Monday, October 25, 2010

Spider-Man: The Greatest Responsibility



Melodrama about genetics and virtual reality? This can only be the clone saga!

83 comments:

Astral Pen said...

Hmm, so the female Doc Ock plans to conquer virtual reality...and Ben jumps into Cyberspace.

When did Spider-Man turn into Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad and VR Troopers?

Kriken said...

Great review Linkara, I had a feeling that you'd make a reference to "One More Day" the way that the comic set up Peter's marriage.

I think this comic's understanding of the internet ranks up there with the Power Rangers comic about the internet. It's a good thing we are educated enough now to know all about the internet (Now where do I go to find that video? Oh well, time to go virtual again)

deuxhero said...

Nah, if it was Norton the weapons would be shooting themselfs.

TheUberNerdyKid said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Sigh, Spiderman seems to really attract horrible brain-twisting storylines, doesn't he?

Awesome review, Linkara. Happy 2-year anniversary to you and the green futon!

teh crazydude said...

like that the title opening was updated. i was beginning to wonder when you would get some new scenes into it[with a few of them, a sign of things to come in the future?]. great review as always. i look forward next week to the first of the 3 secret origin reviews!

Anonymous said...

Another great year of AT4W! Can't wait for the next one!
BTW, you should make a comic about your AT4W characters! I always look forward to the story parts in the videos and I would love to have a comic compilation of them.

Unknown said...

Today's also my Birthday, and I'm glad that we both have something to celebrate today.

Looking forward to Origins Month

Unknown said...

So, cyberspace doesn't form an alternate dimension full of digital monsters? Awwww....

We both have something to celebrate today, because today's also my birthday.

Looking forward to Origins Month

Anonymous said...

This would have been a great ending. MJ has the baby, Ben is the new Spidey, and so on and so forth. Of course they had to get rid of all of those elements.

And so we have Power Rangers, VR Troopers....and Big Bad Beetle Borg jokes coming?

Anonymous said...

Please tell me you will be reviewing Hush Returns. I can't believe I caught that in the intro. I'll never forget the head-bashing I did to forget that paperback attack of crap.

Anonymous said...

I remember this comic, it was the last one featured on the Amazing Spiderman PS1 game.
You could collect hidden comic books in it from the 1st all the way to this.

areoborg said...

Some of the things you mentioned would actually be really impressive in terms of research.

The ability to successfully simulate biological matter means that you can study the long term effects of something without having to wait around for years to see what the long-term effects should be.

Also, the ability to surf the web WITH YOUR MIND is rather pointless in itself (beyond then coolness factor), but a man-machine interface of that caliber means that prosthetic replacements that can not only be controlled like the original limb, but can can also give feedback to the user is also a possibility.

As an added bonus, it also means that Ghost in the Shell isn't that far off. :-D

Lotus Prince said...

Oh wow, I actually own that third issue, and I'd never read the previous two! I'm glad to see that the issue I have is at least better than the first one. That art was just atrocious!

Also, as goofy as the after-credits joke was, the first thing that came to my mind with the whole "merging virtual reality" thing was actually Superhuman Samurai Cyber Squad.

Leeeet's SAMURAIZE, GUYS!

Congratulations on your two year anniversary, and here's to another two! :-D

Austin said...

I was just about to wonder where the VR Troopers mention was going to be put in at after watching the video.

Prons said...

Happy Second Anniversary!! Thanks for making videos nonstop for two years, I still love 'em.

Yogurt said...

Kind of sad that the only compelling female Doc Ock appears in a video game (Shattered Dimensions).

Slade Dreizehn said...

Nice, I didn't even realize it's been another year. Wow, time does pass quick, no?

Nice stinger (I actually wasn't expecting it, V.R. Troopers did come to mind a few times), but also today I learned something new...

There was a girl Doctor Octopus!? Wow.

Trevor said...

Happy 2nd Anniversary!

Yeah, Doc Ock 2.0 was a crappy villain. Definitely a "Take the familar name, ditch everything else!" '90's comic problem. I'm actually surprised '90's kid didn't show up to say how cool female Doc Ock was. Also, I'd like to go on record and say that I really enjoyed the character of Ben Reilly. He was a fun character and for a while, he was an interesting Spider-Man (with a horrible costume redesign).

Crystanubis said...

Is it sad that I want a T-Shirt with that octopus logo on it?

TheInfamousOne said...

