can do no wrong.
I wanted to mention that too. For one second, I wasn't sure (in german, the scimitars' names are translated) and went "Who gives names to his scimitars?" and then I had the answer and got the names.
While it is called "The Foundry," because that URL was already taken, she spelled it with an "A."
plz ues this wen u fight the Dr. Claw ripoff Masaaki Endoh - Go Go Power Rangers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3LBW5KQEyA Masaaki Endoh is from JAM Project. are u going to do a Inspector Gadget comic?
This was a very enjoyable episode. Liz was positively adorable and you two worked great together. The shade fight was tonnes of fun and oh wow, Lord Vyce's hand looks amazing! Hats off to the prop lady!
Okay, see, this is so much better than last week, granted last week was still an average (IE good, I can't stress that an average ATFW is still pretty funny) episode. It's only unfortunate that we still couldn't judge Liz on her own merits as once again as the episode also had that great Shade fight.
I feel like doing some commentary on what this episode means for the series, so I'll do so. Fist up, Lord Vyce... I'm thinking Claw from Inspector Gadget with the look of Lord Zed or possibly pre-defeated Sauron. The Claw thing is a given not just because of the voice but the fact that you can only see his hand. Heck, Lord Vyce is already a better Octopus than Samuel L Jackson.
But yeah, Lord Vyce really has some potential. He probably will end up also being played by Lewis since he does seem to like not relying on others too much, at least as per the Linksano origin. Honestly I'd really like Vyce, when he see his face, to not look like Linkara, or Spoony (though I doubt it'll be him), rather someone entirely unknown. I mean I like it when mysterious people turn out to be people we know, but an anti-reveal where it's like, "I don't know who this is," would be great too.
The Shades are interesting. Robots wearing what I'll call Ringwraith style outfits I don't recall ever seeing in, say, Power Rangers, so they're kind of unique in spite of their simplicity. I also like how conventional bullets don't seem to be that effective, it does show they're a bit of a threat. I always thought I could just shoot some ranger minions to take them out. Heck if the Terra Venture security didn't have such slow-firing lasers I bet they would of been more useful than the rangers in taking out Stingwingers. That's a sci-fi classic I've always had a problem with, futuristic weapons firing a beam every two seconds or so as opposed to our modern guns that can shoot up to thousands of rounds a minute on full-auto. Still, I digress...
So yeah, this prelude to Vyce arc is over and I'm glad. I enjoyed it overall, no question, but naturally we're all glad Linkara is back as the main reviewer. Right now I'm also looking forward to Vyce as a recurring villain too, its nice to have another serious one, granted Linksano had a certain charm to him. I think his voice is what did it, plus how hilarious Lewis looked with the googles on doing random grins.
On another note, no morphing sequence? Single tear.
"What do you want review?" "Ewoks!" I don't know why, but that line just works.
To borrow a phrase from The Book of Ratings: "You feel like a real tool insulting teddybears. On the other hand, you feel like a real corporate tool praising them." I remember Battle For Endor, as it would occasionally get re-aired well into the '90s.
Is that themesong real? Tell me it's not real.
It's skronking! The evil thing is skronking! To Power Rangers music! ("And so you fell into the danger, and you're all alone tonight. You're surrounded by the hurting type, and you just don't care for the sight. We will come running to your side~" Cute, Linkara. Cute. Yes, I can quote lyrics from "Fight" verbatim, and don't they just neatly describe what happened?)
"They explode! My life has new meaning!" Oh god, Iron Liz is Terrifying!Rei.
Loved this episode. I'll gotta say the past couple weeks episodes were ok, but this makes up for it. I love how a random battle happens halfway through and Liz naming her weapons made me laugh out loud.
Epic Harvey Finevoice face is epic.
Can't wait to see how this arc unfolds. I'm itching to see what happens next.
I had to pause the video for a full 5 minutes to get my laughter under control. Damn you Liz, I'm still giggling, and probably will be for the rest of the day. Please note local time is 8:41 in the morning. That's a good 14 hours. I'm doomed.
I get the reference, but I still think Twinkle and Icingdeath are extremely stupid names for swords.
Also, I agree that the midway fight scene was a bit weird (I'd call it a BLAM, but it's pretty important narrative-wise), and I would've liked to see Liz review the comic the whole way through before Linkara came back, as her overall demeanor was much better compared to last week. But overall, this was a pretty good video.
We all knew Linkara was coming back this week. Pollo's been telegraphing it blatantly since Freak Force. So I thought having the anticipated return come in the middle of the episode instead of the end was a refreshing twist. Past episodes had lead me to expect "soul-searing Ewok review" followed by a discrete "awesome battle scene." Interweaving them was a pleasant surprise. And it was great to get Linkara back in time to actually put his two cents in on a review again.
Loved the background music on the fight. That takes me back to the good ol' MMPR days. These "epic fights between good and evil withen a review" eps are by far my faves. Keep up the good work.
What happens when a gamer and a comic fan get together?! A gaming comic, perhaps? Wait- Noah Antwiler used to write for a gaming comic! Oh no- only Insano can come from this relationship! In the name of all that is Ditko, Jolly Blackburn preserve us!
Silly pop culture references aside, you guys are adorable. Linkara, I've only been watching ATFW for a few months now, but this is the best vlog I have ever come across.
How dare Iron Liz not get one of the greatest references ever to the Viet Cong with the Ewoks! Seriously, that whole scene on Endor is nothing more than a reference to Nam that no one ever seems to get. EWOKS 4 LIFE!
You kids look like you're having fun with this one, and that makes me happy :)
I'm also glad that pretty much all the comments are positive this week. You put all these fun reviews and stories together for free, and unless the critisism is genuinely constructive, people with gripes should just zip it, IMO.
Loving where this is going so far. Liz does a great job reviewing and I hope that she pops back in every now and then to double-team a comic with you. Lord Vyce's gauntlet looks like part of the armor worn by the Lich King Arthas Menethil in "World Of Warcraft", so naturally I wanna see the rest of it.
Man, as a major Star Wars fan, this comic was physically painful to sit through. D:
I'm still firmly convinced that the two KOTOR games are the only EU stuff worth checking out (the first one for A New Hope-styled space opera goodness, and the second one for some actual deep literary merit.)
And holy crap, nice job actually making Vyce somewhat-intimidating in that stinger there. The way you cut to black right when his fist came down was pretty chilling.
I have to say, the suspense is getting thick now. I am glad Liz chose to do Ewoks (Dear god I am glad I forgot that horrible song) rather than giving in to the peer pressure.
So, Lord Vyce and his Shades are finally close enough to earth. We know the Shades are robots, an dof course Mechakara was a robot, coincidence?
You know, I'm sure I overuse the phrase 'it made my day', but in this case I really don't know what else I can say. I've had a rough weekend, but after this I can't stop grinning like an idiot, not to mention the best laugh I've had for a week. :D And for that, I thank you, sir, and Iron Liz as well.
Speaking of which, I thought Liz was great in this one (again, loved her before as well). :)
Great fight scene, second only to the Mechakara fight in my opinion. And it would take a heck of a lot to beat the Mechakara fight. Personally I loved that it was in the middle of the review, just because it was so unexpected.
Am I the only one who thought of Adherents of the Repeated Meme with the robo-Shades? Please tell me I'm not the only one who thought that...
And the reaction to the Ewoks themesong really got me, especially since I reacted almost the exact same way. xD
wow. This episode was great. The team up was awesome! Hope to see more of Iron Liz in the future. I loved the editing in the fight scenes. You're a great fight coreographer.
