Monday, November 14, 2011

SECRET ORIGINS DOUBLE FEATURE!

Atop the Fourth Wall returns with a double feature starting off Secret Origins Month!

Secret Origins Month 2011 begins with the origin story of Wonder Woman, wherein she wears ridiculous clothes, doesn't know her own history, and falls in love with the first guy she's ever met.

All-Star Comics #8


Secret Origins Month continues with the Fantastic Four! Marvel at how they use their powers to cause as much damage to people and property around them!

The Fantastic Four #1

141 comments:

Anonymous said...

Heracles vs. Hercules is a Greek vs. Roman thing (forget which), though as you stated you don't care and a bunch of people (even though I posted this as soon as the comments went up) alreddy have.

Anonymous said...

um the second video Wont load.i dont know if thats just for me though

PopCultureOtaku said...

Just seeing the Wonder Woman reminds of kick but graphic novel (I mentioned it last week) It featured her taking down JLA so she can scarfing herself dragon that was said would kill JLA. Also that the horrible new origin which seems to be coming in new Wonder Woman. UGH!
Oh fantastic four. I really got not a lot to say other then 600 issue coming up and i'm glad real she-hulk appearing in at least one of FF books. Sad that she can only appear in FF as marvel rather use fake she-hulks in other places. That is another rant for another day.
To the ending of both videos without spoiling it. OH BOY!

Jyger85 said...

YES, the return of "Bees, my God"! ROFL

So, this is the next storyline, huh? Gotta say, I like where this is going. And it's nice that we're getting back to basics, what with the first villain that was a real threat to Linkara (Insano doesn't count, as he was more of an annoyance to Linkara than anything).

Inquisitor D. said...

Great double feature, Linkara! :) I think you've gotten a little afraid of Greek Mythology though, since you missed something I think was pretty obvious. :)

Or, quite probably, I've missed something. But still...

Aphrodite is the one who punished the Amazons, who isolated them from the rest of the world? For 'succumbing to Heracles' Wiles'?

The Goddess of love punishes you for that? The same goddess who started the Trojen War through encouraging Helen to run off with 'not her husband' Paris?

I don't get it. Why not go with Athena in that role? It fits, virgin goddess and all, plus it also explains the crying ball thing as Aphrodite trying to cause division covertly.

Rowdy C said...

You pulled another fast one on us, didn't ya? Was anyone else hoping to hear the theme from the 70s TV show in the first video?

Anonymous said...

Heracles (or Herakles) is the Greek version, Hercules is the Roman. So yeah, technically they should be using Heracles but whatever.

ramses said...

Let's see, other democratic countries during WWII: Canada, switzerland, Ireland, australia and turkey. Probably a few south american countries as well, but as an ignorant european, I am not very aware of their history.

Anonymous said...

Isn't it interesting how, in "Fantastic Four #1", a guy thinks "The Thing" is not human because of it's great size and strength and not because of the fact that it looks like a moving humanoid stack of rocks?

Also, I'd like to ask this silly little question...
Why is it that when you've got some random place full of treasure, it always has to be guarded by a giant creature? I'm probably over-thinking this here, but why would a large mass of what is considered to be very valuable even exist and yet never be allowed to be seen, touched or used in any way? It might as well not exist at all!

Jarkes said...

So... what is Mechakara's theme anyway?

Also, what do you think of the Fantastic Four cartoon from 2005, Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes?

rdfox said...

So you know, Lewis, in the 1940s, they *did* have to have prose sections in the comics, because it allowed them to qualify as magazines, and thus lower postage rates than if they didn't have any prose sections and were considered books, under the postal regulations.

Unknown said...

Loved both of the reviews, especially the Fantastic Four one. Good stuff, right there!

Also,

Meckakara fight, round three? Sweet!

Another fangirl for the pile said...

Man alive, so glad I decided to check if you'd posted on the off chance that you had tonight! (It's 10.51pm here in merry ol' England)
Thanks dude, was having a really lousy day right up until now. ^_^

Gen said...

Thanks for putting my "new" logo in the videos - it's nice to know that you like it enough to actually use it :D
(I'm not in the credits, though. That's kinda sad.)

RAF said...

I loved spoony as hulk hogan did you write it or did he

I always thought dc Hippolyta was strange compared to the mythalogical vertion

Also thing was in a storm sewer which are biger and cleaner then sanitary sewer, it is also were the morlocks and tmnt live

I love the simpsons clips in the second update thank you

Lewis Lovhaug said...

"Thanks for putting my "new" logo in the videos - it's nice to know that you like it enough to actually use it :D
(I'm not in the credits, though. That's kinda sad.)"

Ah, good, you commented! I've been trying to figure out who it was that sent it so I could contact them and PUT them in the credits!

Anonymous said...

I've never realized how close the adventure bros. version of Reed was to the real thing.

Anonymous said...

With the redesign contest over, I'm guessing you have planned a Linkara vs. Mechakara Pollo army battle coming up in the near future, but that's just speculation. Great stuff!

areoborg said...

King of Comics, do you have enough screwdrivers? Though that vest does remind me of Scotty's vest in the Star Trek films.

You would think that it would be easier to paint the German planes with American Markings (or just capture some American Planes) rather than to smuggle and store the German super-planes into the US where they could be discovered and captured beforehand, but that's just me.

A lot of WW2 era planes had ceilings in somewhere in the 30-40,000 foot range. According to Wiki, the Stratosphere starts around 30,000 feet at the poles, and 56,000 feet at equator. Over the US, they might be able to make it to the stratosphere, but its going to be at the very bottom of it.

And that is why you shouldn't leave the remains of your enemies out in the open like some sort of weird trophies.

And now, for the Fantastic Four

Lets fire a nuke over a city! What can go wrong?

Them getting their powers makes more sense than in the movie, where NASA was good enough to make a special trip and fly to Doom's space station to give them a ride back to Earth off screen.

I loved all of the moleman bits. Thought I should point out that I've been to the Molten Core, and its surprisingly pleasant there, once you deal with all of the fire elementals and Ragnaros.

Anonymous said...

I'm assuming we can't call him Mechakara if he's not in his skin suit... so what, Evil Poyo? Mirror Poyo? AM jr.?

Whisky Tango Foxtrot said...

What was that screwdriver in your top-left pocket? The only time I recall the Doctor using an all-silver perpendicular-head screwdriver is in Scream of the Shalka, but that's a bit obscure to have a lot of merchandising.

I might also be one of the Third Doctor's screwdrivers (I haven't seen all of his episodes yet, but I do seem to recall him using something other than his black/yellow stripped screwdriver at certain points) but I think they've only made the one screwdriver toy for him.

Also, is the object in your bottom-right pocket a Sonic Lance, and if so, how did you manage to find one of those? I'm almost certain that was never made into a toy.

Des Shinta said...

I didn't know there were that many Sonic screwdrivers available on the market.
Oh Snap, he'll be baaaack.

Oh Hans Moleman,you are solely missed for your levity on the Simpsons...even if you are seen at least once a season.

Unknown said...

On All-Star Comics #8: Thanks for all the "Greek Gods are actually Assholes" jokes. Lot of good jokes and I burst out laughing when you busted out the porno film theme after the exclamation "Its a Man!". I was surprised you didn't talk about how Wondie has become more and more independent and not having a love interest outside of TV shows that depict her. Heck, in the Pendant Productions Online Audio Drama version, which I highly recommend, Steve Trevor and her are not involved and she may or may not be bisexual. I am sorry if that is worse. Don't worry, its not used as exploitation of her character, the creators take her character seriously and the show is good regardless. Also, Diana did have a name before she left. It was Princess Daughter. They kept saying it, Im surprised you didn't catch it ;). Seriously though, imagine if that was true.

On Fantastic Four #1: I only have this to say: HAHAHAHAHA! Seriously, I thought Stan Lee got weird with old age. This is the funniest comedy I have ever re-(to the side) What do you mean, its not a comedy? I have to show this to my dad during Thanksgiving break. He would love this. I have to admit, I don't think their mission was ever adequately explained outside of the movies or the shows. Was it to let the radiation kill them? If so, yeah, they failed. Also, they are not going to superior court for breaking God knows how many federal laws, by stealing a government sponsored prototype space craft and wrecking it in the name of a mission that we have no idea was about? They should all be in Guantanamo Bay for doing something like this. (I don't personally support what happens in Guantanamo but that is the level of their crimes). Then again, their goal to beat the "Commies" to studying "Cosmic Rays" and getting killed by them was a noble goal. Also, thanks for the Hans Moleman clips.

