Atop the Fourth Wall: The Thing from Another World #1

Monday, October 8, 2012

The Thing from Another World #1

It's a rare occasion when "kill it with fire" is meant as a serious command.

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72 comments:

Unknown said...: Wait a minute! A Seele team find an extraterrestrial organism in Antarctica? So is the Thing really a prequel to Neon Genesis Evangelion and the thing is actually Bardiel...Or Adam? Now all I can think of is Kurt Russell in an eva!!!; October 8, 2012 at 4:14 PM
DefectiveType40 said...: Well, I timed my viewing of John Carpenter's the Thing pretty well. Just watched it the other day. XD I would have watched it months ago, but there was this big chunk of time where Netflix wasn't streaming it.

Wow, this one was weird. The dialog is just all over the place... it's like EVERYONE is infected by the Thing and it just got really bored and lonely, so it's just mumbling random sentences at other extensions of itself.

Still, no one's thrown up or wet themselves yet, so that at least puts it above the video game.; October 8, 2012 at 4:30 PM
boooratt said...: Yes, I've been waiting for this day!!
I got the trade that collects this 2 part story and the longer and to me a lot better than this one story!
I didn't like the art of this story as I can't tell what the hell I'm looking at! And yes that was the doctor and dog guy that MacReady burned in that one part... it was the only thing I could tell from the art... even though they got the doc's severed arms wrong! In the movie his arms were bitten off at the elbows but here it looked like they were missing at the wrist!
I still come from the school that the Thing absorbs the host mind into it's own with all their memories so it can act more like them and it doesn't loose it's shape or mind when it's found out or there is no other option for it!
Might I suggest another horror manga you'd like if you love the Thing? It's called Parasyte it's about an invading "alien" creatures that take over host and shape shift a lot like the thing!
This comic does get really confusing and hard to fallow(well at least for me) once it gets on the sub!
I do gotta ask did you get all the Dark Horse TFAW comics? As the trade I own only collects this comic and the story after it, but not the 2-3 stories that fallow... one I here is an adapt of the movie with the What if... angle of if MacReady had died in the opening and what the other's would've done without his part!

I love the music choice for this episode!!

So I'm still confused is the last arc still going on or is this one taking over for this month?; October 8, 2012 at 5:11 PM
Inquisitor D. said...: True story, as a kid, I entered my local videogame store, and found a computer game called The Thing, in blue and white packaging.

And almost bought it, based on the FF connection.

I mean, it's called the Thing! And it's in blue and white! I mean, the story didn't sound like a fantastic four one when I read the back, but you never know. It had to be the same Thing I knew about, right? The fun loving big rocky guy with the accent? The picture on the front had to be the villain: lots of classic comics headline the villain, no?

God, kid me was an idiot. :) Just confirming for you Lewis, YES, someone can be that stupid.; October 8, 2012 at 5:12 PM
Jesse said...: I really need to see this movie.; October 8, 2012 at 5:20 PM
am050 said...: once again , excellent review and storyline segments. and in response to all the people who may not have been happy with there being no storyline last week, i have this to say.

ME: hey fans?

FANS: yeah?

ME: you all why Linkara took the week off right?

A FAN: because he makes awesome stuff and deserves a rest after working so hard?

ME: exactly. now, can any of you tell me why CSI took the past week off altogether?

(cricket chirps)

ME: okay then, do any of you think that show was deserving of a break?

(cricket chirps)

ME: i rest my case.

i've been severely frustrated with some delays with my studies lately, so i can understand taking your time.

keep up the good work linkara.

P.S. i also apologize in advance for the oncoming torrent of hate mail and other comments from nostalgia chick viewers.; October 8, 2012 at 5:51 PM
Dave said...: This will be easily handwaved, but 90's Kid might at least want to try leaving through a window before panicking.

Also, believe it or not, your anti-Santa Claus at the South Pole joke was actually a very short lived WWF character. "Xanta Klaus" was only around for a few weeks. The wrestler who played that character later went to ECW and was Balls Mahoney there.; October 8, 2012 at 5:52 PM
Lotus Prince said...: Another gripe with the comic's opening text (MOVIE SPOILERS BELOW):

One cut of the movie ends with a dog running across the frozen wilderness. It looks just like the first dog that was infected. This isn't a guarantee that the Thing survived, but it sure implies it. The Thing may not have been destroyed.

The regular cut of the movie, however, eliminates this clip and keeps things vague, which is a pretty cool thing to do. Otherwise, it's just "The Thing wins. End of story."; October 8, 2012 at 5:53 PM
Lotus Prince said...: By the way, calling it now:

Linkara himself is infected, and either doesn't know it, or is doing a good job of acting like he doesn't. The alert only went off when he entered the doorway.; October 8, 2012 at 6:17 PM
Lizard-Man said...: To Duncan Scott: It's spelled "SEALs", *Sea, Air, Land Teams." Not... whatever the heck that kind of spelling is.

Sheesh, anime fans.

Linkara thank you for addressing fiction's tendencies to make the military full of irrational idiots who don't act like professional soldiers and more like paranoid trigger happy rednecks. Honestly I get why people write authority figures in poor standing but they need to think about the persona's occupation BEFORE writing them in a certain way. In Aliens the Marines are all more or less professional soldiers who act like how soldiers should friggin act in the given situation. I think US Navy Seals, seeing a dead alien looking thing in the snow, would probably consider the possibility that the crazy bearded dude isn't so crazy and at the very least would consider it a potential bio-hazard and try to keep the fuck away from it while they called it in.

