Some battles are fought over things that matter. This one is fought because lots of people are stupid.
NOTES: The first JLA/Pony pic featured can be found HERE and is by PBManning.
There was one more JLA/Pony pic that couldn't be fit in and here it is! Magical Ponies
Monday, June 18, 2012
The Battle for Bludhaven #1-2
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127 comments:
I'm not saying this to Linkara, since he already knows about it. But if any of you are unaware or did not watc h Linkara's short lived series about the latest comics SHADE actually stil lexists now a days and it's a lot better than it is here. Also, Father Time got a makeover... a big one. It's kinda funny.
Also it involves Frankenstein tearing a monster's heart out with a badass sword! But you'd already know that if you watch Linkara's series where he reviewed it of course.
Anyway, now addressing Lewis. Man is this comic reminding me of a shitty movie series. Firebrand's people shot and killed a soldier just doing his job and when the army fires back it's THEM who are in the wrong and not him. Fucking priveledged hippie.
And like you said, why stay in the city? Why not move the weapons and stuff to an undisclosed location? We have those in real life! How hard can it be to hide this shit in a comic book world?
I can already tell I'm gonna hate this comic so much. It's essentially Billy Jack with super heroes. By the by, you should get one of your reviewer friends to do those movies Lewis. They are SO full of shit.
"Battle" for Bludhaven, what a laugh. More like "Moronic Blathering" for Bludhaven.
My reaction to certain stupid things:
"Force of July." I pause the video, mutter "okay" to myself a few times, then decide I need a break to gather myself and clean up my desk a bit.
"Freedom's Ring." I have to pause the video and mutter to myself a bit more.
"Astronaut Fetus." I have to pause the video and mutter to myself for a bit longer. When that doesn't help, I punch myself in the face.
Montage of the Justice League Riding Ponies: I giggle-squeal and flail my arms in delight. I decide to call this type of crossover "My League of Ponies: Justice is Magic."
So yeah, hilarious review. I especially liked the "I could care less" bit, that was friggin' hilarious.
Dude, the Daniel Acuña thing. I cannot stop being butthurt for your poor comparation with Alex Ross when it's obvious his art style is way more like Adam Hughes. Not to mention his stylistic choices, keeping figures without the human flaws of Ross and own creative cel-shading, not realistic paintings.
Out of curiosity Linkara, why DO you keep reading comics? So far as I can tell, mainstream comics only have the following:
1. Major events tend to be more 'meh, that happened and then got forgotten' and ZERO change to society.
2. Death has no impact because it's either a hero who gets resurrected a year later or a friend/lover/family member who never gets mentioned again.
3. A poor (at best) understanding of tactics, economics, politics, psychology, medicine and sociology.
4. Characters having a tendency to change rapidly due to the turnover of writers*.
5. Incredibly confusing backstory because of writers changing and writers introducing absolutely idiotic plots that need to be written out.
6. Tied into number 5, crossing over so many series means that relationships are very hard to untangle.
7. A constant barrage of 'ultimate evils' and 'unstoppable enemies' that mean that no one can actually feel tension, along with the interesting villains being so overused and inevitably failing that no one takes them seriously.
So why? I can understand reading some of the better graphic novels and a few of the comic series (like the old version of the Black Panther or the new Aquaman) seem good but what's keeping anyone reading most of them?
*I don't believe that manga is inherently superior, but one big advantage is that they usually have just one writer who has a clear vision of the story and characters.
Well...that happened.
Personally, I can see the logic behind government superheroes looking "glitzy" when other superheroes do. It's an attempt to prevent the "jackboot" imagery some would suggest from a government team.
Still doesn't make this comic any better though...
Hmmm...magic...
Leaving the whole forced to stay or able to leave outside it and assuming they all had their life savings in a sock under their matresses, maybe the people in the camps can leave but have nowhere, or no resources to do so, leaving the poor and downtrodden in the camps.
Telling us that would have made the comming more logical, and it's not like they couldn't have skipped one or two Firebrand speeches.
If the above was the case, then the attack on the wall, even though it was a guarded hotzone, was not so much people trying to go to a place where they would die, but a lashing out at the most visible symbol of their missery.
Of course a people that are pretty much desperate being inspired by a man that preaches how a certain group is the cause for all of their misery and simply following him will make things better, has happened before in history...
Oooh boy.
I don't really know what to say. It's just stupid. The jokes, the puns... they hurt. The whole premise itself is a huge plot hole. Why the heck should they drop a friggin' chemical bomb onto the city?
My inner storyteller sits in a dark corner and weeps.
And now for something better: Nice callbacks in this episode, both in the review and the storyline part.
If you ask me, the Father Time guy at 13:48 looks like Judas Traveller from the Spider-Man comics.
"Dude, the Daniel Acuña thing. I cannot stop being butthurt for your poor comparation with Alex Ross when it's obvious his art style is way more like Adam Hughes. Not to mention his stylistic choices, keeping figures without the human flaws of Ross and own creative cel-shading, not realistic paintings."
I suppose you're correct there in that it's closer to Adam Hughes. It was just the first comparison that came to mind whenever I see his artwork. And even then, I don't think his cel-shading is all that good, but whatever, difference of opinion. I just don't care for it.
The DC relaunch got me into comics and I enjoy the characters, sorry you don't feel the same.
Oh man, that first pony image is awesome especially the Golden Age Green Lantern on G1's Firefly (the inspiration for Rainbow Dash) in the background.
So have you joined the herd now? :p
Starchild? As in Sebastian Starchild? Is Battle for Bludhaven an origin story for SCI-Spy?
I agree about Father Time. Seems very familiar with that white hair and Ollie Queen goatee. Also, with Firebrand continually saying, "Someone should do something," I kept waiting for that joke to come around. Nice pay-off.
I still like where your storyline is going. Very fascinating.
-NJM
Considering that Amazons attack came out around this time, that President Ricker guy would most likely be in charge, so it makes sense that the government would be this monumentally stupid.
Also, that guy who blows things up by touching them, sounds a lot like Gambit from X-men.
I loved this review! For the simple fact after hearing you an sooooo many others give this the BAD stamp i had to see what it was like and I wound up buying the trade a little under a month ago for like $2-3 off eBay. I've yet to read it but i might hold off after seeing what I've seen so far! I really do hate overly political stories and that Firebrand guy sounds like a really annoying hippy!