Jyger85 said...

Something stuck in my mind. You said the particle trace was similar to that of The Entity. Now how could that be?...Unless becoming a mashup of magic and technology has made him something similar to an Outer God.

Lewis Lovhaug said...

"What was that screwdriver in your top-left pocket? The only time I recall the Doctor using an all-silver perpendicular-head screwdriver is in Scream of the Shalka, but that's a bit obscure to have a lot of merchandising."

That would be one of the three you get from the "personalize your sonic screwdriver" set - it comes with parts of Matt Smith's screwdriver and two original ones - the tall silver and blue one and the green one that I'm using at the start.

"Also, is the object in your bottom-right pocket a Sonic Lance, and if so, how did you manage to find one of those? I'm almost certain that was never made into a toy."

Nope! But now that I think of it, they do look kind of similar. No, that would actually be a medical tool from the original Star Trek - it came as part of the "Doctor McCoy's medical kit" set.

Adam said...

An island, equal distance between Russia, the Congo, South America and Australia? ..... yeah, good luck finding that.

Anonymous said...

The Wonder Woman comic mentioned how WW was named after the godess Diana. But the comic is wrong on that as Diana is the Roman equivalent of Artemis. I know you said that you're not a scholar of mythology, but the comic doesn't have that excuse.

And yes, Hercules is also just a roman name for the greek Herakles.

rdfox said...

And now, from my aviation history geekdom:

1) Both the US and Germany *did* have planes that could get into the stratosphere in 1941, albeit only barely, but it wasn't high enough to avoid being identified, particularly by the interceptors that would be sent up to check them out *at the same altitude*.
2) Technically, the US did have some "robot planes" in 1941, in the form of expendable radio-controlled target drones used for antiaircraft gunnery training. By 1943, we'd also developed conversion kits to turn war-weary bombers into ginormous cruise missiles, though they had to have a pilot on board for takeoff who would bail out once they got to altitude, also based on radio control. It wasn't until 1946, though, that we'd gotten the gear advanced enough that the drones could, y'know, LAND again after being used, and the first truly autonomous drones weren't around until the mid-50s.
3) The US actually built and deployed nuclear-tipped surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles in the late 1950s, with the last ones leaving service in the late 1980s(!). However, they were *unguided* ones, as it was felt that the size of the warhead meant it only had to get into the general vicinity of the target to be effective. The warhead, for the record, was small enough that, when the target was at the 30,000-50,000 feet altitude bombers flew at in those days, it wouldn't cause damage on the ground beyond maybe a few cracked windows, while fallout was almost nonexistent because it didn't draw any dirt or debris into the fireball to become irradiated. (In fact, the one time we did a full live-warhead live-fire test of one of these, a group of four volunteer Air Force officers--and one NON-volunteer enlisted man with the camera--stood on the ground directly under the burst point to show that, at a 30,000 foot burst altitude, there was no danger to the public.)

Whisky Tango Foxtrot said...

"That would be one of the three you get from the "personalize your sonic screwdriver" set - it comes with parts of Matt Smith's screwdriver and two original ones - the tall silver and blue one and the green one that I'm using at the start."

You know, I actually recognized the green one from that set, but somehow it never occured to me that the silver one could be as well.

Although, knowing that I can make a decent reproduction of the Shalka Screwdriver with it, I might have to pick that set up now.

Mitchell Martinez said...

Daer god almighty, Fantastic Four's beginning was more bizarre than I expected. Among the many things I could question, I'm wondering how Monster Island came back since recent Astonishing X-men issues show that it appears to be just fine.

Also, I was hoping you would comment on the fact that the 4's first story was in Central City. Aren't they supposed to be based in New York? Plus, isn't Central City the home of the Flash? Yeah I know generic city names are part of older comics like this, but it really stuck out to me in this case.

ackbarfan5556 said...

Is the part with Mechakara possessing the new Pollo body going to tie in with the 4th TGWTG film as seen in the end of the 3rd with.. ya know.

MasterSeijin said...

May I suggest the Sword of Omens for the Arsenal of Freedom? The Delux version which you can pick up at Toys "R" Us.

Neo Ultra Mike said...

Okay here's a question I have about the recent storyline development: You said that everything you're involved in as Linkara fits within the AT4W storyline right? So if they true end of Suburban Knights is to be believed, how come Mechkara is shown holding Malachite's glove there while here he's only just gotten a body back (Pollo's new body) and dosen't really have anything else? Are there two mechkara's there, or will this storyline actually tie in with the fourth year anniversary and for once not see Mechkara truley defeated and have him resurrect his original body to get Malachite's hand? Just asking.

Anyway a really great set of reviews. Though both were good I think some of the history of Wonder Woman and having to just point out you don't care too much for Greek Myhtology spoiled a bit of the All Star comic review. Fantastic Four #1 was great with all the Molemen refrences, making fun of the cover, pointing out Reed's stupidty and how the four got to meet him, wondering how they knew about monster island and the godzilla refrence, pointing out Molemen could be a threathening villian but ultimatley blowing that opportunity and the ending bits. Which are intruging even though as noted I'm confused a bit about certain aspects of this newest development.

Jer Alford said...

I thought Monster Isle was really a peninsula.

Daeron said...

"'...And why must he leave? I love him'

I love the man I never spoken a word to at all"

Florence Nightingale Effect my good friend. It happens in real life very often so it is entirely plausible.

AussieDragoon said...

Both solid reviews, though admittedly I was hoping for the linda carter wonder wonder theme.

Also, and this is a matter of personal preference, while I don't mind your storylines, I feel that secret origins month should be it's own entity separate from the main storyline, but oh well.

popeyedboy said...

Why exactly would Aphrodite, goddess of LOVE (and known for her relations with males), want them to remain separate from men? Why not say, Artemis*, a goddess known for not getting close to men and rather aggressive.
As for planes, the Nazis couldn't have pulled it off.
On democracy, there were a few left (really not that many obviously) but when it came to major powers, the U.S was really the only democracy not in the war. Of course the Russians get irritated when the U.S glosses over their contributions, but they were not democratic and do not count. Also, depending on the time this comic was published the Soviet Union might have still been an ally of Germany.

*And strangely enough the comic has the name 'Diana' even though that was Roman.

Lewis Lovhaug said...

"Okay here's a question I have about the recent storyline development: You said that everything you're involved in as Linkara fits within the AT4W storyline right? So if they true end of Suburban Knights is to be believed, how come Mechkara is shown holding Malachite's glove there while here he's only just gotten a body back (Pollo's new body) and dosen't really have anything else? Are there two mechkara's there, or will this storyline actually tie in with the fourth year anniversary and for once not see Mechkara truley defeated and have him resurrect his original body to get Malachite's hand? Just asking."

Can't reveal anything, but there is a plan and everything will make sense. ^_^

Drunken Lemur said...

Ooh, next year could you do Booster Gold's first issue?

FugueforFrog said...

Well we needed that break last week (though the Mangaverse episode was fun and hope to see more of it in-continuity). Gonna post these as I watch it so won't be up for a while:

-Wonder Woman: Really fun episode and a really weird story. For the most part it is the basic origin, prior to all the stuff that came after so of course it was going to mostly be set-up. Besides: Bullets and Bracelets? MAGIC GIRDLES!? It speaks for itself. And great return for Patton, Hulk Hogan (well it was him or more Warrior...and they finally exorcised him in the midst of the Entity mess) and hilarious usage of Zardoz...boy that movie was messed up. And...oh yeah, Poyo being possessed by his alter-reality self somehow seems...weird...but at least it means another Mechakara fight upcoming!

F4: You know with how I feel about "The Simpsons" these days (well since the late 90s...discovering anime and realizing the writing wasn't really that good anymore does that to people), all those Hans Moleman bits were needed for this episode. They just were. Regardless, I think the whole point of the issue and why it was so weird with the "human monsters" in a way was the whole transitional concept that Stan Lee was making: with the company mostly known for monster books until that first issue, making "human monsters" and displaying them as such in that intro set of pages really seemed to demonstrate all of them as threats, even though they were the heroes. It sort of as something that one could see to differentiate them from DC, likewise with The Hulk the next year, with Marvel ultimately turning to more "honest" heroes emerging with stuff like Thor, Spidey and so on after them. Regardless, a great choice for the 50th anniversary, terrible theme and all. (and great usage of that classic Byrne cover...at least you acknowledge he did good even with his infamous Big Bertha incident)

Unknown said...

