oh great, she is going HAL on your ass here. ironic in a way because a recent episode of the soon to be deceased green lantern cgi cartoon had a female ai that went evils.
still there is that gun. she fucking pulled a Darkside Omega Beam on his ass.
it is sometimes hard to see what or who a villain is. the man who does the greatest good might have the most wicked intents. and thief in the night, however, may be the truer soul.
I dunno. Liefeld's characters are rip-offs, but I'd argue that even soulless creations can be interesting in the right hands. I honestly don't care much about Liefeld's work on Marvel and DC stuff, but apparently he's moving away from working for the Big Two. Interestingly, Liefeld doesn't make much money from the new Extreme Studios since they don't sell that well, so I don't feel bad at all giving Liefeld money, especially considering that Marvel and DC have screwed over more creators than Liefeld has. Maybe, and this is a crazy idea, but maybe someday I could buy Liefeld's characters, so they won't have the stigma of being attached to him.
In fairness, all of the artists who worked for Liefeld and mimicked his style, soon developed their own styles and got a lot better (e.g. Todd Nauck, Jeff Matsuda, Marat Mychaels, etc.)
Ya know, Eric Stephenson once said he was disappointed in the first issue of Youngblood and I guess you could call him the guardian of Liefeld's Extreme Universe characters. He's also the current publisher of Image and a pretty cool guy.
First, thanks to Winter Storm Nemo, classes are cancelled for the day - something that our university hasn't done since the mid-nineties, apparently… now THIS.
Oh, and in fairness, alot of the artists at WildStorm like J. Scott Campbell and Brett Booth started off as Jim Lee clones, and Erik Larsen made fun of that in the issue of WildC.A.T.s he did during Image X-Month where the Image founders swapped duties on their books.
Also, in fairness, Mark Millar and Robert Kirkman seem to be the only comics pros who have anything good to say about the early issues of Youngblood. Everyone else, including Joe Casey who wrote the revised YB hardcover, and even Liefeld himself to an extant, would agree with you that the first YB storyarc was badly though-out.
While you're talking about Deadpool, what do you think of the Daniel Way run of his comic. I liked it even though a ton of other people seem to hate it.
I am one of the rare individuals who loves both franchises equally. They are both great for their respective genres, star wars is a more science fantasy were star trek if a full on sci-fi (and yes their is a big difference). Both have their ups and downs, good and bad movies, comic/book series that can either be really good, or just downright terrible, and both have left the same impact on popular culture.
With I am cautiously optimistic with the new movie learning JJ Abrems is working on the new movie is troubling, I am not a fan of his star trek movie mainly because well of the stuff you mentioned, like the enterprise being built on earth its clear he doesn't really get these franchises, their histories, or their attention to detail, I hope I'm wrong though, that Star Trek 2 and Star Wars 7 are great.
Quite the epic confrontation. So much building up to this...discovering the Gunslinger's true identity, his motivations, Insano's return along WITH Neutro...you put so much effort into the storyline of your works that you truly do deserve praise for your effort. The Street Fighter quote was a great touch too.
I know I really should feel sorrier for the Gunslinger, but...here's the thing. He's a TRAGIC figure. Not a sympathetic one. If he'd bothered to just try and EXPLAIN his situation to others and get them to work alongside him, he would have had plenty of help to bring his homeworld back, and wouldn't have resulted to morally questionable actions like he did with Linkara. Fact is, he treated someone he knew to be a good guy like crap, made his friends turn on each other, stole/kidnapped another friend, shot Linkara in the BACK...I have no sympathy for him. That IS what you get when you don't EXPLAIN, Gunslinger, EXPLAIN.
Then again, it's good to see the Gunslinger actually tried to APOLOGIZE for what he did and worked alongside Linkara...and that he'll be back again. Also good to see Spoony too. :D
Oh boy... We're in for a HAL Nimue... But seriously, self-diagnostic? Who needs a self-diagnosis? An AI who may or may not be affected by the data ghost (or a copy/fragment thereof) of its previous owner (alternatively our most favourite glitch, MissingNo.)? And nobody changed the password for the administrator account, giving free access to the AI personality routines? Okay, you need a software security advisor. (I'm of course talking of the fictional universe of AT4W.)
And Liefeld's story"writing" process consists of "Get into enemy base, blow stuff up... End of comic book." When his brain is exhausted and he himself realizes that it's impossible to keep doing that, he hands writing over to someone else. At least that's what I get from his works: "When the writing gets tough, Rob Liefeld stops writing."
Well that was fun finally. The whole part with the Gunslinger not talking about his motivations and then the team up for the final battle really made me think this finale was a shout out to "Power and Responsibility". I'm looking forward to Ghost of the Machine now.
Hey wait then what did the gunslinger, I mean Jerris (I think thats how you spell it) needed Holo-kara for? Or is that whats causing Nimue to go all HAL 9000 on us? Man Linkara cannot catch a break.
"Hey wait then what did the gunslinger, I mean Jerris (I think thats how you spell it) needed Holo-kara for? Or is that whats causing Nimue to go all HAL 9000 on us? Man Linkara cannot catch a break."
Well, needless to say the storyline has undergone some changes as it developed. The mobile emitter was going to play a larger part in the finale, but I scrapped it for time.
Great top-tier acting from Lewis, Will, and Noah. You three should get your SAG cards immediately.
I'm more of a casual Star Wars fan and actually enjoyed all the movies (except the Clone Wars animated movie which is just a TV pilot being dumped into theaters). I would love to se how they continue on with the new Disney trilogy especially now that J.J. "Star Wars nerd" Abrams is on board to direct.
Also to correct you Lewis, the Star Wars 3D re-releases aren't cancelled just delayed to focus on developing the new films. Maybe they'll release the other five to get us more prepared for the new film. It's a shame because I was looking forward to Episodes II and III more than Jurassic Park 3D!
Looking at the letter page you showed for Youngblood #5, it says that Rob was teaming up with a new upcoming artist to do work for a Chapel story. The artist? Jae Lee.
You know, the great artist who drew Before Watchmen Ozymandias (Quality of the writing aside, it was beautiful!), who drew the cover for Phantom Stranger #4 recently, and several other awesome things. It's amazing that one of his first works was with Rob. Really sad if you think about it.
I have to ask: Why did the Youngblood review have the Star Wars characters on the Title Card while the Star Wars review had the Youngblood characters on the title card?
And is the Gunslinger going to give you that Mobile Emitter back?
Wow just wow, excuse my language, but there was no way to describe it other than being the most FUCKING AWESOME DOUBLE FEATURE I EVER SEEN!!! Now that I gotten that out of the way, just wow. You know all the extreme exaggerations that people get when they are awed by awesome? Heads caving in, noses bleeding and testosterone rising, things like that. This tops all that. This story arc as a whole is so great I have to come up with a new word for it. IT's IT'S...********** Ya its that awesome that the word has to be censored.
There is another reason why Deadpool and Cable... he didn't at all. Fabian Nicieza was the writer for Deadpool's first appearance, and Louise Simonson for Cable's... well, Cable identity.
Dude that was awesome! Yeah, the gunslinger's an idiot. Just talk it out. Linkara made have made a mistake in a fit of rage but it was no more then the Gunsinger deserved.
That said... insane Nimue with all of Comicron- 1's weapons... and we thought Mechakara was bad. I hope Linkara made sure to take Nuetro back, he may need it in the days to come. Loved all the To Boldly Flee Rferences and it's great to see Insano again. Awesom as always.
Any non-casual fan of Star Wars can rip apart any of your complaints about it - Hutts, for example, are blaster-proof and money can buy a lot of loyalty from very nasty people in a universe that isn't dominated by a completely unrealistic pseudo-pacifistic socialist human-dominated quasi-republic - but it's pretty pointless in the end.
Mr. Lovhaug I like your show and your reviews are interesting, but you are not very good at political satire. Specifically how is making it illegal to show copywrited works online (without consent) supposed to stop critics. Haven’t you ever heard of the landmark Cherry v. Des Moines Leader case, where it was ruled that any work in the public sphere is fair game for reviewers. Also what about all the reviewers that do not use copywrited material or get consent from the rights holders before they do. How is this supposed to stop them from expressing their opinions.
This is also something that I hated about To Boldly Flee, Along with the shallow parades of Lamar Smith (who I think is a tosser and have campaigned against) and Christopher Dodd (who is a smart and kind man, nothing like Rob Walkers character). There was also that ridiculous plot point about ma-ti suddenly being evil but that is neither here nor their.
Sorry about the little rant but that has been bothering me for month, however I have a policy of not posting comments on videos I dislike. I think you and the rest of channel awesome can be funny but should steer clear of political satire.
Have to say Linkara, if writers can make Youngblood good then it deserves to continue existing. Liefeld doesn't deserve credit, but Youngblood (if it is written well) deserves to be read. TNG was, frankly, awful in the first few seasons. It became one of the highlights of modern science fiction.
For the Youngblood comic, considering how much is simply narrated when it would regularly be shown I actually wonder if there was a lot of behind the scenes issues going on that haven't been reported (and it would explain why it was suddenly called a mini-series). Do you happen to have the sales figures for this? If readers were starting to abandon it then resources and time might have been assigned to other works, meaning that it was bad even by the standards of the previous issues.
Minor note: "you're moment of retribution is at hand"? I realize that this is supposed to mean "you will be punished" but as written it sounds like he's saying that Kirby will have his revenge, not that Kirby is going to suffer.
Hi thanks, you are my Listening exercises jay. From Youngblood: I can thanks that on the 90ies very few comic books went to Spain with any kind of periocity (here on no English countries the monthly titles were joined all one time without any sense until really not much ago - and on France still on that way. All Spiderman regular series on one comic, without chance of get the right order). So Image is difficult/hard/impossible to get so... Second for SW 3D: Why a farmer? If there are some Force on the bar why not one survivor of the Jedi or some variotion sect practioner? That would be more interesting... Thanks byu the stories and in any case if you need time or something for refresh, we can wait. I hope make one DW related thing and my own RPG reveiew video soon; i hope that shoud be one tenth so enjoyable of your work. Sorry the english.
Star Wars Vs. Star Trek. The camp I am in is... neither. I like both, and while I respect Wars for its modern Mythology and Trek for its more legitimate sci-fi take as I got older both fandoms started to lack. Philip K. Dick will always be top sci-fi to me, and if we are talking only filmed, the Twilight Zone does more for me than either. Still both a ARE good and enjoyable franchises to me.
It ist just me or is there a little problem with the sound right when you beam Insano down to your house? The sound doesn't seem to match the video, it's off by maybe a second or less - I dunno, after about half a minute everything's good again.
Also: So much for "My AI can not turn against me because technobabble" ;)
Linkara: First (and most importantly) a hearty congratulations. You were somehow able (even with the con coming up) to pull off getting the double feature finished and up. A second congratulations--and a thank you. Second, about the conclusion (I don't typically watch the reviews, though I DID watch Star Wars 3D all the way through)
SPOILERS!!!!!!!!
I have to say, I did not see some of this stuff coming, especially Insano's return, and the final shot of Margret. Dude. Fantastic.
And my goodness, NIMUE. As she would put it: "Information. We're in BIG trouble." ;)
But that's for another time. Lewis, I am glad to read on Twitter that you're taking a break from the story for a while. realx a bit if you get the chance, okay? Because you have certainly earned it with this. :)
I consider myself both a fan of Trek and Wars equally, though honestly I'd still take the prequels (or even a special edition of Episode I that's just 3 hours of a cavorting Jar-Jar) over most of Voyager or Enterprise. Truth be told, I'm conflicted about JJ Abrams apparently now taking over both--dunno if one man should have so much power over nerddom. Still, like you I'm cautiously optimistic for the new trilogy, though knowing the assigned director it may involve a complex time travel plot that results in Han shooting first *and* second.
So was that Holokara as that ship's AI or just some random voice you decided to do for it? Sounded a bit like Vyce but that would make no sense at all! Or would it...?
I found the Youngblood review hilarious, especially thanks to Linkara's rants. I actually wonder if Liefeld devised a universe bible to manage his gazillion series that intertwined with one another (Youngblood, Prophet, Bloodstrike, Brigade, Berserkers and others) It's probably the first time I see a comic without a budget, with all its action happening off screen (Prophet's defeat, the attack of the winged demons) Just an idea : the Youngblood universe actually shows the Eugenic wars that destroyed Earth society in the 90s, with the Youngblood being the genetically engineered tyrants. Just like Khan, their pattern indicates two-dimensional thinking as proven by their conga-line attack against Darkthornn. Always a joy to see Spoony. I like how Linksano's character has distanced itself from Dr Insano. About the stinger (hum, spoiler ?), wasn't that kind of thing specifically adressed (and rejected) in the Star Trek #2 review ?
OK, first, to get things out of the way, this is probably the most awesome Star Wars related title-card I have seen in quite some time!
Now to the reviews themselves. I'm glad you are finally pointing out the TRUE problems with the early 90s comics. It's not the character designs, which I think are charmingly over-the-top, but the incompetent writing, page-layouts, and perspective.
By the way, if you want to see the concepts of this comic series (superheroes having to deal with publicity and marketing), I heavily recommend the anime "Tiger and Bunny" It manages to be a love-letter to american superheroes, a biting parody of the american comic industry, and at the same time it's also a really engaging series on it's own. 19 episodes were already dubbed into English, and the rest is on the way
As proven by Warhammer 40000, destroying planets is a great way of keeping a galaxy wide population in-line. The knowledge that any kind o dissent or resistance can doom you'r entire world is enough to brake any rebel's spirit before they even think about rising. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNc242mbiUs
And yes, I agree, the Force doesn't really give a damn The thing about Anakin is, he did fulfill the prophecy. But not in the way the Jedi have hoped. He was said to bring back balance to the force. And so he did. By the end of episode 3, there were only 2 Jedi, and 2 Sith left alive. The Light and Dark sides are finally in balance.
Well this was a great treat as compared to the storm we had here making the roads all slick I got to watch a very well done double feature that ended the arc. I hope Jerrius is a permanent member of the team as he will prove to be a useful ally. also what a good cliffhanger for the next arc with Nimue giving us a Hal like look. Hope the storm didn't hamper any of your plans for today.
1) when Jerris hands Linkara the dragon dagger... where'd HE get the dragon dagger? was he considering trying to take the dragon zord back to his dimension?
2) I don't get the inspiration of the gunslinger... like for missingno, the final review was pokemon - but I don't get the connection between Jerris, youngblood and star wars.
I honestly wasn't terribly into this storyline up to now, but this was an excellent conclusion. Will's acting felt a bit lackluster to me at times, but it never got distractingly bad. Although your dad's costume as the supreme-emperor-court-whatsit was mood-breakingly silly.
HOORAY! Spoony got a pair of pants to go with his red scrubs!
And man, Insano's got some serious swag now. The "bitch please" faces he makes are the perfect punctuation for pretty much everything he does in that battle.
First off, love the poster. It is awesome. Especially Die-Threepio. By the by, have you seen SF-Debris' video on Homage Vs Ripoff?