To note - I love the intro now. "Improved" isn't a word, since the first one was pretty badass, but I like the change!

Happy two year anniversary, too, Linkara!

Jason Dean Henderson said...

Lewis,
As of 6:00pm Central Time the new video is not playing. Tried it here and on the Blip Site. Hope you can fix it soon! :)

ShadowWing Tronix said...

For a moment there I thought there wasn't going to be a VR Trooper reference. Thanks for not letting me down. :)

One of the things I liked about the 90's Spider-Man cartoon was that Peter's scientific knowledge was as important as super strength, jumping around, and "spider-sense". Sometimes your brain is the best weapon.

(Also noticed Power Rangers Zeo in the new opening's stack. I also have this comic and will find it interesting to see that in a review.)

Congratulations on your anniversary (just the show, or does that include the articles?) and I like the new visual intro.

PockyMech said...

Yay! 2 years of awesomeness!! It will take me a while to get use to the "new" intro, but overall its good. Hot darn, the jokes were great in this episode. Looking forward to Secret 0rigins Month.

Nice to know that there was at least 1 story in the Clone saga that didn't suck. The female Doc Ock of this story is not bad, but I prefer the one from 2099 in the Shattered Dimensions game.

CMWaters said...

Much better comics than the previous two sets for the Clone Saga. ...and why couldn't it end there besides the fact that they wanted to find a way for Peter to return to being Spidey after a bit?

I also agree with the things about Spidey's mind and Bats' detective nature there. Another one would be The Flash. Timm-verse DC was kinda guilty of this with having him being the fun-loving guy...despite later showing us that he was a scientist of some type. But I guess some of that can be atributed to not telling us WHICH Flash this was.

Also, I guess we now know where the inspiration for the 2099 Dr. Octopus seen in "Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions" came from. Thankfully, she doesn't look as goofy as this version of Lady Doc-Ock did.

Speaking of Shattered Dimensions, I also find it funny that the players guide for it called this "The Epic Clone Saga" when talking about the Scarlett Spider outfit being in the game (which is the second goofiest outfit next to the "barefoot Spidey in a Fantastic Four uniform with a bag on his head" outfit in the game).

One quick question: before whatever happened to the kid happened, did they find out its gender? I only ask because I have a friend who was a fan of the comic "Spider-Girl" and wanted to see if there was any way to tie this story to that series.

All in all, good review there. Didn't have the classic rage, but that's to be expected due to it being a better story.

Oh, and I'll miss seeing AVGN punching you in the face during the opening...but that's what Smackdown vs. Raw 2011 is for when I create both you and him. >=D

mausmalone said...

Sadly I was hoping the stinger would be a VR5 reference. Sometimes I think I must've just imagined that show existed.

At any rate, congratulations on 2 years!

E. Wilson said...

Spectacular Spidey 229 was my first comic ever, so you'll forgive me for rambling.

Yeah, the Clone Saga is a big mess, but an unfortunate facet of history that's often overlooked is that pretty much most of Marvel's output at the time was equally...I'll say misguided. As Spidey once said while in the X-Mansion, "The next time people say my clones are confusing, I'm sending them here."

Pity poor Lady Octopus; here we have a villain with potential (essentially a megalomanical Oracle, and she's hampered from the start: She has no independent alter-ego, instead riding on another character's coattails. Her biggest personal connection is to a supporting character wiped away with the rest of Ben Reily's cast. And as you accurately observed...virtual reality bomb.

It's a shame, because Spidey has too few female villains.

And congrats on your two-year anniversary! I suppose the Clone Saga is so imposing you can only put up with it once a year? A wise decision.

...I love how, no matter how you change the intro, it's always the same clip of Liefeld. It's really all the imagery you need.

Anonymous said...

Yay for AT4W's two-year anniversary! Here's hoping for another amazingly epic year!

Anonymous said...

Nice update to the main theme, Linkrara.

H2O said...

Congrats on the two years of making great videos Lewis!

Anonymous said...

I agree that the main story is pretty good but with the cyberspace stuff... you know you have problems when you make Kabuki Quantum Fighter's story seem plausible.

Gyre said...

Can I suggest a rant for you to go on Linkara? Writers writing about things they have absolutely no understanding of. I say if a writer doesn't know the first thing about politics then they shouldn't write about politics (Civil War!) and if they don't understand the internet then they have no business writing about the internet (like this comic). Don't let these people get away with it, call them out on this!

Screech The Mighty said...