Could you review the Origin of the JSA next year?

Drunken Lemur said...

Since you're doing Alan Scott's first issue, will you do Hal Jordan's next year?

Anonymous said...

Marston sounds like a female supremacist.

nebosuke said...

B-but I like the Fantastic Four cartoon's opening theme ;_;

Still, interesting reviews, now I kinda get that little tribute in the season finally of the Justice League cartoon.

Bit of a question for anyone here familiar with the Fantastic Four, but what's a good comic get started on with those characters? All I know about the team is from the cartoon and the horror stories I've heard about the movies.

E. Wilson said...

Mechakara's new body should be a Dalek transport.

That is all.

Grant Vallone said...

... DAMMIT LINKARA!

You were clever enough to make an elder god commit suicide, but you didn't think to better secure and contain the last remaining piece of your arch-nemesis in case of this exact kind of situation?! You've seen the Superman animated series, this is a total Brainiac move, you should've known better than that to think he was dead!

AdamatiumRage said...

Pollo, Pollo everywhere! Hey Linkara, have you seen the AT4W wiki? It would help if you could give a quick glance at the Arsenal of Freedom to confirm/name some items.

Anonymous said...

What did that guy mean by the true ending of Suburban Knights. I don't ever recall Mechakara even being mentioned in that. Is this a scene excusive to the DVD? That sucks since I can't the DVD due to there not being a Paypal account on That Awesome Store.

Anyway, can you please explain what he was talking about Linkara.

The Mad Scientist said...

The Wonder Woman origin story is okay, but leaves a lot to be desired. Her strength and independent spirit don't get nearly enough of a highlight until the end. But what can you expect from that period, I guess?

Prim-and-Proper Thing with the Brooklyn accent is probably one of the funniest voices I've ever heard you do.

Oh shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit, Mechakara 3.0 is in the works! I'm VERY excited for that! I hope you don't end the storyline in February, though, even though that's the usual storyline-ending month. I could see this one going on for a long time!

August M. said...

Wonder Woman's Origin review:

It was great but the comic itself, although fun to look, was badly written and seeing that the comic was geared more towards the female audience it felt bad for the Amazons to wear scantly clothing, especially the doctor(Not that I mind but the comic was attracting girls). To me, the best origin for Wonder Woman was the one from George Perez.

Fantastic Four Origin review:

Great use of Hans Moleman clips. It will be great if any of the running Marvel shows(Avengers: EMH or the rumored upcoming Fantastic Four show) get Dan Castellaneta to voice the Moleman.

To me, The Fantastic Four is my favorite Superhero team. I love the relationships between the members, their story arcs are the ones I enjoy the most more than any other comic, and despite some changes in the roster at some points, the original four will always be together(Yes people, Johnny will be back).

Great reviews, keep up the work!.

Anonymous said...

I loved those Moleman clips. "No one's gay for Moleman," really made me audibly laugh. Good one.

TheDarkEricDraven said...

Another storyline? So soon? Lewis, you doth spoil us!

Lizard-Man said...

Moleman jokes, awesome. Good reference there. Looking forward to this month, cause Cap's comic finishes it off. Can't wait to see that one. This double feature was pretty good though, can't believe you managed both of these at the same time. Good work on that.

trent bowie said...

I LOVED the double feature. Gosh, but the Fantastic Four are such douche bags! How is it that they managed to break into a launch site, steal a rocket, crash it and NOT get arrested afterwards? I'd bet my bottom dollar that Reed spent (*coughSusan'scough*) money to make sure news outlets portray the FF in a positive light. Anyways, it was a good review. Thanks, now I can't get that stupid theme song out of my head...

LucasChad said...

I feel there's a missed opportunity with the second video that you should've included a clip or two of The Mole People from MST3K. I'm pretty sure the comic reminds me of it or if I've been watching too much B-horror movies.

MikeKz said...

For the longest time, the Greek and Roman names for the Olympian gods were pretty much interchangeable. No one cared much and it's what people were used to in popular culture.

Chibi Regalli said...

Another Greek mythology buff, but I'll just go with a completely different point- Zeus sleeps with some of Artemis's nymphs in one myth, and sleeps with anything that moves and looks attractive. And also probably some things that don't. The only thing he holds sacred is his divine penis. How would the goddesses keep Zeus from sleeping with one of the Amazons eventually? He can get to women imprisoned in towers as a golden shower of light if he wants. *Shrug* Guess Athena would just allow it- Daddy's little girl, after all.

Also, the blooper at the end of the second video amused me. Everyone loves to sing a musical stinger!

Anonymous said...

Wonder Woman falling in love with Steve Roger is a lot like a classic fairy tale like Sleeping Beauty or Snow White, just with the roles reversed.

Also, since you're doing female superhero secret origins, are you going to do one on Cassandra Cain?

boooratt said...

Awesome!

BooRat said...

Great reviews! I'll leave the Greco-Roman mythology aloane as per your request and I know nothing about WW2 era plains!

I'm surprised you didn't do any Capt. America jokes during the Wonder Woman story you gotta admit if Marvel or DC bought the other out in the 40s-60s they could've easily mixed Capt's origions into Wondie's. Insted of him crashing a plain into ice and being frozen til more modern times he could've landed on Paradice Island and lived it up with a bunch of half-naked Amazons... (start's porn music)
I wonder which kind of AMazons these were suppose to be in this comics? I know of 2 different kinds. 1st kind are the kind most think of the ones that can reproduce with out a male partener they just become pregnaunt and give birth to only female children and the 2nd kind are kind of a mixture of Centaur and Syrin mythologies. In that they kidnap men from raids or "rescue" them from ship-wrecks and "use" them for breeding stock and when as many of them are pregnant they kill the men and when birthing time comes they kill the non-female children. I like the later they make for bettter story ideas! don't ya'll!?
I'm also surprised there was no Lady Gaga jokes about the weird weird outfits of the Amazons. A tutu, an excersize bra, tracelets, and knee-high sandles!
I'd love to see a parody of this old Wonder Woman origion where her mother gives her her super suit and it is just a thong bakini!
I have always wanted to read some of those old Golden Age comics I love cheesy dialogue and goofy artwork where all women look like Betty Page.
You gotta love it that all fouren spies in those old comics look like the most negative steroe-types of the country they're suppose to be from. like that toothbrush mustach and monical! How could no one tell he was a German spy!? He needed the jackboots and SS uniform to be more ovbious!?

I CALLED IT MECHAKARA IS RETURNING WITH THE POLLO REDESIGN THING! AND THANK YOU PAZUZU FOR NOT LETTING THAT BE THE END ON THE CONTEST!!! :D


On, to Fantastic Four! I'm actually shocked the Ultimate Fantastic Four #1-2 or 3 was this exsact same story just done a lot better.
I do recall hearing Stan Lee on something talking about how he wanted the Thing to basically be the FF's Beast a smart well read man in the body of something you'd see in a drive-in-theater horror movie! I profer the acsent he's got it's more fitting. I also like for some weird reason he was the 1st Jewish superhero. And with the last name Grimm I'm guessing he's of German decent possibly from the Fairy Tale writers!
I bet the Human Torch's insurince will probally cover that... I'm sure in comicbooks worlds like MArvel there is such a thing as superpower related "acsodents"!
Mr.Fantastic: "I'm sure Ben is OK with me turning him into a monster by now."
The Thing: "I can no longer have conventional sex with another human being with out gutting them alive! Sure I'm 'OK' with it now!"
So, I'm not that physically atractive at all so should I go live underground is that what you're telling me!?
This FF comic also really does remind me Linkara that you really should read Planetary! They referince the HELL out of this early Fantatic Four comic in it! Monster Island and every thing and they come across the dead bodies of the monsters in this issue with more referinces to Godzilla and his bunch too! It is awesomer now that I knoticed this here!
Mr. Fantastic is soooo wrong so many times he should've turned in his genious card long ago! he's even wrong here Mole Man returns I don't think less than 5 years lator!
"That Old Grey Mare She ain't what she use to be!"