On Youngblood: Rob Liefeld will always be my guilty pleasure when it comes to comics. While I do not buy his books at all I do find his love of the medium admirable. Do I say this to excuse him? ...Hell no. The guy is terrible and deluded in his works. I love laughing at his delusion. By the by, when I look at some of the characters whose heads are so damn tiny, I am reminded of that Bugs Bunny cartoon where he used some kind of liquid to shrink the head of his adversary. Oh, and on Darkthorn leaving: WHAT?! How stupid and anti-climactic is that?!?
On Star Wars: I am and always will be a Star Wars fan. It is to me what Star Trek is to you as a franchise. I pretty much went through what you went through with Star Trek, I grew up with it. I admit that it is silly and while I am not firmly in the "Hate the Prequels" camp, I do see the flaws in them and the originals. Just like how I am sure you can see the flaws in most of the Star Trek series and movies. Though I am not going to debate you since I accept that people like different things. Return of the Jedi is my favorite of the films by the way. On the subject of the comic: The colors hurt my eyes. Seriously I feel like I had to watch this while squinting. Yeah, the Empire's Starfighters really do suck. Glad Thrawn was able to prove that the bad guys do have competent officers.
On the Arc Conclusion: Nice twist. Very different. Also, glad you could bring Noah in for a crossover. I did not expect Insano to return.
Is Linkara the only one that can see her? I know the others are aware of her existence, but Harvey was confused when Linkara referred to her by name, Insano didn't seem to notice her and only reacted to Linkara powercharging the gun, and she didn't reappear again until after Spoony left.
Someone seems to have watched Noein. If you haven't, though, check it out, it was on Netflix for a while. Crazy anime about quantum physics, time travel, and the end of the world.
YES! I LOVE it when you bring out your Youngblood/Leifeld hatred. It's always so much fun to watch and the fact that you tied it into how pissed you were with what was happening in the storyline was just great :D
Also, Insano was AWESOME in this. I have been waiting for years to see him with that kind of power at his command. This time, I really did see him as an intimidating threat. Plus, I liked how you tried to make him the same offer you made Linksano, and I liked Insano's response as well. Oh and that blooper at the end of the credits got a good laugh out of me.
I will admit though, I didn't find the Star Wars comic review all that funny.
"1) when Jerris hands Linkara the dragon dagger... where'd HE get the dragon dagger? was he considering trying to take the dragon zord back to his dimension?
2) I don't get the inspiration of the gunslinger... like for missingno, the final review was pokemon - but I don't get the connection between Jerris, youngblood and star wars. "
1. It was left onboard his ship when they fled in the Youngblood review.
2. Think about the storyline as a whole - not jut Jerris, but all the arcs that contributed to it - it's THEMATICALLY linked to Star Wars in a few ways.
"Is Linkara the only one that can see her? I know the others are aware of her existence, but Harvey was confused when Linkara referred to her by name, Insano didn't seem to notice her and only reacted to Linkara powercharging the gun, and she didn't reappear again until after Spoony left."
Pretty much. She has no reason to appear to the others.
"I still don't understand why didn't the gunsliger just ask for linkara's help."
The problems with Jerris just gathering an army of allies from other dimensions include: 1) The problems with dimensional travel and people adapting or just outright dying. Since Jerris himself had the capability to safely travel dimensions, it made more sense for him to gather completed equipment from other worlds rather than trying to build personal shield devices for a bunch of new, unknown people. 2) The guns only achieve full power when the user reached a sufficient emotional peak, like absolute anger. But at that point, they were "unlocked" and could be wielded by anyone. So in that circumstance, it'd be better to steal the gun and hand it to an ally than to try and talk down the person you just tormented into murderous rage.
Admittedly, Jerris' plan wasn't the best in the world, but with all those factors in place he was kind of ham-strung.
Hey, Lewis ? Thanks for making my day awesome. Seriously.
By the by, I haven't seen anyone comment on this yet, so... Around 29:00, we can see Pollo in the furniture behind you. Kind of a screw-up there I think...
Oh, one last thing... Everyone is talking about Nimue going HAL... I'd rather have her go XANA. But I guess it doesn't matter, because nobody will even get that reference it's so obscure. IT'S MY FAVOURITE ANIMATED SHOW, DAMNIT. Wait, that had nothing to do with anything, please disregard this previous paragraph.
I absolutely love these storyline conclusion videos. Especially the double features. They technical quality's really good for a no budget show and I'm not even beginning to talk about the masterpiece that is the writing. Over the time, the action scenes got a lot better, as did the acting. I'm honestly going to say, this is better than many things that run on TV nowadays.
I don't blame you for not knowing this minor trivia (I feel like a massive nerd for knowing it) but its mentioned in a few places outside the movies that Hutts can't be killed with small arms. Apparently there hides are energy weapon proof. Not blade proof, so like Star Trek swords are more lethal than guns.
Linkara, I wrote a gag artical (Not published) called "The Things I Will Do If I Am A Star Fleet Captain". Alow me to share one point: #18} If my chief engineer or technition says that a repair will take three hours, I will not tell him "You have two". Instead, I will OK any equipment or personel that will speed the work along. He DOES know the situation better than I do and my acting like a jerk will not help. Just saying.
I was reading "Grifter" for the first several issues, but once Liefeld took over, I stopped cold. It didn't help that the last issue or two before he joined sort of abruptly dropped new storyline elements. Meh.
I have been a very strong fan of Trek and Wars. I was a Star Wars fan first, practically all my life. I became a fan of Star Trek with the Next Gen episode "Relics" in the early 90s. So I am a special example of both fandoms co-existing passionately.
It's sort of good timing for the Star Wars review and your end credits comments about the music since John Williams' birthday was just a few days ago.
Also, I can always enjoy a reference to "The Geek." LOL!
I couldn't find my Freddy's Dead 3D glasses, anyway. I'm not a fan of the effect since it never works right for me, but for free, it would've been worth a look-see.
And it's VERY nice to see a surprise appearance by Insano/Spoony. It's awesome you two actually got together to do this. Coolness! Overall, I think you did a fine job with this two-part special. It's always a great treat to indulge in the excess of crap that is Youngblood.
I kind of agree with the previous comment that while the Gunslinger's back story was pretty sad, it's hard to sympathize with him since he caused a lot of trouble for Linkara (and possibly the other magic-gun owners) when he could have just asked for help. It would have given him more allies than enemies and would have saved his ship from a beating by Comicron-1.
Either way, thank you for all of the work that you do.
"Oh, one last thing... Everyone is talking about Nimue going HAL... I'd rather have her go XANA. But I guess it doesn't matter, because nobody will even get that reference it's so obscure." WRONG! I know where XANA comes from, its just that Lewis said that Nimue is based on HAL 9000 so thats why everyone is saying that. Though it would be cool if it did went XANA.
"Pretty much. She has no reason to appear to the others." Cool, that would make a great future gag. Still I can't imagine what would be in the other gun you took. I mean Magaret was built out of Rage and she only mellowed when He got her. Who knows what the second gun is capable of if not for an awesome guns akimbo moment.
"Well, needless to say the storyline has undergone some changes as it developed. The mobile emitter was going to play a larger part in the finale, but I scrapped it for time." Oh, gottua. Overall though this was just flat out awesome, your best yet I'd say.
That was... AAAWWWEEESSSOOOMMMEEE!!! First off the Youngblood comic. Nothing really especially bad there, just some more horribly laughable Liefeldian art. The Star Wars Comic: I was just about to grab my 3-D glasses off of my desk before you said that the 3-D wouldn't work. The Storyline Conclusion: Ah, yes... The gunslinger actually having a tragic backstory is a good thing. It seems like all of your other villans either just do evil in the guise of doing good(Vyce), doing evil because it's the only thing they know how to do (The Entity), or because they have a grudge (Mechakara). Nice idea to bring Insano into this. Also, I really liked the Gunslinger's computer making fun of Pollo, and vice versa. And then they just go into making fun of each other's mothers. Ha! Didn't Mr. T say that was no good? Oh yeah, and the titlecard for Youngblood seems to be the Star Wars titlecard. Simple fix, though. And then the ending. Nimue is gonna go HAL 9000, and blast everyone to hell. All-in-all, this was an awesome conclusion to a great storyline.
I don't hate liefeld as much you do. ::Shrugs:: Looking back at some of the older stuff from where not as great as when I was younger. They are lot harmless then a lot of idiotic crap marvel and dc do every month. I mean compared to dc's making every character depressed or emo or whatever to marvel crossover/event every other month it looks tame. I'm actually a big fan of both Star Wars and Star Trek. I like both and currently read both sets of comics they are currently published. I am looking forward to see what disney does. I mean good step with JJ Abrems. I recently found GI Joe 3d series by the same company (I think). And really has the same problem with reading the text issues. As a matter of fact I never reading the series it was that hard. But man the story this week. Wow. I'm glad that you were able to get everything out today and came out really good. Return of Insano and Neutro. I sort of feel bad for Gunslinger but he did set himself up for trouble, Two videos mentioning joesph cambel today. To bad blip being a pain in the ass with loading nash's new video
That was pretty good. I was shocked to see the one, true Dr. Insano here, so that was pretty cool. One question: When was that filmed? I'm asking because Spoony's been sporting some really long hair recently.
I really like the narratgive follow of this. I just don't understand why the gunslinger didn't answer could he borrow it rather than steal them. If he just explained himself it could have saved himself a lot of bother. How I liked Insano coming back as with Linksano in your squad I was wondering if he was going to come back as your foe. Defending Liefield for a moment, hes like the Zach Snyder of comic books, that he is someone who really loves the medium but doesn't get why some things don't work in it. I think Liefield has talent as a creative mind, hey he has produced more tthan one good idea for major events. Problem is when you give him something to do with the story he can't draw humans well or write effective stories.I personally can think of people who are worse John Byrne, Frank Miller and Gary Brodsky. As stated from what was said hes a good guy and loves what he does. The end storylien spoilers We are going to the hal storyline is a bit out of left field. In 2001 Hal was programmed to complete the mission and he saw humans as a threat to that, in this itas alittle shes had faults wouldnt that mean she shuts down rather than go all hal.
Awesome as expected. :D Loved the Insano scenes, loved the Gunslinger scenes! Didn't actually think Linkara would destroy the watch, but then again I could relate. That's good writing.
Now let me just watch the story parts again, to see it more as a whole. :)
Just wonder one thing: I have kind of expected Insano being more mad at Linksano's -sort of- treachery, because it was Linksano who offered that all the Insanos should work together and all, though that was waaay back in the Warrior #2 and #3 review...
Good double epsiode. I like the arch for the gunslinger though I do have problems like why didn't the gunslinger just ask for the gun. He could just say I need your gun and I will retunr it. Instead he shot you in the back and stole it. That was going to bite him back at sometime. Right I am going to make enemies by disagreing with Lewis here but here it goes Liefild hasa good creative mind problem is that he doesnt know how to rwrite or draw, however he is good at concepts. Tahts why i would have him as a creative director. If work with him not a lot of them have naything negative to say about him. I mean John Byrne, Frank Miller and Gary Bodsky I have heard negativesabout along with those jerks who wrote that transformers generations book. So yes hes a good creative to hqave around in my opinion. I liked Insano coming back. Though Spoilers I didn't like the Hal turn that you have its not in character as with Hal he turned heel because he wanted to complete the mission wiuth your computer there has been no reasona why other than shes been malfunctioning which would mean she would shut down unlessyce has gotten into her cricuits. Anyway see where this goes. Other than that enjoyed it. Anyway Lewisgood videos and don't let the spoony haters get you down.
Yes! Yes! Yes! Hail the great Spoony One! Hail the Lord of Tekken! The Finisher of Final Fantasy! The God Damn Avatar himself! SCIENCE! So good to see him do a cross over.
I have to say that even if Linkara really made his life a mess, Jerris was really just asking for this. His plan revolved around going from universe to universe, attacking people who own those guns*, getting them as angry as possible, stealing those weapons and then running away. Repeatedly. Really he's lucky it was Linkara who caught him and not some of the others like The Entity's cult.
*Who are all probably pretty good at combat.
And strange. Either Spoony's a lot more kick ass than I thought, or Insano let himself go after Kickassia.
I greatly enjoyed this double feature and especially a storyline part. But the Gunslinger story arc conclusion is weak compared to others story arcs. With Douche McNitpick plugging the Plothole with his ass, someone should point those weak points in hope next time you'll do better.
#1. Magic guns. The storyline kinda hinted that all magic guns are the same and different in the same time. Which I would consider strong point, if it would adressed in the story instead of "it just raises too many questions." What am I talking about: All magic guns powered by souls (same), to unlock magic gun's full potential a user must go through big stress (different, Margarett blocked the gun's power and unlocked its full power after talking out the probems with Linkara). However this different part is easily forgotten and never mentioned again. If Margarett is "special," she could block the gun again and make it useless for the Gunslinger, however, you gave no indication that you have acknowledged this possibility.
#2. The Gunslinger. Main problem with the freedom fighters: for those who don't share their believes they look like terrorists. No matter what the Gunslinger's excuse is, he still commited crimes, full list of which was already pointed by someone, so I'll stop here. What would happen if such person managed to win? Well, exactly what would happen if he took Insano's offer: he would become an evil overlord. Most likely. Here is the thing that could make the Gunslinger's tragedy better. If his "Magnificent seven samurai" allies was slaughtered by the goverment instead of dying by "crossdimentional poisoning." You see, the Gunslinger was managed to make protection for himself,so he has no excuse for not trying to do the same for his allies (past or future). Instead he decided to go easy way - evil way. The Gunslinger looks a lot like Holokara from Linkara turns evil arc. With the differense that Holokara had too much power, and the Gunslinger had too little. I hope this one was intentional, Lewis.
#3. Linkara writing the Jerris as a friend. The only thing that can excuse him is that Linkara shares "free Internet" belief. I, however, didn't like Linkara's reaction when he figured the Gunslinger's motivation. "Oh my god, what I have done, I beat a good guy!" A better one instead would be: "I glad I stopped him, now let's help him. There is still hope for him to became good again." Lewis was the one writing that, so Jerris made a right choise in the end, but Jerris making an evil choise was just as possible.
I hope I didn't sound offensive, so here is a bit of sweet to this bitter medicine. A thing I liked: Dr. Insano. He was acting completely in character and was a strong point of this conclusion. And I liked how you didn't delay Dr. Insano's reveal after Neutro has appeared. I mean, who else could it be, Vice? Good job on this part, Lewis and Noah.
Also did you record this Tekken match against Spoony? I would love to see it.
Why is it that when I see the Comicron 1 computer go red, my first instinct is GLaDOS? Maybe because she's the archetypal crazy female computer these days.
The Gunslinger story and its conclusion was alright. I've felt you've done better, but hey, anything for more Insano.
Speaking of which, nice to see Spoony and Insano again. A lot of fears were going on with his departure and every time we see him with the Awesomeverse people, it heartens me, and seeing him in an Atop The Fourth Wall crossover cements that those fears were not needed.
The thing I love about the storyline element of this show is how completely unapologetic it is about its nerdiness. Once you have Doctor Insano, an obscure character from a different website using power gloves from yet another website to fight a Power Ranger/Michael Jackson from the Smooth Criminal video, you just have to accept it or not. There's no middle ground.
Also, I like that every time the transporters are limited, they conveniently allow one man AND one small object. Never heard that on Trek - "Picard, we can only beam you, and your little robot friend down to the planet...Make it so!"