I've got a good feeling about this new villain. He looks and sounds like one for the ages. I've always liked the dialogue you write for your villaim characters. This really felt like Superman: The Animated Series when we were first introduced to Darkseid. Just epic. Keep up the great work, Linkara.
creepy monster hand! creepy monster hand! OMG! This Lord Vyce arc is looking to be epic!
This comic was goofy! I am not as much of a Ewok hater as most, since they should have had Chewy be their god instead of C3P0! But this comic is a good place to start indeed if I ever wished to!
So until somone comes up with a "if it ain't broke, fix it" revamp for a comic that actually works, MAKE MINE LINKARA!
Great episode this week, you two. Another awesome fight scene and a new badass villain to take down! Also, nice job ripping this comic apart. It definitely deserves it. Christ, the Ewoks should have stayed as the one-joke support cast that they were in ROTJ.
Also, Pollo raises a good point. How many unlit cigarettes does Harvey have in that jacket of his?
It's not that surprising so many Star comics look like Casper the Friendly Ghost. The imprint was started after Jim Shooter tried and failed to acquire the rights to Harvey Comics after that company declined in the early 80s.
Enh, I'm not sure how I feel about this month long arc of foreshadowing only for the payoff to be...more foreshadowing. It felt more like an excuse to give all the supporting characters their own episodes. I mean the 90's Kid episode was fucking brilliant, and I will gladly support any more excuses to give him his own episode in the future, but everyone else not so much.
I rank the episodes as such:
90's Kid >>>>>>> Ewoks #9 >Harvey Finevoice > Iron Liz.
I didn't hate the Iron Liz episode, but I understand why other people did. I don't blame it so much on her as much as do Lewis only giving her 10 minutes to glance over the script before shooting.
Well, at least AT4W is back to normal next week.
Oh, and the One More Day tease at the beginning. That was just mean :D
Ha! This was great. Fantastic job to both of you. 5 million experience points for the Twinkle and Icingdeath reference.
The only flaw was that you gave me flashbacks. I used to buy those comics and watch all things Ewok. ..I liked teddy bears, ok? I was practically their target demographic! It's not my fault.
is it just me or does at the end of the video does the villain look like sauron from lord of the rings and (the way the camera points only to the arm) the claw from inspector gadget?
Can we please take a break from the evil villan thing for a few episodes? I'm just kinda sick of it at this point.
I'm mean its getting a little much with linksano and now this guy, how about 4 comics from completely different generes like the star trek one that was actually pretty cool and different from the usual stuff.
The one thing about Ewoks that made it fun-was Morag the Tulga Witch. She was...Morag. She couldn't stand up to Zedd, but she was...She was better than Gargamel. Though that's not saying much.
I know you want to Lord Vyce looks menacing (and he does) BUT PLEASE! as an outtake or something to when the arc finally ends (its probably gonna take a while i know) please have Lord Vyce doing the Dr. Claw line... as a bloopers after the end or anything like that
Anyway great review nice development of Iron Liz and her interaction with everyone on the team of AT4W (except 90's Kid) i guess now its time for a little calm before the plot continues isnt?
Also until i know a better trope i call the fight in the middle a BIG LIPPED CROWNING MOMENT OF AWESOME
Ok, I now have to rewatch this just to get everything down that I want to.
The opening amused me beyond rational belief. I had to look away for a minute, but the tone of voice when Liz said "Ewoks!" made me stop and rewind the video, because I could hear the smile in her voice.
Oh jeez, the Ewoks theme song. I will have that in my head all night now.
The cover brings to mind Care Bears meets Snorks. (And maybe five people will remember Snorks.)
Excellent, shaking building and explosion noises in the middle of the review! And then a fight scene. I'll admit I get bored during fight scenes, but I liked having it here, a nice surprise instead of it being at the end. Oh wait, on second thought, go Pollo! And distractions. Distractions are good. Aww, hugs. And humble Linkara. "Cool, that means they can blow up!" Best. Line. Ever.
Kinda amused by the not-really-freeze-frame freeze-frame.
"Do you ever actually light that cigarette?" Hehehe.
You two are adorable.
Ninja teddy! I love the bear.
Ewok music! I loved that stupid obnoxious song...who am I kidding, I still do.
Ouch. Worst pun joke in years.
"How'd you make the text appear like that?" Lovely.
If I can make a constructive (I hope) comment, Liz has a tendency to look above and to the left of the camera. Hardly the end of the world, it just caught my attention.
I'm still smiling from this review. I needed that, today was kinda crap. But then I remembered to look here, and it got so much better!
Howdy. I seem to have forgotten my Google password, so this is WyldCard4. The guy who reviewed last time and is otherwise a complete unknown to you.
Two things I missed last review that make me feel kind of like an idiot:
1. That Iron Liz was tired and sick. 2. That you two (Lewis and Liz? I don't know what Iron Liz's real name is) are dating.
Now for the overall thoughts.
Iron Liz was greatly improved here. Her voice acting was vastly improved over last week's, and I'll just assume that she either was pretty sick or that you two practiced more. Whatever it was she felt far better this week.
You two are also just flat out good actors. I could really tell there was a difference between Harvey Finevoice and Linkara in their relationships with Iron Liz. Harvey felt parental, an older and wiser character that was helping Iron Liz along. It was clear that Linkara and Iron Liz acted like a couple, though it was wonderfully low key. Both of you did a great job acting this week.
I also saw a bit more of why Linkara would have chosen her as his successor in the Star Wars review. I'll get into the successor thing later, but the Star Wars review on The Foundry was incredible. Iron Liz kept up an incredible energy just by talking about her life there. That passion is very strong, and I saw why Linkara would consider her a worthy successor to Atop the Fourth Wall. With that level of passion she could definitely keep the show alive.
Now, onto the review itself.
The opening serves as a better tie in to Iron Liz's blog than the actual ad. We get a sense of her as an independent reviewer, and we reinforce the theme of awful Star Wars products. It also serves as a great example of nearly everything I mentioned above.
The Ewoks theme song is incredible. It manages to combine something cutesy and disgusting with a slow song that is nearly the exact opposite of what I would expect for a show like that. I am just amazed by that.
Harvey Finevoice has Tivo? That's exactly as strange as the Ewok theme song.
Ooh, I recognize the Essential guide to Characters. I am pretty sure I still have it somewhere.
Overall the mannerisms of Harvey Finevoice really sells the identical actor thing. Harvey spends a lot of time quietly reacting in the early review, and that is good. He generally seems like a different character.
The story fight scene was just incredible.
First of all, it was funny. the gags inside the action were strong.
Secondly, the action was kick-ass. Polo, Harvey Finevoice, Iron Liz, and Linkara all fought well, and the Shades were terrifying. They look SCARY and were no pushovers in battle. Iron Liz was very nearly killed after all.
The ending of that scene with the fake out ending was good. Iron Liz and Linkara also seemed kind of like a couple of kids. It reminded me of why Harvey always calls Linkara "The Kid."
Just an incredible scene. But I really want to know what Linkara was doing during the three days. Still takes second in my desire to know Iron Liz's in character back story, but consider me very curious.
This is weird, but I wonder if the mutant thing is a hint on Lord Vice's nature.
Also, it is Lord Vice, not Lord Vyce. I just don't think the y looks good on that letter. Certainly not as good as WyldCard4.
I would have ended on Miley Cyrus's "See You Again" myself.
Wow. The ending makes me really excited to see where this goes. Iron Liz is a strong addition to the cast, the Shades are frightening foot soldiers, and Lord Vice's hand is scary. I look forward to more from this arc.
Any chance of you giving word on the new power rangers episode Linkara? I know you said for us to wait and so on but we have been given NOTHING on it in the blog. No idea about the twitter though.
