Monday, July 16, 2012

Captain Electron #1



The next generation of hero for the 1980s!



70 comments:

ackbarfan5556 said...

Rule 34: The Musical! I think I just puked!
Silicon Microchips? Aw, no Christopher “More Cowbell” Walken fighting James Bond as Max Zorin in A View to A Kill.
A plane crashes into a building in NYC… why do I believe that Al-Qaeda got the 9/11 idea from this stupid comic.
Great Episode as always, Lewis!

Kasper H. said...

I'm curious. Are you trying to evoke a bit of "Uncle Travelling Matt" in your con videos?

Unknown said...

Mr. Computer runs MODOS, Mental OS Designed Only for Scaring...

Also, I love your Mr. Computer voice... it sounds like he's on the verge of doing Goofy's "A-hyuk-hyuk-hyuk"

Now, back to watching the video

Anonymous said...

When I first saw the title card I thought Master the Creator had been watching Diamonda Hagan’s vlog on Amazing Spider-Man. That review was very informative about linkara's love life

Anonymous said...

There are lots of things I noticed that you could've talked about...

1. Mr. Computer's design reminds me of Arnim Zola for obvious reasons.

2. Mr. Zapp looks like the Mayor in Arkham City

3. For a superhero named Captain Electron, you would think that his super powers would be electricity based.

4. You could have made a Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor joke when they talked about no more computers.

areoborg said...

I'm sure that others will point this out, too... but worm algorithms don't work that way. Not unless they're counting on the number crunching to brick the machine. Unless they're talking about a computer worm, but those are stand-alone applications rather than being buried inside legitimate code.

Also, programs can cause themselves to self destruct. An Uninstall program will remove a program from your system, and then remove itself as well. And as most people should know from viruses and malware, they can do all sorts of creative modifying or even the outright removal of important files.

Anonymous said...

think Mr Computer was looking to Mr Peanut for inspiration? the ears are just freaking though

Anonymous said...

Can't wait till we see the conclusion of this awesome storyline.

Jarkes said...

Not finished with the episode yet, but I'm a computer science major, and this comic gets SO many things wrong with computer history it's not even funny. Just wanted to say that now.

Anonymous said...

No joke the modern meaning of "brick" in electronics?

Lewis Lovhaug said...

"1. Mr. Computer's design reminds me of Arnim Zola for obvious reasons."

I was going to bring it up, but I completely forgot when I was script-writing.

"2. Mr. Zapp looks like the Mayor in Arkham City"

I've never played Arkham City OR Arkham Asylum.

"4. You could have made a Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor joke when they talked about no more computers."

I'm not a gamer.

Jaebird said...

First off, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!! DEMONIC COMPUTER-MAN!!!

Secondly, those ears of his are distracting as hell. I guess it's important that it should be able to hear?

ChaosOverlordZ said...

I think we all have found the villain of the next arc in Linkaras story MR COMPUTER, its far more terrifying and monsterus than the entity could ever hope to be.

Ozaline said...

I'm a little concerned at why the US government is just burying Plutonium in the woods like it's pirate treasure; I mean that stuff produces toxic radioactivity. Shouldn't they keep it under heavy guard at some kind of facility? It's not like in 1985 you can just buy Plutonium at any 7-11.

The con jokes here didn't provide you with much material but the Yami joke was a little cute...

mcguffin said...

Great review linkara, and am i the only one thats interested in just what the hell a rule 34 concert would look like?.... just out of curiosity I Swear!

joeymartin64 said...

"Containg" a "phoney" plutonium deposit, eh? Poor literacy indeed.

No Vincent Price voice for Zongor?

Great bit about the invisible guns at the end, there. Was that a wig, or did that guy actually grow and style his hair that way? Because DAMN.

13th Doctor said...

Sweet Jesus, this comic is goofy as balls. It DOES looks like it's from the 1940s, doesn't it? And yes, Mr. Computer needs to be destroyed.

Also, terrorists are cowardly? In regards to murdering people, yes. But fearing death? Oh, Jesus, this thing is stupid.