I was fixing to say in these comments that Father Time guy looked like Uncle Sam another patriotic DC hero after you mentioned that that he looked familiar, but it turns out he was him! He also kind of looks like Slade Wilson with both eyes and long hair!
I'm not too hung up as you are on government sponsored heroes wearing costumes as I like a lot of those style stories in-which the heroes do wear hero costumes even though they're given orders and preform rescues like a military or S*W*A*T team! I got one around my house some where I really liked set in World War 2 that was really good that did that, but yeah the costumes thing was for PR and they did take them off when doing covert missions and only wore them when doing something they new would be seen by the public. It was also something I liked about the Ultimates(that universes's version of the Avengers) when the Ultimate Universe 1st started and was at the time pretty decent!
If I think right I know of maybe 3 stone monster/heroes from comics that are called Monolith! 2 of them are from the Elementals comic which I think was from another company that is now defunct and was possibly bought out by DC! In-which all super-beings are based more on mythology and magic than science as the main 4 heroes one of which was Monolith were 4 people killed and brought back by deities based on the 4 elements of Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire! And finally the 3rd was a DC z-list metahuman character that's only character features I can recall are that he's a lawyer and he's gay! Is he one of those 3 characters here!?
That montage of MLP and JLA artwork was the funniest thing I've seen in awhile! Good show! I've seen some of those off DeviantArt! XD
I like how You've brought back a character from Suburban Knights I forgot even existed still!
...I think the whole Force of July thing broke my brain for a few minutes.
I notice that most of the event comics you review that take four or more issues come from DC, with the exceptions being Ultimatum and the Clone Saga. Is this just because you have a better knowledge and connection to the DC universe, or is it because DC is more prone to releasing comics of this caliber?
Said at the commercial break:
In defense of the soldiers on the wall, there's a good chance that they wouldn't know any better than what they're saying. The first rule of security is that the chances of a secret being blown are directly proportional to the *square* of the number of people who are in on it.
Thus, if the cover story is that Bludhaven is closed to the public because it's a radioactive hot zone, it's most likely that the soldiers would have been told exactly that same story.
Oh man I bet you had quite the experience on the internet looking for those Justice League riding the MLP: FiM cast considering that show's fanbase.
And on another note, I personally think that Father Time looks like the lovechild of Santa Christ and Slade Wilson.
...and now that I've said that, I'm gonna go get the brain bleach. Dear GOD, my subconscious really does hate me, doesn't it?
Firebrand looks like Hank Pym when he wore the Wasp outfit.
Man, I forgot to mention Major Force! I'm actually surprised that you haven't discussed him and the infamous phrase that was coined from him before! As a lot of things that happened in some comics you've read count as "Woman in the Fridge" like Lian in The Rise of Arsenal!
Also a better name for Firebrand would be Anarchy or since this is DC comics Anarky! It's more fitting to what he's trying to do!
Also this story for some reason sounds like the set up for a The Hills Have Eyes style story with the people too stupid to move away from the disaster area just because their homes USE to be there and the place is covered in some pretty nasty stuff!!!
Is Star Child actually a copy righted thing? I know of a few other places where that term is used!
As for this comic avoiding the word Starchild: Didn't Warners own, at the very least, the distribution rights to 2001: A Space Oddyssey at the time? Did the writers of this comic just not know that and that Clarke probably wouldn't sue a sub-company of the company that's keeping what is likely a fair sized portion of his revenue stream in print on DVD?
The Comicron is sapping Linkara's magic. Linksano said it's powered by magic, and he doesn't know how it works; he lacks the knowledge to discover what it's doing. And Linkara already said that, not only is the ship taxing itself already, but it knows exactly where he is at all times.
(Gonna' earn me a No-Prize!)
this suppose to be the same Father Time from Frankenstein Agent of SHADE? Sorta? Not really? Whatever.
I still think the gun itself is a key.
Isn't there a similar character named Firebrand in the Marvel Universe? That's never a good sign. The Firebrand name, not the Marvel thing.
Also, interesting new developments in the story line.
Ok, I think the comment I published before the previous one may not have been sent in so, I will summarize if I did forget to send in (feel free to delete this if I am wrong): Didio is an idiot as usual. Grey, Palmiotti, and Jurgens, Why? So much dumb and dull as dishwater.
Also, again, thanks for including Brian Heinz in this at the end.
Good episode. But mostly I'm just happy because I like hearing the Beatles. Funny how that works.
Also, Malachite? Does that mean we're going to see Orlando on your show? That's so awesome!
Weird: you brought up the stupid GEICO bit in the comic, then the clip cut to commercial...a GEICO commercial. Are you working with that lizard?
What an issue and how moronic. Terrible political commentary, cool ideas going to waste, the Starbaby from 2001, and I don't even want to know where this Major Force mess comes from!
Oh...and "JLA riding 'ponies'"...that thing was just epic. I couldn't stop laughing for a while after showing that!
Nice review! One quick note, though: "Blüdhaven" should be pronounced like blue-dhaven, not blood-haven.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%9C
Also, I think, storywise it made sense for Bludhaven to be destroyed, given the pair of psychos that orchestrated it. A city that seemed beyond saving, enter two psychos who think that destruction is the best way to save the world. Though, yeah, I would have liked to have seen Dick one day overcome Bludhaven and save it his way.
And I know that this has been pointed out before, but... MAJOR FORCE?! That lunatic? God, Jimmy, Justin, Dan, did you guys even think about this storywise? Or were you phoning it in like your names were Brian, Michael, and Bendis?
1-Why doesn't Linkara track down Juno the Sorceress? You know, a sorceress of great magical power that can give him the advice he needs?
After all, Marzgurl is Linkara's best friend, and Marzgurl is on a fist name basis with Juno.
2-Wait a minute, didn't Malachite die fighting Ma-Ti?
3-This video is, of course, proof that all the TGWTG videos take place in the same universe (or else Coak #1 wouldn'tr be here), so once again the comments in the "Marvel Team Up" video were wrong.
4-However, now that we know that it ISN'T an Anti-Magic Field Generator, the possiblity of The Ghost of the Little Girl doing all of this to teach Linkara humility is still open.