I-I-I-I remember the cartoon, and mi-might have watched a-a-all of it. hehehe... Ahem. But I didn't expect a comic out of it... The fact that one ended up on AT4W isn't shocking in the least though.
You 2 work very well together, as others have said in their own way.
I'm kinda scared to see Vyce completely based off of the glove. I'm having visions of Sauron from before he lost his body based off of it. The voice... Just cranks up the creep factor on this guy. Though, I admit I'm looking forward to seeing him whenever he finally pops up in person.
"Any chance of you giving word on the new power rangers episode Linkara? I know you said for us to wait and so on but we have been given NOTHING on it in the blog. No idea about the twitter though."
...did you notice that bit at the top that said there's no point in giving my opinion on something that hasn't come out yet, we have no concepts for, and hasn't even gotten an actual release date?
I am equal parts proud and ashamed that I recognized the Short Circuit 2 music immediately. Maybe this means I wasn't the only kid who watched that on VHS repeatedly despite how awful it was, eh? Eh? K.O., derF? No?
Having the Shades be robots made me think of how the Foot Clan from the TMNT cartoon had to be robots because killing humans in cartoons is BAD. Of course, that also means that I now love seeing robots get all exploded.
I liked Return of the Jedi. I think I'm maybe more ashamed of that than anything. This comic absolutely did suck, though. Poor Ewoks. Those mini Wookies deserve better.
Wow, the amount of win in the episode is pretty hard to account for it all, but lets give it a try anyway. And it gives me an excuse to watch it again (something I almost never do).
* Liz doing it in her style. It works well for her and she seems far more natural this time out. * So... she was suppose to review One More Day, instead we got Ewoks. Okay, seems like a better choice anyway. * I remember that Ewoks TV Show (as well as Droids)... I had managed to forget the theme song. Now I'll have to hit my head against the wall until I forget it again. * Linkara is back, and we get a great fight sequence with some Power Rangers music. * The mid-shot of Harvey Finevoice shooting the Tommy Gun would be a great picture for his character picture. He looks BAD ASS in that. * Liz with swords... hot! * Oh, and you got your own Sonic Screwdriver, and they are Robots! * Full on ass kicking by all three of you. Very very nice. * Nice fake freeze frame, very Police Squad (and I'm sure many others but that's were I remember it from). * Oh right, the review! * Yay for a Bond clip. * Clever Bear... * And a little bit of Doctor Claw for Lord Vyce, at least for now. Nice touch.
Some final thoughts. You and Liz work well together and have great chemistry. I hope we can see more cameos from her on your show. The fight scene was a big step up from the last one. A lot more action and a lot more dynamic then before. The Shades are also good minions in the only Putty style and you can get anyone to play them as needed.
You know, I really liked the Ewoks when they were going to EAT our heroes. They where much cooler back then.
Over all, I have to say this is one of my favorite eps of the show. Good job to the both of you. It's also a nice cap on the Linkara is missing story arc and a good introduction to Lord Vyce. I do believe you succeeded at pretty much everything you set out to do with the one.
Great episode! It was nice to see Liz be herself, and you two are good onscreen together.
This has been an interesting story arc so far. Can't wait to see Lord Vyce! His claw/hand thing is creepy/awesome as hell. (Especially compared to Mechakara's tiny robot hand... which was cool in its own right.)
Also, LOL at the sonic screwdriver. And as a not-quite-closeted General Hospital fan, Harvey's line about the show made me start giggling.
The good - That fight scene is awesome. "I'm distracting you so she can stab you"- brilliant!.
The bad - The review seems pretty rushed. Although to be fair, from what I could see of the comic in the video, it seems like it's boring as well as bad. Boring stuff is hard to review well.
Stuff I wish was in it - Internet reviewer morphing sequence.
You're my favorite reviewer, and an awesome story weaver, Keep up the good work!
I'm doing my own little show for fun now and your show was the inspiration. You've provided me with hours of entertainment for free, so I wanted to say thanks for that as well.
This episode was really good, I'm glad you learned to let Liz act like herself (I was surprised to find just how much better she is in her own show on the Foundry after seeing her last week). The dialog was really funny ("Do you ever actually light that cigarette?" "Cool, that means they can blow up!"). I can't really say enough good things about how much of an improvement this episode was over the last one in terms of Liz's use as a personality. Great work.
thumbs up. pussies not asses.haioo anyways greatness.keep up the plot based episodes if u want cause theyre an intersting and natural direction. and a ton more things. i always wondered why that was neglected by TGWTG,avgn,etc.(basically,you all must be sexually obsessed with anagrams) just more sets,even if mundane, are needed.ur living room is a bit boring the second time.
vyce seemed like a douche name til i remembered you made up poor literacy is kewl.hmmm. speaking of hmmmm,is the 100th episode going to be the climax of this arc? hmmm
also i would like to see how the arcs of each of the linkaran characters(na thats a racist term)or people end up. like will 90s kid side with the douche?(posssibly rob liefield in disguise as far as i expectate) the 90s kid is a great character..in movies recently there have been many should be contemptable villains who are too likeble(the joker,the jewhunter, im bored comment over
It was a good episode & I loved your use of the "Wasserman Factor", but if I may go off on a tangent, WHY? Why a Shitty Star Wars comic, Okay any Star Wars thing is shit, But one based off shitty characters off that shit, Aren't you a Trekkie like me?
Ah, the return of Linkara is heralded by a mid-episode fight scene. Nicely done. Now, as to the review itself:
Nice to see Iron Liz getting to be herself. While I can understand her wanting to get back to her own series, I must confess some disappointment at not having her about. Ah, well, perhaps she will pop by again from time to time.
As noted, "The Ewoks" comic was based on a saturday morning cartoon. Now, I don't find it surprising that it was done as something of a mix between the Smurfs and the CareBears. After all, both were well-known characters at the time. So, I can see the producers drooling at the idea of a cartoon that not only was combination of the two, but threw Star Wars in as well. Unfortunately, the end results wasn't the money-maker they thought they would get. Of course, at the same time, they released Droids. While I admit, I haven't seen much from the series, it is at least a step up from Ewoks for having a better title song.
Now, according to your schedule, Cable #2 is next up. Hmmm...I wonder if the title character is going to make an appearance, seeking the return of his gun...
The problem with this comic isn't that it's bad so much as it's bland. A truly bad comic is as memorable as a truly good comic, but this was just... neither. That's the damning thing about it. It takes a great concept like the meeting of two civilizations, and it sucks all the potential out of it.
That being said, the jokes were okay and the fight scene was fucking brilliant. Harvey Finevoice was smoking hot, and Liz naming her scimitars (which were REAL fake scimitars!) Twinkle and Icingdeath gave me a complete fangasm.
Speaking of Liz: I liked her last week, but she was even better here because she had her own voice. I hope that she shows up again.
Oh, and Lord Vyce was really rather awesome. I can't wait to see the rest of him.
significantly better than the first one with iron liz... but then I re-watched the first one and after seeing how GOD AWFULLEST avatar was... well Liz seemed like a Shakespearean trained actor.
Glad to see "Linkara" back. A universe without him scarcely bears thinking about.
Also, the villain was so weak, I expected them to toss Hostess Cream Pies at him to get him to turn from his villainy. If you really wanted to go meta, this does parallel with the Star Trek (original series) episode "Miri" where the older & larger of the people became monsters which pestered the younger ones, since those fish-mutants looked similar.
Liz was great! Her inexperience does show occasionally, but she has a lot of natural talent and great stage presence.
The inexperience manifests as the occasional slightly forced line reading - but they are very rare, and her enthusiasm - which made this a lot of fun - is more than enough to carry it through.