Sorry, I just get pissed that no one outside of war story authors seems to be able to write soldiers like soldiers.

Nice of you to mention the game here and there by the way. I was wondering if you were gonna bring it up and you did.

Oh and my thoughts on how the Thing works myself? I always figured that the alien simply absorbed the other life form, probably by spreading it's juices over it and then seeping itself into the body properly.

The imitation of Bennings for example was being consumed and rapidly changed in a similar fashion. I personally think the Thing is controlling the body and the mind at that point and that the person it looks like is gone. The dog acted like a dog quite a bit but certainly seemed to show an interest in the goings on of the base. More importantly it hesistated before going to join the other dogs, which seems to suggest it wasn't sure it's disguise would hold up among their keener senses.

So in short I think all those infected by the Thing do know they're infected because they are no longer that person anymore. Of course that brings up a few questions, like the defiberlator scene, but maybe that was just a more subtle cellular takeover slowly working it's way up.

Man you could go on for hours with this couldn't you? And this film was awarded a Razzie? (Albeit for music, still a crock but ya know); October 8, 2012 at 6:21 PM
Alexander Dunn said...: And the October storyline begins. My body is ready.; October 8, 2012 at 6:22 PM
Unknown said...: This is just... the Thing in this comic reminds me greatly of the Thing in the Prequel. I mean... wow. Why would it reveal itself right then and there? Why not infect the troops in the Chopper and spread out? This comic really doesn't do the movie justice. And I hope that they don't pull a "Evil US Government wants to use the Thing as a weapon" BS either.
I like the storyline idea too. I would guess 90's kid but I think that is a little too obvious. I am betting though that you will do the movie and original short story justice better than the comic or the prequel did.; October 8, 2012 at 6:22 PM
Patrick said...: An entity!?

QUICK! KILL 90's KID!; October 8, 2012 at 6:30 PM
Anonymous said...: So does the next issue explain why he is the luckiest man in the world?

Also, This storyline looks promising, but I have to ask. Can the protection spell be undone in order to break the door.; October 8, 2012 at 6:41 PM
DarkSeraphim said...: Squeee!! The review was as great as always...why does the military always have to be depicted like that? Coming from a military background (parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, MYSELF) I can safely say that NO ONE I have ever encountered has acted in such an idiotic fashion and has not been severely reprimanded for it. Goddess, when I was in Basic Training one of my squad mates was ARRESTED ON SITE for acting like a dumb ass and nearly getting five of us killed. Aliens did a way better job at depicting soldiers in a situation like this. One of my grandfathers, who was a Navy SEAL, has assured me that if something like this had occurred then damn it he would have listened to MacReady! Seeing a frozen alien corpse is kind of hard to pass off as crazy! And yes I am an ex soldier and I LOVE shooting off weapons but damn it I do it in a shooting range! I do it safely, not like some gun toting maniac!! *huffs* Okay, done ranting.

I rather like the idea stated in an earlier comment that the Thing absorbs the host mind with it's own. It would make it easier to go along without being detected...unless of course it decided to be stupid like in this comic and in the prequel. I know if I was a parasitic alien, I would dominate my host mind and completely snuff out the inferior little consciousness...bwahahaha-er...hehe...

Anyways, excellent review :); October 8, 2012 at 7:04 PM
DarkSeraphim said...: Also...poor 90's Kid. He's got to be close to freaking out after the whole Entity thing. I kinda want to give him a hug...and lock him in a room just in case. Poor kid.; October 8, 2012 at 7:05 PM
boooratt said...: PS: I love that 90's Kid is reading one of Clive barker's comics from Marvel! I've got a big stack of those books and been meaning to read them and was curious of your thoughts on them!? From what I've heard a lot of people HATED them... but, as a big fan of Clive barker I'm still willing to give them a shot!! And the story of the one he's reading has basically the same plot as Danny Phantom!!; October 8, 2012 at 7:07 PM
Sijo said...: You will be covering "The Things", right? Because I'd really like to find what the alien's POV during all of this was! To us, it was a monster- but as far as we know, it was just trying to survive just as desperately as the humans were!

Another theory I have: everyone assumes the UFO pilot was the original Thing. What if it, too, was just another victim- an unfortunate space explorer who got infected in another planet and crashed on Earth long ago, possibly trying to prevent interplanetary spread?

Lastly, your take on a "The Thing" scenario was a wonderful example of what this story NEEDED to be. Not to mention another clever way of setting up your stories with just you! ;) Very much looking up to is conclusion!; October 8, 2012 at 7:16 PM
Anonymous said...: Ok that was a sequence of dumb. So much so it left me thinking about what happened to Nightmare on Elm Street without Wes Craven in creative control. And then I started wondering. What would happen if Wes Craven and John Carpenter ever did a collaboration. With Wes bringing his take on dreams and dark humor and adding it to John's mastery of suspense, the mood, and character relations. ITs something I would really like to see.