JLH said...

Aww. I liked the 90s FF theme. It was cheesy as all hell, but it was certainly memorable, whether you wanted to remember it or not! The 60s, 70s, second 90s, and 00s toons themes are all bland and forgettable. And it's by the same guy who gave us the music for "Scarface", "Midnight Express", and the 80s "Metropolis"!

Just think, Grant Morrison wants to remake Wonder Woman to turn her more into what Marston wanted. And he's apparently going to do it, too, next year. He certainly can't do worse than the NBC pilot...

Did you know a few years back, there was a hardcover called "Maximum Fantastic Four" that devoted like 224 pages to reprinting that first issue, with essentially an entire panel blown up giant size per page? A very strange method, but novel in its approach.

Is Pollo 2.0 made of wood or metal?

Perry Renarldo Singletary Jr. said...

Huh. Namor was created BEFORE the FF? I never would have thought that given the character's history with them.

And wow, he's actually from the Golden Age?

SchweitzerMan said...

I think I only viewed one episode of the Fantastic Four cartoon series. I can't remember jack about it.

However I had no recollection at all about that GOD AWFUL intro. Holy crap, I mean...if they were trying to compete with Batman: TAS at the time...it's no contest.

Great and now I've got that damn theme in my head.

Falcovsleon20 said...

"Huh. Namor was created BEFORE the FF? I never would have thought that given the character's history with them.

And wow, he's actually from the Golden Age?"

Yep. And considering how "all the rage" anti-heroes were and still kinda are, Namor was waaaaaaay ahead of his time.

Anyway, maybe it's just the running gags but The Moleman does indeed kinda look like Hans Moleman himself.

Anonymous said...

Dude! Not cool! 20% LESS cool! The old Fantastic Four theme song rocked balls :D

BooRat said...

"Psychotime has left a new comment on the post "SECRET ORIGINS DOUBLE FEATURE!":
Huh. Namor was created BEFORE the FF? I never would have thought that given the character's history with them.
And wow, he's actually from the Golden Age?"

Yeap he was most famious for fighting with Capt. America and the 1st Human-Torch in World War 2! They were sort of like Marvel's origional Trinity of charcters!
If you ever read MARVELS by Alex Ross they recap a lot of this and his most famious fight with the Human-Torch in the middle of New York!

Anonymous said...

The Comics: Eh, they're both good for the times in which they were written.

Your Arc: Oh. Crap.

Fiery Little One

Ozaline said...

Both spellings Hippolyte and Hippolyta are acceptable transliterations of the Greek. Incedently here's something fun, in mythology Hippolyte was Ares daughter and she was either killed by Heracles or in the latter myths was captured by Odysseus and became his wife (till he dumped her, at which point she gets killed again... in some versions of the myth). In fact she's the Queen of Athens in "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Also her name translates as "Horse Breaker" which is bad ass!


The post crisis version of Wonder Woman's origins is a lot better.

I would calls Marston a feminist, just an earlier type of one... Early feminists and before them suffergettes had some ideas that don't mesh with modern day feminism... the move towards equality happens in small steps.

Also Monarchy and and democracy aren't mutually exclusive. At least in the Wonder Woman TV show it was shown that Paradise Island did resolve some matters democratically, so it could be a limited monarchy.

Anyway I really enjoyed the reviews I think you could have done more with the WW review if you brushed up on your mythology a bit, but the Fantastic Four review was really a treat.

There is no law of deminishing returns on the Hans Moleman jokes.

Ozaline said...

Oh and one question did you select Pollo for the role of Human Torch in the opening banner because he resembled HERBIE the robot that took the Torch's role in one of the cartoons?

Or was that choice made by the artist?

Anonymous said...

Looks, like Mechakara 2.0 is lurking at the moment. I think I'm going to like the new story arc. As for the two for one reviews. I liked the Fantastic 4 review more based on a bias opinion on preferring Marvel over D.C when it comes to heroes.Although, I found the information on Wonder Women's creator to be interesting info.I checked the deviant art entries for the contest and I think that whatever you choose would be good for the show. My personal opinion, a more chicken like Pollo would be good.

Kaibaman41 said...

At first I thought Mechakara possessed Pollo but then it looked like he took his form while leaving his hand..Bees My God(sorry couldn't resist)

I've been looking forward to Secret Origins Month Vol 2 for quite sometime, I'm always fascinated how the heroes began..and nice touch using the Fantastic Four theme from the Fox Kids Animated Series.

Oh was that Liz that did "da da da da" in the out take?

krautman said...

Anyone else remember that Godzilla is actually part of Marvel's Earth-616 continuity? Finding this out made my day when I was a kid.

http://marvel.wikia.com/Godzilla_%28Earth-616%29

krautman said...

http://marvel.wikia.com/Godzilla_%28Earth-616%29

Godzilla is part of Earth-616's continuity. At some point, he fought Captain America.

My day has been made.

Razorgeist said...

Ok I checked the other comments and while it dosent detract from the suckiness of the science but uh Earths inner core is solid its outher core is molten.

RBYDark said...

Great to see you back, and kicking off a new plot already :D I know you said you were gonna try something different - can't wait to see what it'll be.

As for the actual reviews...kinda funny. So far, I'm liking these origin stories WAY better than last year's. The reviews are still funny, but these seem to hold up better. Just odd.

Tetsu Deinonychus said...

Great double feature, I especially enjoyed your Stan Lee voice! I loved last year's secret origin month and look forward to more of this years.

Just one question, though: Where is that "there is logic" clip from?

Zidko said...

The reason some people might think that the Marvel universe actually begins with FF #1 is this. In cannon most (not all) of Marvel's golden age comics actually take place in the comics within the Marvel universe. The things that actually happened during that time take place in the Invaders & Sgt. Fury issues. There are events in the golden age that have actually happened like Captain America, Torch & Namor's origins and their rivalries with each other as depicted in Kurt Busiek & Alex Ross's awesome Marvels story.

I've been reading through Marvel's silver age for almost the whole year and sometimes I just flat out ignore Stan Lee's dialogue boxes because of all the goofy/clunky descriptions, when most of the art speaks for the story on its own.

BooRat said...

All-Star Comics #8
Me either on Trinity!
6:55-Cough, cough Dinmother, cough!
10:00-I know I'm not one to talk but Greece not Grease!
YOU MAGNIFICENT BASTARD I READ YOUR BOOOOOK!!!
20:42-What did they change? Because chicks with guns are awesome!
I hope to see Linkara review one of the most notorious Wonder Woman comics one day! The one back in the 60s or 70s when they depowered her and she had to become a Ninja! "At the end of the 1960s, under the guidance of Mike Sekowsky, Wonder Woman surrendered her powers in order to remain in Man's World rather than accompany her fellow Amazons to another dimension. Becoming a mod boutique owner, the powerless Diana Prince acquired a Chinese mentor named I Ching. Under I Ching's guidance, Diana learned martial arts and weapons skills and engaged in adventures that encompassed a variety of genres, from espionage to mythology." Yes, that happened!
BECAUSE I CALLED IT! I CALLED IT WHEN THE POLLO CONTEST WAS ANNOUNCED!

The Fantastic Four #1
I liked the 90s Coreman film it's cheesy crappy B-movies goodness! And it got Doom right or at least a lot better than the 2000s movies!
5:52-ah, I love that movie!
8:33-Me too.
15:00-And that's where the Ultimate Fantastic Four really lost me!
15:26-Well, actually when the Invaders began! Namor was going to be in the Captain America movie but because Marvel hasn't gotten the Sub-Mariner movie rights back yet from whatever company they sold them too.
15:50-Actually that's an old comicbook joke that's been around for years! In one of my favorite lesser known series Marshal Law there's a character named Devil's Tool/Rubber Johnney that's whole joke is he's like Trojan Maaaan!!!
17:30-You should really read Warren Ellis' Planetary he plays homage to both in the 1st 1-2 issues! Also, is it me or does the monster look like a mix of King Ghidorah and Fin Fang Foom?! It might just be because Kurby designed it!
"The old grey mare she ain't what she use to be, ain't what she use to be!"
Superhero Family! They're more a family than a group.. concidering 3/4th are inlaws!
Pollinkara...

Dodge This said...

You getting more and more Sonic Screwdrivers just makes me think you are hunting down and killing the previous Doctor's for their screwdrivers.