Why are your fans so sensitive about computer history anyway? I couldn't care less about the specifics. Then again, neither do the writers of this comic.

Like your little convention bit.I should warn you that even though it lasted 90 seconds, SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE will complain about it. I just know it.

Unknown said...

This comic. I don't know what to say. Computer based comics must be attracted to your show. I actually thought that Captain Electron was a watered down version of Captain Marvel with Freddy Freeman's costume. Good review.

Anonymous said...

So Linkara, Marvel has announced these next couple of movies for the next years:

Iron Man 3 2013
Thor: The Dark World 2013
Captain America: The Winter Soldier 2014
Guardians of the Galaxy 2014
Ant-Man TBA

What are your thoughts?
Also, Ant-Man is said to be based on the "To Steal an Ant-Man" Story, which could mean that we might get Scott Lang instead of Hank Pym.

Rowdy C said...

You say Dr. Z, you think of that MST3K episode. I unfortunately think of the child scientist from Galactica 1980 (I know it's not likely, but I would LOVE to team up with you to review that comic version of that show I mentioned before.)

Anonymous said...

Loved the review, especially your reaction to the demonic computer-man and all the MST3K references.

I have a theory I am putting out in the ether for everyone to think about regarding this current storyline.

Linksano is behind it all.

Think about it, It is LINKSANO who brings up the possibility that it is Insano's Anti-Magic Field kits, and we know form Linksano's original appearance that in his universe he was trying to create one as well.

Next, there is the fact that Linksnao mentions he has been studying magic since it is one of Comicron-1 power sources, so whose to say he wasn't able to create one not only to nullify the Magic Gun, but stop Linkara's magic. Hell, it could actually be inside the heavy assault cybermat, since Linkara is taking it with him, and it was present when the problems first started!

But why would he do all this? Because thanks to the His Blue Soul story line, he now knows that Vyce is not on the winter planet anymore, meaning that Linkara's threat to have NIMUE send teleport him there is now pretty invalid, especially since he already has the knowledge of how to navigate universes without a ship, since he came form the Party Mania universe in the first place!

All the tasks that NIMUE is doing while Linkara's magic is disrupted mean that she is not able to keep as close an eye on him, meaning he has more time to do his evil genius stuff.

But what about the Gunslinger you ask? In my theory, either a convenient excuse for Linksano to start his efforts, or he was HIRED by Linksano, maybe from an alternate universe that Vyce had chronicled in his ships memory.

Thoughts?

Sijo said...

You know, I can't bring myself to hate this comic. Sure its terrible for a computer ad, but had it been a homage for Golden Age Comics instead it would have worked out much better. Maybe they just got an old, retired comics creator to work on it?

The way it predicts 9-11 and even mentions terrorists is almost creepy though.

The Con parts are not bad but I still wait for something more important to happen in the story. (Say, do you ever pretend you're not Linkara -just some cosplaying him- so the fans will leave you alone? XD )

PopCultureOtaku said...

If there wasn't 80s computer I could have sworn book was made earlier. Even the artwork looks dated for 80s. Superman rip off in look and art style.
To the con part I was going to blast what was said but then I remembered that it was a joke of Linkara misconception about con goers.
Linkara I just saw you never played the games. If you ever get a chance you really should play the Arkham games. They are awesome and prequel coming out next year will have Justice League. :)

Serial Wordsmith said...

Am I the only one who thinks this looks like a Golden Age comic?

webfox100 said...

TWIN HITLER CLONES!!! You can see them at the 23:30 mark. Oh my gods, it leads to "Superman at Earths end" again. Why can't that comic just stay as ash. :o

FugueforFrog said...

You know, every time someone mention how '80s something is, I just think of Michael Beck saying that he wants it "very 80s" in "Xanadu"...but that's cause I'm a weirdo.

Another wacky 80s computer comic that has nothing to do with those demonic Wiz Kids...but has the demonic top-hat wearing computer-man and a Superman ripoff. And regarding the references, somehow I just imagine something by "A.B.C" from that first line...would be easy to play "The Look of Love", been a neat ending.