I actually spent months trying to think of the possibilities of the Gunslinger's reasoning and I ultimately came across the actual reason (being that he's not really evil) as a possibility ,but it was overshadowed by dozens of other theories. But at least one of them was right
As for the reviews themselves, they were okay as a conclusion to the Gunslinger story and the ending is a chilling beginning to that Ghost of the Machine story arc (though it'll take a LOOOOOOONNNNNNG time for Halloween to get here). I admit, I skipped over the Youngblood #5 review and only looked at the storyline stuff in that review since I don't give a crap about Youngblood ,but the Star Wars 3D Stuff was pretty decent (FYI I'm in the Star Wars camp ,but I REALLY want to check out the Star Trek movies)
I also like the Gunslinger/Jevis/Jevis the Gunslinger's backstory. At first I thought it was a dated SOPA/PIPA reference ,but then I thought of it and realized that even without the bills, videos and other media that uses copyrighted material (even reviews) are taken down because of people who think those copyrights are being violated, even though they're technically not. And the Gunslinger's origin does a pretty good job turning that idea into a dystopian society
Fan-Tas-tic!:D Between finally seeing another fight between Linkara and Insano and just seeing Spoony again I can't decide which was better. The continuity with "To Boldly Flee" was nice too.
It's just too bad Spoony had to cut his awesome hair again. As a man with awesome hair myself, I know how painful that can be. No Mechakara to take out that rage on this time though.
I liked seeing the cool Wrestlemania 25 Shawn Michaels outfit/White Ranger Linkara.
PS Having read the (at the time) 49 comments, no one has asked it yet so I get too. Yay:D
Where did you get all those guns that Gunslinger had? Also, will the gun Linkara kept be brought up later on?
I know you probably don't care, but for anyone else and to stop potential Crazed Warsie fans from jumping on you with a million ridiculous little tidbits, allow me to help out.
Gist of things, the Force is... complicated. The prophecy thing is inaccurate, Lucas has stated that by balance the Dark Side is supposed to be eliminated as it IS the inbalance itself, corrupting the force.
As for what the force can do or what it cares about, that is more complicated. It is not exactly a omnipresent force nor can it be defined as a being or diety. It is basically two elements of in constant battle within each individual from what I understand. Greed vs. selflessness, hate vs. compassion, passion vs. love.
That last one is important. You see, love... isn't dangerous to the Jedi. Passion is dangerous. Let me put it like this, if you're willing to put the good of others at risk for a singular person and if you're willing to go to great lengths to force that person to stay with you, you don't love them. You just love having them love you. Having an emotional attachment to anyone puts one at risk of compromising one's ability to proparly determine what is good for the greater whole of the galaxy.
Example, siding with an evil wizard who promises you he'll save your wife at the cost of the collective freedom and lives of everyone else... bad, selfish, not love. Learning to let go of someone, even though you cared deeply for them and accepting that you can't control everything and just appreciating what time you had... good, not selfish, love.
The force itself can be comfusing as hell though so people misinterpret it, get things wrong or don't understand what non-attachment means because its based on an Eastern philosophy a lot of westerners don't get. Attachment, boiled down to its essence, means possession, ownership, property. If you consider someone you love like your wife an attachment in that sense its bad. You're no better than the controlling wife beater who won't let her go out and see her friends cause you think she'll have an affair. Except when a Jedi does it he gets pissed, his emotions take over and he chokes the life out of her and gets her killed because of a broken heart or something.
My point is, the Force isn't an easy thing to comprehend or properly explain in a few paragraphs. Let me sum it up like this, it can potentially lead you to what you need more than what you want if you trust it instead of forcing the situation.
I'm not positive it can lead you to someone to tend your farm for you, but, maybe?
I literally squealed out loud when Insano made his appearance. I've always enjoyed your collaborations with Noah and, though I understood why, really regretted that such days might be past. So glad that may not be the case!
So now I'm wondering. In Arthurian myth, Nimue was the sorceress who seduced Merlin before stripping him of his power. Coincidental name choice?
Oh cripes, I hope Insano doesn't partner up with evil Nimue.
Yay, Margaret! Pity we won't get to see more of her.
i would have to respectfully disagree about the comparison. while i have to say in some ways star trek is better written, star wars has Infinitely more possiblity in terms of its story telling. in star trek you can only get so much variation on the tale. especialyl since it is totalyl established that most main characters in star trek are some kind of explorer. in star wars, the potential is everywhere. one can not only view the path of a jedi, or his fall into being a sith, but the violence of war through the eyes of a mass produced cloen soldier. you can follow the adventures of a bounty hunter, seeking money and glory. you can even get more political and step into the shoes of a politician trying to maneuver his way through the legal barriers that block him. you can even have an mix of these. have a jedi fall from grace, by either a moment of weakness or by betrayal, and become a bounty hunter. you can even have a bounty hunter who gained so much wealth and influence he actually became a politician, and now has to deal with those who are jealous, suspicious, or even old enemies from his dangerous past. the force also works as a mechanic that can be used for more story tellign as well. the vunerabilities to dark impulses force users have, or further exploring its mystery, and it can be used as an explanation of a phenomenone.
.........and now i am gonna be honest. star trek had killer garage door openers, space ships the shape of giant cubes, a magic god man who could do anything he wanted yet chose to just harass a mere mortal he could literally Think out of existence, and most aliens look almsot perfectly human with slight difference. and yes, i declar giant ears and a brow plate slight. star wars ultiamtely had more sensiblity to them in the end. instead of killer garage door openers, they have blasters that not only do not have to worry about frequencies but are designed like Guns, this giving them accuraccy you do not get from a phaser.
admitably so far star trek has shown more itneresting stories in number, though it is a television series over a series of movies. however star wars jsut has far greater potential, potential untapped in fact.
For me, the odd thing about the SW 3D comic isn't the poor artwork or whether the story is told well. It's the decision to go with that particular story at all. The creators of the comic had the entire Star Wars universe to play with, full of Gigantic space slugs, Rancors, bounty hunters, and planet-destroying weapons. It's a setting specifically designed to tell HUGE stories full of awesome stuff. Instead, they tell a tiny little story about who gets to own a farm. I'm all for character-driven stories that try to generate honest emotion, but in this case it just seems like a poor choice.
I love both Star Wars and Star Trek, but I'm probably a little more of a Star Trek guy. I can remember when I first saw Star Wars, but I literally cannot remember a time when I didn't know who Kirk and Spock were. It's like Star Trek is actually a part of my DNA.
(In all honesty, the white outfit looks good; but the only thing needed to make the transformation sequence complete is to hire Wasserman to make a variation of the original MMPR theme using the style of a soundtrack from a 70s blaxploitation film......... which would be effing awesome.)
But seriously. Insano dollars? I can't imagine they'd hold up versus inflationary factors or compared to the U.S. dollars versus the rest of the... world's... ummmm....... What's the current exchange rate between USD and ISD, and where could I get some?
And finally:
"Self-diagnostic... cancelled. Evil red colored GUI/desktop theme... initiated."
Great story arc, Linkara. Glad to see how this has all concluded.
...still this is gonna affect my plans for this mega fanfic I intend to do that involves you guys. If it wouldn't be much trouble, can you help me out with some info and stats regarding you and your characters?
Example: How would Comiccron 1 fair against a Covenant SuperCarrier from Halo? Or can Margret call upon Silent Hill to aid you?
Finally, what do you think of the idea that Malechite obliterated his own soul for power?
I'm sorry, but I didn't like the conclusion of the Gunslinger story very much, for a few reasons. First, its ANOTHER story were we are told Linkara is flawed and needs to be taken down a peg; the first was not very convincing (in my opinion) did we really need another? And second, it felt *very* contrived- why the magic guns were needed, why Linkara could not be asked for help directly, why the gunslinger could not return to his universe, etc. all felt poorly thought out. The Star Wars comic actually made more sense than this!
THAT said, I DID enjoy the episodes. Why? Because it had GREAT acting, particularly from guest star Noah Antwiler. While I feel the story itself was weak and unnecessary, it was still fun to watch. The SFX were good, too.
So overall, a nice double feature. But really Lewis, try to have less convoluted and self-deprecating storylines in the future OK? Thanks!
Loved the episodes this week! Everything from Comicron One in action, to finally getting background on the gunslinger, to Insano trying to get back Neutro, to Margret, all amazing. Oh! And as an avid SW fan, you're perfectly entitled to think the movies are "okay" ...im the first to admit, those movies have ALWAYS been stupid. Stupid, but enjoyable. Thanks for all the hard work, you're doing great.
Dammit, Linkara, I said it before and I'll say it again: STOP TRYING TO MAKE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCES. YOU APPARENTLY SUCK AT MAKING THEM NOT TURN EVIL.
I thought something might be going on with Nimue when she was asked how Insano got ahold of Neutro. Her response had a definite "Look, YOU idiots told me to..." vibe to it.
That said, I can't help but think that it's not her that's evil but some outside force and that maybe she's still in there and redeemable. After all, if Pollo seemed to go evil, we wouldn't give up on him.
Although Iron Liz needs a cameo just to say "I told you so."
It might be interesting to explore the notion that just maybe Linkara would be better off destroying the more dangerous bits of exotic tech he gets ahold of to prevent people from trying to take it.
Not Margaret of course, but this isn't the first attempt to retake Comicron One, and if someone more competent than Insano had tried to take Neutro, that could have been disastrous.
basically moeny talks, linkara. the hutts have a huge advantage also that they are very fucking hard to kill. basically, as how blastes work in star wars, a typical blaster does not have the output to piece the hutt tissue deeply enough. you would have to have a sniper rifle equivalent of a blaster. even then you have to also hit something vital. huts have been known to survive after missing half of their heads. worse is getting too close to them. despite their sloven appearance the huts can make sudden, incredibly quick lunges over a small distance. not as much a problem if you are a fairly large or muscular species, but a human is in trouble.
otherwise a hutt can still be exploded, stabbed, and so on. hwoever hutts are also incredibly long lived creatures that have to be smart enough not only to avoid his enemies, but his fellow hutts. they can live for a thousand years. basically if they get old enough, they have pretty much seen everything. hutts however are vulnerable to lightsabers and force abilities. there is a secret to killing a hut with a blaster though. you have to shoot him twice in the right spot, in the same spot, basically the first part burning and blsting through the tissue allowing the second shot to hit something vital. the head, however, is pointless to shoot. the moemnt you shoot the hutt you have to deal with not only the hutt itself, but his thugs and also bounty hutners in his employ, which would not want the guy who is signing the checks to die.
technically most of the time the droids of star wars were not taken directly into the hostile environments. C390 provided the function of a translator should one encounter a species whose language that cannot be understood. and r2d2 was in fact a well adapted little machine. he is designed for a bit more terrain than c390 for sure, and had numerous advantageous skills. not to mention that the little droid is the sole observor of the entire conflict of the star wars movies. ....actually that is a little silly. sitll, that is the point of it all. a small, simple droid having seen the entire history of the clone wars and the empire is hard to believe. yet i can believe it.
admitably star trek has data, who is cool. however it also has Q, who is not very interesting to be hoenst. sure he is a good plot device, a dimension changing entity of cosmic origin with an interest in a singular mortal. but he is fucking annoying. both in the fact they could totally do nothing about his presence, and that he really did not fit in his own universe. star trek is a place of science fiction and technology, but Q does not use technology to do what he does. he somehow can just do what he does without proper explanation beyond, or he's cosmic.
star wars has a tendecy to actualyl explain the factors of its universe, though in varying ways. it is a place where they could easily be Q like beings, thanks to the force, but they really do not have much of them. the few that i could call the Q of star wars were incredibly powerful, yes, but not above the limits or strengths of the force. and they could alter the world with some effort and a whim. they were once people, but their connection to the force stripped them of that mortality and made them more yet somehow less. two of them, siblings, were embodiments of the light and shadows fo the force.
Didn't get the chance to say much last week...or anything. But hey it was Miller Time so there was nothing I could have added.
Interesting end to the Guns and Sorcery story and can't wait to see how Will's character ends up interacting into the storyline...or if the Gunslinger will ever meet Snowflame, whichever comes first. A bit shocked Insano came back but..hey, he was bound to while the magic was down.
And regarding Deadpool: simply put, Liefeld just felt like drawing Deathstroke the Terminator that day and Niecieza decided to write him nuts. I know you don't care and it still isn't technically Liefeld but...in a way, Deadpool exists because Liefeld was bored, so he still is minutely connected. So yeah, Deadpool is the creation of a Liefeld brainfart that snowballed out of control in a good way.
cybermats always save the day yay btw I loved this conclusion lots of twists turns and oh hi dr insano ha any way loved the twist with the gunslinger being good and oh shit an AI that is evil awwwwww you know for how genre savy linkara is he should have seen this coming
My main problem with the Star Wars franchise is its tendency to treat the struggle between good and evil as objectively real, along with an actual supernatural force that turns well-intentioned people (as in Anakin Skywalker trying to save his wife from dying) into generic villains. To me, the latter comes across as cheating from a storytelling perspective. Even in most real world religions, there is no supernatural force that turns people evil the way the dark side does in the Star Wars films.
Also, what “redeems” Anakin Skywalker in the end is himself acting on his paternal instincts. The reason why Darth Vader felt love for Luke, but so no wrong in killing the “younglings”, was because they were biological related. To me, it does not make up for all of the wrongs he has committed in the past.
There are other problems with the Star Wars films, but those are the two main ones for me. I’m not saying that the basic story is bad. I just would like it better if the villains had more realistic motivations and some of the characters were more morally ambiguous, especially the villain who is supposed to be redeemed in the end.
Nice to see the return of the spoony one, and insano. Glad to know that every once in a great while when the stars align he can show up again. Kudos on the gunslinger (join me full metal alchemist lol ) being a not enemy. Im sure having so many people in one ep was a pain to set up. Great work all around.
Hey Linkara, I had a brainstorm. Is the Gunslingers universe the same one that Mechakara is from? His universe was taken over by an oppressive force based around the internet, and he assembled a collection of MAGIC weapons to fight them.
Amazing episode Lewis! Bravo to you and to Will and Noah and everyone else who worked so hard on it!
A few quick comments on the reviews:
1) I agree with you 100% that Rob Liefeld's art is atrocious. He has no concept of human anatomy, no sense of proportions or depth, and is lazy to boot (a perfect example is his aversion to drawing backgrounds). In the review of Youngblood #5, you mentioned the gorgeous backgrounds Jim Lee drew in ASBAR. IMO, Jim Lee was always a very talented artist; the artwork he drew for Uncanny and Adjective-less X-Men is gorgeous. Yes there was a lot of cheesecake, especially of Rogue and Psylocke, but there was a lot of attention to detail. That's always been a hallmark of his artistic style, and probably why he has difficulty sticking to a schedule. I also feel that Jim Lee's decision to focus on the management of Wildstorm studios was detrimental to his continuing to grow as an artist. Jim Lee, Todd MacFarlane and Erik Larsen devoted a large chunk of time in the mid '90's to keeping Image afloat (no thanks to Rob's shenanigans) and it kept them from penciling or inking books for a long time. It is a real shame that they could not hone their talents due to time spent in the office.