Or it would if you didn't tend to be something of a champion for good.

DJ1107 said...

Great review. Not a big Wondy fan nor can I complain about the book because this is the golden age. Fantastic Four on the other hand I can see why Marvel is doing the "Season 1" story with them. Season 1 is essentially Marvel version of DC "secret origins" I'm looking forward to it don't know about you since you don't care about stuff like that. Man Reeds an asshole this is like the third time I figure this out First was during that heroes turn villain list with Sue then he straight up became evil in Ultimates (okay different version but still). I actually like the 90's theme next to the awesometastic 2nd 90's Ironman theme. Speaking of Ironman you should so do a Avengers origins month for the Avengers movie next year.

Adam Bruening said...

A young woman falling in love with the first man she sees is also part of the plot in Shakespeare's 'The Tempest'

Ming said...

Nice to see the return of Secret Origins Month, where we look at the first appearance of a comic character and see if they still hold up today. Have you ever considered looking at episodes on whether or not comic book stories from the past (Golden, Silver, Bronze, and Post-Crisis Age) still hold up?

P.S.: Oh, no, Mechakara, your first real enemy is back for revenge! If what I've read is true (DVD-only ending for Suburban Knights where Mechakara finds the Gauntlet and comments linking the scene to the upcoming 4th year anniversary), I think the next storyline for both Atop the Fourth Wall and the Year 4 Anniversary will be a robot war between Linkara and the rest of Channel Awesome and Mechakara and the machine armies from his world.

Thibaud said...

"Democratic countries in December 1941" : the British dominions (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa (although, in those countries, large chunks of the population were stripped from the right to vote on the basis of race. But then again, this was ALSO the case in the US in December 1941 !)), Ireland, Iceland, Switzerland, nominally most Central and South American countries (but they were all very unstable and were generally de facto authoritarian regimes). And, of course, the UK which was not only a democratic country but which welcomed lots of European democratic governments in exile (most notably De Gaulle's Free France, but also the Government-in-exiles of Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, etc). So, yeah, that line in the comic was stupid.

I also raised an eyebrow at the "French Africa" line in Fantastic Four #1 : the comic was published in november 1961, I don't know when it was written, but almost every French colonies in the African continent had become independent by late 1960. The only 2 exceptions were Djibouti and Algeria, the latter being in the last months of its Independence War against France. My guess is that Stan Lee and/or Jack Kirby, like most Americans at the time, were supporters of Algerian independence and amused themselves by portraying French "Big-Bad-Colonial-Soldiers" being killed by a giant monster. Still seems weird to not call it "Algeria" or "French Algeria" instead of "French Africa" but maybe this was a censorship thing.

Captain Mac said...

Loved these videos,and love your Sonic screwdriver collection, by the way I knoow you are building your own cybermat but would you like 20 of them? http://forbiddenplanet.com/78644-doctor-who-2011-wave-2-cybermats-20-pack/

Ironically I had been indulging in a bit of an archive binge just before watchign this and amoung the episodes I watched was Santa claus conquors the Martians where in a post credits blooper Liz also caused you to crack up by shouting something offscreen, I have to ask how regualr an occurence is this?

PS based on what I have seen on twitter you and Liz have new cosplay costumes (7th doctor and a realistic nurse) and I demand that the next YSACG (if it ever happens grumbles) has you tow wearing them, but never acknowledge it.....

Calvin said...

Great Review and - WOW, new storyarc. I am curious, how this will play out. ^^

Greets

Cal

Capt. Sake "Hancock" Mangusto said...

Lewis forget to mention the fact Wonder Woman is sponsored by Heineken but he can't talk about because his show is sponsored by Miller.

Seriously what you think Miller Time stands for ? And if you doubt me check Heineken's logo, there is a red star on it as well a red star on Wonder Woman's tiara.

And nobody dare pull the mythos card on me : everybody should know at this point the RED STAR IS THE SYMBOL FOR APHRODITE,if good and old Soviet Union was less sexually uptight than America in the 80's maybe they could survive and even win the Cold War but they never had Hollywood and Porn on their side, that's something worth fighting for.

The Poyo's new design looks the same and Mechakara coming back ?

I must admit i am not really following your storyline since the beginning but i hope this ends better than that one with the lame All Mighty off and on and off again Entity, supervillains are not meant to kill themselves and disappear into oblivion like nothing happens because where is the character growing on that ? Where is you as a writer growing on that if you pull a God Ex Machina solution out of your sleeve when your ideas became stuck in the next corner ?

I'm trying to add some constructive criticism here, i hope you don't be offended by that but in my opinion you drop the ball on the Entity's case and the Kirk Maneuver ordering the Entity to purge itself out of existence isn't something really new for a Star Trek TOS fan.

Rely on Guns or even bigger guns is silly and personally as well budgetly i guess you are not a Sledge Hammer kind of solution's fan. And still every Doctor has Companions so instead of keeping figured out the solutions alone by yourself you probably could rely more on interactions with your supporting cast beyond the realm of solid holograms, robots and props.

Let's face it, your hero has more Buddy Baker tendencies than for a Bruce Wayne's way because :

a) the budget don't allow;

b) you are a family guy(no pun intended) with no inclination for promiscuity or immature behavior;

and c) the character goes along with the classics style of action like The Three Stooges and Doctor Who sort of logical structure (the British had no big budget either concerning production values at the time and the actual show try to remain faithful to that);

I hope this help your development anyway, good luck with the new story arc and i hope to see what you have in store for the next Miller Time.

Duke of Luns said...

In regards to your Fantastic Four #1 review...

I had no idea the three headed monster(known as "Tricephalous" according to Wikipedia) first appeared in Fan Four #1.

Calling him Ghidrah(though it's more commonly pronounced "Ghi-dor-ah these days) was apt, but what I find intersting is that this comic came out in 1961, and "Ghidorah: The Three Headed Monster" came out in 1964.

It's either a strange coincidence or someone at Toho saw the issue in those internim years because Godzilla wasn't a movie star at this point in time and thus King Ghidorah probably wasn't a thought in anyone's mind.

And about the theme song? Come on, it's terribly awesome!!

Nate said...

Aw, no TMNT jokes for The Thing....

Kevin Holsinger said...

Good morning, Linkara.

Question I've been meaning to ask:

You're quite insistent on Wonder Woman being "the Spirit of Truth". However, when I've seen people on the Internet discuss why they like her, they usually mention her "power" and "strength", not her honesty.

But I assume you know what you're talking about. So I'd like to ask, was there a particular comic that established Wonder Woman as the Spirit of Truth? I have only a vague knowledge of her, and think she was turned into a goddess at some point, but I don't know if that's what you're referring to...or whether it was something else.

My thanks in advance.

Anonymous said...

On the subject of women's rights, the U.S. was NOT the "last bastion". that would be the Soviet Union, who not only had women military service,(we only did civil, uncredited volenters in WAC and WAVE as well as nurses.), but had female snipers, Lyudmila Pavlichenko as an example, serve alongside male snipers as well as a all female bomber wing, the "night-whiches", and a fighter squadron. wierd, huh.

Mecha-gino said...

BAH! The Fantastic Four theme song is awesome AND YOU KNOW IT! :P

But you could of mentioned a little more about the FF like the exact origin is unsure of as to who create them. For one you got Stan's couple of stories but you also have Jack Kirby's story as well plus the guy created DC's equivalent a few years priors just minus the superpowers. Also you could of mentioned how Stan and Jack originally held the record for the longest run on a Marvel book but that's just me.

Still loved the FF episode and I'm a huge FF fan. So yeah... REPLY! :D Or not. D:

Anonymous said...

and so even in his first appearance, Reed Richards proves that he's a douche

Lewis Lovhaug said...

"But I assume you know what you're talking about. So I'd like to ask, was there a particular comic that established Wonder Woman as the Spirit of Truth? I have only a vague knowledge of her, and think she was turned into a goddess at some point, but I don't know if that's what you're referring to...or whether it was something else."

In addition to an Alex Ross comic called "The Spirit of Truth," her ability to discern truth through her lasso is actually a natural ability for her granted by Hestia, but channeled through the lasso so she can gain access to it. In addition, when she became a Goddess, she was indeed the Goddess of Truth.

Mike Triplett said...