BTW Kudos on doing a much better job of establishing a situation where the mood from The Thing is possible. It wasn't even forced. Slight problem though. You likely saw it on editing. You open the door a bit too much B^) Dude. And why doesn't anyone else try it? Its not like 90's kid's form hasn't gotten possessed by an entity before.; October 8, 2012 at 7:45 PM
Tyler said...: Where in blazes is the Ninja Style Dancer?; October 8, 2012 at 8:00 PM
areoborg said...: There's some Thing there? Have you checked the wing? William Shatner taught me that the wing is where some...thing lives. :D; October 8, 2012 at 8:21 PM
Julie S said...: I let out an actual 'squee' when I saw you as the Seventh Doctor during the commercial bumpers.; October 8, 2012 at 8:43 PM
Unknown said...: Mini-story arc comments first: Alarm went off when Linkara entered the room. Dr. Linksano had some sort of energy device in his hand when Nimue was damaged. Harvey left the room to get his Tommy Gun and 90s kid was out of sight, I think, a moment when he moved away from the door, though foggy on the layout of the apartment.

Comic comments:
ugh, there's no chance this is some serious hallucination by one of the two at the end of the movie as they freeze to death is it? As lame as that would be it would be an excuse for the inconsistencies and the dumb as tree stump military. Seriously though, and I know it's been mentioned but why can people NOT write the military? Hell, the dude from the Not Silent Hill comic last year, the one who suffered from survivors guilt, was more intelligent than most of these guys.; October 8, 2012 at 8:46 PM
JoeCat said...: Hmm. I know the storyline segment at the end is meant to mirror The Thing in setting and atmosphere, but I can't help but wonder, given Linkara's love of Silent Hill, if we'll be treading into Silent Hill 4 territory here (too bad the door 90s Kid tried to open wasn't chained from the inside).; October 8, 2012 at 9:03 PM
Jeff Jacobson said...: It's spelled "SEALs", *Sea, Air, Land Teams."

Why is that SEAL and not SALT?; October 8, 2012 at 9:04 PM
Jarkes said...: "
Why is that SEAL and not SALT?"

Because it's supposed to be "SEa, Air, Land teams." Acronyms are weird like that sometimes.; October 8, 2012 at 9:55 PM
ThePuppyTurtle said...: Okay so ignoring the possibility that everyone or no one is actually the thing shapeshifted, Here's a tally:

Linkara:
Signs of being: Refuted every possible way out systematically, except one that was refuted by Linksano.
He's the main, and that'd be the biggest shocker.
Why can't he lower the enchantment?
Signs of not being: None I noticed.

90s Kid:
Signs of Being: He didn't suggest anything
Signs of Not being: 90s Kid was the Entity, and My guess is that Linkara is more original than that.
He Did try to open the door, so if He is the thing, he already knew it wouldn't work, which the thing might.

Harvey:
Signs of being: "Let me get my gun" I wonder if he did more than get his gunn or even get infected in that time, Linkara's level of attention to detail makes me suspicious of this sort of thing.
Signs of not being: He made one suggestion, and it was one he was not especially likely to know wouldn't work.

Linksano:
Signs of being: Refuted a very easy and obvious plan, and one he could lie about (The thing might not expect a random pocket search), also one of only three who suggested nothing
Signs of not being: None I
remember.

What the thing is:

Possibilities include:

Missingno:
Arguments for: He's an established villain.
Arguments against: There are no glitches.
He's a little dead, in a way that Linkara will have a hard time convincingly retconning
He said in the commentary on the missingno fight that that's unlikely.

The Gunslinger:
Arguments for: Established alive villain
Arguments against: Has shown no ability to shapeshift, though it could be that the measure that his computer reffered to that would allow him to last longer in this universe is the ability to shift into one of its inhabitants.

Vyce:
Arguments for: none I see, that are good abyway
Arguments against: Pure data is unlikely to plug into a human brain effectively, He's probably going to be picked up in space

Something the Gunslinger summoned and/or that is working for him:
Arguments for: The GS is a Current established villain, who plausibky has access to some entity from some universe who can do what the thing does.
Arguments against: None

Mechakara:
Arguments for: Can wear a suit of human flesh that light let him pass for a supporting character or Linkara.
Linksano WAS wearing gloves.
We know from Doug that Lewis may have more Mechakara planned, given that he said that Linkara is planning to use it and we know Mechakara is the one who has it, however, Lewis is inclined to plan plots way ahead of time.
Arguments against: He was blown up in TBF. It's gonna take time to recover from that, though it could also be that Lewis is very eager to use him not that TBF has brought him back, though an event like TBF may bring a character back just for that character.
He'd have then discarded his Linkara suit, unless the verse is willing to acknowledge that the Characters often look alike except for cloths.

Fin; October 8, 2012 at 9:57 PM
Lewis Lovhaug said...: VERY thorough PuppyTurtle! I of course won't confirm nor deny any of the suspicions or theories put out there, but I always love when people are putting thought into this. ^_^; October 8, 2012 at 10:00 PM
Unknown said...: As an Argentinian I can't wait to see what kind of cliche this comic will use to represent us; October 8, 2012 at 10:08 PM
Arianne said...: Had to read this episode on Blip.
And now it makes sense that The Thing has been the subject of this month now that the bad Silent Hill comics have been "burned" . Oh, man as someone already pointed out the 90's kid probable doesn't like the situation right now and I don't want to point out why. Poor Nimue and where's Pollo?. Oh, and it looks like the Long Box is a series in Linkara's universe; October 8, 2012 at 10:11 PM
Happystickman said...: Watch, it's going to be Walter Sullivan. This sounds exactly like the plot of Silent Hill 4: the Room.; October 8, 2012 at 10:41 PM
rdfox said...: A thought--why doesn't someone suggest using, you know, the PHONE to call Angry Joe for a beamout, or at least a patch through to C-1?