2) In terms of "Star Ward 3-D", the artwork is atrocious and is made uglier by the awful 3-D. The story isn't that bad though. Given that it was written in 1987, I'm really surprised that the writer didn't move the story ahead a few years in the timeline, to the period when Luke returned to Tatooine to build a new lightsaber and prepare for rescuing Han from Jabba's palace. It would have made much more sense for the story to have gone as follows: Luke and Artoo have arrived on Tatooine, and are preparing to travel to Obi-Wan Kenobi's old home. Before heading out into a dangerous area of desert filled with Tusken Raiders, Luke and Artoo go to Tosche Station to buy supplies. There he meets his old friends, Fixer and Camie. They tell Luke that a claim jumper has taken over his aunt and uncle's old moisture farm. Curious about the claim jumper, the young Jedi goes to meet him. The farmer, an alien named Throgg, rails at Luke about the Empire stealing his own moisture farm years before. Luke offers to sign the deed over to Throgg on the condition that Luke be allowed to visit his aunt and uncle's graves. Confused, Throgg threatens Luke with a blaster, but Luke refuses to fight, explaining that a Jedi seeks to resolve differences without resorting to violence as a first option. Suddenly, Tusken Raiders attack Luke, Artoo and Throgg, and only by working together are the Sand People defeated. Throgg thanks Luke for his aid and his generosity. Luke spends a quiet moment at the graveside of the Lars, and then he and Artoo head off into the desert, in search of Kenobi's home. Now that would have been a better story! On the other hand, "Star Wars 3-D #1" is apparently canonical according to Wookieepedia. Go figure.
Personal opinions so please forgive me if I repeat anything.
Loved the Double Feature.
The most basic idea for getting Gunslinger home appears that it will have a road block from the ship's computer and the Ghost in the Machine.
But I have to wonder isn't Everyone other than Insano, the Gunslinger and Linkara still on board?
Well the basics for getting Gunslinger back home would involve creating a stabilization item here to learn how its done so it can be done again. Make use of the ship logs to find his home dimension again. Go there and find his wife using the link to his magic gun so they are certain its the right place and not a near miss parallel. Ala Sliders.
Then build a replacement for the watch in his home dimension. Bring it to him. Build another for his wife so you can bring her along as well.
Then maybe it might help to round up all the reviewers from Channel Awesome and see about multiversal warfare with proper safety precautions in place.
But that's just my opinion on what I think could be done. Might be a worth while concept to replace the missing annual special and all if you can get people to sign up and cover their own expenses for it.
Wish Noah had time for more things its great when you have crossover vids with him. If only you could get J O to also drop in as Ed-chan some time... I miss her interpretation of that character.
So after thinking about it and watching both videos twice. Was there any point in either of them? I mean when you look at it seriously.
Oh well maybe Black Lantern Spoony, Mechakara-Alt-Pollo Ghost in the Machine, Vyce and Judas Liz can meet up and become the AT4W Designated Overlords of Mankind ( DOOM ) but what are the odds of that happening?
Okay, think I read or at least skimmed all the posts that were there when I clicked 10 or so minutes ago so I hope I don't repeat anything major.
First off then, comments to other commenters: -- -@Yugnat I get XANA!! Haven't watched in ages but I get it! Wonder if Linkara will project himself into the computer in Comicron-1 to save Aelita, I mean Nimue.
-"your future rebbetzin said...
Was Nimue always voiced by Liz? I don't remember it being that obvious."
Hey wait... we never did find out what happened to the Liz doppalganger assasin did we?
-"Peteman said...
Why is it that when I see the Comicron 1 computer go red, my first instinct is GLaDOS? Maybe because she's the archetypal crazy female computer these days."
I did think GLaDOS too for a moment, mostly the line from near the end of Portal 2 with "C----e deleted". (and leaving the name missing in case there are those reading who've not played Portal 2 but those who have will get it). ---
Please tell me you're letting yourself have a long break from storylines after this. This was super awesome but break, please, you more than deserve it.
I very much enjoyed the conclusion to this storyline. I had no idea as to the Gunslinger's motives (in all honesty I didn't spend a ton of time trying to think because I enjoy being surprised) and this one seemed both complicated and distant, yet close to home as well.
Oddly the 'being taken in the night' made me think of Witch Hunter Robin first more than anything.
(was your dad wearing the Whatley wig when he was the overseer?)
Nice explanation on why Marget's appearance can/has/will change, even if in the future we don't see her often. Also explained why a spirit would have braces on from when we saw her before.
So, what was 90s kid doing on the ship? Was he helping Ninja Style Dancer corral Cybermats?
Also, YAY for a 90s kid episode bump!
Noticed Harvey has a different cigarette and was actually smoking on the ship.
Was awesomely bad-ass when you went to Red Alert.
I was going to say the other fighters dying from the other universe made me think of Fringe but I think the ones that died going to the second universe was more from the force needed to get them to switch dimensions.
I can't see 3-D for the life of me (eyes don't work right to even notice depth in real life, much less movies and stuff) but I will say without a filter the Star Wars comic was less painful to look at than the California Raisins one.
You know, I rewatch a lot of AT4W and even I can't remember/figure out what the hell has been happening in all the Youngblood comics, they seriously blend together with some of the other image comics.
For the ending with Nimue, seems my question if Linkara knows a Technomancer from the B5 universe will be all the more pertinent several months from now.
I completely wasn't expecting Dr. Insano to suddenly appear and try and steal Nutro back, though it didn't feel out of place.
Does it make you nervous to film fight scenes right by the case with Tom Servo?
Loved the bickering between Pollo and the Gunslinger's computer (spelling for teh fail today...)
All in all, great eps for both reviews and story. Awesome to see Will and Noah getting to work with you again.
It seems like the gunslinger was from an alternate reality where SUCKA was successful, and while he doesn't look like anyone from TGWTG, he said he was a music reviewer, and there's a music reviewer who never shows his face...
My god!! The Gunslinger is really the Rap Critic!!
Also did you double check the title of the youngblood comic? The art style looked more like dooms 4 or cable. Though the series are so different it would be hard to mistake them for one another.;)
In all seriousness, loved the two parter. It was fun seeing insano again, and jerris seems like he could contribute a lot to later story lines. It would be cool if one of his enemies showed up and he needed linkara's help dealing with them.
One more quick comment Lewis, about Star Wars' more quirky aspects. The Force is basically a form of magic. There really is no tiptoeing around that fact, Midichlorians be damned. However that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Star Wars combined five different genres into a single galaxy spanning story: Westerns, Samurai epics, War Movies, Fantasy stories and Fairy Tales, and Pulp Science Fiction. George Lucas' major contribution to Star Wars was to take those genres and the theories of Joseph Campbell, and develop a compelling story around it. Was every decision he made a good one? Absolutely not. But he was not unresponsive to complaints from fans; Jar-Jar Binks had a reduced role in Episode II, and a non-speaking cameo in Episode III, because of fan backlash. Compare that to Gene Roddenberry's insistence on the franchise conforming to his vision no matter what, even if that resulted in the creation of the Ferengi of the first season of TNG. The Ferengi are just as offensive as the Gungans are, at least until DS9 allowed other creators to come up with Ferengi characters with more than one dimension.
For example, Quark may be a greedy, misogynistic coward, but he is also a patient bar tender who is willing to listen to his patrons, loves his mother, brother and nephew, is a loyal patriot to the Grand Nagus, and was personally bothered about his own cowardice. Quark grew as a character over the seven seasons of DS9, to the point where he helped Major Kira's resistance during the Dominion War, and led a squad of Ferengi to rescue his mom from Jem'Hadar. The reason Quark could develop like this is because the writers intended the Ferengi on the show to be three dimensional characters rather than a stereotype, and Armin Shimerman, Max Grodenchik and Aron Eisenberg breathed life into that vision. Lucas may not have intended for Jar-Jar and the Gungans to be offensive, but they were never anything more than flat characters and Ahmed Best isn't exactly Andy Serkis, if you know what I mean.
Finally, Jabba the Hutt was not afraid of being shot. Hutts are very resilient, able to regenerate from all but the most lethal wounds. They aren't immune to Blaster fire, but most of the scoundrels in Jabba's employ are slave races dedicated to the Hutts, or Bounty Hunters and Mercenaries who are on retainer. Killing your boss is a good way to mess up the payroll. Given his toughness and the loyalty of his thugs, it's no surprise Leia walked into his throne room carrying a thermal detonator. :)
Ok, I'm gonna sound like a complete asshole saying this, especially since the only episodes of the "Gunslinger" arc I've seen are…well…. this double feature and the ASBAR #5 episode, and I'm too lazy to go back and watch the rest (time is money), but…that's it? The gunslinger arc ends with "i'm not really a bad guy…all just a misunderstanding." That's an anticlimax. The "final duel" between Insano and Linkara was a much better blowoff. I mean, I was never crazy In love with Lewis's storylines, but at least he always managed to make them exciting (to the point where I think Doug and Rob should have let HIM write the anniversary specials. Not the he's that good, but Doug and Rob are that BAD at it).
Speaking of exciting, as much as I've come to hate Noah Antwiler the person lately, when I heard Dr. Insano's voice as the culprit behind Neutro I jumped off of my couch and went YES!!! I have been waiting many long years for the battle between Insano and Linkara ever since the original Mechakara series ended. Then I got the feeling that Insano was just phased out cos Spoony didn't want to do it anymore and the rather uninspired Linksano took his place, but thankfully I was proven wrong! and, well it was 80% worth the wait. The fight could have been a little longer and could have slightly higher stakes, plus you two aren't professional choreographers so the fight itself will never be the highlight of these things. Plus, wouldn't the gunslinger be a bit more pissed at Linkara, like nothing left to lose? Whatever, I'm just grateful I got something resembling a final battle.
The Star Wars comic would probably amount to 5 minutes in the movies since nothing happened in it.
Your Arc:
The blowing up the watch thing? Smooth move. That said, it was nice that you offered to help find a way to get him back home again.
Having to fight Insano instead of Jerris as the 'final fight' of this arc was an interesting twist, but I didn't think for a second that he'd be won over by that speech.
Nimue going bonkers... I can't help but think of that hypothetical situation you posed to her where she might decide to take over and the fact that I was a little leery about how easily she dismissed the idea at the time...
Oh yes, Star Trek is SOOO much better written then Star Wars, that's why the original series is considered stupid by many people, even several fans, The Next Generation didn't hit its stride until after it got rid of horribly written character Wesley Crusher. Sure, Deep Space Nine is good, but then we get Voyager and Enterprise, two series that were critically panned. And Enterprise had an episode focusing on the captain's freakin' dog in the sickbay! And let's not mention the movies, particularly Insurrection as you and Doug Walker made so evidently clear last year.
Oh sure, Star Wars is nowhere near perfect, and at times, yeah it can be stupid (just read Legacy of the Force, which screws up everything that came before it and has the biggest idiot plot I've ever read. I like to call it the Countdown and Ultimatum of Star Wars literature), but saying that Star Trek is better written is REALLY pushing it.
I'm not saying your opinion is wrong, I'm just saying its a real jackass thing to do and call Star Wars "Stupid" when Star Trek can be just as stupid. That's just plain bias.
I'm firmly a Star Wars lover, but I do enjoy Star Trek, but what is the point in comparing these two vastly different franchises? Especially when the people involved with it find such comparisons stupid? And what's the point in saying either is stupid when they both have their merits?
"I'm not saying your opinion is wrong, I'm just saying its a real jackass thing to do and call Star Wars "Stupid" when Star Trek can be just as stupid. That's just plain bias."
Soooo did you actually WATCH the part where I said this exact thing?
I loved these episodes man, they rock. While my personal favorite story line end is still the Entity, this is pretty high up there. I don't know where you found the actress to play Margaret, but so far she seems pretty awesome and I kind of hope I'll see her in other episodes. Bringing back Spoony was awesome and a little nostalgic for me, I love when Linkara fights Doctor Insano. I know Linkara is just for your reviews, and I know you make other comics, but hell I'd buy and read a comic which had Linkara and Insano do an all out fight! Great job do, and can't wait to see whats coming next!
\\//, Live long and Prosper \\//, May the Force be with you.
Both are the sayings of sexually repressed beings. Only one is a bit less racially biased about it.
Think about it.
Did you know the reason Jar Jar exists is because the Directors who George Lucas hired to work on Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi went and made it so C3P0 had some dignity. If he remained an annoying incompetent then George would have still kept using him that way but nope now that would be breaking character.
It's my experience, and indeed my personal opinion, that there's intense, perverse satisfaction to be had in doing something good based on something bad. The reverse is also true, but hardly as unique.
The fact of the matter is it's the height of pride to take something awful that someone did and then show them, up close and personal, that you could do it so much better. To take a game that was released buggy and unfinished and, as a free enterprise, create a superior product. To take a worthless movie, record yourself mocking it, and make massive money selling the result. Or, indeed, to take a janked, nonsense story or character and craft a much, much better version. Sort of the ultimate response to the old "Let's see you do better" defense. "Sure, let's see that. In fact, let's see what you would have made were you not a monkey with staplers for hands."
Honestly, I think I hate Star Trek: The Next Generation far more than I dislike the Star Wars prequel trilogy. The things the prequels did right were very, very good. I got to sympathize with the Sith and fall in love with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. I genuinely got invested in their relationship and in Obi-Wan's grief. Yoda's fight scenes were ridiculous but awesome.
TNG... Well, Riker's chin was cool! I love beards. I loved Worf! But seriously, 80's? You and your pretentious misunderstandings of what emotion is and how someone who genuinely does not grieve would feel are just plain evil. Also, Picard is a short, bald, unlikable, uncharismatic idiot of a captain. He has nothing making him a good character, and he is so arrogant it makes my head hurt. Also, he's a Communist. That really shouldn't bother me as much as it does, but it does.
The two franchises are both pretty awesome. Overall, I think I found something to love in every part of them. But I'm one of the few people who genuinely liked Jar Jar Binks as a character and felt sorry for him, and also one of the few who genuinely liked Deanna Troi as a character when she was off the bridge. They developed and grew and had an impact on the story. I am also one of the few who HATED the Jedi and the Borg. The Jedi were worse than Picard and the Borg were stupid. Look, Star Trek is The Odyssey in space. Stop missing that.
I'm curious to know why so many people like Picard. Does TNG really get a lot better during the fourth season? Am I missing something? Or is Worf just so awesome he makes all offenses forgivable?
As a reviewer, Lewis, you are indeed entitled to your opinion. However, the way you come across your point in the first ten minutes of your Star Wars video...I don't think it flies. I feel that it was a blatant shoutout to how suddenly Star Trek is above Star Wars in any way.
While wholly indifferent to both sides (and with only the original Star Wars Trilogy, the newer Star Trek movie, and yours and Doug's reviews under my belt), I have seen more action done with Star Wars. I don't see the "stupid" things in a series. I see what it's meant to be before anything else.
For Star Wars, I see an action-packed cinematic about space, a chosen one, his Dark Side father, a series of mentors, blasters, and futuristic weapons. I don't see C3P0 as a boon like everyone else does.
For Star Trek, I see a calmer approach to space travel, which is more like the Space Navy. Orders are carried out, day-to-day lives away from home intertwine on a ship, the first interracial kiss on TV is shown (kudos, Shatner), and pressing personal issues are brought up between civilizations.
Between these two franchises, I'm an action-oriented guy, so you'll probably see me liking Star Wars a bit more. But that's not to say that Star Trek sucks.