Oh, and there is something else "Dr. Z" could remind you of...but you're probably going to get to that sooner or later with HoPR.

Eileen Gonzalez said...

Ha, I like Electron's flying pose when he's on his way to Midtown. Looks like a little midair ballet move or something.

Mr. Computer is going to haunt my nightmares, I know it. Him and that Schwarzenegger baby from "Junior." Although, looking at the eyes of everyone in this comic, I think they're all a little demon-possessed.

So, um... why was he named Captain Electron exactly?

ToastyMozart said...

It actually IS possible to cause a program to "self-destruct," depending on your definition of the term.
You could force the computer to attempt to process something that it can't (like some paradoxes or mathematical impossibilities, early calculators would crash if you attempted _/0), causing the program to quit (temporarily), but most computers have safeguards against this now.
You could just have a program end as soon as it starts, but someone could fix it within 2 minutes.
You could have a program try to delete itself (as in some humorous cases where Norton antivirus classifies itself as malware), though this requires write privileges.
The most literal method of "self-destruct" I can think of is to have it overclock the processor to a major degree, potentially causing heat damage to the computer's hardware (and causing the battery to fail catastrophically, if it's a laptop), but this is usually BIOS-level stuff (read: not manageable/accessible by outside programs).

Also, the "algorithm" bit was pretty much just technobabble.

SirMatt said...

Ah the unimpressed police officer, a comic book staple since the 1930's.
Seriously this whole entire comic book looks like it should have been from the 1950's from the art style.
Ah villain henchmen, ignore the hostages and weapons and rush one at a time at the villain.

ToastyMozart said...

Also Linkara, even if you don't really play games, you'd probably enjoy Arkham's nods to the comic book's continuity.

It seems that they really did their research on this one.

jsydor said...

Mr. Computer...is making me have flashbacks of David Croenenberg's Videodrome. Why did they have his legs coming out of the sides of his body like an ant? The 80s had some strange ideas about what looks cute and approachable...

BooRat said...

"What would happen if you typed on Mr. Computer's keyboard?"
You DON'T wanta know! Mr. Computer, "Awwwww skeet skeet!"

Ok, I want a copy of this comic! The hero in it is like a mixture of the New 52 Superman and classic Captain Marvel. And I actually like the Golden Age style art in it. The only complaint with it I got is every one who isn't Zapp, Zangor(sp?), or Captain Electron looks like a generic clone of the same 2-3 male and female faces. Look at it! That end bit with the scientist looks like some super villain's secret lab where he has a clone army of engineers working on his next doomsday weapon!
The foreshadowing of real world events in comics gets creepier and creepier each time I see it happen!
Mr. Computer's design looks like something I'd thrown together in elementary school art class for a mascot! Because only a 3rd grader would put the thought into how does the walking, talking computer man hear without ears! MODOK is less oddly proportioned!
Am I the only one that hears the song, "Puttin' on the Ritz" when they see Mr. Computer?
I was expecting Mr. Computer to be the villain because The Vincent Price knockoff villain looks like a kindly old uncle compared to that monstrosity!
I do think that the hero to this book could be retooled and worked into a decent comic along with the Black Web comic from awhile back! I'm actually shocked that we didn't get an origin for the hero here! I'd love to see how they'd made up a way old old Commodore computer could give somebody Superman level abilities. Maybe some sort of Matrix style world or some BS like that?

Rule 34:The Musical!? Is that anything like the Aristocrats?

Anonymous said...

Doh! When you were talking to the Yugi Cos Player and before he was shown on screen I really thought we would get to see footage of you and Maximilian Pegasus like you commented on in the Q&A.

I find it interesting that the Commodore 64 didn't point out a rival computer that was the same age. the Tandy. Was it afraid that the price might have actually been better? I did see Base Unit Ads without any drives at around $498

Great use of Commodore Ads. And I hope no one ever touches Mr Computer's Keyboard. The Layout .. Damn can't even say it using Lay anything already has me getting chills making it hard to type when talking about that guy. Did you notice his ears changed color a few times?