Or has Linkara cancelled his landline and cellular service in favor of the communicators?; October 8, 2012 at 10:49 PM
Lewis Lovhaug said...: "Or has Linkara cancelled his landline and cellular service in favor of the communicators?"

Well, the answer to the landline is that I don't have a landline. At all.; October 8, 2012 at 10:51 PM
Anonymous said...: There is another possibility. None of them are the intruder and it was the gunslinger. He could also use the holographic emitter he picked up earlier to make it appear that one of them was the culprit (after all they all look alike).; October 8, 2012 at 11:06 PM
Anonymous said...: The Comic: Good if at time unclear artwork. Everything else, not so much.

Your Arc: This could get a bit nerve racking...

Fiery Little One; October 8, 2012 at 11:08 PM
weckar said...: I'm sorry, in all of this, I could not stop looking at the BUDDAH sound effect.... What does that even imply, sound wise??; October 8, 2012 at 11:15 PM
Tetsu Deinonychus said...: I do wonder if this "Thing" storyline has anything to do with the Gunslinger saga, or if it's a separate arc for Halloween, and we'll return to the main story in November.

You did use the Silent Hill comics to tie into the Vyce and Entity sagas, but they're more supernatural/alien and more blatantly evil than the Gunslinger, who seems more earthly (despite being from another dimension), and so far more morally ambiguous.

And, of course if it's not tied to the current saga, this could be a non-canon "elseworlds" story, where anyone can die, and anyone could be "the Thing".

But, if it is part of the main storyline, I'd love to see how it ties together.

Either way, I look forward to more.; October 8, 2012 at 11:24 PM
Tetsu Deinonychus said...: @Weckar It implies a burst of automatic gunfire rather than a single gunshot.; October 8, 2012 at 11:28 PM
Writrzblok said...: You say that the main computer for the ship is down, does that mean that the ship is effectively floating dead in space? What if it hovers too close to Earth's gravitational pull and hits?; October 9, 2012 at 12:41 AM
Arianne said...: (Yeah, I read the review on Blip,Oh, how I wish there is a comment edit button, but what ever)
I'm going to jump on the intruder/thing theory bandwagoon is that the Gunslinger is behind this somehow. But, We're going to find out about what or who i s the thing if it shows up on screen. Maybe the Gunslinger has a minion that is doing his dirty work or maybe his computer took out Linkara's computer or Holokara is back and up for another round and working with the gunslinger; October 9, 2012 at 12:47 AM
Joshua Ford said...: The reason I believe that the Thing was critically panned was because it came out at the exact same time as another certain alien movie, E.T. And I also agree that the Thing is in complete control of its victims since it could throw off suspicion easily instead of risking its host mentioning not feeling well or anything of the sort.; October 9, 2012 at 12:48 AM
Unknown said...: Lizard-Man said...

To Duncan Scott: It's spelled "SEALs", *Sea, Air, Land Teams." Not... whatever the heck that kind of spelling is.

Sheesh, anime fans.

Really, ah poopy... Still writing my fanfic though!; October 9, 2012 at 12:48 AM
Lewis Lovhaug said...: "You say that the main computer for the ship is down, does that mean that the ship is effectively floating dead in space? What if it hovers too close to Earth's gravitational pull and hits?"

Nah, the main computer for the apartment is down, not the one on the ship.; October 9, 2012 at 12:54 AM
Anonymous said...: More stuff from Avengers Arena coming out.

http://oi50.tinypic.com/1pc9io.jpg
http://oi48.tinypic.com/zjcdtz.jpg

Isn't it nice of Marvel to reward fans of the Runaways and Avengers Academy with a book that will just kill them off for canon fodder for Arcade? I'm sure all the development we got of Hazmat was well deserved for her to be offed in the first two issues.
(Seriously Linkara, the tension is mounting with this book. If it's bad, we hope you'll blast it into oblivion!); October 9, 2012 at 1:05 AM
Catgirl the Crazy said...: Following on the the earlier question about cell service... shouldn't you still have internet? What about banging on the walls to attract the neighbors attention? You do live in an apartment building.

There is one thing we can be sure of: whatever the nature of "infection" in this show, it can't be (permanently) deadly. There is no way you're going to kill off any of your major characters. This show is not that dark.

My theory: there IS no thing! It's an elaborate trick by the Gunslinger! He'll (somehow) make creepy things happen to suggest to Linkara et al that a Thing-like scenario is going on, and their own paranoia will take care of the rest. While everyone's distracted, the Gunslinger slips in and steals Margret (or at least tries to). Only after that happens do Linkara et al find out no one was actually infected in the first place (neatly avoiding the problem of figuring out how to un-infect people at the end).

Doesn't have to be the gunslinger behind it: maybe it's some other old villain doing the above for revenge.; October 9, 2012 at 1:30 AM
Frosty said...: Does this bug you?