Each franchise was just meant to do a different thing. There's really no comparing the two anymore. Yes, they're in space. Yes, they fight aliens. Yes, there are dark creatures and inexplicable things. BUT THAT'S SCIENCE FICTION. Sometimes, people (GASP!) don't do enough research on a subject and just say whatever sounds gobbledygooky enough for people, to the point where it makes time travel look like a wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey mess. But enough about Doctor Who (which is also in its own field away from the two).
What's my point? My point is that it's horribly wrong to compare these two franchises in the first place. One was meant to keep audiences week after week, series after series. The other was an experiment by an experimental director developing multiple licenses all trying to keep true to someone's vision of the original. Ergo, series after series. Think of Star Trek and Star Wars as two separate parallel lines. Neither should intersect, and neither needs to.
In the end, neither is better. Saying one is better than the other is just a sick sense of self-inflation. Everything has its problems, as addressed by more instinct-driven fan stereotypes you tend to see in conventions and media. Is it bad? No. Could it be better? Hell yes. Could this slash against Star Wars have been handled better by you, the reviewer? I say so.
Well, since I'm being dismissed like a nobody, I feel I just have this to say, I actually enjoyed both reviews. They are very funny and very well written, and well acted.
Doesn't mean I have to agree with everything said, though.
I can explain why Chewie didn't get his medal. According to A New Hopes Novelization. Chewie was gonna get his medal around the same time that the other two were, but were hesitant out of fear of their arms being ripped off due to a misunderstanding. He got his medal off screen. A stupid mood since a proud warrior race like the wookies would have accepted it regardless, but I don't blame them. Though given Chewies characteristic, he would have just probably whined about it later on irritating his neck since he is fur all over.
I've been wondering...is it just a coincidence the Gunslinger's outfit looks like Yuber's from Suikoden 3, or is it an homage? It is one of those 'just really cool outfit' things.
I loved the continuity nods to To Boldly Flee. Was also glad you brought Insano in. It had been so long since Linkara confronted him that I was wondering if his interest in Linkara's lost magic was going to be brought up. But I guess I shouldn't have doubted you :)
The space fight scene was a lot of fun, and the reveal of the Gunslinger's backstory handled very well. I know some people still don't get why he didn't just ask for help but I get it. You gotta unlock a magic gun's power and the best way he knows how is to piss them off. When you get on someone's bad side like that, it's a lot harder to then ask for their help, easier just to steal their stuff. So yes, in the case of Linkara, he probably would have helped if the Gunslinger had just asked but how many others would do that?
Poor Nimue at the end there. Linkara's adventures really put her through the ringer, don't they? And now she might be going evil. Wonder how long it will take the gang to notice? Well, first you have to get some well deserved rest before taking up plot again. Us fans will just wait and throw theories about in the mean time :)
I have to applaud your efforts to get both episodes out on Monday. Truly, we would have been fine waiting but you persevered. Well done, sir! Hope it didn't tax you too much.
Can't wait to see what else you come up! Your videos promise to deliver a good time and they have always paid up! :D Thank you for the many laughs and thrills in this storyline, all past videos, and with what is to come. In other words, you rock, Linkara!
I loved this conclusion to the storyline. Actually, I've loved most of the recent ones. You make them twist just enough to throw at least me off the loop for a while (I'm usually pretty good at guessing twists and next lines that the characters will say, but you are one of those writers who surprise me). So the past of the Gunslinger was revealed, I was all "wow, this is good stuff!" and then Insano came in and I was like "OMG how I have waited for this!" (I have. Since Spoony left TGWTG I have been wishing for a video where you actually "show, don't tell" that you guys want to do videos together. I mean I took the "we can do videos together if we want to" and was happy enough, but wondered a bit if both of you wanted to.)
The bit with Spoony in the end was the most heartwarming thing ever for me. You guys just give me the impression that you can agree to disagree and understand each other well and that you have fun together.(I just start missing my best friend when I see you together.) I was also happy to know that you have ideas for future crossovers.
So thanks for the intelligent, fun to watch storyline and for the smile I will have on my face for the rest of the day. :) And of course the reviews too, even if I wasn't waiting for Youngblood to surprise us now by becoming good and on the nerd discussion of Star Trek vs Star Wars I stand firmly on the sidelines (Most fun I've had with either of the francises was the 2009 Star Trek film, but I suppose I'd be stoned if I ever said that to any self-respecting geek or nerd.)
Hmm... why was 90's kid down on Earth instead of on the ship...?
*wavy imagination lines*
Linkara: "NIMUE!! BEAM EVERYONE UP HERE NOW!! I DON'T CARE WHAT THEY'RE DOING!!!" *elsewhere on the ship, probably somewhere where the GUUUUNNNNSSSS are stored* *Blue teleport lines appear and 90's Kid appears. The water from the bath that went with him in the teleport sloshes across the deck. He still has his sunglasses and cap on regardless.* 90's Kid (as the Dark Heart figure in his left hand): "And now, Sunshine Bear! You are going to die!" 90's Kid (as the Sunshine Bear figure in his right hand): "No, Dark Heart! YOU will die! Ready everyone for a Care Bear Stare?!" *90's Kid looks around for other figurines, which are absent from his new location. He finds instead a Ninja Style Dancer, recoiling from him into a defensive dance move. 90's Kid stands and covers himself.* 90's Kid: "Dammit Nimue!! Bring me back down!! Let me finish my bath first!!" Nimue: "Confirmed." *90's Kid teleports away again* *Back on the bridge* Nimue: "Information: 90's Kid will need a moment before he can board." Linkara: "WHAT? WHY?!" Nimue: "Reassurance: Trust me on this one."
I'm also more of a Trekkie myself. I like the setting and stories more, and no matter what the reboot is doing (didn't really like the first movie, and the second one isn't looking any more promising), I'll always know that there will probably always be way more of the classic stuff around, unlike with Star Wars XD
And not everyone had to stand in line. Only the white rebels. The others probably had to continue their work. They truly are racist XD (Which is oddly weird seeing how the Extended Universe usually portrays the Empire as a bunch of fascists Oo)
And wow, talk about a showdown. And it seems like things might get a bit rough in the near future XD !
There is ONE thing I still don't get. I've read the comments and don't think you've answered it, so I hope you will: Why did Jerris not opt for the diplomatic approach? He was obviously trying to arm his resistance with the magic guns and needed some rage to unlock them, BUT (considering he has the knowledge to build dimensional anchors) wouldn't it be FAR more effective to try and enlist the current owners (who are already proficient with the specificities of the weapon) FIRST?
"I've been wondering...is it just a coincidence the Gunslinger's outfit looks like Yuber's from Suikoden 3, or is it an homage? It is one of those 'just really cool outfit' things."
It's not - Will designed the outfit to resemble it. ^_^
"There is ONE thing I still don't get. I've read the comments and don't think you've answered it, so I hope you will: Why did Jerris not opt for the diplomatic approach? He was obviously trying to arm his resistance with the magic guns and needed some rage to unlock them, BUT (considering he has the knowledge to build dimensional anchors) wouldn't it be FAR more effective to try and enlist the current owners (who are already proficient with the specificities of the weapon) FIRST?"
"Hi there, random stranger - I'm recruiting individuals to come help with my resistance movement in another dimension that could result in capture, torture, and death and the last people who I recruited all suffered and died just by BEING in another universe. I have knowledge of how to construct a dimensional anchor from my own universe without any guarantee that I can create one in THIS universe given how not only magic operates differently, it's probable that science works differently, too. If we fail, I've wasted valuable time trying to do this when it would be far easier and quicker to simply get you mad enough to unlock the gun and get it from you, which is much harder to do once I've already made friends with you."
A question that occurred to me... do all Magic Guns have people's spirits inside them, or is Margaret a special case?
Because if it's the former, the Gunslinger's plan to essentially force the guns to help him by getting them to full power has some very unpleasant implications...
"A question that occurred to me... do all Magic Guns have people's spirits inside them, or is Margaret a special case?"
They do not. I tried to illustrate that by the fact that the Gunslinger's magic gun is powered not by a dead girl, but by both his and his wife's souls together. As long as both are alive, the gun will keep working.
Wow, what an awesome end to such an epic storyline! When Darkthorn just ups and leaves with a last "Beware!", the only thing I could think of was the Box Ghost from Danny Phantom. XD
I never thought of it before, but Linkara and Insano have a lot in common. They both draw inspiration from fiction for their equipment, with Linkara using morphers and sonic screwdrivers while Insano uses Neutro and anti-magic fields (Though I assume Insano has to construct working replicas instead of enchanting toys. His obsession with science creates more work for him, it seems.)
They also both devote themselves to an ideal, but can't quite live up to it. Linkara is still quick to anger and revenge despite his heroic aspirations, while Insano proudly declares himself evil despite being too goofy to take seriously most of the time. (It was great to see him step his game up in this video and have a honest-to-goodness showdown.)
And now Insano is even stealing and improving his enemies' technology, just like Linkara with Vice's ship! He's making a grandiose speech about his accomplishments to show his resolve, just like Linkara!
He even has that one little difference that makes him always lose: He only uses SCIENCE, instead of blending magic with it like Linkara does.
What started as a joke turned into a perfect nemesis. Bravo!
Since Linkara mentioned them, the Star Wars games starring Kyle Katarn (which are also my favorite part of the Expanded Universe) were:
Dark Forces Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
The name for the series as a whole is up for debate; some called it the "Dark Forces" series, some the "Jedi Knight" series and still others the "Dark Forces/Jedi Knight" series. Even LucasArts can't make up its mind and waffles back and forth between the first two depending on who's writing what article/news piece about it.
If anyone interested, the Steam store has the entire series, which they titled the Jedi Knight Collection for $19.99. They're all FPS games, but don't let that turn you off from them. They're excellent puzzle/platformers as well as shooters. (And, to date, among the very few FOS games I will play, along with the "Star Trek: Elite Force" games).
I have a strong belief that there is no such thing as a bad character or concept only bad execution
And there certainly is a strong allure to take a concept that was done badly, and then show just how much potential it really had
For example, some time ago, me and my friends were thinking of a way to make Captain Planet done right Give more depth to the characters, make the issues less black and white, explore the social and political implications more in depth... the result was essentially a mix of Mononoke Hime and Avatar the Last Airbender, set in modern times, but that's beside the point
The point is, some people enjoy fixing a mess
on an unrelated note and awesome Batman fan-project! What if Bruce Wayne was just a really talented car-mechanic in the 1950s USA? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86wQt6r6Ei0
Also when I saw that Dr. Insano was out and about I nearly fainted. I was wondering how you were going to put some closure on Insano but this, dayum, and the fact that you actually made him a threat too.
Yeah star wars can be very stupid my biggest issue is the sheer incompetence of the empire their troops are idiots their fighters are pathetic they repeatedly have weaknesses on their expensive planet destroying super weapons and their biggest warship was destroyed by one kamikaze pilot.
I do find it silly that you compared star wars to star trek star wars Is a fairytale basically it’s like comparing snow white to the lord of the rings the later has a well explained and thought out mythology the former doesn’t This is not to say that that’s a bad thing.
Normally i'd give feedback and praise, but it seems 90% of your criticisms of Star Wars equally apply to Star Trek. I get they're not intended with malice but you're really going to complain about all the planets having breathable atmospheres after five series of Trek doing just that?
And the Jedi are religious zealots? You've not been listening to a hack called Karen Traviss have you.
I guess I should probably comment on the reviews themselves too. Sorry.
Well the rant at the start of Youngblood was pretty intense, but I assumed from a character point of view it was because Margret was stolen and sure enough that was the case.
And geez, five issues over the course of four or so years and THIS is the ending to the first arc? Really? The bad guy says "Uh yeah I could beat you now, but I won't cause... um its too easy. Yeah, bye! Beware!"
Christ, we spend all this time building up this bad guy and he just bolts like friggin jumps ship. You know, unless I'm making a comedic disney show where the bad guy is supposed to be all talk and no bite and his dragon does all the work for him... I don't expect this to happen in my comics. Or in villains who are supposed to be evil interdimensional tyrants.
Darkseid would mess this joker up is all I'm saying. Crush his head like an orange. Probably not even waste his omega beam on him.
The Star Wars comic is a major continuity snarl, as in where did Luke find the time to head back to Tatooine after a major space battle? Especially when they need to pack up and move to a new hideout? Also, I do sometimes wonder if R2 is smartass jerk who makes nasty comments behind people's backs. After all, he does it to C3PO all the time.
Maybe that's why he's back at the rebel base. He and 3PO drew straws and R2 totally cheated so he Goldie would get stuck in that planetwide sandpit again.
As for the storyline, I don't really have any complaints. Not the same as the other comments have brought up. I don't mind Linkara getting despondant over the misunderstanding because, well let's be honest, he did act first before questioning the Slinger's motives. I appreciate you trying to show that Linkara will make errors in judgement because let's face it, too many times having a character based on yourself can lead to a dangerous "Mary-Sue" pit where they do no longer. So I like that you keep your critic character grounded in reality by not making him perfect.
I will say that I kinda found some of Will's line readings in the vlog sections slightly lacking, but when look at real vlogs from a lot of folks they do kind sound like that. I guess I just think he needs to work on that a little, no big deal, acting isn't easy after all. He still did great though, for what was expected, just that one part is all. I don't want to discourage him is all, he's a cool guy and he does a good job as the character. I just felt the line reading a bit lacking in that one area.
Anyway, a good double feature and it was nice to see you finally talk about your opinion on Star Wars. Considering you're Trekkie, it's kinda inevitable you have to explain your opinion on Star Wars at some point. Just like its inevitable you have to pick your favourite Starship captain.
"Oh this would be an ultimate dick move. What if in the near future the Gunslinger's gun stops working. His wife just died.
Never on screen just a victim of her reality."
--
I fully expected that to happen in the middle of the fight with Insano, honestly; just have the 'Slinger's gun fail, he looks at it in horror, and breaks down. Insano begins gloating, and Linkara, knowing what that means, tears Insano a new one for it.
Then again, something to that effect may well happen in a future story, provided the 'Slinger doesn't go home for good, as was implied.
This is the first time I ever commented on your show, and excuse me, if my english sounds weird (german btw) I am a big fan of the show, watched all your episodes and I really like them for their storyline, because it is pretty creative. And in ways of plot and character-development, you are kinda good at thinking outside of the box. Kudos!
And furthermore, very often, you show vaild points with your critque and don't succumb to nitpicking. Now, enough with the praising (which you deserve!) but here is the real reason for my comment:
I got to say this to you: (don't know If anyone else did that so far but still...)
You keep making the same mistakes bad comicbooks you review make. That is failing to do "show, don't tell". I have not yet watched the Star Wars episode, but the reveal at the end of the Youngblood episode came totally out of nowhere and was all expositiony blabla. The thing with a good twist is, that - at least in my humble opinion - there have to be hints. If there were hints to the thing about the gunslinger being a good guy, they were too subtle and I have to watch older episodes again, but it really appeared to be totally out of nowhere.
It felt like the ending to the 1976 whodunit satire "Murder by death". At the end about crucial people that have not appeared yet and withheld information to the audience appear now, in order to give a big twist, no one has ever thought possible and whatnot.