Linkara's Reed Richards' voice sounds very much like Sean Connery. I keep expecting him to say: "Hah hah hah...we beat you, you giant green bastard! That's what you get for being an atomic beast! A right slap in the kisser!"

Kevin Holsinger said...

Linkara,

Ah. I probably put "not interested" when Amazon recommended that book to me because of my immediate no-vote on books that cost way too much for way too few pages. I'll check it out later.

Also, didn't know that thing about Wonder Woman's lasso in relation to her powers. I thought the lasso was the actual source of the power, not the conduit.

Ethan Parker said...

I'm just curious ... how many Sonic Screwdrivers do you own?

Oh, and great show, kind of goes without saying!

Ethan Parker said...

The Fantastic Four always have been one of my favorite comics. At least, Ben Grimm has always been my favorite comic character.

Anyway, I remember that awful cartoon. The theme song in that always reminded me of the Bionic Six. Both songs have a way of creeping into your brain and inhabiting it for days ... I think it's a kind of madness.

The Exiled One said...

Great reviews!

Here are my suggestions for next year's Secret Origin Month:

Week 1: Whiz Comics # 2 (Captain Marvel's first appearance)

Week 2: Tales of Suspense # 39 (Iron Man's first appearance)

Week 3: My Greatest Adventure # 80 (the Doom Patrol's first appearance)

Week 4: Journey Into Mystery # 83 (Thor's first appearance)

Lord You Know Who said...

About Wonder Woman: So, if amazons are cut off from men's world, how do they reproduce? How are baby amazons created?

About the Fantastic Four: So, did ANYTHING that happened in the cover happen in the actual comic? Sure, the giant monster is there, HOWEVER, Reed wasn't tied by any ropes, Sue wasn't grabbed by the monster, and they fought the monster in the Mole Man's lair rather than in a city. Talk about false advertising!

Devar said...

Somehow I had a strange feeling that the Fantastic Four were somehow jerks in their first appearance, must be part of the time period I guess.

Not much to say about this episode really all the jokes were really well played out and even got me to laugh, even though I felt really dejected today so thanks a lot man, it helped me a little.

As for Wonder Woman the only thing I can think of is the fact that I laughed most at the eye mask concept since its like a cliche for having something over your eyes and you suddenly become a master of disguise effectively 0_o.

As per usual great work Linkara and keep it up.

日本文化のマニアック said...

(puts on indignant fan hat) Wait -- are you bashing on While You Were Sleeping? Have you even seen that movie? The whole point is that her love for this guy she's never spoken to (who later winds up in a coma) is silly. He turns out to be a total jerk, and while he's in a coma, she meets someone else (his brother).

It's an awesome romantic comedy! It has Peter Boyle for crying out loud! I like how it depicts her falling as much for the family as for the guy. Don't knock one of my favorite romcoms!

Otherwise, loved the reviews. The reason this segment has been such a success is because it's such a great idea. For a relative newcomer to comic books, seeing the earliest incarnations of heroes I've grown to love is fascinating. Comparing how they've changed, how comic book formats have changed, it's all really cool.

Miller Time is perhaps the only bit that trumps it for me. I'm sadistic that way.

Volvagia said...

My suggestions:

Week One: Flash

Week Two: Hulk ("Well it's ding dong about time")

Week Three: Blue Beetle

Week Four (unless you think he's a bit too recent): Ghost Rider

Katherine said...

I agree with other commentators; Aphrodite LOVES men. She’s the goddess of love and sex, and doesn’t care about morality in relationships (re: promising Helen to Paris even though Helen was already married, cursing women to fall in love with their relatives, etc.). It would make more sense for Athena or Artemis to be upset that the Amazons were tricked by Heracles.

@Ozaline: Hippolyta was also known as Hippolyte, but you’re thinking of Theseus, not Odysseus. It was Theseus who married Hippolyta and fathered her son, Hippolytus, who was later killed when Theseus cursed him after his second wife, Phaedra, falsely accused Hippolytus of raping her. Ah, Greek tragedy.

Your comments about the degradation of Wonder Woman’s costume over the years were funny and sadly true.

Oh, it’s great how they mention that at the end, Diana has to give up her “heritage” and “eternal life” for some guy that she has never spoken to and has just met. *rolls eyes* Oh, well, at least she gets to be a superhero.

As for the Fantastic Four…sorry to say that all of them come across as jerks at some point. From Reed’s short-sightedness and irresponsibility to Sue’s bigotry and passive-aggressive tactics: “You’ve got to possibly risk your life on a dangerous mission that involves cosmic rays and breaking the law! Do you want the commies to win? Do you want to be a coward?” Well, Ben didn’t end up a coward, but he did end up a massively mutated life-form with bricks for a body. Yeah, you sure showed those “commies,” Sue.

Even Johnny, who was the most likable of the bunch, still gets jerk points for melting that car. I know that the opening was supposed to showcase their different powers, but it could have done that without making the Fantastic Four look irresponsible and inconsiderate. Oh, well. At least it was a fun read and a promising origin story.

R said...

I never liked the F4 until Hickman started his run last year. It's epic super-science goofiness. Very fun, very old school but with the more modern "high concept" ideas. Deserves a look.

I know you don't like Marvel, Linkara, but they have been putting a lot of good creators on their books. I was always a DC nut before, with the occasional Spider-Man book here or there. But Marvel currently have good writers on their flagship books (Brubaker, Rucka, Waid, Hickman, Aaron, etc.) It kills me that DC is content to have one good Batman title and 5 mediocre ones, sometimes telling the artist to make something up.

DCnU got me back into comics shops, but I'm more impressed with Marvel. I think they deserve a fair shot, especially with the Quesada/Jemas reign of terror being over.

boooratt said...

"Lord You Know Who has left a new comment on the post "SECRET ORIGINS DOUBLE FEATURE!":
About Wonder Woman: So, if amazons are cut off from men's world, how do they reproduce? How are baby amazons created?"

As I asked in my own comment and I'll let you pick from what I said before, homie!
I wonder which kind of AMazons these were suppose to be in this comics? I know of 2 different kinds. 1st kind are the kind most think of the ones that can reproduce with out a male partener they just become pregnaunt and give birth to only female children and the 2nd kind are kind of a mixture of Centaur and Syrin mythologies. In that they kidnap men from raids or "rescue" them from ship-wrecks and "use" them for breeding stock and when as many of them are pregnant they kill the men and when birthing time comes they kill the non-female children. I like the later they make for bettter story ideas! don't ya'll!?

Ozaline said...

@Katherine, yes I did mean Theseus I knew that, sometimes I just have a misfire and use the wrong name or word but I'm pretty solid in my mythological studies.

Odysseus of course is the hero of the Odyssey.

I actually wrote a paper on Theseus not too long ago, so whoops.


There are some versions of the myth where she just returned to the Amazons after Theseus dumps her though... the post crisis version tries to fix this by having the leader of the Bana being the one that was in love with Theseus.


@boorat

They didn't reproduce they were immortal.

No men... only women, and only same sex sex (yeah that was confirmed in Gail Simone's run) I do like the idea of Wonder Woman being bi... it just feels right.

I hate it when she's treated like the virgin mary... I don't want women who are treateed like Starfire in Red Hood, and there should be asexual characters... but I hate the idea of a sexless Wonder Woman it seems to demonize female sexuality.

Lord You Know Who said...

So, if the Amazons don't reproduce, shouldn't their race be extinct or on the verge of extinction?

Melissia said...

Linkara, that line where the Frenchman responded to the narrator was quite possibly the most hilariously awesome thing you've ever done. Given the number of hilarious and awesome things you've done, that's sayin' something. I had to catch my breath after listening to that...

The Exiled One said...

Just to help Linkara out, in case he takes other people's suggestions for the next Secret Origins Month:

-The Justice Society of America first appeared in "All Star Comics # 3"

-Hal Jordan first appeared in "Showcase # 22"

-the first Flash comic was "Flash Comics # 1"

-Hulk first appeared in "The Incredible Hulk # 1"

-the first Blue Beetle comic was "Mystery Men Comics # 1"

-the first Ghost Rider comic was "Tim Holt # 11"

Volvagia said...