Moving on to other aspects of the review: The Shades and Lord Vyce had very good costume design: Vyce's hand... Okay, that's professional level makeup. The Shades were maybe not quite at the same level; high-quality theatre, as opposed to television-quality, but, hey, the word "high-quality" is still in that description.
Let's see. The writing was very good. Liz said she did script writing in her introductory video; presuming that she wrote most of her review, I can only say it definitely shows: this was a very polished review, easily up to the same high standards expected here, while having its own voice.
Liz has a lot of talent, and I'm definitely going to be following her work. Great job you two!
Huh. I like that we have a new villain we know nothing about. This strikes me as a whole new method to Linkara, and a real good story in the works. Very MMPR, but what can I say; that's some good stuff now that I'm also looking at that retrospect myself.
On another note, I'm getting the feeling Harvey Finevoice will need an upgrade. That tommy gun did next to nothing against that Shade. Poyo managed to defend himself quite effectively, and Iron Liz-as much of a greenhorn that we've seen in combat-was still more effective that the man with the great pipes. Of course Magic Gun wins the day, but you can't go having your allies being left in the dust. That's what certain comics and manga have done that were not so good, and most of those manga-turned-anime have abridged series now.
hey linkara, since i never saw so many consecutives references about josie and the pussycats why dont you make a review of the movie? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0236348/
This is my all-time favorite episode. I desperately wanted a commentary for it for a good while. It's so cute and silly. And I so remember that terrible Ewoks cartoon series.
The Star Comics Ewoks series (as well as the 'Chuck Norris Karate Kommandos') are among the Star Comics books included in Topless Robot's list of '5 Worst Star Comics' (www.toplessrobot.com/2012/02/the_5_best_and_5_worst_star_comics.php ).
The others are Misty (A book designed for girls), Droids, Royal Roy (such a Richie Rich ripoff that it was cancelled after six issues!), and Hugga Bunch!
THIS EPISODE WAS PRETTY GOOD!!
ReplyDeleteit was much better than last weeks because it finally felt like Liz was a different character.
also the fight scenes were pretty good i guess. it would be better if you had gone with a more comedic style than a srs one.
Its a good thing you wrapped this whole "missing linkara" arc fast so it didnt drag.
As for the comic: wow, I thought that the prequels took the original Star Wars sage, raped, killed, raped, buried, exhumed, raped it again and then did the same thing to everyone who liked it. But this? This looks like a crossover between the carebears and the smurfs!
ReplyDeleteAs for the review: I liked it, I thought it was bizarre that you went for action in the middle of the thing. I know you give the show a bigger focus on story, but just stopping the review for several minutes to have a fight-scene just feels weird. Not bad, mind you, just strange. I would recommend you keep it at the end of the videos like you did before (it worked alright, didn't it?), but that's really just my personal taste.
Oh and tat GoldenEye-clip, man, you need to warn me before you do that, because it was one of the funniest things I've ever seen (even without the context).
Oh and that clip at the end, that was really cool. Was that taken from some movie, or is it a costume of yours?
Now, (I think I have to be cautious here) let me say that I think that there is something about Liz that irritates me, I think it's that she's rather androgynous, with the deep voice and all. Am I the only one thinking that? But I liked her nonetheless.
By the way, you made a spelling mistake, Liz' blog (which I've visited I think when the last review came out) is called "The Foundry", not "The Foundary". Shame on you.
Epic, my friend! EPIC! Lord Vyce's hand even looks friggin epic!
ReplyDeletetwinkle and icingdeath i think I'm like one for 4 people who gets that joke
ReplyDeleteSomehow I enjoyed this a lot more than the Mecha-Kara finale. Also, Liz seemed a lot more natural this time around (though she did a fine job last week too).
ReplyDeleteAlso, I doubt I'll be the first to say...
"I'LL GET YOU NEXT TIME, LINKARA! NEXT TIME!"
O.O Iron Liz is a Drizzt fan. She can do no wrong.
ReplyDeletedamn good review, damn good
ReplyDeleteooookay....i really liked this review. it was great seeing you 2 together teaming up for a really bad, or rather extremly childish comic. the fighting was awesome (mechakara-final flashbacks anyone?); ilaughed so hard at "I am destracting you, so she can stab you".
ReplyDeletewith all that said, there is something I didn't like: why in the name of heiniker are you fussing about the fact that the ewoks defeted the stormtroopers, and by that helped defeat the empire? I still don't get why people have a problem with that. It was supposed to be like the vietnam war, where a small country defeted a big one....well... you get the idea...i hope.
still an awesome video. looking forward to the next and of course to the 100th one.
and remeber: "All That He Seeks, He Conquers!"
greetings from germany
I really dig your action scenes Lewis. They just work. A really good show you two (three?) had there.
ReplyDeleteAnd my Thor's Hammer, do I hate your for that Spider-Man joke. X(
"By the way, you made a spelling mistake, Liz' blog (which I've visited I think when the last review came out) is called "The Foundry", not "The Foundary". Shame on you."
ReplyDeleteWhile it is called "The Foundry," because that URL was already taken, she spelled it with an "A."
Damn you, the horse you rode on and every slovenly humanoid I come across for the rest of existence. You made me remember Ewoks:- The Battle for Endor.
ReplyDeleteI've spent most of my adult life trying to block out the fact that I still own that film on VHS. It sits there, locked at the bottom of a filing cabinet with a sign on the front saying "Beware of the Leopard." It stays there as a constant reminder that as bad as the Phantom Menace was, it could have been worse.
As for the comic, I'm not surprised in the slightest that there was an Ewoks comic. Hell the only thing I am surprised about is that in all my research I haven't found a cuddly Ewok.
The comic is exactly what I expected, dull, pointless and aimed at kids. It was, however, rather surprising that you didn't point out how similar the episode Deep Six of the Teen Titans cartoon (that was probably based on a comic, but I don't know that) is. Trident wheedling undersea monster bent on conquering the oceans? talk about Cliché.
Onto reviewing the review ( ahh meta, how I love thee):- It was great to see more of Iron Liz in character and to see her play off Linkara (and Finevoice). We definably got a better feeling for her personality here than last week. While we didn't' get that cohesive a review how many times can you shake your head in despair.
The interval, or attack by the Shades was interesting (What Power Rangers theme was that?") but a little anti-climatic. Half way through the review we knew it wasn't the end and it just felt a little off. That didn't detract from it, but it didn't help.
Still it was a good fun review that carried the overall story along, gave Liz a chance to shine, and highlighted an awful comic. Not bad.
Especially after reminding me of one of the worst films I've ever seen!
Thomas
AKA Mountain King
PS. Fantastic gauntlet for Lord Vyce, even though I expected him to shout "I'll get you next time Linkara!" and you missed a golden opportunity with the Robotic shades. The reason robot minions are so often used in children's cartoons is that they can blow up. TV producers frown on violence to living things (hence why Cobra Pilots in Gi Joe always have parachutes) but robots are okay to smash and destroy. That's why the Foot, in the 80's Turtles cartoon at least, are machines.
Ok this was a really nice end/beginning to the arc. Liz is so much better when she isn't acting like linkara. Not that I didn't enjoy her review last week it just seemed more natural this go around. Plus friggin twinkle and icingdeath you can't get much more epic than that.
ReplyDeleteReally looking forward to the upcoming story arc and excited to see more of lord vice. lewis keep up all the good work your reviews just keep getting better and better and ignore the requests for one more day the less this is mentioned the easier it is to purge from my memory.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course, "Vyce" is spelled with a y. Because poor literacy is KEWL!
ReplyDeleteO.O Iron Liz is a Drizzt fan. She can do no wrong.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to mention that too. For one second, I wasn't sure (in german, the scimitars' names are translated) and went "Who gives names to his scimitars?" and then I had the answer and got the names.