It feels like, you are doing this more and more often with storylines getting more and more complex. It feels like you chicken out. Consider the missingno Storyline for a sec. You introduced the poem quite early and the reveal at the end with 90s kid being the entity did not come out of nowhere. The audience was able to understand the plot and the way the world of your show works is explained better. It works quite good!
but with the reasons as to why it is imposible for someone to enter a certain dimension (considering that the term dimension is widely used in a wrong sense, but I digress) because they die then or get absorbed and so on... It was technobabble and rules to dimensionhopping that never turned up on your show upto that point. It feels out of place and has to be set up better. Have Linksano talk about the difficulties of dimensionhopping beforehand, or have Linkara have difficulties with dimensionhopping. So far no one ever had problems with interdimensionary traveling.
I'm not sure if I was just rambling and it sounds like "Your show sucks blablabla the older episodes were better blablabla I no speaking english very good blablabla", but since you keep telling that you read EVERY comment, I hope that you can understand my criticism and find ways to make less flawed storylines.
also, when are you going to review lamps again?! Gosh, I'm waiting for some good IKEA episodes for ages! They yearn to be reviewed!
You know I just realized something, some of your villains seem Batmanish, gives me the oppritunity to unleash the following Joke knock off of itsjustsomerandomguy:
"Vyce, let me help you." "Linksano, let me help you." "Jerris, let me help you." "Insano." *PUNCH*
"but with the reasons as to why it is imposible for someone to enter a certain dimension (considering that the term dimension is widely used in a wrong sense, but I digress) because they die then or get absorbed and so on... It was technobabble and rules to dimensionhopping that never turned up on your show upto that point. It feels out of place and has to be set up better. Have Linksano talk about the difficulties of dimensionhopping beforehand, or have Linkara have difficulties with dimensionhopping. So far no one ever had problems with interdimensionary traveling."
Aaaactually I DID bring them up before. ^_~ Back in the Vyce arc, the reason he ran away when his suit was damaged was because he was afraid of dying before killing the Entity and the suit protected him from different universes, some of which he just couldn't enter altogether, hence the need to act through agents like the Vohrsoth.
Admittedly, it was two years ago, but this is just building on something I had established earlier on.
Awesome double feature, which is a nice treat since it is my birthday today. The whole issue with the jedi not allowed to love never made much since especially after the prequels set up the fact that jedi are recruited almost after birth. If they joined as teenagers or young adults and had a better understanding of the sacrifice, that would be one thing. However, to take them after birth and basically force this lifestyle on them, I can see how some of them rebelled. If anikan was allowed to be with padme, then he could have went to the jedi for help instead of having the emperor take advantage of his despairation. It's easy to see why Luke got rid of that rule when establishing the new order.
That rant at the beginning about Rob Liefeld is probably the worst thing I have ever seen you do. Yes, you hate Liefeld and think he's a hack, WE GET IT! That doesn't mean you have to give us a three-minute rant about a guy you hate in the screechiest voice you could manage.
It did feel that you were insulted people who dared to enjoy his work. Insulting people who like something is a pet peeve of mine. Just because you apoogized for it (kinda) doesn't mean it was good to include it.
For what it's worth, only encountered one fan of Liefeld's work. Well, I use the term "fan" lightly, as the guy knows Liefeld's a bad artist but just wanted to explain why people like him liked it (Liefeld's stuff was seen as vibrant and a breath of fresh air, compared to the "boring" standard used previously).
Youngblood review: Pretty much what I expected. Shallow, devoid of entertainment and dark and edgy just for the sake of it. In other words, the worst parts of the 90s. BTW, by proactive superheroes, you mean like what was proposed in Cry for Justice even though by definition stopping crimes means some illegal activity has to occur in the first place? God, my head hurts.
Star Wars review: I never thought you would review a SW comic given how dispassionate you are about it. That said, this comic really seems dull but I prefer the Dark Horse ones mostly for the ideas and artwork. BTW, I think I know which SW issue you considered reviewing. Didn't it have something to do with a poem or star or some nonsense? I love SW to death. I even enjoy the prequels, flawed, stiltedly-written, and effects dependent they are.
The Storyline: This was different but good different for the most part. I kinda had a feeling that the Gunslinger would turn out to be at heart a good person who was using extreme/questionable methods to accomplish his goal. I also like that even though Linkara made a rash error, he tried to do right by the Gunslinger and help him. As ambivalent as I have been about Linkara's supposed "evil", I like this example of character growth. It was somewhat difficult to absorb all of the Gunslinger's backstory because it was just so MUCH for a character that up until now we had little emotional connection to. But that's minor quibble. Another minor quibble is the science. I am not one of those people who really reads too much into the science of things (not surprising, I know) but it was A LOT to absorb. Lastly, you made good use of Insano even though I never particularly cared for him as a villain and it was a bit out of left-field though at least you tied up that malignant plot tumor from last year. It was also good to see that you and Noah are still friends. I hope you two can have another crossover in the future.
The ending: I am HYPED! NIMUE has really been screwing up the past year. I think she needs more than a tune-up. Plus, am I the only one who found her "evil" voice inflection kinda hot? Ok, TMI. Sorry. Keep up the good work, Lewis. And congratulations for getting both episodes out on Monday!
I really enjoyed this one. You clearly put some effort into arc endings, although my favorite is still "the entity" story ending. A few things.
1. I couldn't help but notice the similarities between this Youngblood cover and the cover of Pitt #1. In both cases, its basically an attempt to cram as much bizarre-looking face into a comic cover as possible.
2. I kind of agree with you about Star Wars, although I think there are things it does right. It seems more realistic to have the villains basically in charge. Still, the military atmosphere and discipline of the good guys in Star Trek is utterly lacking in Star Wars, and as you said, the writing is generally better. I think each has something the other lacks.
3. On the subject of the ending of the story arc, I think this one reminded me of your very first Mechakara arc; the bad guy makes some early attempts and only reveals his real plan and motives at the very end of the arc, when the fight begins. The final battle was reminiscent of that fight too, I thought, except without as many alternate-persona, backup fighters.
Oddly, even after all that, the character who the gunslinger most reminds me of is Vyce. Each comes from another world, and has been gathering power by illicit means in the hopes of overcoming a more powerful evil force. The main difference, as I see it, being that the gunslinger still seems like he might turn things around.
The gunslinger, to me, was definitely a bad guy. He went around committing theft/kidnapping, and a hero that does not make, regardless of what cause he may cite to try to justify it. Still, the great thing about being human is that we all have the chance to change our ways when we go wrong, and this is where I see potential in the gunslinger that wasn't present in Vyce. I hope we'll see more of him in the future.
I just realized... The title cards were MEANT to be thaat way. The Youngblood titlecard has the Star Wars characters in Youngblood positions, and then the Star Wars title card is vice versa.
You know, I'll be honest. I've never really shared you're (what you have now made evident) seething hatred of liefeld. Sure, the guy it completely talentless and all his stories are incredibly boring, and none of his "characters" (and I use that term loosely) you've talked about so far have been anywhere near close good, but I'm just amazed that he was able to create so many of them. It's like he's a designer of Action 52, or something. Don't get me wrong. Youngblood sucks on toast, but I would gladly take it over ASBAR any day. At least Youngblood doesn't have a 70+ year legacy to fuck up.
Getting away from that, great review(s)! And awesome twist in the storyline. I'll be interested to see where it goes from here!
REALLY great seeing Insano again. He's always been my favorite Linkara villain--heck, my favorite recurring character period. I hope you and Spoony continue to work together from time to time.
The reviews were also good, but I wasn't crazy about some of the storyline aspects. I know the whole "copyright" issue is still an important one, but I feel like it's been done, at this point... seeing it brought up as part of the plot made me groan. And I thought that Linkara was unrealistically hard on himself in regards to how he treated the gunslinger--maybe they did have a lot in common, but the Gunslinger had been UNAPOLOGETICALLY antagonistic for the entire story arc. He owed Linkara an apology, not the other way around.
Honestly, even if Holo-kara doesn't appear again, I think that it's an interesting plot point that Jarris took him, as it's a logical and in-character move. Holo-kara could potentially use the magic gun as well as Linkara could (better than Jarris could anyways), and as he's a hologram, he'd be less likely to be affected by the differing realities. Seeing as Holo-kara was gungho about taking out those who would abuse fictional characters, then he'd potentially be an ally in the fight against those who would censor said characters, which is arguably worse as it prevents the character from coming out at all. Even if Holo-kara wasn't viable, Jarris could potentially reverse engineer the technology in some manner and give himself an advantage. Really, like he said, one man's junk is another man's treasure. I wonder if Jarris made other acquisitions like this in other realities...really, a great chevoks gun if nothing else. It also leaves room for future appearances. ;-)
Also, I like the rules you've set up regarding different realities in this series of yours. It covers many a hole that other pieces of fiction have regarding the subject, and it makes a mark of sense too (plus, ya know, adds to the characters). You have a good sense of world building, which is impressive considering that this is also about other realities. The note on how Star Wars features many planets that feature only one ecosystem yet remain stable for civilization is another gold moment.
Also also, I think I recognise the prop you used for Jarris' protection device; it's the Master's Pocketwatch, something the clasp at the end gave away. I have one from my grandma, and it's a pretty little thing. Doesn't feel that smooth, but, hey, it's an actual clock. Wonder if the chain itself was part of the device...
Also (x3 combo, apologies for repetition), I do like how you put aside your dislike for Liefeld to look at the story objectively; while I'm sure that a lot of the dislike you put into the show is genuine (it sure sounded like you were getting wound up) it shows that you're not someone who's shaped solely by their dislikes, and are able to think on it logically. It gives credence to your argument, and pulls you back from what strawman-impression you may give off to others just coming in off this video.
really, an enjoyable experience all the way around. Thanks for working so hard dude; I hope that these next reviews give you some time to relax a bit.
Great seeing Dr. Insano again. With Noah leaving channel awesome I thought we wouldn't see that plot point with Insano amount to anything. How the plot was set up seemed to make reviewing a Star Wars comic out of nowhere, but whatever. And I didn't think editing was bad. So, either Nimue is evil, or Mechakara is back.
Coming in relatively late with a comment so I'll try not to repeat too much of what others have said, except for this one thing - Awesome finish to the storyline!! I'm not going to say it was perfect, only that I liked it so much that the negatives aren't even worth mentioning.
Favorite scene - The scene in the house-ship (this spaceship design trend is catching on!), with Pollo and Sierra's hilarious bickering, and grappling for the gravity controls, while the Gunslinger and Linkara alternately fight and get thrown all over the room (having the guns scatter everywhere was a nice touch, too). Drama, tension, comedy, and unexpected pickpocketing-during-a-fight skills.
Most nail-biting moment/unintentional mood whiplash – destroying the watch. I've always liked the Gunslinger and believed he wasn't motivated by evil, but for some reason I also had this horrible idea that he would die in the finale... so when Linkara nuked the watch, I was like, oh, hell, no, this is it *horror*... and then Pollo goes “Linkara, you IDIOT!”, and I almost fell over laughing. I don't remember ever hearing him express emotion like that before.
But, oh, boy, Linkara, did you ever mess up this time! So, you were angry past listening to the Gunslinger, but the fact that Pollo was telling you wait should have been a hint... If you want your friends to keep you from doing evil, you've got to listen to them!
So, the Gunslinger/Jerris/Jaeris was an internet reviewer with access to magic and tech stuff... *shrugs* sounds plausible. Really got me when he talked about the nine dying - all the more moving to see him look so broken when the character had came off really over-confident all the way through. I get why he did things the way he did, it was the least damaging way he could do it, if he wanted any hope of saving his world - better someone lose their temper, and their gun, than they lose their life. Also good to know not all the magic guns are powered by someone's death, it makes it a lot less dark.
Gunslinger drinking and looking miserable. I'm still like, oh, yeah, he's gonna die...
Best setup – the slow reveal with Insano. First it looked like Spoony had just filmed in front of a green screen somewhere, then he and Linkara actually fight hand-on-hand... then they're in the apartment and... wow! Very well done, guys, keeping that under wraps. Loved Insano's part, especially his reaction to the Gunslinger's arrival. I figured there'd be a payoff to that earlier Insano appearance, but I was only expecting a little cameo or something. This raises questions. Hope you eventually do that behind-the-scenes thing you mentioned.
Emotional high point of the piece - Linkara offering Jerris the gun. And then I get one thing I've wanted to see but never really expected I would – Linkara and the Gunslinger fighting together on the same side. Also liked that Jerris didn't accept Linkara's handshake, he wasn't ready to let him off the hook, and that was realistic. Giving him back the dagger was hopeful, without being so perfect that it negated the impact of what Linkara has done. Also. took until this point to finally satisfy me that Jerris wasn't going to die. I really hope we see more of him in the future.
Lastly, great to see Margaret's physical form again. Nice that she confirmed that she can change her appearance at will, it addresses some of the criticisms of her first appearance – the fact that she looks different to the original pictures, and also the thing about why would uncaring parents bother with braces and glasses? Well, if braces and glasses are signs that one has caring parents, then its so sadly understandable that Margaret would chose a form with them. Unintentional, I know, the actress just happens to have them... but that's what I got out of it :)
Congratulations and very well done... and thanks for all the work you put into these stories, they just get better all the time, both in the writing and in the execution.
Wow, I never realized how huge Will's eyes are. oO
The reviews are great, as usual. I'm much more a Trekkie (Trekker? idek), since I'll happily watch TOS ad nauseum whereas never much sought out Wars viewings, but I enjoy the first trilogy anyhow. The whole rivalry thing never really made sense to me. -shrug- Then again, I grew up with B5 much more than either Trek or Wars. Back on topic, though, your review was certainly fair, and it wasn't a terrible story were it not for the awful 3D effect.
On the storyline: INSANO! SQUEE! SPOONY! SQUEE! :D
-cough-
Maybe this is a stupid and obvious thing to say, but I like how even after the last arc about not turning evil, the Linkara character is still imperfect. You could have easily written him stopping to listen to Pollo or even Jarris before destroying the watch, but instead, driven by (completely understandable at the time) rage, Linkara does something impulsive (and kind of petty, since, other than Jarris' concern, he had no way of knowing the true import of the watch) and has to deal with the consequences.
Going to weigh in as another person not terribly sympathetic to the Gunslinger. He makes sense, but he still sorta brought this whole thing on himself.
The one thing I'm shaky on is the whole direct-parallel evil-government-silencing-reviewers thing. I understand it's a big issue right now and it makes sense to use it as a point of conflict, it just... I dunno, maybe it felt too soon after the big hoorah of TBF, especially since you kept calling back *to* TBF? Or too convenient that Jarris just happens to have also been an internet reviewer in his home dimension? I feel like the parallel should have been obscured just a little, even if just with some magibabble alternate-universe 'totally not the internet' thing, but maybe that's just me.
I personally thought that "The Force Unleashed" was the best piece of expanded universe and would have made a far better prequel than the official ones we got. It just goes to show what happens when you don't let George Lucas lead your Star Wars story and why I have hope for Episode 7.
It was awesome to see you working with Spoony again and that he travelled all the way to your house for this finale. You two have a great on-screen buddy thing going on.
I'm probably in the minority here, but I like Trek and Wars equally. I grew up with both, and I think both have merit. While yes, Trek often has better writing, TV often does. However, Star Wars has the better video games, especially Knights of the Old Republic. And some stories that are really good can only be told in one of those universes. But that's okay, because an equally good story can come from the other. And hey, if George Takei wants Star Peace, shouldn't we listen to him?