Why did anyone think that a cloning-related subplot was a good idea?! Just a question...

Also, you put the punch of effortless awesome into the new intro! Awesome!

Happy Second Anniversary, and here's to another year! :)

Marconius said...

I think that title card made a lot of your fangirls squeel... and possibly write fanfiction. *shudder*

YetAnotherGeek said...

Kinda disappointing after your First Year Anniversary, but hey, you did have the hugely impressive Dead/Alive review just one week before, so I'll cut it some slack. Not that your Dying Inside review was bad at all, but...

One problem I do have with the review, aside from the story not seeming all that TERRIBLE, at least for AT4W fare, is the line "we will live happily ever after, because we deserve it", and how you are mad at One More Day. Granted, it is still a very stupid comic, and Peter and Mary Jane do deserve to be happy...but that doesn't mean they should get it. Don't get me wrong, they do deserve it, but then again, so many other people deserve happiness too, but that doesn't mean they get it. Just saying, is all. Not trying to defend your most hated comic at all, just felt a little at odds with that one line.

Anonymous said...

Loved the Digimon reference there. Looking forward to the "Secret Origins" week thing.

Xain said...

the octopus symbol has a hole in it because it didnt want to be left out of everything else. plot, goals, plans, and doc-oc (ba-dum tish)

Cavalier said...

It's probably a generational thing but when they talked about projecting organic matter in to a virtual world I thought you'd pull a clip from Tron. Respect the classics, man!

Anonymous said...

The tragic thing about part 2's artwork is that the art was done by Gil Kane who drew westerns, did the artwork for "The Night Gwen Stacy Died" (which this saga brutally beats with a spiked bat) and co-created Hal Jordan. Man, the last few years for him, based on the artwork, reeeeeeeeeeeeeeally blew chunks

Jack Linde

Jeremy A. Patterson said...

I also spot the Objective Five #3 seen in last year's pile in this year's pile as well.
Also Ultimate Power, more Youngblood,CHIX #1, the Manimal comic and some Superman comic.

Will you mention Red Circle in coming videos?

J.A.P.

The Mad Scientist said...

I think the writers were mistaking virtual reality for a holodeck or something. Either way, silly premise.

Congratulations on two years, Lewis! Here's to many more years of hilarious reviews!

OMNOMNOMNOM said...

Actually Linkara, you make a great point in defining the basis of the internet.

As a fan of Megaman, and looking at the Battle Network series, I conclude that a form of simulation, like that of a video game engine, is mandatory to create that kind of environment, and isn't possible without it, because, well, the internet would look like a web of protocol and web addresses if that wasn't in place.

And even then, to create a true virtual reality, I think that the subject itself would have to go into depth about quantum physics, allowing a microcosm of matter to exist within a medium that constantly conducts electricity and energy.

It would require technology beyond our own standards, with it being able to allow little worlds of cyberspace to exist, and be as easy to mold together through the use of binary and coding through some use of subatomic manipulation. IE, MILLENNIUMS beyond our current forms of tech.

Pffft. Giant size. The huge issues of Ruroni Kenshin and Apollo's Song I have are GIANT SIZE EXTRAVAGANZAS.

And while I like virtual reality internet themes, they do have to make sense. A dishwasher that connects to the internet doesn't spit out imploding bubbles of doom because of HTML coding, QUANTUM PHYSICS.

And MAN did Spiderman get convoluted. I admit that I haven't seen anything more than a few comics in my closet and the good old Fox cartoon, but augh, clones? Cyberspace? New York? STILL?

MARVEL, QUIT BEING HACKS.

The Fiend said...

@Gyre- Sadly if he did call out every time someone wrote about something they have no inherent understanding of, about 90% of all comic books from all time periods would fall under that list. Sad but true. At best you can only pick on the material that is obviously and often so wrong its unintentionally hilarious.Like this internet misconception that plagued comic books and television shows in the 90s, or the logistics of a world that's main trade is air, or robots being programmed with libidos, or any given review that linkara has done over the years.

Anyway now that I'm off that tangent I shall comment about the review, you really were kind of hesitant to rip into the last two issues of this storyline and it shows, kind of felt like you were going through the motions but couldn't get excited about what you were doing.

For the first part it felt like you knew exactly where and when to drill the hole metaphorically speaking. Than again if I had just finished that epic silent hill review I might have been burned out too. Looking forward to origins month and how you will be reviewing them.
(would it be a good educated guess that because of their nature, the origin series won't be in your standard format?)