5-Linkara again forgot that his access to the Characterverse (due to his friendship with Ensign Munroe) gives his access to Star Trek weapons like phasers, phaser rifles, lirpas and Ba'Thlets, none of those being enchanted props.
About the comic:
1-I like how even the chosen title song for this episode ("Revolution" by the Beatles) mocks Firebrand's paranoid rants.
2-Where WAS Nightwing during all of this?
3-This reminds me of "Cataclysm". Only "Cataclysm" made more sense since, after the earthquake, the residents of Gotham City were kept INSIDE Gotham, thus less riots and no Firebrand.
4-Linkara forgot to point out that the "Firebrand" moniker has been used by other characters in the past, one of whom was a Ghost Rider copy.
5-Superman, the one always fihting for "truth, justice and the American Way", who wears red and white and blue in his costume and is on a first name basis with most U.S.A. Presidents...is being kept out of the loop by the goverment? Really?
6-What happened to the other patriotic DC characters like Wonder Woman, Miss America, Uncle Sam, Fighting Yank and Stargirl? Where are they in this comic?
7-Can't Bruce Wayne, taking a page from Lex Luthor in "Cataclysm", just use his infinite wealth and power to buy Buldhaven, rebuild it, and then let everyone back in? Come to think of it, where IS Bruce during this clusterfuck?
8-Why is Firebrand a hero? Most people who act like him in DC (Manchester Black, Anarky, Black Adam, Anthaeus, Mad Stan) are VILLAINS.
Father Time looks like Tirion Fordring. Is that who you were trying to compare him to? If not, well... that's the first thing that came to mind to me.
You have a wonderful singing voice. You should treat us viewers to it more often, if you're able to.
The purple/yellow guy looks like a humanoid Nexium pill. Coincidence?
Also, your 200th episode falls on my husband's birthday. You're giving him a better present than I am (I'm planning on baking him a cake--don't tell him, though).
The Justice League Riding the characters from MLP:FiM instantly made this episode awesome.
The destruction of Bludhaven -so pointless and poorly thought-out- was just another sign of how the DC universe had gone to crap under the administration of Dan Didio (and possibly, the creative influence of Geoff Johns.) But I, like MANY people, held hope that it would all be undone at the end of Infinite Crisis, or maybe 52. No such luck. A reboot eventually DID come last year, but only so they could play God *again* with the characters, and not because they respected them (or their fans.)This is, as much as I still love the DC characters, I won't buy their comics. (The cartoons are good though.)
At least the MLP/JLA fanart made me giggle. I had no idea there was so much of it! XD
Your show's storyline continues to be interesting, Linkara, though perhaps a little too long, I think we need more clues as to what is really going on. Nice cameo by Last Angry geek, though. Say is this going to be (overall) a sort of crossover storyline?
"I can already tell I'm gonna hate this comic so much. It's essentially Billy Jack with super heroes. By the by, you should get one of your reviewer friends to do those movies Lewis. They are SO full of shit."
His "reviewer friends" would be Marzgurl and Spoony, neither of which are fit to review that movie. Marzgurl reviews animated movies ("Billy Jack" is live action), and Spoony reviews nerdy, geeky, science fiction/fantasy/superhero/Reb Brown movies (which "Billy Jack" isn't).
"I don't believe that manga is inherently superior, but one big advantage is that they usually have just one writer who has a clear vision of the story and characters."
As I said before in the Den of Stupidity and Testosterone Poisoning, manga and Western comics are two different things. Western comic lean more towards superheroes (or, in dindie labels, sex and violence), while manga is more open to do whatever they hell they want, allowing for a variety of genres, stories and styles. You have bizarre fantasy stories (Hakoiri Devil Princess, that manga about the little God girl), teen stories ala Disney Channel or John Hughes (Ouran High School Host Club, I/S), Buffy-style action-horror stories (Hellsing, Blood +), Lord of the Rings-style sword-and-sorcery high fantasy stories (Slayers, Record of Lodoss War), and cyberpunk stories (Akira, Serial Experiments Lain). So, there's more variety, thuis no way of comaring the two.
P"Personally, I can see the logic behind government superheroes looking "glitzy" when other superheroes do. It's an attempt to prevent the "jackboot" imagery some would suggest from a government team."
Just want to point out that, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Avengers are a goverment-sponsored team, and most of them wear "glitzy" costumes. S.H.I.E.L.D. even goes through the trouble of making a glitzlier costume for Captain America to wear.
"Also, that guy who blows things up by touching them, sounds a lot like Gambit from X-men."
Actually, he's the Human Bomb, another DC legacy character. He's one of the many characters from Quality Comics that DC inherited when DC bought Quality.
"If I think right I know of maybe 3 stone monster/heroes from comics that are called Monolith! 2 of them are from the Elementals comic which I think was from another company that is now defunct and was possibly bought out by DC! In-which all super-beings are based more on mythology and magic than science as the main 4 heroes one of which was Monolith were 4 people killed and brought back by deities based on the 4 elements of Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire! And finally the 3rd was a DC z-list metahuman character that's only character features I can recall are that he's a lawyer and he's gay! Is he one of those 3 characters here!?"
As you see, another DC legacy character featured in the comic not highlighted by Linkara.
Yeah! LAG and Cloak 1!
Why not just go get the power gauntlet Linkara?
So you need to contact wizards and sorceresses? Does this mean we might be seeing JUNO in a future episode?
And for those of you who don't know who I'm talking about, WATCH MARZGURL'S VIDEOS, DANG IT!!!
This was an enjoyable review, but I have some questions about the storyline of your show.
At least you still have that gatling gun, unless 90's kid used up the ammo for that to. Also, I could be wrong, but didn't the BFG have unlimited ammo in the game? Do you still have neutro? Was the magic coin something you enchanted, or was it like that when you obtained it?
Major...Force...
...you know...
I grew up on several series that really got me into comics. And Kyle Rayner's Green Lantern series...he was always MY green lantern, y'know?
And then...the fridge.
It was then that I realized that there was a darkening of comics. S--t...had gotten real. Even today it still hurts me inside to read that comic and see Alex. I absolutely hate senseless civilian deaths, and in a story like this, senseless deaths abound! I hope you set fire to this piece of garbage.
You really went for the throat on this one.
The idea of corrupt officials instead of street gangsters and super villains sounds like an interesting idea for a comic.