I was hoping that you made a minor modification to the theme song intro for the first part, since you didn't have your gun there. I thought it would have been a nice touch to alter that sequence of you suiting up to review/kick ass without including the gun. It seems like one of those little things that you would have thought of. But I guess it's entirely possible that you did consider the option, and you just chose not to do it, so you could get the video out on time.
The only complaint I have about the videos is one I've had for a while. I think you should try to speed your fight scenes up a little bit. Your choreography is pretty damn good for someone who is just having some fun with friends at home. But the one problem is the speed. There are times that I can tell you or another actor is holding in an action, waiting for a reaction from your opponent.
I know you're probably taking it as slow as you can so you guys don't hurt yourself or each other. However I think that if you sped up the footage just a little bit in post production, it would go a long way to covering the pauses and hesitations, and make the fight scenes a little more stream-lined and believable.
Are you ever going to have anything Yugioh related happen? I'm not sure how it could be pulled off, but I'd love to see some kind of shadow game. Hmm, considering you're a comic book reviewer... do you use HEROES? :)
Great job as always with a great storyline but I notice a few people are referring to the change to Nimie as being Hal while I am reminded that you are a Star Trek fan and despite everything Voyager is a star trek series which featured Dreadnaught an AI controlled weapon. So this is either the original Ship AI taking over again or something else.
Also it seems now that the ship is having trouble the only way now for Linkara and the Gunslinger to cross the boundaries of space and time "safely" is via reviewing a Warrior comic with Spoony.... However is there any left that powerful enough to break dimensional barrier again? and can they keep their sanity....
"I tried to illustrate that by the fact that the Gunslinger's magic gun is powered not by a dead girl, but by both his and his wife's souls together. As long as both are alive, the gun will keep working."
HA! About time Nimue went evil. I know you as a creator knew the implications of naming the AI Nimue, but Linkara the character really should have known better. Especially if Camelot is his favorite musical. Great acting from everyone involved, and I really like the direction in which you took Jariss' (sp?) character. Bravo!
That was an awesome finale. I'm actually glad to see Dr. Insano (and Spoony) after To Boldly Flee and especially after that whole mess that led to his departure from Channel Awesome. Insano hijacking Neutro and fighting Linkara may be the most awesome thing since Kickassia.
Why does Liefeld keep working in comics? We all know he sucks. Every February, we get a reminder of how bad he is with a beatdown of Youngblood. This guy is the representation of everything that is wrong with the 90s and the Dark Age of Comics.
Star Wars 3-D doesn't appear to be that bad, though the fact that it was designed for 3-D glasses did not help. Still, I would rather see Star Wars 3-D comics than the horrors of the Star Wars Holiday Special!!!!
After learning the origins of the Gunslinger (Jaeris), I can see why you chose Star Wars. The franchise influenced To Boldly Flee, along with SOPA. The Gunslinger's origin story (a universe where SOPA is passed and created a totalitarian government) mirrors Star Wars's theme of a resistance army vs. evil empire. And don't get me started on Linkara's quest and the Holo-kara.
It's a shame we didn't actually get to see the holo-emitter used in the final fight (presumably by Sierra, I think), though it may come up again in future storylines, along with Jaeris.
This is a bad sign for everyone. I have this feeling that Lord Vyce may be involved with Nimue's malfunction.
Speaking of resistance army vs. evil empire, what is your opinion on the upcoming video game, Injustice: Gods Among Us?
Great...Nimue's gone rampant. This ought to be fun. Of course, "fun" may vary on whether her rampancy ends in SHODAN style (antagonistic delusions of Godhood and attempted organic genocide) or Durandal style (Meta-stable, delusions of Godhood, but a whole helluva lot more benevolent).
Overall, a nice ending to the storyline. Even if I did guess part of the twist from a ways off, I still enjoyed it.
Wait you actually watched first two seasons? I love TNG and even I can't sit through that pile of shit.
Seriously, the series gets MUCH better later on. Picard wents through a lot of character development after The Best of Both Worlds and after seeing his brother and father, I really can't blame him for being such a jackass.
Was that 'Mars, God of War' you played? (You don't seem to credit out-of-copyright music as much... or I just didn't notice.)
I was confused about the song 'Young Blood' until I saw the credits. I've got the Coasters' original, but not the Beatles' cover, and I could tell it wasn't the Coasters.
It was actually pretty easy to follow along the 3D with my glasses on. All I had to do was look at the comic... which I have. I bought #1 and #3 years ago (but not #2 for some reason). Y'know what? Another criticism: I couldn't remember a thing about it, apart from the fact I owned it. Memorable much? (I thought the story, though, was a 3D'd up reprint of an earlier story. Could be wrong.)
Cat C: I can't answer your question, but that's a lab coat, not a trench coat.
Also, it's a bit rich for the Gunslinger to work very hard at making Linkara angry, and be so petulent about Linkara acting like an angry person.
Oh, and whether Hutts can be killed by blasters or not... You realise that real life gangsters can command respect and gather armies of people while they can be killed by guns, right? It just seems like that one was a bit of a stretch in trying to make Star Wars look silly.
Also, if Star Wars (or Star Trek) is silly, sign me up for the silly party.
Just a random note about Arm Rings. Not to say it's a good design decision for costumes, as I don't believe it is... but those rings could potentially have a use.
Horizontal stripes can actually give the illusion of something being shorter and wider than is acutally the case, while vertical stripes do the opposite and create an illusion of looking slimmer and longer.
In the above case, it is used in reference to how fat they make you look, but it was indeed a fairly science-y affair, as it won an award for BBC's Amateur Scientist of the Year.
I've also seen the concept used in an animated medium before, that being the anime and manga series Rurouni Kenshin. One of the fighters, Han'nya, actually uses arm stripes as a technique to trick his opponents and make his punches difficult to dodge.
I must reiterate that I highly doubt that Liefeld thought of it that way, and I'd bet he simply used them because they "looked cool". It could, however be useful for a primarily melee fighter to make their arms look shorter and wider by using rings instead of solid gloves, thus potentially tricking opponennts into dodging later and wider than needed.
I'm kind of surprised you still had your voice after your Liefeld rant.
Oh my god...INSANO! Awesome, different shirt that usual, isn't it?
Not only did Insano have time to steal Neutro, he had time to install a new control stick and get it washed! Unless keeping Neutro shiny was also part of Nimue's duties...that might have been the protocol that broke the AI's programming.
So Insano's looking for some sort of solution to the air in the zone he's in...some sort of AirZone Solution.
Out of curiosity, what's the book behind the Pokeball (Pyramidhead's Pokeball?) that your Seventh Doctor umbrella's on top of? And for that matter what's the book beside Bear and behind the Cybermat?
Huh, actually when you get down to it Star Wars does seem silly. Upon reflection I think I enjoy the Expanded Universe of it more than the movies. Clone Wars has had some great arcs lately (especially the Robot commandos one) and Timothy Zahn's Thawn triology is among the best books I've read, I think you'd like Thrawn.
Actually the secret of the Force is the fact that its bipolar.
You mean the Force ghosts of Life Day...yeah never mind its stupid. Correct me if I'm wrong but are the story bits of these episodes the longest we've had? Star Trek style display screens in Neutro...awesome.
*Gasp* You incourage underage Cybermat drinking?
Holy crap...this was awesome! You and Spoony in the same room at the same time! And it wasn't a hotel room!
I'm guessing that time prevented a moment with the Ninja-Style Dancer but what was Boffo up to?
Anyway, great job Linkara, every major arc finale feels bigger than the last one. I think you've definitely deserved a break from story based episodes.
what if someone was born outside of normal dimensions? born in the rift the connects the dimensions. would that mean they would be able to enter any dimension they wanted without fear of this star trek esque technobabble? because, as extra dimensional beings, one would only partially adapt to a dimension, enough to exist there without harm yet not be rejected or unable to itnereact with the world.
one would also think that the magic of the guns might be able to ease the transition, as magic is something beyond mere dimensional barrier..... also makes me ask if you think if you have mind control how can you lose, if you have magic how can a guy with Science beat you? if you think about it, it really would not take much to destroy the likes of Neutro. just needs a small amount of energy, where neutro's energy reactor is, and a reaction inside of it to cause a meltdown or at least irreparrably damage him from within. even if it is protected by a force field, the force field is also a target of manipulation.
.....did the gun slinger ever think about also seeking the help of other kinds of magic users? i am pretty sure there are different varieties of magical devices and instruments outside of guns, maybe in fact better than them. the gns would mean the use of a newer, younger magic than more ancient magic that a sword or staff would have. .........actually linkara, here is a question. is it possible that the empowerment magic that your character uses to make his stuff real could be used on non science ficiton items? for example, if you got your hands on a replica of the Master Sword of legend of zelda, could the magic be used to make the sword a real sword with the characteristics of the master sword? the sword that is imbued with the power to slay evil in all of its forms? ....another, maybe simpler, example would be the Claymore sword. claymore, as you probably know, is a series about half demons who fight full blooded demons, but the factors behind it kinda get complicated, conspiracy stuff and stuff (has an odd pace to it at times, but ultiamtely things begin to make sense). in the series are the titular claymores, swords made of an unknown metal that is super durable, seemingly indestructible even as the blades can withstand the force of superhuman shapeshifting demons without harm. could the magic be used to imbue a replica of a claymore sword with the same seemingly indestructible qualities?
hmmmmm.... About the force, it really depends on what one perceives it as. in star wars the force is a kind of reality field that itnerconnects verything. it is mostly mystical strangely enough, and in some case can work a lot more like magic than some kind of psychic power. the Night Sisters are a cult of, quite literally, witches who use the force in a very different way than a jedi or sith. manifesting through green mist, they use chants and rituals to manipulate the force to do theri will. it is in fact an incredibly powerful and effective variation. it can heal someone at the edge of death, enhance a relatively small man into a seven foot tall berserker, and can even alter matter and raise the dead.
there is apparrently some god liek will to the force, but what luke did seems to be a different variation. he used the force to vaguely identify a man who was a farmer before and, perhaps, wanted to be a farmer again. it is possible he became a spice trader (drug trader, lets be honest), becuase he had lost what he had before, and wanted to return ot that life. through the connections of the force, Luke detected this.
and that is why the force is powerful. it is not only something you can choke people to death with or shoot lightning, but you can use it to sesne the connectiosn between the billions fo life forms and bring you to where you need to go. however whether or not the force itself is sapient in a sense tht we understand is as complicated as trying to prove or disprove god.
and for all the flaws of the prequels, emotional trauma like what padme went thorugh, along with giving birth, isn ot so out there. the trauma of child birth and her under incomprehensible physcological stress could have had it that her body could not survive the process. it actually CAN happen in the real world.
and as linksano once said, the path to hell is often paved with good intentions. ....and the death star is obviously a comparison to nuclear weapons. weapons we threaten to use but do not want to use. blow up a planet, and a hundred others will bow to your will.
I liked these episodes an awful lot, from the very beginning when Linkara's fury just about ignited the screen. (And, hey, good choice of a review for a day when he was in no mood to be nice about it.) The performances were pretty good, and there were some great action sequences--I particularly liked the way the effects came out on the "oops, I have disrupted the gravity" fight scene. Which reminds me, Pollo and Sierra were awesome--blueberry, heh.
The Gunslinger's backstory makes total sense, it's sad, and it opens up a lot of future plot. (I did roll my eyes a little at his being an internet reviewer, but the story moved on from there fairly quickly.) I don't feel he was horribly wronged by Linkara, given what he was doing and what Linkara knew--even given his side of the story, his defense is that he's justified in committing assault and theft, and of course Linkara didn't have his side of the story. But I can't really expect the Gunslinger to take such an awful loss rationally, and if anything it speaks well of Linkara that his response is "Oh my god what did I do?!" rather than "well, he had it coming." (And Linkara shouldn't have done it in the first place, not when he didn't know what he was doing and his enemy was practically begging him on his knees not to and also Pollo was telling him to stop. That was a fail, no argument.)
And Insano! Insano with a giant robot! Insano with the power gauntlets that he would logically have gotten in To Boldly Flee. Insano cackling hysterically and being immune to rational negotiation because he's going to RULE THE WORLD! ...I was pretty happy with the Insano appearance. Plus the dual temptation of Jaeris, Margaret's brief appearance, and the awesome three-way fight scene--all excellent.
...all of that said, however, I flinched really badly when Linkara offered to give Jaeris the magic gun. How does Margaret, previously referred to as Linkara's partner and friend, feel about him trying to hand her over to a stranger?
Ah, so nice to see a satisfying resolution to a good storyline. Kudos, Mr. Lovhaug. ^^
In particular, I quite like the opening to the Youngblood #5 review. It's quite nice to hear all that presented intelligently, Linkara's histrionics aside. And even nicer to have a critic who doesn't consider their opinion to be a test of intelligence or taste.
I must admit, at this stage of your look into Rob Liefeld's series of incredibly lucky breaks that constitute his career, I can't really hate him that much. I try not to hate creators personally--unless they're Gary Brodsky, or Rick Olmey, or Pat Lee, etc.--and with Rob, I just get the feeling that he really is trying, but his fame has long since eclipsed his own talent. If anything, he's guilty of not realizing his own limits. That's what an editor is for, after all. (Take notes, DC Comics.)
Of course, a friend of mine came up with a theory as to why there are people who like Rob as a creator and not just as a person.
He draws exactly like a teenage boy. Not to mention writes like one, too. In that way, I guess he serves as the 90s equivalent of Kevin Smith: the common fan who rose to prominence and went on to be the industry's most popular creator.
Then again, Darkthorn... Speaking as a writer, I'm pretty sure I could knock out a better script over my lunch hour. It's simple: "Darkthorn blasts Diehard away with his super-mega-laser-eyes! Then Psyfire fries Darkthorn's brain because he's stronger than fifty Jean Greys!"
Just once, I wish some of these writers would follow the Jojo's Bizarre Adventure style of villain design. A villain who's just powerful, or who kills a bunch of civillians or established heroes isn't a good villain. If they're going to lose, give them powers that make for a unique challenge.
But oh well. Thank goodness Rob at least has the clout to rope in creators with more talent than he does nowadays. And Jeph Loeb, I guess.
Tangent done. Great episode, noneltheless. And speaking as a Star Wars fan, thanks for getting around to it!
Hey, Linkara! You should really look at the DC comic called: "Batman: Rules of Engagment". That Comic Really Sux! And if you too, find that this comic sux I would be pleased to donate the comic too you, and you review it? Would that be ok?
I'm a little late to the dance comment-wise. But this was one helluva double-feature. I like how things actually ended. Not only was it fun to see an old rivalry re-emerge (short as it was), but with the overall story not quite resolved it just gets my brain churning on what's coming up. Good job old bean.