While it is called "The Foundry," because that URL was already taken, she spelled it with an "A."
You are absolutely right. My bad.
plz ues this wen u fight the Dr. Claw ripoff Masaaki Endoh - Go Go Power Rangers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3LBW5KQEyA Masaaki Endoh is from JAM Project. are u going to do a Inspector Gadget comic?
ReplyDeleteWell... that was strange. But very good. Linkara and Liz are quickly becoming my favorite internet couple.
ReplyDeleteGO GO LINKARANGERS!
ReplyDeleteThis was a very enjoyable episode. Liz was positively adorable and you two worked great together. The shade fight was tonnes of fun and oh wow, Lord Vyce's hand looks amazing! Hats off to the prop lady!
Okay, see, this is so much better than last week, granted last week was still an average (IE good, I can't stress that an average ATFW is still pretty funny) episode. It's only unfortunate that we still couldn't judge Liz on her own merits as once again as the episode also had that great Shade fight.
ReplyDeleteI feel like doing some commentary on what this episode means for the series, so I'll do so. Fist up, Lord Vyce... I'm thinking Claw from Inspector Gadget with the look of Lord Zed or possibly pre-defeated Sauron. The Claw thing is a given not just because of the voice but the fact that you can only see his hand. Heck, Lord Vyce is already a better Octopus than Samuel L Jackson.
But yeah, Lord Vyce really has some potential. He probably will end up also being played by Lewis since he does seem to like not relying on others too much, at least as per the Linksano origin. Honestly I'd really like Vyce, when he see his face, to not look like Linkara, or Spoony (though I doubt it'll be him), rather someone entirely unknown. I mean I like it when mysterious people turn out to be people we know, but an anti-reveal where it's like, "I don't know who this is," would be great too.
The Shades are interesting. Robots wearing what I'll call Ringwraith style outfits I don't recall ever seeing in, say, Power Rangers, so they're kind of unique in spite of their simplicity. I also like how conventional bullets don't seem to be that effective, it does show they're a bit of a threat. I always thought I could just shoot some ranger minions to take them out. Heck if the Terra Venture security didn't have such slow-firing lasers I bet they would of been more useful than the rangers in taking out Stingwingers. That's a sci-fi classic I've always had a problem with, futuristic weapons firing a beam every two seconds or so as opposed to our modern guns that can shoot up to thousands of rounds a minute on full-auto. Still, I digress...
So yeah, this prelude to Vyce arc is over and I'm glad. I enjoyed it overall, no question, but naturally we're all glad Linkara is back as the main reviewer. Right now I'm also looking forward to Vyce as a recurring villain too, its nice to have another serious one, granted Linksano had a certain charm to him. I think his voice is what did it, plus how hilarious Lewis looked with the googles on doing random grins.
On another note, no morphing sequence? Single tear.
"What do you want review?" "Ewoks!" I don't know why, but that line just works.
ReplyDeleteTo borrow a phrase from The Book of Ratings: "You feel like a real tool insulting teddybears. On the other hand, you feel like a real corporate tool praising them." I remember Battle For Endor, as it would occasionally get re-aired well into the '90s.
Is that themesong real? Tell me it's not real.
It's skronking! The evil thing is skronking! To Power Rangers music! ("And so you fell into the danger, and you're all alone tonight. You're surrounded by the hurting type, and you just don't care for the sight. We will come running to your side~" Cute, Linkara. Cute. Yes, I can quote lyrics from "Fight" verbatim, and don't they just neatly describe what happened?)
"They explode! My life has new meaning!" Oh god, Iron Liz is Terrifying!Rei.
Not much to say after that.
"I'll get you next time Linkara...next time!"
ReplyDelete- Lord Vyce
Loved this episode. I'll gotta say the past couple weeks episodes were ok, but this makes up for it. I love how a random battle happens halfway through and Liz naming her weapons made me laugh out loud.
ReplyDeleteEpic Harvey Finevoice face is epic.
Can't wait to see how this arc unfolds. I'm itching to see what happens next.
Warn Liz. I'm doing fanart of this episode.
Cool episode. It had more and better quality action sequences than The Last Airbender. Kudos!
ReplyDelete-Nate
"EWOKS"!!
ReplyDeleteI had to pause the video for a full 5 minutes to get my laughter under control. Damn you Liz, I'm still giggling, and probably will be for the rest of the day. Please note local time is 8:41 in the morning. That's a good 14 hours. I'm doomed.
I get the reference, but I still think Twinkle and Icingdeath are extremely stupid names for swords.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I agree that the midway fight scene was a bit weird (I'd call it a BLAM, but it's pretty important narrative-wise), and I would've liked to see Liz review the comic the whole way through before Linkara came back, as her overall demeanor was much better compared to last week. But overall, this was a pretty good video.
I believe we can officially grant Harvey Finevoice, 90s Kid, Poyo, and Iron Liz the status of "Linkara's Nakama."
ReplyDeleteOh, the Shades were really cool. And Vyce's claw rocked!
- Jason
We all knew Linkara was coming back this week. Pollo's been telegraphing it blatantly since Freak Force. So I thought having the anticipated return come in the middle of the episode instead of the end was a refreshing twist. Past episodes had lead me to expect "soul-searing Ewok review" followed by a discrete "awesome battle scene." Interweaving them was a pleasant surprise. And it was great to get Linkara back in time to actually put his two cents in on a review again.
ReplyDeleteLoved the background music on the fight. That takes me back to the good ol' MMPR days.
ReplyDeleteThese "epic fights between good and evil withen a review" eps are by far my faves. Keep up the good work.
What happens when a gamer and a comic fan get together?! A gaming comic, perhaps? Wait- Noah Antwiler used to write for a gaming comic! Oh no- only Insano can come from this relationship! In the name of all that is Ditko, Jolly Blackburn preserve us!
ReplyDeleteSilly pop culture references aside, you guys are adorable. Linkara, I've only been watching ATFW for a few months now, but this is the best vlog I have ever come across.
Holy shit--it's an alien, magic Dr. Claw!!!
ReplyDeleteAwesome video, btw ;)
How dare Iron Liz not get one of the greatest references ever to the Viet Cong with the Ewoks! Seriously, that whole scene on Endor is nothing more than a reference to Nam that no one ever seems to get. EWOKS 4 LIFE!
ReplyDeletethis episode just opened the flood gates for so many fan-fics for the both of you
ReplyDeleteYou kids look like you're having fun with this one, and that makes me happy :)
ReplyDeleteI'm also glad that pretty much all the comments are positive this week. You put all these fun reviews and stories together for free, and unless the critisism is genuinely constructive, people with gripes should just zip it, IMO.
Are those RPGMaker 2003 SFX used during the fight?
ReplyDeleteLoving where this is going so far. Liz does a great job reviewing and I hope that she pops back in every now and then to double-team a comic with you. Lord Vyce's gauntlet looks like part of the armor worn by the Lich King Arthas Menethil in "World Of Warcraft", so naturally I wanna see the rest of it.
ReplyDeleteLinkara is back, robots exploded, and the teddy bear is also a ninja. This is a good Monday
ReplyDeleteMan, as a major Star Wars fan, this comic was physically painful to sit through. D:
ReplyDeleteI'm still firmly convinced that the two KOTOR games are the only EU stuff worth checking out (the first one for A New Hope-styled space opera goodness, and the second one for some actual deep literary merit.)
And holy crap, nice job actually making Vyce somewhat-intimidating in that stinger there. The way you cut to black right when his fist came down was pretty chilling.
Oh no! The footsoldiers of lord Vyce!
ReplyDeleteThey're....they're.....?
...The Messengers of the Black Scorpion from WCW?