Anonymous said...

Computer Science = Electronics. He's the Hero for Electronic Gear so Captain Electron, Same quality thinking behind Captain Planet.

Anonymous said...

There acctually was a plane that crashed into the Empire State Building in 1945. Given all the other out of place time stuff, the bit with plane could have been based on that, just in the wrong building for some reason.

BooRat said...

So, I'm NOT Linkara but I love to talk about these things too.

Iron Man 3 (2013) - Looks awesome from the designs and stories they're puling material from. I still kind of hope myself they use the Iron Patriot armor on a villain. I know it's been stated that it was the war Machine armor painted up for a USO show within the movie, but I can see it being stolen and used by the main villain. It mirrors how an old Iron Man suit was stolen by Osborn in the comics and it setup the Armor wars style arc they're wanting to use in the movie as well. Also, it gives the movie an excuse to give Rhodes a new War Machine armor made by Tony so he's still not using the old Mach II armor with the crappy upgrades by Hammer in Iron Man 2. And, finally it's been confirmed that Mandarin is the main behind the scenes villain like the Emperor in Star Wars and he or Aldrich Killian is going to be part of or the head of AIM in the movie.

Thor: The Dark World (2013) - Little is known about the story but I've heard that Malekith the Accursed might be the main villain this time and that sounds perfect.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) - That one sound pretty self explanatory. I do hope they tie Winter Soldier back to Black Widow some how.

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) - I've seen the concept art and if it's anything like that it could be the AVATAR of the franchise. And hopefully they can convey all the needed back story and info on Thanos and the members of the Guardians.

Ant-Man (TBA) - I know little to nothing on this but would hope they start with Hank Pym and Janet, but if they don't no biggie. A lot of people don't like Hank. If anything they could combine the 2 incarnation of the characters into a more likable movie version sort of like how they combine the Ultimate universe version and the 616 versions in the movies.

Anonymous said...

Y'now, you made that lady near the end sound remarkably like Sean Connery...

Anonymous said...

PS: Does anyone else think Mr. Computer looks like the house people from Adventure time!?

JapanRider said...

Do you know who made mr. Computer the way he is?

Popsicle Pete!

"none of you are safe!"

Anonymous said...

Mr. Computer's bizarre design reminds of a monster from Dungeons & Dragons called Modrons, weird creatures shaped like geometric forms. They were inspired by a game designer reading "Flatland" while snorting cocaine back in 1983. The most famous type of modron, the Quadrone, looks just like our hideous friend Mr. Computer, only Quadrones have either an extra pair of arms (the better to shoot arrows at Player Characters) or a pair of wings. Modrons got a cool reboot in 1994, along with excellent artwork by Tony DiTerlizzi, in the Planescape Campaign setting. Modrons inspire guffaws from D&D players rather than the terrified shrieks Mr. Computer seems to evoke.

Jeff said...

Now I know what Superman would look like if he forgot to put on his red shorts. Boy does that look ridiculous!

Gyre said...

No mention of the constantly poor art? It honestly looks like the work of a high school student working from one of those 'learn to draw super heroes' books. Captain Electron in particular, in my opinion he's even creepier than the computer with his toy-like muscles and features. Well, that and the fact that his outfit is just a generic Superman ripoff. Or just look at the heads like at 14:50! They look like the heads are interchangeable.

And the detective does have a point. As far as he knows this guy doesn't have any experience with forensics, hostage situations or negotiating with criminals. Actually, come to think of it there must be a TON of teenaged superpowered idiots who randomly run around in crime scenes, ruin evidence, assault innocent bystanders and end up getting the criminal released.

Nick Michalak said...

You could always have Harvey Finevoice don a top hat and a tux.

Also, this now makes me want to see Avery Brooks battle SkyNet. My money is on Avery Brooks.

DefectiveType40 said...