Ozaline: An asexual super? It's a concept that I think would be VERY interesting, because I am asexual myself. The two big problems are:
1. Mainstream superhero comics are, as far as I can see it, supposed to be kind of the entry level comics that anyone can read, no matter their wealth or literacy level, even with all the history that's gone into them and the increasing levels of gore. The concept of asexuality would likely alienate the possible lower-middle class kids who want to read about the guys in long underwear.
2. Even if one of the big two comics companies approved such an idea, straight or gay writers would be highly likely to mess up the concept by focusing on the idea of the hero being sexually abused or making them the completely irredeemable monster for the hero to fight. Either of which would alienate the small audience they'd supposedly be trying to court with such a move.
To see an example of the idea that asexuality is caused by sexual abuse, look up what Ian McEwan says about On Chesil Beach. For an example of the completely irredeemable monster, just watch There Will Be Blood.
Now, if I want a depiction of an asexual, I'll just watch Withnail & I or The Red Shoes or read JTHM, thank you very much. At least those three characters have some redeeming features.

Capt. Sake "Hancock" Mangusto said...

boorat solution is probably mythologically accurate but silly, Ozaline's comment made the Amazons a group of extremely bored people.

Seriously, why the Amazons can reproduce and live behind the scenes in secret like most underground secret societies ? Immortality after the first one hundred years will make anybody crazy with suicidal tendencies.

DC Comics Sucks !!!

boooratt said...

"Ozaline has left a new comment on the post "SECRET ORIGINS DOUBLE FEATURE!":
@boorat
They didn't reproduce they were immortal.
No men... only women, and only same sex sex (yeah that was confirmed in Gail Simone's run) I do like the idea of Wonder Woman being bi... it just feels right.
I hate it when she's treated like the virgin mary... I don't want women who are treateed like Starfire in Red Hood, and there should be asexual characters... but I hate the idea of a sexless Wonder Woman it seems to demonize female sexuality."

I was just refering to the different kinds of Amazons and/or amazon like all female groups from mythologies aother than Greco-Roman.
Yeah, basically in the modern and more than likely in this here earliest Wondie comic they don't need to reproduce as long as they're on the island they're immortal and immortals not dying means there's no need for a new generation so they don't breed.
But the actual Greek and I think the Roman Amazons were the supernatural kind that reproduced Asexualy and were both described as larger thn normal humans and were superior both in strength and speed. Basically they were demi-gods. But, they did have the ability to cross breed with mortal humans.
But, there is another kind of Amazon like race and I can't recall at the moment of which culture they origionated from but I know that the Spanish knew of them because the conquistador that founded California named it after the island these Amazons were said to live on. The differinces of these Amazons were they were human, they were all black (I'd say African but technically if they're were from an island cut off from all main lands as long as the legends say they'd technically be like a form of Australians), they breed and road on the backs of Griffins, all their armor and weapons were made from gold (It's a myth so I guess a soft metal like gold could be used as armor and weapons in that world), and since these Amazons are still humans they reproduced by cause ship wrecks leaving the crew to basically die and which ever ones managed to stay alive and/or swim to thier shores would be used to sire offspring. Afterwards they'd be killed and when the Amazons gave birth the male children would be thrown back into the sea or feed to the Griffins or something dark and out of 300 like that. This version of Amazons were mixed in with the Greco-Roman veriaty sometimes. Most knotibly recently was the 90s Hercules and Xena TV series!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_of_California
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazons

Night said...

Okay, avationn history time!

We had aircraft that could reach about thirty thousand feet and sometimes more at the time, but they were rare (and you couldn't bomb from that altitude and hit anything at the time). They would be quite difficult to spot up there, so this is remotely plausible.

We did have robot aircraft by 1940; their use as target drones for training was already well entrenched. Combat use include the Aphrodite project (surprisingly appropriate name), a robot kamikaze B-17, and the US Navy used a small number for remote-controlled suicide attacks and in a more traditional bomb-dropping manner. The existence of a radio-controlled drone in 1941 is entirely plausible, and that it is apparently a converted standard aircraft gives it the ring of authenticity.

Capt. Sake "Hancock" Mangusto said...

ok folks, it's official, after briefly reading from the pages of New 52's Wonder Wonder #03 and googling around the world wide web there is an announcement to make :

"JASON MOMOA a.k.a. 2011's CONAN THE BARBARIAN a.k.a. GAME OF THRONES' KHAL DROGO was cast as ZEUS, THE KING OF THE GREEK PANTHEON and made a cameo on Wonder Woman #03 when Queen Hippolyta had a flashback revealing Diana's new true origin story, please pick up your torches and pitch forks in your way out in order to get DC Comics Editor's head for this ultimate outrage."

I shout Spoony's War Cry : "BETRAYAAAAAAL"

Muffin-Man said...

I love me some side-story plot mixed with funny reviews. Good job there

Mecha-gino said...

Oh wise guy aye? No reply to my comment huh? Well... bah, I like messing with people but it would of been nice to see a reply to it seeing how I love to talk with my fellow nerds. :3

But with Fantastic Four again, what exactly did you use for the scan? Did you download is off of some site or do did you use 44 Years of the fantastic four/Fantastic four and silver surfer the complete collection?

boooratt said...

"Lord You Know Who has left a new comment on the post "SECRET ORIGINS DOUBLE FEATURE!":
So, if the Amazons don't reproduce, shouldn't their race be extinct or on the verge of extinction?

Sake Mangusto has left a new comment on the post "SECRET ORIGINS DOUBLE FEATURE!":
boorat solution is probably mythologically accurate but silly, Ozaline's comment made the Amazons a group of extremely bored people.
Seriously, why the Amazons can reproduce and live behind the scenes in secret like most underground secret societies ? Immortality after the first one hundred years will make anybody crazy with suicidal tendencies."



I'm just going to go with the DC Amazons are immortals and have no need for reproduction but they do replenish their numbers when they do die by recruiting women from the outside world. Like in that Countdown story or where ever it was when Harley Quinn and some of the old Female Furies were on the island training. Also, that one blonde chick what was one of Wondies enemies for the longest was a human girl that was ship wrecked onto Paradice Island as a kid and raised by the locals. So in that since they reproduce by recruition like a religion(cough, cough, CULT, cough).

PS: another fun factoid from Greco-Roamn Amazon mythology! Amazonian archers whould remove one breast to help with their aim. If they inclued this in DC comics that would be weirdly interesting.
Can anyone tell the the symbolizm in that?

Ok, why is my Verification Word for this post "Shlog"!?

Capt. Sake "Hancock" Mangusto said...

Dear boorat,

Replenish their numbers when they do die by recruiting women from the outside world still is silly, immortality doesn't pay off when you know you have parents about who do you care about in the outside world.

Immortality in my opinion is for morons and is an awful character device when you are not part of the Highlander genre or any similar supernatural phenomenon like blood suckers and sparkling emos.

DC will never go hardcore on the mythos so forget about breastless amazons, will never happen.

Hey, my random verification word this time is kness, go figured.

Capt. Sake "Hancock" Mangusto said...

Off topic point : Lewis voice is only annoying when angry and high pitched, listen to him without subtitle in normal tone is perfectly fine and pleasant, meanwhile on another show Stephen Colbert's voice can puzzles all english that goes for translation inside my head at any moment without warning in any tone he chooses so i have to go backwards at least once every show.

This kind of thing never happen even when Lewis plays as Linkara, thank you Minnesota's School Board for a fine job turning a talented Norwegian-American into a fine speaker.

P.S.: please God never allow him to became a Heavy Metal Pop Singer during his life time, thanks in advance.

P.S.P.S.: if you may can you do something about DC Comic's New 52's, they are screwing the Amazons, please i together with several people want them to be cool again, please God have mercy.

The V-Word today is Bunkaysu

Anonymous said...

"Bees, my God"

You're probably aware of this already (but I don't *think* I remember seeing a reference to in your videos), but there's an episode of the Adam West Batman series that involves "African Death Bees". ("The Bloody Tower".)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AhNvLyXZ8A

The Exiled One said...

Did someone say that Johnny the Homicidal Maniac is a positive role model?

The same Johnny that brutally butchers people over the pettiest of things?

There's a reason why his name is "Johnny the Homicidal Maniac"

Seriously, what the hell.

charl said...

Just a small comment regarding a quick line in the Wonder Woman video: monarchy and democracy are not incompatible. You yourself even mentioned the UK, which was and is both a democracy and a monarchy. The Nordic monarchies are also an example of this, and as a historical side note Sweden would probably also count as a free democratic country at the time as it was never under Nazi occupation. On a complete tangent you could also add Finland to that list. Though it was initially allied with Germany in the 1940s it was never a dictatorship (nor a monarchy for that matter, though that is as mentioned mostly irrelevant.)