OMNOMNOMNOM said...

RADIOACTIVE SEMEN CAUSES NEW YORK CITY'S MOST FAMOUS FASHION MODEL TO DIE.

No, I'm not being funny. THAT has to be the MOST STUPID TWIST I'VE EVER HEARD IN A COMIC.

Augh, forget Spiderman, I want a comic about a blue haired rookie policewoman with tonfas that enjoys taunting criminals before beating and ki projecting the everloving crap out of them when they attack.

Azereaux said...

Wow... I remember not only reading these when they came out, but actually having them. Cyberpunk, even as a minor plot point, was best left to the 2099 line of comics (I mean, look at Ghost Rider 2099).

Pretty good review, and here's to another awesome year of Atop the Fourth Wall!

OMNOMNOMNOM said...

You know what will make you feel better, Linkara? Watch Megaman.EXE: The Program of Light and Darkness.

At least that has more to do with the internet and world domination than THIS. And has a better plot and explanation for what the hell is going on.

Unknown said...

Hard to believe the artist for Part 2 was actually Gil Kane! How the mighty fell in the 90s...

Jesse said...

I didn't even think of VR Troopers till you showed it at the end. Fun little show from what I can remember.

Didn't you say Jason Frank was suppose to play the lead role int hat after Power Rangers, but he was brought back to keep playing Tommy?

Anonymous said...

I have an issue of this stuff. It's kind of weird. AFterwards, Ben Reilly was a great Spider-man. He was single and Aunt May was dead. Doc Ock was a great villian as he was and never utilized well enough in my opinion.

Just look at the garbage in today's books. IF all they wanted was to tell bland rehashed stories they shouldn't of ruined the character and told readers they had some great stories about Spider-man revealing his identity to the world. There wasn't any well written material in there. They should of just ended the book and started over just to tell generic material. Kind of makes the cyber stuff look not so bad.

Mad Scientist said...

If I'm not mistaken isn't Spiderman's web shooters canonically designed to spit out spider silk? Spider silk is actually one of the few materials that actually exhibits all of those qualities that you were amazed can exist in one form.

Anonymous said...

Another great review, Linkara! It's nice to hear something a bit softer compared to the crap you had to put up with while reading Silent Hill Dead/Alive. Happy 2-year anniversary, and I can't wait for next week's episode! :D

Anyways, a few comments about the "science" in these stories:

The bit with MJ getting radiation poisoning from Spidey is complete bunk. The amount of radioactive material that he would've recieved upon the initial spider bite would have been minuscule, and would've degraded or been excreted from his body long ago. In short, if it was radioactive enough to cause harm to Mary-Jane, it would've had an even worse effect on Peter himself.

Also, if you want to get technical, Dr. Fem-Octopus is correct in his assumption that controlling the flow of information would give her control of the world. Just look at all the dystopian stories that involve the dictators controlling the people under them and how they think by directly controlling what information they have access to. Ever played the Metal Gear Solid series?

Obviously, merging the "virtual world" with reality won't accomplish that, but hey, points for effort at least.

The King of Thessaly said...

-Sal Buscema inked by Bill Sienkiewicz... "BAD art"?!? You're nuts. ;)
The other two issues- oh, yes- bad art (I agree) and a terrible story, always one of my least favorites from that time. And it was GREAT to hear you ripping on it, for sure... Took me back, man.

Sal Buscema, however, is fantastic. He was drawing and/or inking Spectacular for eight years, long before even I was even avidly collecting. The Tombstone storyline with Robbie? -One of the best EVER. And a lot of that was because of his art... Dude- he made me fear Lonnie Lincoln.

He's staple. And pairing his style with Sienkiewicz like they did there? Come on- it makes for some amazing stuff- especially if you are familiar with both their work.
I mentioned Bill Sienkiewicz in a comment on one of your recent Silent Hill reviews; when I was referencing artists that had a similar (but obviously way, way, way better) art style and asked if you thought they sucked too... I guess so.

I know it's just a matter of preference... but as a kid I could not wait for the next month's issue of Spectacular to see how Sal drew Scorpion or Boomerang or Electro. He's fucking great!
And his generic thug/gangster/henchmen faces are even better than John Romita Junior's... Just classic.

I hope you'll give his work more of a try if you haven't because I feel you're missing out on a key element of Spider-Man if you don't.