Great review! The Rule 34: The Musical joke was amazing.

Wow, "Allan" looks suspiciously like Alan Scott.

This comic and the Gameboy comics are seriously trolliing you with this airplane crap.

Hm... maybe Mr. Computer's keyboard is his genitalia? So I wouldn't suggest trying to type anything. That would just make him even more creepy. And now I need to find my brain bleach.

I think Cave Johnson may have been working on that Artificial Intelligence project before founding Aperture Science. Though he didn't contribute much, he was more interested in making Combustible Lemons.

That Yugi cosplayer... oh my goodness, that is the most amazing derpy Yugi ever. Gotta give it credit, though, it's better than the wig that comes with an ACTUAL Yugi costume. Which is less of a "wig" and more of a "latex helmet."

WilliamPorygon said...

"joeymartin64 said...
"Containg" a "phoney" plutonium deposit, eh? Poor literacy indeed."

Yeah, I was a bit surprised at no "poor literacy is kewl" bit too, after I noticed they repeatedly spelled "kidnapping" with only one p. Though my theory is Mr. Zapp stole those p's to use in his own name.

revolverocelot2501 said...

Zongor later changed his name to Zetsche to keep his Dr. Z moniker and became the CEO of Chrysler.

Pushing Mr. Computer's keys will send you to his hellish master...WITH (computer) SCIENCE!!!

Nathan said...

I remember seeing Mr. Computer on the title card for this episode and only wondered what the hell I was viewing.

And working at a call center, I'll tell you this...they lie! Some of the calls we get would make you slam your head against a blunt object.

Fun review as usual. I'll now be seeing Mr. Computer in my nightmares.

Anonymous said...

This one was made in the 80's, but it felt very 50's to me and not exactly in a good way.

Fiery Little One

KamenRiderGumo said...

Am I the only one who noticed that the guy in the hat and mask on the comic's back cover (with captain Electron fighting the robot) looks suspiciously like my all-time favorite superhero, The Shadow? All you'd need to do is recolor the mask red and it'd be a perfect likeness.

Anonymous said...

In light of the new Red Dwarf series coming out; Linkara, what is your favorite episode of Red Dwarf or favorite moment?

Mine are the "The Inquisitor" and the response transmission from "Gunman of the Apocalypse" respectfully.

Anonymous said...

RULE 34 THE MUSICAL!
Oh my gosh! My head just EXPLODED with ideas!

And we may have a hit song already!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf_vX2aMNho

Andrew said...

Mr. Computer reminds me of MODOK.

Ellipsis Flood said...

I love these computer comics. There's so much in them that's just old or wrong... and who knows, maybe this comic brought its creator's downfall.

Phantom Roxas said...

Great review as always. I love the "TV Tropes and cats doing cute things" line, and the jab at DC's BS reason for replacing Stephanie with Barbara was amusing. Sadly, the con bit wasn't as strong as last week's, but still great, especially the invisible guns joke.

Ming said...

Wow, that was a stupid comic. This was supposed to be an 80s comic yet the characters resembles more alongside Golden and Silver Age Superman. Given all the bad press about Brick Computer Science Institute, I wonder what were they thinking when they came up with Captain Electron.

Meanwhile, Linkara's quest continues -- what convention will he end up next, no one knows . . .

Rhodoferax said...

It actually is possible to completely destroy a computer. In Unix, which was the most popular operating system in 1986, just run the command rm -rf / with administrative privileges.

(Note to Mac, BSD, and Linux people: DON'T DO THIS. YOU WILL WRECK YOUR PC.)

So, all we have to do is upload those eight characters as a scripts to Mr. Computer and activate it remotely.

Robyn said...

Captain Electron is one of the most bland names for a superhero I've heard.

I remember the old Batman Forever commercials! I remember the Batman Returns ones, too. My Penguin glass broke.

Good lord, I had no idea BCSI was that bad. I haven't even heard of it.

Why, why, why is Mr. Computer shown so often in this? Are they trying to guarantee that I see him in my nightmares? Or is it a tactic BCSI was trying to use? "Join us or Mr. Computer comes back!"