"I do not sympathise with stupid people!"
Best line of the review. It's something that made me hate a horror game I liked when I first played it because I realised how stupid the main character was acting.
Hey Linkara,
Just wanted to say that that comic series looks awful.
As for your storyline, I'm really excited for where this is going. I think this may well be the first time a reviewer has outright canonized an anniversary in their reviews in an extended way.
I look forward to next week and seeing where it goes, and also seeing the rest of that terrible comic series.
Keep up the good work!
-JP of WXP
Someone needs to round up Dan Didio, Rob Leifeld, Joe Quesada and Jeff Loeb and sit them down and explain to them that no.... no you are not good for comicbooks anymore.
"Starchild? As in Sebastian Starchild? Is Battle for Bludhaven an origin story for SCI-Spy?"
...said Nick Michalak on June 18, 2012 16:58
...that was obviously a reference to 2001: A Space Odyssey. Arthur C. Clarke's estate, not Doug Moench. Besides, why would Linkara reference SCI SPY of all things with that visual??
"Oh man I bet you had quite the experience on the internet looking for those Justice League riding the MLP: FiM cast considering that show's fanbase.
...said Falcovsleon20 on June 18, 2012 17:23
I can't see why; he asked for pictures on Twitter. Some were probably concocted just on that basis.
O_O Wow is this silly...just when you thought the Marvel Citizens were winning the "Which World's Citizens are stupid" Contest...the DC Citizens take things up a notch with this comic...and is it safe to assume just call both worlds normal Citizens "Contest" as such?
Anyway I kinda understand why DC did certain actions the US Government does in the DC Universe as it's doing cuz hell our Government does things both smart and good(which is VERY RARE NOW ADAYS)but also very bad and does stupid shit most of the time and actually as alot of us are aware does Evil Shit for no good reason(like the failed SOPA and PIPA Legislations and other BS stuff) but the Evil Shit that's portrayed in the comic O_O reminds me of a crazy Rush Limbaugh Conspiracy Theory.
ok the appearance of cloak #1 AND the suburban knights music AND the JLA/MLP pics just made this one of YOUR COOLEST AND FAVORITE (of mine anyway)REVEIWS EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
I like the concept for this comic(what would happens if a major city gets destroyed), but wow did they miss the mark. Farther Time looks almost exactly like Resurrection Man. I wish they would have made the series just about monolith rebuilding and protecting the city. It would have been a cool update of the golem myth. Well till next week
Geez this sounds bad. By my view the only good thing this mini-series did was revive the Freedom Fighters concept.
I thought Malachite died/was incinerated? Maybe I misremember Suburban Knights. Also, didn't one of the DVD extras show Mechakara getting the Gauntlet? Hmmm... (Haven't actually seen said extras myself).
Or maybe it's the ghost of Ma-ti?!?!
If Suburban Knights is officially in continuity with your storylines, then that opens a lot more magic related factors that could explain things...
All this talk of other dimensional magic got me to thinking. Maybe Linkara can learn those other abilties and adapt them for use in our universe.
Hell, I'd love to see the magic of the Visionaries spell-poems adapted to something a little more modern!
Hey Linkara when you get to #4 let me tell you, as a fan of what DC did with Rose/Ravager and knows a lot of similar fans of ehr...we ALL agree that what she does to one of the freedom ring, given what her character was going through, was TOTALLY OUT OF CHARACTER even for what she had become and for her to have no consequences given how Robin and the team felt in the TT book...it was really stupid. Hope you can point that out that even WE agree that was just dumb
Two funny pages from the fantastic series, Journey into Mystery:
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5uc2ys8Jm1qhk88oo1_1280.png
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5trqeGi2G1qzidaoo1_1280.jpg
I don't remember a lot of people caring about this one. Obvious crappy tie-in is obvious.
I'm glad you liked Infnite Crisis! I think it was a great event, especially because it was very action packed and it never gave the DC heroes a rest (I mean, the forgotten characters from COIE want to "fix" New Earth, the super villains are organized as a Society, magic is getting destroyed by the Wrath of God, cyborgs are hunting down metahumans and there's a war between Rann and Thanagar? DAMN!).
Too bad you're not liking the New 52, though. I think it has a lot of great series such as Action Comics, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Aquaman, Justice League (issues 1-8 were very mediocre, issue 9 was pretty good and I hope it stays that way), Animal Man, Swamp Thing, Frankenstein, Justice League Dark (only the Lemire issues), Demon Knights, etc.
"I notice that most of the event comics you review that take four or more issues come from DC, with the exceptions being Ultimatum and the Clone Saga. Is this just because you have a better knowledge and connection to the DC universe, or is it because DC is more prone to releasing comics of this caliber?"
Hell no! Say what you will about the ongoings but its Marvel's events the ones that suck the big one! Don't believe me? Just check out Fear Itself and the current Avengers vs. X-Men!
"I thought Malachite died/was incinerated? Maybe I misremember Suburban Knights. Also, didn't one of the DVD extras show Mechakara getting the Gauntlet? Hmmm... (Haven't actually seen said extras myself).
Or maybe it's the ghost of Ma-ti?!?!
If Suburban Knights is officially in continuity with your storylines, then that opens a lot more magic related factors that could explain things..."
You're confusing your DVD extras. ^_~
There's an additional stinger at the end of Suburban Knights on DVD where Mechakara finds the gauntlet.
There's also a video where it's explained that Malachite actually ended up in a coffee shop... specifically, the one that the actor (Orlando) owns and operates.
I'd like to as a question out off topic but its been bugging me. Whatever happened to the continuity alarm, haven't heard that in a long time?
The Pony and JLA mashup was just hillarious! The second that line was read I knew it was going to happen.
Also, with these Pony references keep popping up as late, it's a sign that your inner brony wants to come out.
Anyways, great review as always.
Wait. Wait. The source of the radiation is Captain Atom.
...Captain Atom who is still in his containment suit.
Well then.
"Where is Malachite?", first appeared as an extra on the DVD, but it's now on the TGWTG.com site for viewing if you missed it:
http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/sketches/33165-where-is-malachite
Count me as another who loved the JLA riding magic ponies bit.
Ah, Last Angry Geek....How happy it makes me to know that there's at least one Gold Digger fan amongst the TGWTG talent.