Ah, it won't be 90's kid. Though I wonder if the others will be suspicious of him because of the entity storyline...
Though whoever would bring this up, would become pretty suspicious himself. :o; October 9, 2012 at 2:47 AM
Tetsu Deinonychus said...: As far as speculation that Linkara himself is infected goes, there is the fact that he was able to fire the magic gun at the wall. This means Margaret recognized him as the real Linkara.

I would imagine she'd have some supernatural way of knowing that. Although, the idea that "the Thing" can transform completely to the point where even a spiritual being like Margaret is fooled would be quite scary.; October 9, 2012 at 3:18 AM
Brad Bolton said...: Hey Linkara. I glanced over the comments to to see if someone else had already mentioned it and I didn't see any. So I'll mention it here.
The continuity error of the Scalpel being in MacReady's left hand as opposed to his right.
He grabbed it with his right hand and then cut his left hand loose, then used his left hand to cut his right hand loose.; October 9, 2012 at 3:47 AM
Blackcat325 said...: Haven't watched the review yet, but with good reason – I've had the John Carpenter movie sitting here for the last week, haven't had the chance to watch it. I watched the first few minutes of the review, then decided to avoid spoilers and wait until after I see the movie.

I have, however, watched the storyline part at the end (nope, not putting that one off :) ), and I'm going to throw in a theory, too. I think the intruder is Linkara... sort of... for all the reasons that ThePuppyTurtle gave, except that I'm tying it to the Gunslinger, too. The mobile emitter – does it need to be worn on the outside of the hologram's clothing to work? Could it be hidden inside a jacket or something? Just a thought...

Tetsu Deinonychus mentioned the fact that Margaret recognised Linkara as himself – but maybe the gun isn't Margaret. I haven't checked but I'm pretty sure the Gunslinger had a very similar one on his table. Or, since the hologram generates with duplicates of Linkara's clothes, glasses, etc, it may also have a duplicate (in appearance) gun. It might be significant that the light from the gun seems to have changed colour.

Problems with my theory – this would involve actual deception on the hologram's part, and if nothing else, it was always frighteningly honest (except, it did lie to Pollo). Also, motive? The Gunslinger appears to want to get Margaret up to full power, by making Linkara angry, then take the gun. Not sure how my theory could achieve that. But then, the Gunslinger's always been a bit of a puzzle.

Looking forward to watching this one unfold...; October 9, 2012 at 4:26 AM
Ozaline said...: Puppyturtle amazing run down.

My top two candidates for The Thing are Linkara and Linksano. I thought the Harvey "gonna get my gun" bit was a tad too obvious.

Linksano doesn't even half to be lying about the communicator being on the ship; he could have transported it up there on purpose while preparing for this.

Linkara and Linksano, are also the most knowledgeable with computers (I'm thinking the possibility exists that Nimue had some kind of sabotage done on her earlier that was triggered when she registered the presence of the intruder, thus it could be triggered at that moment and not before, thus raising suspicion).

Linksano is somewhat edged up in my thoughts, because he isn't at this very moment trying to fix the computer. Lewis likes to write characters who act intelligently, and Linksano's first reaction should be to at least asses the damage done to the computer as it seems to me to be the best chance of escape.

The same goes for Linkara not trying to bring down his protection spells, (and could he be lying about the damage an ax would do?)

However it is much more in Linksano's nature to jump at the chance to do "SCIENCE!" and fix a machine... it's what he lives for.

In my min the possibility that Linksano is The Thing is 60%, Linkara 40%, Harvey 9% 90's Kid 1%.; October 9, 2012 at 4:28 AM
Anonymous said...: ThePuppyTurtle made some very thought out arguments for and against each of the characters being the Thing. However I personally think ThePuppyTurtle missed a few. To add to ThePuppyTurtle’s list-

Linksano-
Reasons for potentially being the Thing- It makes the most sense, from the Thing’s prospective, to choice Linksano. Linksano is the one who has the most chance of working out if anyone else has been taken over because he could come up with ways to test their humanity. He is also, apart from Linkara, the one with the most control over all the computer systems, both on the ship and in the house, and could have easily disabled them if he wanted.
Reasons for not being the Thing- See ThePuppyTurtle reasons.

Pollo-
Reasons for potentially being the Thing- We haven’t seen him yet. Just because he’s nonhuman that doesn't mean he hasn't been replaced or had his programming overrun.
Reasons for not being the Thing- None that I can see. However, until we know he’s in the house it seems unlikely Lewis would have a character show up right at the end as the Thing unless they had been established as being there before hand.

NSD-
Reasons for potentially being the Thing- We haven’t seen him yet.
Reasons for not being the Thing- See Pollo’s reason.

Boffo the Clown-
Reasons for potentially being the Thing- See NSD’s reason.
Reasons for not being the Thing- See Pollo and NSD’s reason. Also when Linkara first introduced Boffo he said it was because he was sick of there being no good clowns in the media. It therefore seems unlikely Lewis would then make Boffo deliberately scare in any way.

Nimue-
Reasons for potentially being the Thing- She has a lot of control over the house and could easily shut them off from the outside world if she wanted. Before all this started she was suffering problems and not working at full capacity.
Reasons for not being the Thing- None that I can see.