Makes me shudder...

Robyn said...

One more thing--

Did they misspell "kidnappers?"

Kaibaman41 said...

You know one has to ask themselves one question...DID THIS AT ONE TIME SCHOOL GET SUED BY MARVEL.DC, OR OTHER ENTITIES?! I Mean seriously the hell? The Hero literally steals The Flash's Symble, looks almost identical to Superman,steals ideas from Spider-Man,,,and a villain that steals Lex Luthor's and Cobra Commander's outfits...Also Why am I beginning to believe of a theory that the media was either A warning us of 9/11 or B just doing stupid shit with the idea of a plane hitting a NYC Building because of this Comic...That part of a Conspiracy does exists for the 9/11 attack due to various Comic Books or TV Shows showing either a Terrorist Attack destroyed a New York City Building of some sort(or in rare cases the actual WTC)with a plane by an actual Terrorist Entity from that Universe. We saw alot of scenarios on TV either The Government doing it or actual Terrorists(in a shows Universe) but then as 9/11 happened in real life those plot scenarios in all forms of Media died out for some odd reason..
And Yes Linkara I do agree with the Hologram Why did this Comic have to bring that kind of attack in fictional Manhatten...TOO SOON COMIC!

Jeremy said...

This was a pretty fun review.

You know, when I search for Brick Institute of Computer Science, I can't seem to find it anywhere on google. Not even Wikipedia seems to be one of the choices under my search. I guess it must've been that bad of a college. XD

Unknown said...

I believe that TV Tropes has a trope for the entire New York scene "
"Harsher in Hindsight"

Teleny said...

Notice how they skip over Alan Turing. No queeny Brits in ComputerLandia!

Nope. Just good old American know-how!

Meanwhile, the tale of Blatchley Park is about a real hero!

Sabre said...

alissa- It goes back further than that. The difference engine for example. I think that's why Linkara says we get mad whenever he talks about computer history.

On the plane crashing into the building thing. It's been over a decade now since that happened, but it's still "to soon"?

Arianne said...

Hey, Linkara maybe at your next Con appearance this storyline you could ask a State Alchemist from Full Metal Alchemist.The Elric brothers might be of some help,Franky the Cyborg from,One Piece since he is made from some advance technology or Pidge from the Voltron force Or Twilight Sparkle. As for this comic. It looks amusing, but the mascot is hella creepy .

Anonymous said...

Wow, this comic wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was gonna be- definitely one of the better ones out of the other hundreds you've suffered. As you said, though- it was actually pretty fun. Bad, but fun. Although I'm gonna have Mister Computer haunting my nightmares for the next month... *shudder* Oh, and speaking of Rule 34: The Musical, does Mister Computer have PARENTS? And if so, how did... Never mind... By the way, I thought I should let you know that you're the one that got me into MST3k... CURSE YOOOOOU *shakes fist* (and which is cooler, bowties or fezzes?) -Midnite

Anonymous said...

So, anybody else notice that a bunch of the drawings of Captain Electron make him look like a cheap action figure.

Anonymous said...

Why do I get the feeling that the top hat line was foreshadowing Longbox of the Damned?

Arcapello said...

I feel cheated since your new outfit doesn't include a top hat.

vondeliusc said...

First thing I thought of when I saw Mr. Computer was SpongeBob SquarePants. But I have been looking for a COSPLAY persona and as I was resting 'Captain Electron' came to me out of the blue, so I Googled it and it fits me perfectly! My super powers will definitely be electricity based (Thanks to the magic of LiPo batts and inverters) and spandex and foam and technology. Wait till you see me at a ComicCon.
-Christian

Gryzor said...

The art is *so* spot on to that older style that it's kind of remarkable. Seriously, just look at all those impeccably rendered, luxuriant short curly hairstyles.

Ah, that's why... it's by Jayson Disbrow, who is credited for comics work from the 50's on.

In any case, he put in way more effort than this thing ever deserved.