Anonymous said...

Damn, this reviewer is probably the most annoying person on the planet. I don't care if I agree with him, he actually makes me like shitty comics more just because hes such a douche. Not funny, not original, just a giant douche. You all should be proud of yourselves.

Lewis Lovhaug said...

"-Sal Buscema inked by Bill Sienkiewicz... "BAD art"?!? You're nuts. ;) "

Yeah, sorry, personal preference thing. I frankly find it overly-detailed at times and has far too many random lines on faces. The inking is terrible, IMHO - everything's blacked out and scratchy. It just looks dark and ugly to me.

But hey, to each their own. ^_^

Lewis Lovhaug said...

"Damn, this reviewer is probably the most annoying person on the planet. I don't care if I agree with him, he actually makes me like shitty comics more just because hes such a douche. Not funny, not original, just a giant douche. You all should be proud of yourselves."

Care to elaborate a bit further on my douchiness or did you just come by to leave a comment and then run laughing at how much you zinged me and my fans?

Frankie Addiego said...

I have to admit, I didn't really read the Spider-Clone saga. I just found the idea so idiotic; but after this, I might give it another chance.

Also, thanks for reminding me of what the world thought "virtual reality," was along with, "the internet," a.k.a., "cyberspace," a.k.a. "the Information Super Highway." I love it.

The King of Thessaly said...

Hahaha- you don't have to be SORRY, Linkara! We just can't hang out anymore...

Wait- have you ever mentioned who your favorite artist is? ...I'm thinking back but can't really recall...

Oh, and you really should read the Tombstone stuff in Spectacular from the late 80's / early 90's... There are no Sienkiewicz inks, I promise...

Jaebird said...

Great review, and I must say the art in the third issue is at least better than the previous ones.

nLea said...

Love the new opening credits. The shot of the Arsenal of Freedom was nice, and all the bits from Kickassia kicked... ass... uh, yeah.

I'm glad that I wasn't the only one to think of Digimon during that "virtual bomb" fiasco. I still feel like a giant nerd, but at least I'm in very good company.

Thank you for entertaining and enlightening us for the last two years, and here's to another two more. And two more after that, and two more after that...

~

jdude907 said...

I still think that the Spider-Man mythos would be far better if they had let Peter become a parent while still being the real Spider-Man, and let Ben live and take on the solo adventures as the Scarlet Spider. I'm admittedly biased, since most of the first comics I ever read were Clone Saga tie-ins, but I was already depressed long before One More Day that none of those plot threads had any payoff.

I must also admit that I'm kind of a sucker for any cheesy 90's cyberspace/virtual reality-themed stories. It's like everyone knew that the internet and video games would dominate the new millennium, but no one didn't have the slightest idea what that meant.

corey said...

the comic to me did not seemed to be that bad as it could've been a story about passing the tourch to a new spider man, and the previous one retiring and taking on the responsibility of fatherhood and marriage which we all know pisses off joephisto more than anything. but ultimately it falls flat on its ass with the virtual reality plotline which brings up the question to why fuse virtual reality and real life together wasn't there anything else she didnt think she could use with her scientific mind of hers like giant killer bees or an army clones of a whiny musician who hate it when people make money and like to blow up music studios.

DerKork said...

Oh my... Is it already two years of AT4W? Time flies like an arrow or so it seems... And so much has changed. Well, except the comics you review - they're still not up to the standards.

Well, let's see: Cyberspace? I thought it would look more like Tron than what Dr. Octopus (insert your own joke about the female Doc Ock here) came up with: Turok.

What else? Oh, the artificial dilemma of "radioactive sperm". One of the anonymous commenters already spoke about it: It would have been dangerous to Peter "Not-a-Nightlight" Parker before he could even attempt to impregnate MJ.

Oh - and that one panel where you were shocked by Doc Ock's head, Linkara? "Bulletgirl" came to my mind.

Anonymous said...

I actually think that Kaine really should have stuck around longer
He WAS interesting

also about the VR Troopers bit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG2qRurIdK4

Derek the Bard said...

Lewis: Happy 2nd anniversary for the show. Best of luck for the next year; I'm sure it's gonna be awesome. The new opening is great.

Now...technology thought.

The VR bomb actually makes sense, in its own strange way. I think I've sorted it out.