Lord Vyce uses bad wrestling gimmicks as weapons in his arsenal?
Seriously though, excellent review.I'm glad that Liz has come out more as a character.
funny review man and good fight.
ReplyDeleteWhy do I get the feeling that Vyce's "Goldar" is just going to be the Witch King of Angmar
Awesome review love the fight scene.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Hey Battle for Endor's final battle was badass
ReplyDeleteAhhh...It's good to see Linkara back. And some good old Linkara style violence.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't it hurt to punch robots? It apparently hurt to punch Mechakara...
Urg. Ewoks. 'Nuff said.
Looking forward to the continuation of the Lord Vyce saga.
I have to say, the suspense is getting thick now. I am glad Liz chose to do Ewoks (Dear god I am glad I forgot that horrible song) rather than giving in to the peer pressure.
ReplyDeleteSo, Lord Vyce and his Shades are finally close enough to earth. We know the Shades are robots, an dof course Mechakara was a robot, coincidence?
You know, I'm sure I overuse the phrase 'it made my day', but in this case I really don't know what else I can say. I've had a rough weekend, but after this I can't stop grinning like an idiot, not to mention the best laugh I've had for a week. :D And for that, I thank you, sir, and Iron Liz as well.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of which, I thought Liz was great in this one (again, loved her before as well). :)
Great fight scene, second only to the Mechakara fight in my opinion. And it would take a heck of a lot to beat the Mechakara fight. Personally I loved that it was in the middle of the review, just because it was so unexpected.
Am I the only one who thought of Adherents of the Repeated Meme with the robo-Shades? Please tell me I'm not the only one who thought that...
And the reaction to the Ewoks themesong really got me, especially since I reacted almost the exact same way. xD
wow. This episode was great. The team up was awesome! Hope to see more of Iron Liz in the future. I loved the editing in the fight scenes. You're a great fight coreographer.
ReplyDeleteI've got a good feeling about this new villain. He looks and sounds like one for the ages. I've always liked the dialogue you write for your villaim characters. This really felt like Superman: The Animated Series when we were first introduced to Darkseid. Just epic. Keep up the great work, Linkara.
creepy monster hand! creepy monster hand! OMG! This Lord Vyce arc is looking to be epic!
ReplyDeleteThis comic was goofy! I am not as much of a Ewok hater as most, since they should have had Chewy be their god instead of C3P0! But this comic is a good place to start indeed if I ever wished to!
So until somone comes up with a "if it ain't broke, fix it" revamp for a comic that actually works, MAKE MINE LINKARA!
Damn Lord Vyce is magnificent!
ReplyDeleteHOLY CRAP A SAURON GAUNTLET!!!!!!!! I AM EXCITED!
ReplyDeleteGreat episode this week, you two. Another awesome fight scene and a new badass villain to take down! Also, nice job ripping this comic apart. It definitely deserves it. Christ, the Ewoks should have stayed as the one-joke support cast that they were in ROTJ.
Also, Pollo raises a good point. How many unlit cigarettes does Harvey have in that jacket of his?
It's not that surprising so many Star comics look like Casper the Friendly Ghost. The imprint was started after Jim Shooter tried and failed to acquire the rights to Harvey Comics after that company declined in the early 80s.
ReplyDeleteEnh, I'm not sure how I feel about this month long arc of foreshadowing only for the payoff to be...more foreshadowing. It felt more like an excuse to give all the supporting characters their own episodes. I mean the 90's Kid episode was fucking brilliant, and I will gladly support any more excuses to give him his own episode in the future, but everyone else not so much.
ReplyDeleteI rank the episodes as such:
90's Kid >>>>>>> Ewoks #9 >Harvey Finevoice > Iron Liz.
I didn't hate the Iron Liz episode, but I understand why other people did. I don't blame it so much on her as much as do Lewis only giving her 10 minutes to glance over the script before shooting.
Well, at least AT4W is back to normal next week.
Oh, and the One More Day tease at the beginning. That was just mean :D
Ha! This was great. Fantastic job to both of you. 5 million experience points for the Twinkle and Icingdeath reference.
ReplyDeleteThe only flaw was that you gave me flashbacks. I used to buy those comics and watch all things Ewok. ..I liked teddy bears, ok? I was practically their target demographic! It's not my fault.
is it just me or does at the end of the video does the villain look like sauron from lord of the rings and (the way the camera points only to the arm) the claw from inspector gadget?
ReplyDeleteCan we please take a break from the evil villan thing for a few episodes? I'm just kinda sick of it at this point.
ReplyDeleteI'm mean its getting a little much with linksano and now this guy, how about 4 comics from completely different generes like the star trek one that was actually pretty cool and different from the usual stuff.
The one thing about Ewoks that made it fun-was Morag the Tulga Witch. She was...Morag. She couldn't stand up to Zedd, but she was...She was better than Gargamel. Though that's not saying much.
ReplyDeleteI know you want to Lord Vyce looks menacing (and he does) BUT PLEASE! as an outtake or something to when the arc finally ends (its probably gonna take a while i know) please have Lord Vyce doing the Dr. Claw line... as a bloopers after the end or anything like that
ReplyDeleteAnyway great review nice development of Iron Liz and her interaction with everyone on the team of AT4W (except 90's Kid) i guess now its time for a little calm before the plot continues isnt?
Also until i know a better trope i call the fight in the middle a BIG LIPPED CROWNING MOMENT OF AWESOME
Ah, but this is a time when critics are not just critics. Besides, I like a little acting in my shows.
ReplyDeleteGives it a new life.
Ok, I now have to rewatch this just to get everything down that I want to.
ReplyDeleteThe opening amused me beyond rational belief. I had to look away for a minute, but the tone of voice when Liz said "Ewoks!" made me stop and rewind the video, because I could hear the smile in her voice.
Oh jeez, the Ewoks theme song. I will have that in my head all night now.
The cover brings to mind Care Bears meets Snorks. (And maybe five people will remember Snorks.)
Excellent, shaking building and explosion noises in the middle of the review! And then a fight scene. I'll admit I get bored during fight scenes, but I liked having it here, a nice surprise instead of it being at the end. Oh wait, on second thought, go Pollo! And distractions. Distractions are good. Aww, hugs. And humble Linkara. "Cool, that means they can blow up!" Best. Line. Ever.
Kinda amused by the not-really-freeze-frame freeze-frame.
"Do you ever actually light that cigarette?" Hehehe.
You two are adorable.
Ninja teddy! I love the bear.
Ewok music! I loved that stupid obnoxious song...who am I kidding, I still do.
Ouch. Worst pun joke in years.
"How'd you make the text appear like that?" Lovely.
If I can make a constructive (I hope) comment, Liz has a tendency to look above and to the left of the camera. Hardly the end of the world, it just caught my attention.
I'm still smiling from this review. I needed that, today was kinda crap. But then I remembered to look here, and it got so much better!
Wow, I'm kind of impressed at how much worse this was than the Ewoks animated series.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna channel Jew Wario here. I like it.
ReplyDeleteOH MY GOD.
ReplyDeleteOH MY GOD.
YOU EXCEEDED MAXIMUM LEVELS OF ADORABLE. YOU GUYS! SO CUTE! BEST REVIEW EVER. CAPSLOCK SQUEE.
P.S. Oh my God "E-walks." I HATE YOU.
Howdy. I seem to have forgotten my Google password, so this is WyldCard4. The guy who reviewed last time and is otherwise a complete unknown to you.
ReplyDeleteTwo things I missed last review that make me feel kind of like an idiot:
1. That Iron Liz was tired and sick.
2. That you two (Lewis and Liz? I don't know what Iron Liz's real name is) are dating.
Now for the overall thoughts.