Huh? OH! Right. Erm... Great video, Linakra. :P
In all seriousness, I did enjoy it; Despite knowing nothing about this given my limited comic book reading(no joke; Gold Digger is the only comic I still read to this day. I got bored with all others close to a decade ago), I've heard enough to turn this into one of the series I've most looked forward to you covering.
The Comic:
It gets dumber from here?
Your Arc:
Huh... it's only effecting your stuff, not what you've gotten from others. Weird.
Fiery Little One
Very nice to see the little Gold Digger cameo bit...wish you'd actually ya know read it yourself and do reviews on Indy and unknown comics that you think could use some exposure as you do likely have some influence in giving a nod to sales with your fans.
As to the review was solid and enjoyable, but I think I liked your story and the humor it contained more then the review portion itself so very nice on the story element.
You keep saying that you hate the DC Reboot, but have you tried some other stuff out there? Before you start saying what you don't like about Marvel and DC, here's some smaller titles that people overlook that are some great fun:
Daredevil by Mark Waid - This book has been fantastic. Instead of doing the dark and brooding DD, they go for a more optimistic 60's style. Sure, it can get dark, but there's enough intrigue and wildly creative art style to keep you coming back. Look for Daredevil 7 that came out last year. There's a damn good reason why it's being nominated for awards.
Thunderbolts/Dark Avengers - Sure, the quality has been debatable, but it's still a lot of fun. Try to find any issues between 144 to where it's presently at. Besides just having some fun characters who can act bad, you have some fun stories. One of the teams is time traveling and cause a paradox with the original team! (And you are going to become a Songbird fan!)
Journey into Mystery - A lot of fun. Imagine if Loki was reborn as a kid, whom everyone hates for things he doesn't remember doing, and is trying to show everyone he's a good person. Add in some infatuation with Midgard culture, a surly sidekick and a dog who spews fire from its mouth and can't stop swearing, and you have a really fun book.
Avenging Spider-Man - I know, I know, the whole Spider-Man issue. But this Team-Up book has a lot of heart and fun to it. From Red Hulk, to Hawkeye, to Captain America, Daredevil, She-Hulk and so on, this book just has fun as well as just some really meaningful moments. Captain America issue especially.
I know you're not big on the serious, so that's why I listed off these four for now. They are titles I'm getting a real kick out of and I'm sure you will as well.
"I AM SYMPATHETIC TO STUPID PEOPLE!"
ok Linkara, Idea for a T-shirt
I really SHOULD get Journey into Mystery. I keep hearing good things about it.
You know, the way they write the name of that city, it should be pronounced more like "Blyyh-d-hah-ven."
Just saying, it's stupid to preserve the German ü when it's a US city. No other German-based settlement in the US (and there are MANY!) did.
So for two issues we are introduced to every faction that will doing battle, and I have to wait until next week to see it. Did a member of a pro wrestling company's writing staff work on this?
As for your Justice League riding on Ponies quest I have one thing to say: I demand more ponies. Perhaps they may assist you.
Either way good luck on the rest of this "Battle", and on regaining the magic.
Funny coincidence: today I learned on NPR that acronyms where the resulting word is decided before the meaning ...are called backronyms. :)
sorry i mean
"I AM NOT SYMPATHETIC TO STUPID PEOPLE!"
I laugh so hard
Oh this review is just gold, I love the Pony bit of course...
The Atomic Knights really would be interesting if brought back in a proper setting, it kinda sounds like Visionaries in a way.
You know I didn't pay much attention to the Linkara is getting darker theory until now but with him threatening harm on 90s kid... hard to say if it's just stress.
One thing I do have to wonder... is about the pokeball with pyramid Head... if the Pokeball got reverted into a toy, then what happens to the non-Linkara based magical entity trapped inside?
I'm not sure if this was intentional, but "Blud" is the German word for "idiot", so Bludhaven can translate as "haven for idiots". All things considered, that's sort of accurate.
However, Gray and Palmiotti did bring back Ray Terrill as the Ray, so I give them props for that. The real casualties of the New 52 are the JSA legacies, and I sort of gave up on it when I realized that the Ray, Damage, Stargirl and Atom Smasher could no longer exist in the main DCU and didn't care about Earth 2.
Linkara will tell you that what got him into comic books was the Titans. What was my first comic series, the one that ultimately got me into comic books? Nightwing. I am not altogether fond of battle for Bludhaven as a result.
Anonymous said...
This was an enjoyable review, but I have some questions about the storyline of your show.
At least you still have that gatling gun, unless 90's kid used up the ammo for that to. Also, I could be wrong, but didn't the BFG have unlimited ammo in the game? Do you still have neutro? Was the magic coin something you enchanted, or was it like that when you obtained it?
You only get infinite ammo if you type in idkfa, and Linkara currently lacks the magical knowledge to access the universal console screen.
just going to put my theory out there re: the magic not working. Linkara is indeed cursed, but the curse doesn't affect his magic, just his personality. Linkara's been getting more and more dark since this arc began, the boast he gave to the gunslinger, the way he threatend Dr. Insaneo and now his outburst at 90's kid. His magic stopped working because he needs to be pure of heart in order to use it, and all the stuff he took from the villians still works because they were villains, and so don't have the pure of heart clause on their magical weapons. Linkara is going through a heel face turn and doesn't realize it yet, and the gunslinger might even actually be a good guy. Either the gunslinger. if he's evil, or the real bad guy if he's not, (probably Mechakara, since he's been known to try Linkara insane before) is trying to control Linkara's mind, and as a side effect, his magic isn't working.
New issue out tomorrow.
I am pretty sure this version of father time was deliberately modelled after Uncle sam who was "dead" at the time of this story. It was a huge red herring due to the fact (spoiler alert) he gathered up a new version of the freedom fighters in this story.
As you said though he turned out not to be uncle sam as he returned in the miniseries you mentioned.
14:00 - He looks like the Royal Flush Gang leader
hey linkara found two songs you may like them.
Doctor Who Theme Song For Orchestra
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85xpuIVXrw0&list=UUnzqEzZjqSR0zLVQrDi7JNg&index=1&feature=plcp
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers "Go Go Power Rangers" For Orchestra by Walt Ribeiro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aVLP7yGNd8&list=UUnzqEzZjqSR0zLVQrDi7JNg&index=1&feature=plcp
perhaps you can use these for a future video.
anyway have a good day.