Its a form of information warfare. I don't think what the victims are seeing is meant to be real per se, but its the electronic equivalent of doping the water supply with LSD. I mean, the science doesn't make a great deal of sense, but if it were some kind of signal that could be broadcast directly into the brain...it might work. There is no such thing as "VR Waves", but then again it wouldn't be the first time that a mad scientist named their own science in ridiculous ways (what the heck is a "Pym Particle" anyway?).

Of course, that would pretty much require either that Doctor Octopus to either provide a constant signal (in which case its not a bomb but a continual transmitter) that further turns each person into a transmitter in order to interconnect their delusions OR...or everyone is just sent a pre-set scene with some really schway positioning systems so that the images adapt regarding their current position which plays out in their mind. Which...is problematic because that's a LOT of information to send when the human brain isn't formatted to work that way. Now, scientists are beginning to figure out how to stimulate the brain's visual processing centers, so its possible that she *might* be able to broadcast a direct visual image with some audio, but...well...it would probably just play out as is, not changing position. Of course, the signal might also be designed to induce nausea and vertigo, which would cover some of that up...I'm overthinking this, aren't I?

If they were actually wearing some kind of wi-fi VR rig, this might actually be possible. Its bridging the gap to integrate a wi-fi signal with the human brain that's just...well...yeah.

Apparently the new Doctor Octopus is also an information professional. This sort of stuff is one of the holy grails of some of my colleagues (well...at least if you can run it with goggles rather than direct to the brain; we've got people in my faculty who are working on a program for live tagging of locations based on positioning within wi-fi networks).

Oh, Galactic Overlord: I was thinking the exact same thing. I kept expecting Ben Riley to summon up Servo to fight Kilokhan.

Michael said...

If Mary Jane had been exposed to enough radiation to kill her, her baby should have dead.

I am mostly guessing here, but an unborn child is much more vulnerable to radiation then a healthy adult woman.

Amnesia said...

You know what I think of every time you bring up 'One More Day'? That scene from The Incredibles.

"So, the bad guys are trying to wreck Mom and Dad's marriage."

Oh, and good review, as always.

FugueforFrog said...

Yeah haven't been around due to having not seen the last Silent Hill special. Sorry.

And...yeah, the 1990s were weird with the internet stuff. Honestly I think I rather just stick with the Digital World: at least one universe's security is red goo that mutates and evolves into...Evangelion homages?

Jessica said...

re: "what's up with spiderman's webbing"

actually real spider silk DOES have all those properties, just that in the real world scientist have yet to chemically reproduce it in a usable synthetic form (although that's where the genetically modified spider-goats come in)

so I guess it's not TOO much of a suspension of disbelief that Peter WAS able to chemically reproduce synthetic spider webbing what with him being a scientist and all

just the two cents from a complete arachnophile who loves all things spidery

Daniela said...

Hmmm...this is starting to sound like a bad comic book. :P

Heh, in other news, I remember how we used to believe that one day the internet will be like ... a parallel reality and stuff, you know, like Captain Nintendo, 'cause what's more fun than jumping into a 8 bit reality...

Also, for some reason I can't quite explain myself*, I happen to like that titlecard a lot. So does my sister.

*actually I can explain it, I guess

Rushing Beat said...

So the whole motivation of this Doc Ock was to get revenge on the world because daddy didn't give her a hug?

Wouldn't getting a bad tattoo do the same thing, insofar as getting back at her old man?

Turonik said...

Just a quick correction. Over Power wasn't made by marvel but Fleer and had sets with DC comic characters too. Unless you meant that when fleer stepped down marvel interactive took over. However Marvel Recharge was indeed made completely by marvel.

Chronos X said...

Hi, Lewis: I'm a fellow blogger from BlogSpot, and I love your AT4W work (my little brother and I watch the new ones every Tuesday), especially 'Batman: Fortunate Son', 'JLA: Act of God', 'Superman at Earth's End,' and anything featuring "the growing insanity and awful works" of Frank Miller.

Since I'm gonna rewatch 'The Greatest Responsibility,' I can't help but ask you if you'd be willing to prepare a video on the Top Fifteen Dumbest Evil Plans and Plot Points in Comics, including, but not limited to, Twin Clones of Hitler, Nightcrawler as the Pope, 'keep-everyone-out-of-college-so-I-can- be-"the-smartest-and-most-powerful-man-on-Earth"', etc., etc. I really wanna see you tear these a new one: keep up the good work!

Grunty said...

Nice review, the history lessons are actualy the reasons i watch many of your vids, since it spares me having to check back through the history in hours of wikipedia, so thanks for that.