Iron Liz was greatly improved here. Her voice acting was vastly improved over last week's, and I'll just assume that she either was pretty sick or that you two practiced more. Whatever it was she felt far better this week.
You two are also just flat out good actors. I could really tell there was a difference between Harvey Finevoice and Linkara in their relationships with Iron Liz. Harvey felt parental, an older and wiser character that was helping Iron Liz along. It was clear that Linkara and Iron Liz acted like a couple, though it was wonderfully low key. Both of you did a great job acting this week.
I also saw a bit more of why Linkara would have chosen her as his successor in the Star Wars review. I'll get into the successor thing later, but the Star Wars review on The Foundry was incredible. Iron Liz kept up an incredible energy just by talking about her life there. That passion is very strong, and I saw why Linkara would consider her a worthy successor to Atop the Fourth Wall. With that level of passion she could definitely keep the show alive.
Now, onto the review itself.
The opening serves as a better tie in to Iron Liz's blog than the actual ad. We get a sense of her as an independent reviewer, and we reinforce the theme of awful Star Wars products. It also serves as a great example of nearly everything I mentioned above.
The Ewoks theme song is incredible. It manages to combine something cutesy and disgusting with a slow song that is nearly the exact opposite of what I would expect for a show like that. I am just amazed by that.
Harvey Finevoice has Tivo? That's exactly as strange as the Ewok theme song.
Ooh, I recognize the Essential guide to Characters. I am pretty sure I still have it somewhere.
Overall the mannerisms of Harvey Finevoice really sells the identical actor thing. Harvey spends a lot of time quietly reacting in the early review, and that is good. He generally seems like a different character.
The story fight scene was just incredible.
First of all, it was funny. the gags inside the action were strong.
Secondly, the action was kick-ass. Polo, Harvey Finevoice, Iron Liz, and Linkara all fought well, and the Shades were terrifying. They look SCARY and were no pushovers in battle. Iron Liz was very nearly killed after all.
The ending of that scene with the fake out ending was good. Iron Liz and Linkara also seemed kind of like a couple of kids. It reminded me of why Harvey always calls Linkara "The Kid."
Just an incredible scene. But I really want to know what Linkara was doing during the three days. Still takes second in my desire to know Iron Liz's in character back story, but consider me very curious.
This is weird, but I wonder if the mutant thing is a hint on Lord Vice's nature.
Also, it is Lord Vice, not Lord Vyce. I just don't think the y looks good on that letter. Certainly not as good as WyldCard4.
I would have ended on Miley Cyrus's "See You Again" myself.
Wow. The ending makes me really excited to see where this goes. Iron Liz is a strong addition to the cast, the Shades are frightening foot soldiers, and Lord Vice's hand is scary. I look forward to more from this arc.
So...robots in the shape of Ringwraiths? Lord Vyce may have seen the LOTR movies a few too many times. o.O
ReplyDeleteThat bit at the end with the hand was awesome.
I appreciate it when a reviewer can include an odd bit of story along with the review itself.
I'll get you next time, Gadget! Next time!
ReplyDeleteThat was awesome <3 I loved Liz in it, I loved Harvey in it and of course, I loved regular Lewis in it XD <3
ReplyDeleteDear god the colors were so inconsistent and they didn't even draw the darn ewoks right
Lord Vyce was awesome. I wonder if he glows red when he's angry :D Or has a giant all-seeing snake eye that can tell when you put on his bling. <3
Great work guys!
Any chance of you giving word on the new power rangers episode Linkara? I know you said for us to wait and so on but we have been given NOTHING on it in the blog. No idea about the twitter though.
ReplyDeleteI-I-I-I remember the cartoon, and mi-might have watched a-a-all of it. hehehe... Ahem. But I didn't expect a comic out of it... The fact that one ended up on AT4W isn't shocking in the least though.
ReplyDeleteYou 2 work very well together, as others have said in their own way.
I'm kinda scared to see Vyce completely based off of the glove. I'm having visions of Sauron from before he lost his body based off of it. The voice... Just cranks up the creep factor on this guy. Though, I admit I'm looking forward to seeing him whenever he finally pops up in person.
"Any chance of you giving word on the new power rangers episode Linkara? I know you said for us to wait and so on but we have been given NOTHING on it in the blog. No idea about the twitter though."
ReplyDelete...did you notice that bit at the top that said there's no point in giving my opinion on something that hasn't come out yet, we have no concepts for, and hasn't even gotten an actual release date?
I am equal parts proud and ashamed that I recognized the Short Circuit 2 music immediately. Maybe this means I wasn't the only kid who watched that on VHS repeatedly despite how awful it was, eh? Eh? K.O., derF? No?
ReplyDeleteHaving the Shades be robots made me think of how the Foot Clan from the TMNT cartoon had to be robots because killing humans in cartoons is BAD. Of course, that also means that I now love seeing robots get all exploded.
I liked Return of the Jedi. I think I'm maybe more ashamed of that than anything. This comic absolutely did suck, though. Poor Ewoks. Those mini Wookies deserve better.
Wow, the amount of win in the episode is pretty hard to account for it all, but lets give it a try anyway. And it gives me an excuse to watch it again (something I almost never do).
ReplyDelete* Liz doing it in her style. It works well for her and she seems far more natural this time out.
* So... she was suppose to review One More Day, instead we got Ewoks. Okay, seems like a better choice anyway.
* I remember that Ewoks TV Show (as well as Droids)... I had managed to forget the theme song. Now I'll have to hit my head against the wall until I forget it again.
* Linkara is back, and we get a great fight sequence with some Power Rangers music.
* The mid-shot of Harvey Finevoice shooting the Tommy Gun would be a great picture for his character picture. He looks BAD ASS in that.
* Liz with swords... hot!
* Oh, and you got your own Sonic Screwdriver, and they are Robots!
* Full on ass kicking by all three of you. Very very nice.
* Nice fake freeze frame, very Police Squad (and I'm sure many others but that's were I remember it from).
* Oh right, the review!
* Yay for a Bond clip.
* Clever Bear...
* And a little bit of Doctor Claw for Lord Vyce, at least for now. Nice touch.
Some final thoughts. You and Liz work well together and have great chemistry. I hope we can see more cameos from her on your show. The fight scene was a big step up from the last one. A lot more action and a lot more dynamic then before. The Shades are also good minions in the only Putty style and you can get anyone to play them as needed.
You know, I really liked the Ewoks when they were going to EAT our heroes. They where much cooler back then.
Over all, I have to say this is one of my favorite eps of the show. Good job to the both of you. It's also a nice cap on the Linkara is missing story arc and a good introduction to Lord Vyce. I do believe you succeeded at pretty much everything you set out to do with the one.
Great episode! It was nice to see Liz be herself, and you two are good onscreen together.
ReplyDeleteThis has been an interesting story arc so far. Can't wait to see Lord Vyce! His claw/hand thing is creepy/awesome as hell. (Especially compared to Mechakara's tiny robot hand... which was cool in its own right.)
Also, LOL at the sonic screwdriver. And as a not-quite-closeted General Hospital fan, Harvey's line about the show made me start giggling.
The black robe, the gauntlets...
ReplyDeleteOh my God is Lord Vyce a Phantasm, Linkara's clone?
Anyway great episode Linkara and Iron Liz, the fight scene was hilarious. You made my day.
That was rad, you guys. Adorable and rad.
ReplyDeletePutties! Scary hand! Hugging!
I approve.
I'm a long time watcher and first time poster.
ReplyDeleteThe good - That fight scene is awesome. "I'm distracting you so she can stab you"- brilliant!.
The bad - The review seems pretty rushed. Although to be fair, from what I could see of the comic in the video, it seems like it's boring as well as bad. Boring stuff is hard to review well.