What the Thing actually is-

Just because Linkara is reviewing ‘The Thing’ comics this month that doesn't mean that the Thing is anything like the one from the films/comics. For all we know it’s just a creature that’s hiding. Until we know for certain that it’s taken over/ replaced someone we don’t know that it can. In the October trailer we saw them being suspicious of each other but that doesn't mean that it can take anyone over. They could just have been being paranoid.

It could feed of fear and mistrust and is trying to turn them against each other. If it is like The Thing from the movies/comics then why would it have locked itself in? As Linkara has pointed out, one of the reasons The Thing works is because they are so isolated. If the Thing could find its way to civilization then life on Earth would be pretty much doomed. It seems unlikely that, if it was the same sort of Thing, it would willingly lock itself in instead of escaping outside.; October 9, 2012 at 4:31 AM
Anonymous said...: WOW. I am really loving the storyline for this so far. Can't wait for next week. (Also, is it bad that I've been watching you so long I can tell when you've gotten a haircut?); October 9, 2012 at 5:59 AM
marconius666 said...: Ah, so they have no way of contacting the outside world now... except cellphones... or sending an e-mail... Skype... IM... you don't need to use your spaceship for everything, Linkara! ><

Also, 90's Kid moved away from the door to let Linkara shoot it, then in the next cut, was coming out from behind a corner as Linkara fired at something clearly not -in- the corner. I am now convinced he is the Thing, he clearly got replaced right there!; October 9, 2012 at 6:42 AM
DerKork said...: Hmmm, I think the problem is not that Linkara doesn't have a way to reach out into space but that he doesn't try to reach someone else on this planet.

In a semi-realistic world, at least one of the communicators Linkara owns can be used as a regular two-way radio.

Even if you ended up calling someone on CB radio (which would allow the character to stay perfectly legal), the call could (theoretically) be directed to a radio amateur, who in turn could find a way to direct the call to Comicron-1.

But even if you address this idea within the storyline, there are ways to avoid having to follow up on it ("Oh, I was just testing this EM-force field to make sure this gunslinger won't be able to get out of here again. Seems I forgot to disconnect it from the intruder alert... Sorry."; "Darn it, I can't open this drawer! And all the Communicators are inside!"; "Duude, you said they wouldn't work! But now I think using them for target practice to improve my aim with this awesome gun totally wasn't awesome."; "Kid, you're telling me that NOW you got the idea to use them to call someone else? How can I be sure you are not the intruder?" are only a few ideas); October 9, 2012 at 7:09 AM
Doresh said...: Thankfully, from this first issue, it doesn't look like it will go for the "Evil government looking for impossible to control bioweapon" - unless the Argentinian military is into that sort of thing...

And aren't "taking over the mind" and "taking over the body" basically the same thing? Once it has assimilated the brain, the original victim ceases to exist.

I also think it has control over the body after a full brain assimilation. Said assimilation probably also means that it absorbs the victim's memories - which is a HUGE advantage for a shapeshifter.; October 9, 2012 at 8:48 AM
Frosty said...: marconius666:
Well I'm guessing that with the computers down, email and skype won't work. Cellphones... I don't know.
But even if they could contact people outside, the house is still sealed shut.; October 9, 2012 at 1:52 PM
James said...: Lewis, any chance that in the next video you could use Phil Harris' song "The Thing" for the title card song?; October 9, 2012 at 6:12 PM
Marito Kids said...: Marito: Y ahora, dado que en este comic aparacen argentinos, tenemos una sorpresa especial....los comentarios de varios argentinos! A ver que opinan nuestros compatriotas sobre este video!

Oaky: Le rompo el alma a la Cosa! Agarro mis pistolas y la dejo como queso gruyere! I gual, me gusta este comic. Tiene tiros, lios y cosa gorda!

Marcelo Tinelli: Buenas noches, America! En esta edicion de "Bailando por un sueño", tenemos a la Cosa bailando con Ricardo Fort y Zulma Faiad, y a uno de los Yeerks de "Animorphs" bailando con Panam y un travesti zoofilo.

Mama Cora: Lo que son los tiempos de ahora, hablando de historiestas por internet...en mis tiempos, tenias que irte a Plaza Italia para hablar de historietas. Eso si, vos nunca podias comentar que el Sargento Kirk era trolo, a pesar de que todos estabamos de acuerdo en eso...

un artista de grafitis: A la Cosa la mando Macri para infectar a todos los argentinos! Macri, Cristina y Obama le vendieron el planeta a la Cosa, i gual que en "Guerra a los Antares"!

un argentino nativo: Yo estupido. Yo no entender video. Linkara hablar con palabras muy complicadas. Trama del comic ser dificil de seguir. Yo irme a escuchar cumbia y fumar paco con el resto de los monos.

Patoruzu: Canejo! Blair quemó a la Cosa? Eso no es de cristianos! La Cosa es un ser vivo y merece respeto! Seguro, es un extraterreste asesino y maniatico que quiere esclavizar a la raza humana, pero sigue siendo un ser vivo! Le voy a romper la espalda a golpes a Blair!

El Caballero Rojo: La Cosa esta tratando de invadirnos? Esto parece un trabajo para el Caballero Rojo! Me voy a la Antartida!

Pablo De Santis: Huy, cierto, este lunes tenia que matar a la Cosa! Me olvidé por completo!