BTW, regarding Last Angry Geek's mention of Gold Digger in his cameo, was that line his idea or are you just poking fun at those of us who overreacted towards the whole "nor do I particularly care to" comment you made in that Mr. T review?
" just going to put my theory out there re: the magic not working. Linkara is indeed cursed, but the curse doesn't affect his magic, just his personality. Linkara's been getting more and more dark since this arc began, the boast he gave to the gunslinger, the way he threatend Dr. Insaneo and now his outburst at 90's kid. His magic stopped working because he needs to be pure of heart in order to use it, and all the stuff he took from the villians still works because they were villains, and so don't have the pure of heart clause on their magical weapons. Linkara is going through a heel face turn and doesn't realize it yet, and the gunslinger might even actually be a good guy. Either the gunslinger. if he's evil, or the real bad guy if he's not, (probably Mechakara, since he's been known to try Linkara insane before) is trying to control Linkara's mind, and as a side effect, his magic isn't working."
Very interesting theory... except "heel face turn" is "bad guy turning good." "Good guy turning bad" is "Face Heel Turn." Easy mistake to make, though, given that they were originally wrestling terms.
Also, for some reason, I was thinking that Battle for Bludhaven was a tie-in to Countdown. When you said that it was right after Infinite Crisis, I was thinking, "Okay, I guess it's not," but then you said that plot points from this mini-series led into Countdown. What I'm trying to ask is, is it a tie-in to Countdown in the same way that Amazons Attack was a tie-in to Countdown?
"Also, for some reason, I was thinking that Battle for Bludhaven was a tie-in to Countdown. When you said that it was right after Infinite Crisis, I was thinking, "Okay, I guess it's not," but then you said that plot points from this mini-series led into Countdown. What I'm trying to ask is, is it a tie-in to Countdown in the same way that Amazons Attack was a tie-in to Countdown?"
Sort of - it was one of the stories that lead INTO Countdown, setting up plot points and details for it. Plus the writers here, Gray and Palmiotti, were two of the writers on Countdown.
The US government being evil?
Yeah, that can't be true http://act.demandprogress.org/letter/tpp_copy?akid=1394.554454.qS41bR&rd=1&t=2
Also, Firebrand is obviously trying to be Kamina, but he comes off more like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAYL5H46QnQ
"Peace1986 said...
Leaving the whole forced to stay or able to leave outside it and assuming they all had their life savings in a sock under their matresses, maybe the people in the camps can leave but have nowhere, or no resources to do so, leaving the poor and downtrodden in the camps.
Telling us that would have made the comming more logical, and it's not like they couldn't have skipped one or two Firebrand speeches.
If the above was the case, then the attack on the wall, even though it was a guarded hotzone, was not so much people trying to go to a place where they would die, but a lashing out at the most visible symbol of their missery.
Of course a people that are pretty much desperate being inspired by a man that preaches how a certain group is the cause for all of their misery and simply following him will make things better, has happened before in history..."
As some one that lives really close to New Orleans when that disaster happened there was nothing like this if that is what the comic is trying to say. There were no shanty towns I remember. Most people were taken to live in actual shelters. There were no shanty towns of camps as a good majority of refugees actually did leave and it wasn't like it was that hard as most charity organizations rented out fleets of buses to drive them miles away to the nearest area for them to get things to gather. The way you and this comic try to make it sound these people had no choice but to sat just outside a disaster area when in real life it isn't that hard to get away. And conditions aren't that bad.
And in this comic's case the area is reported to be covered in toxic chemicals and radiation! And most of those people in this story should've moved on before now.
well I was going to watch this but then I saw the word "pony" and went WELP never mind
Likely you see Uncle Sam a Now minor DC super hero commonly seen is else world tales. Like the superman/batman story where time was chnaged and the two were raised by the legion of super-villiens.
For the longest time I though father time and Uncle Sam were in fact the same person. Like a dark and light side of the USA government type thing.
"just going to put my theory out there re: the magic not working. Linkara is indeed cursed, but the curse doesn't affect his magic, just his personality. Linkara's been getting more and more dark since this arc began, the boast he gave to the gunslinger, the way he threatend Dr. Insaneo and now his outburst at 90's kid. His magic stopped working because he needs to be pure of heart in order to use it, and all the stuff he took from the villians still works because they were villains, and so don't have the pure of heart clause on their magical weapons. Linkara is going through a heel face turn and doesn't realize it yet, and the gunslinger might even actually be a good guy. Either the gunslinger. if he's evil, or the real bad guy if he's not, (probably Mechakara, since he's been known to try Linkara insane before) is trying to control Linkara's mind, and as a side effect, his magic isn't working."
Eh, good try but it just seems like nitpicking for Linkara's flaws as I noticed some tend to do. Ok, he boasted. SO WHAT? It's not like "The Water of Mars" where the Doctor wanted to control history itself. He was just proud at kicking his enemy's ass. I guess pride of any kind is not allowed. I am sorry but a little backpatting is permitted now and then.
Also, threatening Insano? You do know Insano is a villain right? So I guess now villains should be treated politely and without any regard for their past crimes and misdeeds huh? "You'll be eating those goggles" seems par for the course for this kind of thing.
Finally, snapping at 90s Kid? TOTALLY CALLED FOR. A potentially useful weapon is now wasted because of 90s Kid's idiocy. Plus, Linkara immediately apologized for it. Also note that he realized it was stupid to tell Insano his magic is not working. It is common when you are in a stressful situation to snap. I just think you got to split the moral hairs REALLY fine to say that Linkara is undergoing a heel turn. He is under pressure and people don't always act nice under pressure. I should know. If the Gunslinger is indeed a good guy, why did he just ask for Linkara's Magic Gun at gunpoint instead of, you know, EXPLAINING IT TO HIM?
Speaking as a subscriber to the 'Linkara's getting darker' theory...
“He was just proud at kicking his enemy's ass. I guess pride of any kind is not allowed.”