Stuff I wish was in it - Internet reviewer morphing sequence.
You're my favorite reviewer, and an awesome story weaver, Keep up the good work!
I'm doing my own little show for fun now and your show was the inspiration. You've provided me with hours of entertainment for free, so I wanted to say thanks for that as well.
This episode was really good, I'm glad you learned to let Liz act like herself (I was surprised to find just how much better she is in her own show on the Foundry after seeing her last week). The dialog was really funny ("Do you ever actually light that cigarette?" "Cool, that means they can blow up!"). I can't really say enough good things about how much of an improvement this episode was over the last one in terms of Liz's use as a personality. Great work.
ReplyDeleteI WANT THE POWER!!
ReplyDeleteFirst a magic gun, then morphers and now a sonic screwdriver(!!), where do you get you stuff? :P
ReplyDeleteOh and Goldeneye reference, awesome :P
Good to have Linkara back too...
Good video I have one question where did you get the power rangers fight songs you've been using recently?
ReplyDeletethumbs up.
ReplyDeletepussies not asses.haioo
anyways greatness.keep up the plot based episodes if u want cause theyre an intersting and natural direction.
and a ton more things.
i always wondered why that was neglected by TGWTG,avgn,etc.(basically,you all must be sexually obsessed with anagrams)
just more sets,even if mundane, are needed.ur living room is a bit boring the second time.
vyce seemed like a douche name til i remembered you made up poor literacy is kewl.hmmm.
speaking of hmmmm,is the 100th episode going to be the climax of this arc?
hmmm
also i would like to see how the arcs of each of the linkaran characters(na thats a racist term)or people end up.
ReplyDeletelike will 90s kid side with the douche?(posssibly rob liefield in disguise as far as i expectate)
the 90s kid is a great character..in movies recently there have been many should be contemptable villains who are too likeble(the joker,the jewhunter, im bored comment over
It was a good episode & I loved your use of the "Wasserman Factor", but if I may go off on a tangent, WHY? Why a Shitty Star Wars comic, Okay any Star Wars thing is shit, But one based off shitty characters off that shit, Aren't you a Trekkie like me?
ReplyDelete@Hampus I think the correct question is "Where does he get such wonderful toys"
ReplyDeleteAh, the return of Linkara is heralded by a mid-episode fight scene. Nicely done. Now, as to the review itself:
ReplyDeleteNice to see Iron Liz getting to be herself. While I can understand her wanting to get back to her own series, I must confess some disappointment at not having her about. Ah, well, perhaps she will pop by again from time to time.
As noted, "The Ewoks" comic was based on a saturday morning cartoon. Now, I don't find it surprising that it was done as something of a mix between the Smurfs and the CareBears. After all, both were well-known characters at the time. So, I can see the producers drooling at the idea of a cartoon that not only was combination of the two, but threw Star Wars in as well. Unfortunately, the end results wasn't the money-maker they thought they would get.
Of course, at the same time, they released Droids. While I admit, I haven't seen much from the series, it is at least a step up from Ewoks for having a better title song.
Now, according to your schedule, Cable #2 is next up. Hmmm...I wonder if the title character is going to make an appearance, seeking the return of his gun...
Short version: AWESOME!
ReplyDeleteLonger version: okay, that Ewoks theme is catchy.
The problem with this comic isn't that it's bad so much as it's bland. A truly bad comic is as memorable as a truly good comic, but this was just... neither. That's the damning thing about it. It takes a great concept like the meeting of two civilizations, and it sucks all the potential out of it.
That being said, the jokes were okay and the fight scene was fucking brilliant. Harvey Finevoice was smoking hot, and Liz naming her scimitars (which were REAL fake scimitars!) Twinkle and Icingdeath gave me a complete fangasm.
Speaking of Liz: I liked her last week, but she was even better here because she had her own voice. I hope that she shows up again.
Oh, and Lord Vyce was really rather awesome. I can't wait to see the rest of him.
This "Linkara is missing" storyline is 1/12 the length of "Ray palmer is missing", and infinitely more entertaining
ReplyDeleteYep... I've forgotten my password... ah well, I'll figure it out later...
ReplyDeleteAwesome review. I only have one thing to say...
I... uh... actually liked the animated Ewok movies... //>.>\\'...
GAH! DON'T KILL ME! *Runs*
significantly better than the first one with iron liz... but then I re-watched the first one and after seeing how GOD AWFULLEST avatar was... well Liz seemed like a Shakespearean trained actor.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see "Linkara" back. A universe without him scarcely bears thinking about.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the villain was so weak, I expected them to toss Hostess Cream Pies at him to get him to turn from his villainy. If you really wanted to go meta, this does parallel with the Star Trek (original series) episode "Miri" where the older & larger of the people became monsters which pestered the younger ones, since those fish-mutants looked similar.
Hampus: "First a magic gun, then morphers and now a sonic screwdriver(!!), where do you get you stuff? :P"
ReplyDeleteI believe the words you're looking for are:
"Where does he get all those wonderfull toys."
Liz was great! Her inexperience does show occasionally, but she has a lot of natural talent and great stage presence.
ReplyDeleteThe inexperience manifests as the occasional slightly forced line reading - but they are very rare, and her enthusiasm - which made this a lot of fun - is more than enough to carry it through.
Moving on to other aspects of the review: The Shades and Lord Vyce had very good costume design: Vyce's hand... Okay, that's professional level makeup. The Shades were maybe not quite at the same level; high-quality theatre, as opposed to television-quality, but, hey, the word "high-quality" is still in that description.
Let's see. The writing was very good. Liz said she did script writing in her introductory video; presuming that she wrote most of her review, I can only say it definitely shows: this was a very polished review, easily up to the same high standards expected here, while having its own voice.
Liz has a lot of talent, and I'm definitely going to be following her work. Great job you two!
Huh. I like that we have a new villain we know nothing about. This strikes me as a whole new method to Linkara, and a real good story in the works. Very MMPR, but what can I say; that's some good stuff now that I'm also looking at that retrospect myself.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, I'm getting the feeling Harvey Finevoice will need an upgrade. That tommy gun did next to nothing against that Shade. Poyo managed to defend himself quite effectively, and Iron Liz-as much of a greenhorn that we've seen in combat-was still more effective that the man with the great pipes. Of course Magic Gun wins the day, but you can't go having your allies being left in the dust. That's what certain comics and manga have done that were not so good, and most of those manga-turned-anime have abridged series now.
hey linkara, since i never saw so many consecutives references about josie and the pussycats why dont you make a review of the movie?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt0236348/
"...josie and the pussycats why dont you make a review of the movie?"
ReplyDeleteHey! I like that movie!
- Mik
Awesome episode!
ReplyDeleteThe fight scene with the Shades is definitely one of the most epic moments of awesome in this series!
This is my all-time favorite episode. I desperately wanted a commentary for it for a good while. It's so cute and silly. And I so remember that terrible Ewoks cartoon series.
ReplyDeleteThe Star Comics Ewoks series (as well as the 'Chuck Norris Karate Kommandos') are among the Star Comics books included in Topless Robot's list of '5 Worst Star Comics' (www.toplessrobot.com/2012/02/the_5_best_and_5_worst_star_comics.php ).
ReplyDeleteThe others are Misty (A book designed for girls), Droids, Royal Roy (such a Richie Rich ripoff that it was cancelled after six issues!), and Hugga Bunch!
J.A.P.
Oh yeah... the Ewoks' theme song... ugh. That song will be in my head for days.
ReplyDeleteStill a very enjoyable episode. And I actually get the sword references now, I feel smarter!
Always nice to see Harvey helping out in a fight.