Sinchi Zito Ikari: La verdad, Linkara entendio el comic todo mal. La Cosa es el hero de esta historia, heroicamente tratando de infectarnos para salvarnos del malvado Blair. Blair es el verdadero monstruo. Es mas, me parece que voy a destripar a Blair, asi ayudo a la Cosa.

Cazador: Sarta de maricones!

Natalia Argento: La verdad, me gustaria tener sexo con la Cosa. Con tantos tentaculos, debe ser una pantera en la cama...

Clarita Ramos: La verdad, este video me gustó mucho. Linkara le acertó con su critica, este comic desmerece a la pelicula. Los soldados son antagonistas irracionales (como siempre), eso de que la Cosa puede infectar personas tocandolas es una boludez (y contradice totalmente a la pelicula), y que Blair sea el protagonista del comic es un erro gravisimo. La verdad, anuque coincido con Noah, igual creo que el videojuego es una mejor continuacion de la pelicula que este comic. La precula no la vi (está en mi lista de cosas pendientes), asi que no puedo opinar sobre eso.; October 9, 2012 at 6:17 PM
Captain Haddock said...: "Also, believe it or not, your anti-Santa Claus at the South Pole joke was actually a very short lived WWF character. "Xanta Klaus" was only around for a few weeks. The wrestler who played that character later went to ECW and was Balls Mahoney there."

Actually, my mind went to Evil Robot Santa from "Futurama". "I'm gonna shove coal so far up your asses that you'll be coughing up diamonds!"

"Squeee!! The review was as great as always...why does the military always have to be depicted like that? Coming from a military background (parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, MYSELF) I can safely say that NO ONE I have ever encountered has acted in such an idiotic fashion and has not been severely reprimanded for it. Goddess, when I was in Basic Training one of my squad mates was ARRESTED ON SITE for acting like a dumb ass and nearly getting five of us killed. Aliens did a way better job at depicting soldiers in a situation like this. One of my grandfathers, who was a Navy SEAL, has assured me that if something like this had occurred then damn it he would have listened to MacReady! Seeing a frozen alien corpse is kind of hard to pass off as crazy! And yes I am an ex soldier and I LOVE shooting off weapons but damn it I do it in a shooting range! I do it safely, not like some gun toting maniac!! *huffs* Okay, done ranting."

This confuses me...the name "Dark Sepharim" and using "Goddess!" as an exclamation indicate that this guy is a pagan/Wiccan. But why would a pagan/Wiccan join the military? Isn't one of the rules of paganism/Wicca "all life is sacred, don't kill anyone"? Wouldn't being a soldier pretty much go against everything paganism/Wicca stands for?

"What would happen if Wes Craven and John Carpenter ever did a collaboration. With Wes bringing his take on dreams and dark humor and adding it to John's mastery of suspense, the mood, and character relations. ITs something I would really like to see."

A Freddy Krueger/Michael Myers crossover movie, hopefully.

"As an Argentinian I can't wait to see what kind of cliche this comic will use to represent us."

Can't be worse than the "Johnny Bravo" episode that depicted Argentinians as wearing Mexican hats and giving a shit about North American sports. Also, there are no fucking capybaras in Argentina. They couldn't name the team "The Carpinchos" or "The Ñandus"?

"There is another possibility. None of them are the intruder and it was the gunslinger. He could also use the holographic emitter he picked up earlier to make it appear that one of them was the culprit (after all they all look alike)."

100% sure that the Hologram is the "intruder" that this storyline is about, and not an alien parasite. Of course, we don't know which of the guys is the holographic impostor, so the paranoia is still there.

However, ThePuppyTurtle already voiced pretty good arguments on which of them could be the holographic impostor.

"The reason I believe that the Thing was critically panned was because it came out at the exact same time as another certain alien movie, E.T."

Same reason why "Snow White and the Hunstman" flopped in theaters. "Mirror, Mirror" came first, and after seeing Snow White in a happy and silly and wacky and family-friendly movie, nobody was in the mood to see Snow White in a dark and scary and gothic and deconstruction-y movie.; October 9, 2012 at 7:12 PM
Anonymous said...: What happens when you kill an elder god? It legally changes its name to the first letter of its previous name :P

So... how long until Linkara realizes he can just remove the hinges with a screwdriver?; October 9, 2012 at 7:39 PM
Ming said...: Wow. That was a bad and unnecessary sequel, right alongside Silent Hill: Dying Inside and Dead/Alive. Did they have to continue the story beyond the ambiguous ending of the film or perpetuate the stereotype of the idiot and hostile military men?

And now, The Thing shout-out begins. Hmmm, I wonder how much of the actual 80s film (and original short story) will be incorporated in this Halloween storyline?; October 9, 2012 at 10:03 PM
Elzarynn said...: (If I sent this comment twice, I apologize. I'm having some trouble logging in to Google.)

Thanks for the spoiler warning. I've been meaning to watch "The Thing" for a while now. I just got around to watching it this evening, and just finished your review. I'm excited to see where your storyline is going.