Yes, pride is allowed, but keep it in perspective. He said that he had been victorious over every threat, and NOTHING could stop him – that’s a lot more than “a little backpatting”. I don’t know if it was intentional, but this reminds me of the end of Silent Hill Dead/Alive, after he realised that he wasn’t the girl in the gun’s father – he basically said that no one had succeeded in defeating him and what makes (whatever was causing the situation) think that they could? But, the thing is, they already had succeeded.
Linksano points it out later. Linkara pointed the gun at his own head, he pulled the trigger. If that had been an ordinary gun… and yet, moments later, he makes one of the biggest self-congratulatory boasts… huh?! Linkara was completely helpless and completely defeated in the moment that he pulled the trigger. It wasn’t him that won that fight.
If the loss of magic is related to his boasting, it wouldn’t be the first time his pride has come back to bite him – the first time he met Lord Vyce, he boasted that he’d be the one to finally take him down (immediately after Vyce stated he’d defeated sixteen champions in the past). We all know how well that went…
It wasn’t the “you’ll be eating your goggles” part with Insano, that got me, it was the fact that he threatened to beat him to death with his gun. Linkara says that he believed Insano, so he essentially made that threat to someone he believed was innocent. Also, just his whole behaviour during this scene – I don’t think we’ve seen him so angry before, and acting out of raw uncontrolled anger is bad for a lot of reasons.
Same goes for the 90’s Kid scene. Yes, 90’s Kid was an idiot, but in his defence, this is his first appearance in this story arc. At the time he wasted the gun charge he may not have even known about the situation. Also, again, Linkara threatened violence, and THAT wasn’t called for. He said himself, moments later, that he did something equally idiotic. I don’t see anyone threatening to throttle him for telling Insano about the lost magic.
“If the Gunslinger is indeed a good guy, why did he just ask for Linkara's Magic Gun at gunpoint instead of, you know, EXPLAINING IT TO HIM?”
Um… Linkara didn’t give him much chance to explain, and made it clear that he didn’t care, even if the guy tried. The Gunslinger was talking, but Linkara wasn’t listening - turn up the volume and listen to what he says while Linkara’s talking to Nimue. I can’t catch it all but what I think he says, is interesting. I’m guessing he believes that Linkara’s the bad guy for some reason – either misinformation/false assumption, or something Linkara has done in the past has had an unintentional bad consequence.
Maybe you’re right and Linkara’s behaviour is the result of pressure and stress but based on the scene with The Gunslinger, I can’t help but think that he was heading in this direction before he lost the magic. The past storylines indicate that this behaviour hasn’t come out of nowhere. For another theory, maybe somehow the magic was keeping the negative aspects of his personality more-or-less in check, and now that its gone, they’ve got free reign.
Oops, correction, mixing up my villains/ex-villains - I meant that Mechakara knew that they'd succeeded in driving Linkara to suicide, not Linksano.
... pays to proofread BEFORE posting, not after :)
God I hope this storyline leads into the 4th Year Anniversary. It would be the greatest thing since Brad & Kyle's crossover.
The Black Baron is in Bludhaven, you say? Well, that fits; this comic is a mad world. Better watch yourself.
...No one's going to get that joke, are they?
Judas Traveller, Lewis! Judas fucking Traveller!! That's who you were thinking of. That's who Father Time looks like! Remember that pointless mother fucker from the Spiderman Clone Saga who was supposed to be a cosmic being that not even the writers new what his point was and he turned out to be a crazy mutant with illusion powers who looked like Sam Elliot and had nothing to do with anything? That's who Father Time is man! The herald of bad comics! Lock it down man! Lock it down!
Judas Fucking Traveller! I'm telling you bro!
Some dude said ealier why doesn't Linkara ask for Juno the Sorcerous's help since she's a powerful sorcerous.
No. No dude. Juno is not a powerful sorcerous. I'm not even dissing the character. I think Marzgurl intended her to be that way.
Juno the Sorcerous couldn't perform a card trick.
Wow, I'd forgotten how stupid this book really was until this review. It's like everyone had the personality of the idiot rockstar turned criminal from Batman: Fortunate Son. Maybe a storyline about corruption in the US government could work, but here, everything just fails, from the idiot balls to stupid character ideas like Force of July/Freedom's Ring.
BTW, nice hilarious moment featuring Justice League and My Little Pony.
Meanwhile, the investigation in the magic problems continues, with surprise cameos from the Last Angry Geek and the Cloak leader from Suburban Knights.
I'm pretty sure the short where Malachite was reduced to working at that cafe was meant to be a joke; however, considering they're referencing Suburban Knights, I wonder if we'll see the ghost of Malachite.
Hey linkara, I was wandering what your biggest issue with the dc reboot was, aside from it rebooting the entire dc universe and causing several storylines to get cancelled.
Also, if you were in charge of the dc reboot what would you have done differently and why?
Ps: this storyline is turning out to be pretty interesting, keep up the good work.
"Maybe you’re right and Linkara’s behaviour is the result of pressure and stress but based on the scene with The Gunslinger, I can’t help but think that he was heading in this direction before he lost the magic. The past storylines indicate that this behaviour hasn’t come out of nowhere. For another theory, maybe somehow the magic was keeping the negative aspects of his personality more-or-less in check, and now that its gone, they’ve got free reign."
Ok, maybe you're right, too and all your theories are perfectly valid. Except for the one about the Gun keeping his negative qualities in check. Doesn't say much for Linkara, does it? :( It guess I get a knee-jerk reaction whenever Linkara's flaws are brought up. Fan Dumb at it's best, I know. I am not saying heroes can't have flaws. It's just I think we have yet to see those flaws have any lasting impact. Maybe Lewis is building towards something but I think that is kinda dark for a comic-book review/fantasy show. Sorry.
"In The New 52, Father Time currently has the appearance of an elementary-age Japanese girl, complete with school uniform, wearing a domino mask."
My brain...it's been so shattered the zombies wouldn't be able to eat it.
Also in these issues I think he looks a bit like Deathstorke.
"The Black Baron is in Bludhaven, you say? Well, that fits; this comic is a mad world. Better watch yourself.
...No one's going to get that joke, are they?"
I did. I even tweeted Linkara with a link to a video of the guy's moments in the game.
You're seriously one of the last people I'd ever thought I'd hear reference a movie like The Geek. Of course those kind of movies are Brad's thing and you reviewers reference each other all the time, but hearing someone like you talk about it is just...I don't know, weird.