Nice videos and it's cool to have a double feature. Waiting in anticipation for what you have in store next week.

Anonymous said...

Hey Linkara, It's been more than two weeks now, and we still haven't seen the completed episode of the Entity Storyarc ending. Now listen to me here, I'm not trying to troll you here, I'm just saying you don't have the sources for the material you have up on the video yet, and I'm afraid the video will be taken down for "copyrighted images". You're lucky to have gotten away with leaving no sources at the end of your Street Fighter #1 review because of storyline stuff (which I fully admit was awesome). All I'm saying is don't push your luck Linkara.

Volvagia said...

I never said specifically that anyone I cited was a fully positive role model. I only said that Nny, Withnail and Boris Lermontov have more likable characteristics when stacked against any book that tries to imply that asexuality is primarily caused by abuse and DANIEL PLAINVIEW. You know, I Drink Your Milkshake?
Nny: I willfully concede to him being a petty a-hole, but at least he commits to attempting to change at the end and fully knows what he's doing is wrong.
Withnail: Fully admit that he's an a-hole hedonist. But you can at least recognize that he's a HUMAN.
Boris Lermontov: Again, have to admit he's a very hurtful and spiteful a-hole, but his reasoning and pathology has a uniquely asexual perspective to it, which I like. He never actively tried to kill anyone, but his raging malignant case of Libido Jealousy meant that the death at the end of The Red Shoes was inevitable.
Plainview, stacked against those three characters, is a Complete Monster who doesn't know or care about right and wrong.
The idea that asexuality is primarily caused by sexual abuse is garbage. Not that it doesn't happen, but it's primarily natural.

Ozaline said...

@booratt

Okay fine but the mythological amazons didn't live in total seclusion either. For the purposes of Wonder Woman's mythos they are immortal so we don't have to worry about it.

I'm actually working on my own comic which involves an Amazon and a Valkyrie where I stick closer to the myths (she has her right breast cut off and everything).

But DC keeps just the mythology that works for it, and I think they did a good job.

jupwhatsup said...

@ramses
@Thibaud
Get your history straigth: Ireland didn't realy was a country between 1801 and 1949.
And if switzerland was really a democracy in WWII is at least debatable.

(But canada... was the first country that came to my mind too)

Volvagia said...

The Exiled One: My exact words were SOME REDEEMING FEATURES. I haven't heard of a major asexual character who is anywhere even close to a saint or even role model. And the one who's closest, well, I can't see wanting to track down a New Zealand soap opera.

charl said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
shikome kido mi said...

Not a correction as you're mostly right. The Germans didn't have any planes that could fly so high they couldn't be spotted and identified in the nineteen forties. However, the Nazis WERE working on an orbital bomber during World War II, some of that work eventually went into NASA, so just assume the timeline got bumped up a little. I mean comic book Nazis get all kinds of crazy tech (anyone remember the War Wheel?).

shikome kido mi said...

Actually I'm glad to have seen this, since that one line about her costume being specifically designed for someone going to America makes her costume make so much more sense than I'd thought it did. They really should put that back into continuity.

Lewis Lovhaug said...

"Actually I'm glad to have seen this, since that one line about her costume being specifically designed for someone going to America makes her costume make so much more sense than I'd thought it did. They really should put that back into continuity."

When Crisis on Infinite Earth happened, I can't recall the reason they gave for the outfit. I believe it was either that it was traditional for returning a foreign national to their soil to wear the colors of that nation or it's the fact that America did not invent white stars on blue or the use of the colors red, white, and blue, and it was traditional attire for another kind of thing.

Jarkes said...

"When Crisis on Infinite Earth happened, I can't recall the reason they gave for the outfit. I believe it was either that it was traditional for returning a foreign national to their soil to wear the colors of that nation or it's the fact that America did not invent white stars on blue or the use of the colors red, white, and blue, and it was traditional attire for another kind of thing."

The former was the reason they gave in the 2009 Wonder Woman animated film... Speaking of which, what did you think of her portrayal in that movie? What about her portrayal on the Justice League cartoon?

Anonymous said...

the entity finale was epic, but one thing. i have the electric tale of pikachu, and what ash is drinking is called "caterie cola 100% pure caterpie" but i thought it was caffine cola too so not too big of a deal

Ebon said...

Ah, those were the days. When a scientist, his drinking boddy, his girlfriend and her punk brother could joyride on multimillion dollar equipment just by yelling "COMMIES!".

William said...

Never really got into The Simpsons, but the Moleman is one of my favorite Marvel villains. What can I say? I've got a thing for caves. Anyway, here's hoping Moleman can make the leap to the big screen sometime in the near future! Viva Subterranea!

Reepicheep-chan said...

I am a little surprised you caught that they were culottes. I had been told a few times she wore a skirt in her origin and when I read it I was, like, wtf, those are totally culottes!

I actually like the culottes more than the bike-shorts she got just a little later. They made her outfit feel kind of like a chiton while still being pretty practical for running around and stuff. I suppose if they had kept that element of her costume the Wondy of today would be wearing a miniskirt instead of a thong though.

Blues said...

3 THINGS

1. having a love interest has nothing to do with independence. Not having one is pandering to a weird mindset. It's like people either want to be father figures or want to pseudo date the character by them not having one. Few comics have(especially now) have great loves that really last and MJ isn't one but Lois Lane, Diana Palmer, and Steve Trevor were, until people decided that apparently women CAN'T date.

2. Someone said "Oh, it’s great how they mention that at the end, Diana has to give up her “heritage” and “eternal life” for some guy that she has never spoken to and has just met. *rolls eyes* Oh, well, at least she gets to be a superhero. "

She doesn't have to, she decided to, to fight evil.

3. Totally forgot what I was going to say!

Also you were a lot nicer to the Wondy comic than the FF one. The wondy origin seems a lot more random and didn't even have an adventure in it.

Guess I could also mention that neither Batman nor Superman got into the JSA, they were too popular, which is why wonder woman wasn't allowed to join, and it's also why some characters left.

I'll also mention that most heroines before and after wonder woman, during the golden age, didn't show that much skin. That was a deliberate choice. Just like the swimsuit costume was, and not one for titillation, or maybe it was with marston, but it was probably also a statement.

Morgan Wick said...

Two things:

1) How did the original issue transition into the cut pages? I notice that the pages they cut out were summarized in a paragraph on the text pages. Did the Archive pull an editing trick?

2) I'm a teensy bit surprised you didn't review Sensation Comics #1. What you say in the video aside, All-Star Comics #8 is really a preview; Sensation #1 is, in a sense, the "real" debut of Wonder Woman, and it even continues her origin.

But most importantly, it is really goofy. Some of the highlights, er, lowlights:

1) Wonder Woman just shows up at a hospital to drop off Steve Trevor, unannounced, and then simply strolls down the street in broad daylight in that outfit, with everyone gawking at her.

2) The origin of Wonder Woman's secret identity, which must be seen to be believed.

3) At the end of the story, Steve Trevor is insistant about being saved by a "wonder woman", but he is dismissed as "delirious"... even though she was all over the newspapers earlier in the issue. WTF?

Morgan Wick said...

Also, why are people suggesting semi-obscure characters like the Doom Patrol and Ghost Rider? Linkara has YEARS of more prominent characters to get to before that:
*The JSA (I actually thought he might do the JSA this round to balance the Fantastic Four team and avoid them being an elephant in the room when doing a later All-Star Comics issue, and do GL and Flash the same month because they're so often linked)
*Flash
*Robin
*Aquaman
*Hulk
*Iron Man
*Thor
*Daredevil
*Wolverine
*The Avengers
*JLA
*Batgirl
*Namor
*Dr. Strange
*Captain Marvel (DC)
*Hawkman
*Teen Titans
*Silver Age reinventions of the above characters
*Green Arrow
*Blue Beetle (who you know Linkara will do before any other semi-obscure character)

Trevor said...

In your "All-Star Comics #8" review, you are wearing a vest with SEVERAL sonic (and 1 laser) screwdriver.

So, Which version is your favorite?

Max said...

True story, the MAGIC GIRDLE was eventually found by William Shatner.