Also finaly a non Silent Hill comic review, while i don't mind those, they weren't my cup of tea to beginn with. So hey mainstream stuff again, nice change for the moment.

Ah yes, cyberspace as visual internet, i remember all those stories. Mostly Tron which i still love nowdays.
If i also remember correct they are still a stable part of cyberpunk stories.

Also DIGIMON!

Man i rember those overgoing storylines between family titles from the X-men.
During Lobdell's run in the 90's Adjectivless X-men and Uncanny were most of the time the same book but with different artist.

Though it allowed some stories to be told faster.

I remember Spiderman once creating a shield of web fluid to block an energy blast desgined to harm mutants like Collosus. yeah the stuff is kind of the sonic screwdriver of sticky substances.

Frankie Addiego said...

All this digital stuff reminds me: have you ever read an old Batman graphic novel called, "Digital Justice?" It's not really "bad" IMHO, though if you read it you might disagree; but it's kinda funny how "oooh! Aaah!" it seemed in the '90s because of the things that both gave digital art an identity and betrayed its limitations.

And if memory serves it has a VR scene and probably some of that dated misconception over what "the internet" was.

Al said...

Hey Lewis,

Have you heard of the "Life of Reilly" series?

http://lifeofreillyarchives.blogspot.com/

It's a collection of the plotlines of the Clone Saga, with some valuable background insight on the writers' mindsets at the time.

Lewis Lovhaug said...

"Have you heard of the "Life of Reilly" series?"

Check last year's video. XD

Hans Watts said...

Lewis, I'd love to discuss with you the general futurist theories on cyberspace interneural interaction, the advances we've already made towards it, and what good references there are to the concepts. And with technology like what turned into Stark's Extremis link to the Iron Man armor, not to mention Reed Richards' and Pym's advancements, this sort of thing is hardly a reach.

Infernalistgamer@yahoo.com

Hans Watts said...

All that said... VR Bomb? Still stupid.

Dwarvenhobble said...

I've finally found the answer of what ever happened to weather machines. The Avengers the movie Killed them !

Jesse Herndon said...

Couple of things.

1) The symbol of Lady Octopus (as she's later renamed) looks an awful lot like that of the terrorist organization Hydra. Even the color! I forget if she was ever connected to them.

2) The art in the second book by Gil Kane is mainly ruined by the inking as 90s style clashed heavily with his classic style (though I think oddly that Sal Buscema's pencils were improved by Sin-kevitch's inks and were usually appropriate for the dark storyline... yes, scratchy but made for better dynnamics than Sal alone, at least to me. But this arc is certainly no one's greatest work).

3) That "computer guy" glossed over is actually the consciousness of the original Doc Ock, as later established in the Scarlet Spider run and in his resurrection (spoiler? Well you know he's alive, just saying that he IS important, just not for this tale).

4) The Spectacular issue, at least those sold at comic stores, originally had a Chromimum overlay cover, similar to Maximum Clonage Alpha (whereas Omega was a regular wraparound Chromimum). Having collected comics through the entire 90s (Duuuuuuuude) I weep at the realization that I actually know the different names for the different cover gimmicks.

Masamune said...

I have to say that the actual idea of spider-man seems a lot better than marvels actual execution of him. I don’t read comics really but I watched the animated series in the 90s after school and that’s what I base all my thoughts on. (is there an echo in the here?)

anyway, spider-man as a superhero seems a lot more intriguing than, say batman or ironman because he isn’t just a powerful rich man with a bunch of gadgets. at the same time he is more down to earth than Superman or most of the X-men, because gravity plays a large roll in who he is. what I mean is that he gets off the ground but he still cant fly, which to me is more interesting than soaring through the clouds like superman, storm, rouge and all the others not bound by the height of the tallest building.

but like i said his execution into commic books seems pretty bad considering he has more videos on your site than any of the other comics. is that just because you dont like him? or are all his commics really that shitty?

Lewis Lovhaug said...

"but like i said his execution into commic books seems pretty bad considering he has more videos on your site than any of the other comics. is that just because you dont like him? or are all his commics really that shitty?"

I'm sure if I counted it, Batman would probably get more, but that's neither here nor there. Like any long series, he has his share of bad stories and they just happen to come up on the show.

Warclam said...

"Sorry, we're unable to display this video." I get that whenever I try to watch this. I haven't experienced it for any of your other videos.