Hey Linkara, I know this off subject (though it has a tentative connection due to the fact that you mentioned Alex Ross), but in the comic "Marvels", Book 4 "The day She Died" on like page 30 when Namor's army is invading New York, I could swear that if you look in one of the ships, that looks similar to Night Owl's ship from Watchmen, in the window it looks like Night owl and Silk Spectre. I realize that this isn't a DC comic, so it isn't actually them, but it looks like them to me. I've just been trying to find someone else who has noticed this.
My brother had an idea for who Father Time looks like, an older beared version of Pegasus from Yu-Gi-Oh! (cover his left eye and squint).
@Lordofthesuplex
I was thinking the same thing when the meantioned the Black Baron (stop starin')
When you mentioned "The Black Baron" I kept thinking about the game Madworld and thought it'd be fun to show a clip from that game but maybe you haven't heard of that game so oh well.
I'm sorry Linkara if you have heard this already. But what is your reaction to the recent Doctor Who/Star Trek: Next Generation Crossover comic.
Borg teaming up with the Cybermen is an awesome concept.
Wow, I heard this comic was bad, but wow is all I can say on it.
just curious Linkara, but do you think you'll review any issues of Heroes Reborn comics or at least Heroes Reborn: The Return series from Marvel in the near future????
considering some of the Cap and Avengers issues due involve Rob Liefield art lol
"We should do something, we should do something?" Oh Linkara my favorite joke, from my favorite video's from you, you shouldn't have. Loved the video it was a good one, keep up the good work!
Off Topic, but important: I just finished reading Ed the Happy Clown, a selection off one of Time's two Top Ten Graphic Novel lists. I left it thinking: It was shallow, racist, visually self indulgent (ESPECIALLY in the last sixty pages (close to a third of the book) where he includes all the vampire imagery he can think of for no real story reason) and had some cases of EXTREMELY poor panel-to-panel flow, including one very early on. If you want to talk about some fresh brewed over-rated Indie Crap, Ed the Happy Clown would be a good place to start.
This is my first introduction to the douchebaggery that is Father Time. I don't actually read comics anymore, I only read reviews and summaries. As such, I must say it makes me smile to know that Black Adam once ripped the smug bastard's face off.
Bad comic? What bad comic? I'm just sitting here, jammin' to the Beatles, lookin' at hilarious MLP pictures...
Hey Linkara, just thought you ought to know that for some reason Norton Antivirus is calling Atop the Fourth Wall a fraudulent webpage. I'm not sure what that's about but it sounds like something you might want to look into.
"Hey Linkara, just thought you ought to know that for some reason Norton Antivirus is calling Atop the Fourth Wall a fraudulent webpage. I'm not sure what that's about but it sounds like something you might want to look into."
Can't say I know why. Usually that kind of thing would pop up because of advertisements on a site, but the blog doesn't have any ads.
Anything to say about the...shit? Does anybody realize how often Insano is referenced? He does the most cameos of any character on CA...and is your arch.Its like the joker and coulson all over again-at the same time! will he still be in this story arc? Sorry if thats insensitive,it just feels like somebody fucking died and i never got to say goodbye.
To The Spoony One!
To Dr.Insano
"Hey Linkara, just thought you ought to know that for some reason Norton Antivirus is calling Atop the Fourth Wall a fraudulent webpage. I'm not sure what that's about but it sounds like something you might want to look into."
I think it's still upset over the fake superman at earths end burning way back when. :P
Regarding the problem with Norton Antivirus - apparently its affecting ALL Blogger/Blogspot sites:
http://tinyurl.com/78wq5xg
Looks like it might be fixed if you update Nortons, or change browser.
If you're going to start Journey into Mystery, you might want to get some back issues. Next issue sounds like a real doozy according to interviews.
Journey into Mystery guy here again.
http://www.comixology.com/Journey-Into-Mystery/comics-series/4691
Its the full series. I hope I don't come off as forceful, but it really is a damn good series.
Weird thing is, this whole Norton thing that's apparently a problem... I use Norton, and I haven't had any problems with it regarding this site.
No farther-reaching implications? Sir I fight Chemo every day. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dffOsU5Zwqg
Obviously you don't play DCUO.
Nice review by the way.
As I'm watching this I have to wonder, "Is it wrong to hope that Fire Brand and Snow Flame meet one day?"
I watched this episode on Blip. I'm not going to lie. I liked the MLP:Friendship is magic Justice League fanart and when I heard the name Black Baron my mind went to the Video Game Madworld's Black Baron. The post episode plot is getting interesting .
Actually as stupid as it is there is a reason why a government hero might wear a stupid costume like that. If the idea behind their group is to be "Yeah look America has heroes to save America" then it is a icon of hope. As logical as swat armour is it can kinda scare the crap out of people. Seeing a bright costume might restore people's faith in the government for saving them. Lots of people are scared of storm troopers marching around, even if they are doing good. While I agree the costumes are stupid and as I'm not American I'd trust anyone looking like that as much as the Headline "Star Wars Episode One best selling DVD ever."
Just saying their is a reason for it if you want an all American hero for the government and the people. If someone else made this comment before me sorry for wasting your time on a older video but it just hit me and I felt the need to say it.
It's more the problem that while it makes sense from a Public Relations standpoint, the comic demonstrates time and time again that they don't give two craps about the public's perception of what's happening, so why even bother?
And I thought that Civil War and Amazons Attack's talk on politics was stupid.
Also, who let Snowflame write that "the whole Justice League shows on magic ponies," line?... What, somebody has a better explanation for where it came from?
Regarding the guy you couldn't place your finger on who he looked like: He looks a bit like Deathstroke without his mask.
Can I trust Norton Antivirus to remove all viruses from my pc.
I regularly read old copies of Police Comics and love Firebrand and Phantom Lady who are both included. DC apparently apparently decided to randomly thrown in concepts and character names with no regards to if it made sense.
I didn't read every comment in this section, so maybe somebody already brought this up, but I would imagine that Father Time reminded you of Mike Grell's Warlord. At least, that's who I thought of when I saw him.
"The nuclear legion - guess what THEY have in common! Hydroelectric power.
...
..."
That made my ribs hurt - partly because of the delivery and partly through imagining a supervillain wearing a wind turbine around his head similar to Lady Liberty.
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