So, I pulled up the review five minutes after watching the movie. I was still kind of shaken from the ending, and then as you're describing the movie in your intro, I'm kind of re-living what I just watched... and then the Nostalgia Chick pops up from the bottom of the screen, with this goofy/creepy smile on her face. It took me a moment to realize it was a blip.tv banner ad. That made me laugh. Todd and Maven have them, too. I can't wait to see if you have one. ^_^; October 9, 2012 at 11:29 PM
Heisenberg said...: I find myself thinking you could do a crossover review with SF Debris of the 'X-Files' first season episode "Ice". It was directly inspired by both 'The Thing From Another World' and 'The Thing', and plays with the same elements of isolation and paranoia. In fact, the production designer for the episode also did the same job for 'The Thing.'; October 10, 2012 at 1:04 AM
babyhenchy said...: I have to say, I completely lost it with the Miller Time gag.

Really this comic has a fundamental problem in that The Thing really should not have a sequel. Not just because of how good it is and how hard it would be to follow up.

But the ending leaves us with so much uncertainty and unanswered questions, which in the case of this movie is a GOOD thing. It only enhances the horror everytime you watch it and imagine the possible implications behind the ending.; October 10, 2012 at 7:31 AM
ngrey651 said...: Hmmmm.

This might be giving the Thing too much credit in this story, but here's an idea.

Childs is infected. He didn't infect MacReady because he didn't want to bother with him or didn't want to risk it, considering MacReady's killed the Thing over and over again and the Thing is just "If you see this human, RUN". He might have just left MacReady off to be picked up by those other humans thinking "I can just go find other humans at a different base. That annoying interloper will be miles away, and I'll be free to gather more and more hosts without the only person who knows of my identity interfering. And by the time he should ever meet me again, well...it'll be too late."

So perhaps the Thing left him behind to buy itself time and thus gather strength, and if Childs is infected, the whole darn Argentinian base might thus be infected right now, meaning MacReady is now SCREWED. The Thing can thus take its time and use the resources there to spread through the world.

Again, I might be giving the comic too much credit. But it's an idea that makes SOME sense. What DOESN'T make sense is the Thing that MacReady just encountered attacking him now, unless...

Wait. If every single bit of the Thing is its own living organism with its own mind and the like, maybe the organisms can vary in terms of strength, intelligence and subtelty. Maybe some of the Thing parts will be smarter and more careful than others, and some will just freak out and be violent. It's a possibility.; October 10, 2012 at 10:16 AM
FugueforFrog said...: I meant to put this up Monday but my new set-up with the internet made me nearly forget.

Miller time with "The Thing"...yeah, something no one really wants...but a good joke regardless.

Meanwhile I think I know why the hero of "The thing" seems to have such good luck and why it's annoying: because it's Kurt Russel. He was "the" star in the movie and essentially the one we're forced to follow throughout the whole thing during the alien's infiltration of the camp. Sure he survived the movie but because he was "the star" and "survived", they have to make it like he's the hero instead of possibly another means for which the alien can infiltrate human society. In a way, Kurt Russel here is sort of like Sigourney Weaver in "Alien", but the difference being that Weaver's role was more or less to make a point and before she became a huge star. "Alien" was about the pain and problems of being a woman and paralleled it between having this heroic female character facing off against this horrible abomination that really could have kept anyone else alive but was best personified in being taken down by a woman. Whereas "The thing" should have been about anonymity and about the idea about "anyone being it", but had Kurt Russel (who did have some star power due to his resume) and had him survive the first movie in tact. That's really all I can think about regarding why Russel's character is trying to be treated like he is in this dumb comic.; October 10, 2012 at 9:14 PM
Anonymous said...: This video reminded me of this:
http://braveandboldlost.blogspot.com/2011/07/thing-and-thing.html; October 12, 2012 at 6:28 AM
Rothide said...: Not sure if this has been theorized, but what if the person he infected didn't know how to fly the helicopter? The Thing wouldn't know how to fly one either, maybe he shot the helicopter so he could have more parts to finish that saucer (or at least start making a new one).; October 13, 2012 at 5:52 PM
Public Service Announcement said...: I'd like to point out three things.
1. I love the artwork of that comic.
2. The Thing is streaming on instant Netflix.
3. Linkara, you ought to update your "Upcoming Episodes" sidebar.; October 14, 2012 at 12:24 PM
Trekker4747 said...: "McReady's luck should be a trope." I think that goes for any and all of Kurt Russel's characters.; October 18, 2012 at 5:24 PM
pandamonium said...: Another reason the Antarctic works for the Thing's setting is due to the fact that it can survive being frozen. If it died from anything less than fire, it wouldn't be that scary. But the fact that being frozen doesn't deter it as much as simply slow it down and inconvenience it makes it even more alien, as we only have a few lifeforms that we know of that can survive being frozen. It makes the whole world-infection plot MUCH MORE PLAUSIBLE due to the fact that it isn't necessarily dead until you burn it REALLY THOROUGHLY.

While some might argue that maybe the Thing didn't know what a helicopter was or how to work a gun, it's a PERFECT MIMIC, which implies it gets its hosts' memories. So it would've known. So it wouldn't have revealed itself and gotten rid of the helicopter.; January 14, 2013 at 1:51 AM
Dark Reader said...: Hey, me again. Good review and I'd like to see the thing cos it sounds cool but I can't do a lot of gore so I probably can't watch it. Still, gotta love the creepy.; June 2, 2013 at 12:16 PM

Atop the Fourth Wall

Monday, October 8, 2012

The Thing from Another World #1

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