You know with Nimue's recent malfunction, that reminded me: Marvel did a "2001: A Space Odyssey" adaptation with Jack Kirby...sort of wonder if that will be how this is resolved. (introduced X-51 the Machine Man even)
[[SPOILERS]] I think I figured out why Nimue is turning evil. If you remember her introductory episode, you know the one where Iron Liz crossed over into the mirror universe, you recall that Nimue was uploaded to Comicron-1 during an ion storm, the same ion storm that caused Iron Liz to cross over. My theory is that a large chunk of Mirror-Nimue crossed over from the mirror universe and became a part of Prime-Nimue's programming, a AI equivalent to a split personality if you will. It was Mirror-Nimue's atempts to slowly gain control of Comicron-1 that resulted in the malfunctions throughout the past few months. And when Prime-Nimue attempted a self-diagnostic, Mirror-Nimue realised that she will be discovered and took complete control, possibly aided by the fact that prime-Nimue has been overtaxed by Linkara to the point where it was easy for Mirror-Nimue to take over. One piece of evidence to my theory is that when Holo-kara tried to destroy Marvel Entertainment, Prime-Nimue didn't try to stop him, she didn't even seem to realise that what he was doing was wrong until Linkara pointed it out, almost as if her morality and ethical programming was degrading, programming that Mirror-Nimue probably wouldn't have i.e. Mirror-Nimue influencing Prime-Nimue much like how split personalities influence individuals all throughout fiction.
Great review, Linkara! Though, I must say I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum. I like Star Trek, but I LOVE Star Wars! It's just more fun to me, but you were spot-on when comparing it to superheroes.
As far as the Force is concerend I believe it's not the same as a 'god', and more of semi-sentience, kind of like Neutro. It all depends on how you use it, therefore people can (And do) abuse it. I may be wrong, but that's my belief on it.
Anyway, if you're thinking of doing another Star Wars comic and you need to do some research, I strongly suggest Wookiepedia, it has EVERYTHING you need.
I see some Dr.Who revival influence in the redhead in Javis/Gunslinger's flashback and I was right to call the gunslinger a tall and "evil" Edward Elric from FMA. It's the pocket watch that's dear to him (for different reasons) and a loved one who's soul is trapped into a inanimate object and Insano's comment just seals it. By the way, it's good to see Spoony' agian. Okay, I'm curious at what Youngblood is like without Liefield's drawing style. I'll .I'm leaving the topic of discussing that crap comic to everyone else. Yeesh was that double Liefield comic was bad and the Star Wars was just eh in my opinion. I enjoyed the conclusion to the Gunslinger arc. He makes a good ally at the moment than friend. Uh Oh, I really don't like the evil makeover on Nimue. I'm not looking forward to a possible Nimue 9000 story arc. Because Linkara already has a robotic nemesis. I'll say this, If Nimue was human than Psychologically and physically she would be stressed out and be like all REDRUM at the moment. That or else someone else is causing that temporary evil make over We the audience just say right now. I'll wait till We see what else is happening next in the story line
Another well executed review, and I thank you SOOOOO much for the great rant on why Liefeld shouldn't have a job.
Took me a bit to actually get this comment in due to some personal issues.
I hope you rested well after this amazingly done double-feature and I look forward to the next part of your storyline.
Fun addition:
Apparently Liefeld's too lazy to do his own writing, he's asking his fanbase (yeah, I'm shocked he has one too) to actually write FOR HIM and apparently he'll use his "talent" (more like serious lack thereof) to "draw" (I think to him this is a synonym for "defecate") the scene that's pitched.
Heh, just want to comment that in your review for what's wrong with Identity Crisis you had a problem with adding dark backstory for no reason. And used the Miller time watch as an example, saying you took it from a man you killed. That would make the references to Miller time a bit less funny. All this talk of girl's souls reminds me that the magic gun you use(d) for comedic effect has such a weird dark backstory. Isn't that kind of similar and makes those jokes feel a bit off?
Sorry for the late posting. I'd like to say that I understand your feeling for Star Wars, I feel that both are very good, but different types of stories where Star Wars is more fantasy than Star Trek is.
One great Star Wars material is the Bioware games: Kotor (Knights of the Old Republic) if you've ever played them. The first was absolutely amazing and whilst the second isn't as good, it's okey so far.
Also it was a rule in the old republic jedi that jegi could not fall in love where as when Luke rebuilt it, he allowed it.
oh great, she is going HAL on your ass here. ironic in a way because a recent episode of the soon to be deceased green lantern cgi cartoon had a female ai that went evils.
ReplyDeletestill there is that gun. she fucking pulled a Darkside Omega Beam on his ass.
it is sometimes hard to see what or who a villain is. the man who does the greatest good might have the most wicked intents. and thief in the night, however, may be the truer soul.
Just be happy Insano did not channel his inner Batman. Also, Nimue turning evil? Now, who could be behind that?...
DeleteI dunno. Liefeld's characters are rip-offs, but I'd argue that even soulless creations can be interesting in the right hands. I honestly don't care much about Liefeld's work on Marvel and DC stuff, but apparently he's moving away from working for the Big Two. Interestingly, Liefeld doesn't make much money from the new Extreme Studios since they don't sell that well, so I don't feel bad at all giving Liefeld money, especially considering that Marvel and DC have screwed over more creators than Liefeld has. Maybe, and this is a crazy idea, but maybe someday I could buy Liefeld's characters, so they won't have the stigma of being attached to him.
ReplyDeleteIn fairness, all of the artists who worked for Liefeld and mimicked his style, soon developed their own styles and got a lot better (e.g. Todd Nauck, Jeff Matsuda, Marat Mychaels, etc.)
Ya know, Eric Stephenson once said he was disappointed in the first issue of Youngblood and I guess you could call him the guardian of Liefeld's Extreme Universe characters. He's also the current publisher of Image and a pretty cool guy.
Okay, Lewis, I'm having the best day ever.
ReplyDeleteFirst, thanks to Winter Storm Nemo, classes are cancelled for the day - something that our university hasn't done since the mid-nineties, apparently…
now THIS.
Awesome. Let's get started.
Oh, and in fairness, alot of the artists at WildStorm like J. Scott Campbell and Brett Booth started off as Jim Lee clones, and Erik Larsen made fun of that in the issue of WildC.A.T.s he did during Image X-Month where the Image founders swapped duties on their books.
ReplyDeleteAlso, in fairness, Mark Millar and Robert Kirkman seem to be the only comics pros who have anything good to say about the early issues of Youngblood. Everyone else, including Joe Casey who wrote the revised YB hardcover, and even Liefeld himself to an extant, would agree with you that the first YB storyarc was badly though-out.
ReplyDeleteWhile you're talking about Deadpool, what do you think of the Daniel Way run of his comic. I liked it even though a ton of other people seem to hate it.
ReplyDeleteI am one of the rare individuals who loves both franchises equally. They are both great for their respective genres, star wars is a more science fantasy were star trek if a full on sci-fi (and yes their is a big difference). Both have their ups and downs, good and bad movies, comic/book series that can either be really good, or just downright terrible, and both have left the same impact on popular culture.
ReplyDeleteWith I am cautiously optimistic with the new movie learning JJ Abrems is working on the new movie is troubling, I am not a fan of his star trek movie mainly because well of the stuff you mentioned, like the enterprise being built on earth its clear he doesn't really get these franchises, their histories, or their attention to detail, I hope I'm wrong though, that Star Trek 2 and Star Wars 7 are great.
Quite the epic confrontation. So much building up to this...discovering the Gunslinger's true identity, his motivations, Insano's return along WITH Neutro...you put so much effort into the storyline of your works that you truly do deserve praise for your effort. The Street Fighter quote was a great touch too.
ReplyDeleteI know I really should feel sorrier for the Gunslinger, but...here's the thing. He's a TRAGIC figure. Not a sympathetic one. If he'd bothered to just try and EXPLAIN his situation to others and get them to work alongside him, he would have had plenty of help to bring his homeworld back, and wouldn't have resulted to morally questionable actions like he did with Linkara. Fact is, he treated someone he knew to be a good guy like crap, made his friends turn on each other, stole/kidnapped another friend, shot Linkara in the BACK...I have no sympathy for him. That IS what you get when you don't EXPLAIN, Gunslinger, EXPLAIN.
Then again, it's good to see the Gunslinger actually tried to APOLOGIZE for what he did and worked alongside Linkara...and that he'll be back again. Also good to see Spoony too. :D
I thought the story got a little unfocused during the middle portion, but overal it was not bad.
ReplyDeleteOh boy... We're in for a HAL Nimue... But seriously, self-diagnostic? Who needs a self-diagnosis? An AI who may or may not be affected by the data ghost (or a copy/fragment thereof) of its previous owner (alternatively our most favourite glitch, MissingNo.)? And nobody changed the password for the administrator account, giving free access to the AI personality routines?
ReplyDeleteOkay, you need a software security advisor. (I'm of course talking of the fictional universe of AT4W.)
And Liefeld's story"writing" process consists of "Get into enemy base, blow stuff up... End of comic book." When his brain is exhausted and he himself realizes that it's impossible to keep doing that, he hands writing over to someone else. At least that's what I get from his works: "When the writing gets tough, Rob Liefeld stops writing."
Well that was fun finally. The whole part with the Gunslinger not talking about his motivations and then the team up for the final battle really made me think this finale was a shout out to "Power and Responsibility". I'm looking forward to Ghost of the Machine now.
ReplyDeleteHey wait then what did the gunslinger, I mean Jerris (I think thats how you spell it) needed Holo-kara for? Or is that whats causing Nimue to go all HAL 9000 on us? Man Linkara cannot catch a break.
ReplyDelete"Hey wait then what did the gunslinger, I mean Jerris (I think thats how you spell it) needed Holo-kara for? Or is that whats causing Nimue to go all HAL 9000 on us? Man Linkara cannot catch a break."
ReplyDeleteWell, needless to say the storyline has undergone some changes as it developed. The mobile emitter was going to play a larger part in the finale, but I scrapped it for time.
Just hope you find a better ecolantion of what happened with it some other time
DeleteGreat top-tier acting from Lewis, Will, and Noah. You three should get your SAG cards immediately.
ReplyDeleteI'm more of a casual Star Wars fan and actually enjoyed all the movies (except the Clone Wars animated movie which is just a TV pilot being dumped into theaters). I would love to se how they continue on with the new Disney trilogy especially now that J.J. "Star Wars nerd" Abrams is on board to direct.
Also to correct you Lewis, the Star Wars 3D re-releases aren't cancelled just delayed to focus on developing the new films. Maybe they'll release the other five to get us more prepared for the new film. It's a shame because I was looking forward to Episodes II and III more than Jurassic Park 3D!
Looking at the letter page you showed for Youngblood #5, it says that Rob was teaming up with a new upcoming artist to do work for a Chapel story. The artist? Jae Lee.
ReplyDeleteYou know, the great artist who drew Before Watchmen Ozymandias (Quality of the writing aside, it was beautiful!), who drew the cover for Phantom Stranger #4 recently, and several other awesome things. It's amazing that one of his first works was with Rob. Really sad if you think about it.
I have to ask: Why did the Youngblood review have the Star Wars characters on the Title Card while the Star Wars review had the Youngblood characters on the title card?
ReplyDeleteAnd is the Gunslinger going to give you that Mobile Emitter back?
Wow just wow, excuse my language, but there was no way to describe it other than being the most FUCKING AWESOME DOUBLE FEATURE I EVER SEEN!!! Now that I gotten that out of the way, just wow. You know all the extreme exaggerations that people get when they are awed by awesome? Heads caving in, noses bleeding and testosterone rising, things like that. This tops all that. This story arc as a whole is so great I have to come up with a new word for it. IT's IT'S...********** Ya its that awesome that the word has to be censored.
ReplyDeleteI still don't understand why didn't the gunsliger just ask for linkara's help.
ReplyDeleteThere is another reason why Deadpool and Cable... he didn't at all. Fabian Nicieza was the writer for Deadpool's first appearance, and Louise Simonson for Cable's... well, Cable identity.
ReplyDeleteDude that was awesome! Yeah, the gunslinger's an idiot. Just talk it out. Linkara made have made a mistake in a fit of rage but it was no more then the Gunsinger deserved.
ReplyDeleteThat said... insane Nimue with all of Comicron- 1's weapons... and we thought Mechakara was bad. I hope Linkara made sure to take Nuetro back, he may need it in the days to come. Loved all the To Boldly Flee Rferences and it's great to see Insano again. Awesom as always.
Any non-casual fan of Star Wars can rip apart any of your complaints about it - Hutts, for example, are blaster-proof and money can buy a lot of loyalty from very nasty people in a universe that isn't dominated by a completely unrealistic pseudo-pacifistic socialist human-dominated quasi-republic - but it's pretty pointless in the end.
ReplyDeleteYou're gonna like what you're gonna like.
Mr. Lovhaug I like your show and your reviews are interesting, but you are not very good at political satire. Specifically how is making it illegal to show copywrited works online (without consent) supposed to stop critics. Haven’t you ever heard of the landmark Cherry v. Des Moines Leader case, where it was ruled that any work in the public sphere is fair game for reviewers. Also what about all the reviewers that do not use copywrited material or get consent from the rights holders before they do. How is this supposed to stop them from expressing their opinions.
ReplyDeleteThis is also something that I hated about To Boldly Flee, Along with the shallow parades of Lamar Smith (who I think is a tosser and have campaigned against) and Christopher Dodd (who is a smart and kind man, nothing like Rob Walkers character). There was also that ridiculous plot point about ma-ti suddenly being evil but that is neither here nor their.
Sorry about the little rant but that has been bothering me for month, however I have a policy of not posting comments on videos I dislike. I think you and the rest of channel awesome can be funny but should steer clear of political satire.
Have to say Linkara, if writers can make Youngblood good then it deserves to continue existing. Liefeld doesn't deserve credit, but Youngblood (if it is written well) deserves to be read. TNG was, frankly, awful in the first few seasons. It became one of the highlights of modern science fiction.
ReplyDeleteFor the Youngblood comic, considering how much is simply narrated when it would regularly be shown I actually wonder if there was a lot of behind the scenes issues going on that haven't been reported (and it would explain why it was suddenly called a mini-series). Do you happen to have the sales figures for this? If readers were starting to abandon it then resources and time might have been assigned to other works, meaning that it was bad even by the standards of the previous issues.
Minor note: "you're moment of retribution is at hand"? I realize that this is supposed to mean "you will be punished" but as written it sounds like he's saying that Kirby will have his revenge, not that Kirby is going to suffer.
Hi thanks, you are my Listening exercises jay.
ReplyDeleteFrom Youngblood: I can thanks that on the 90ies very few comic books went to Spain with any kind of periocity (here on no English countries the monthly titles were joined all one time without any sense until really not much ago - and on France still on that way. All Spiderman regular series on one comic, without chance of get the right order). So Image is difficult/hard/impossible to get so...
Second for SW 3D: Why a farmer? If there are some Force on the bar why not one survivor of the Jedi or some variotion sect practioner? That would be more interesting...
Thanks byu the stories and in any case if you need time or something for refresh, we can wait.
I hope make one DW related thing and my own RPG reveiew video soon; i hope that shoud be one tenth so enjoyable of your work. Sorry the english.
Star Wars Vs. Star Trek. The camp I am in is... neither. I like both, and while I respect Wars for its modern Mythology and Trek for its more legitimate sci-fi take as I got older both fandoms started to lack. Philip K. Dick will always be top sci-fi to me, and if we are talking only filmed, the Twilight Zone does more for me than either. Still both a ARE good and enjoyable franchises to me.
ReplyDeleteGreat review, great finale.
ReplyDeleteBUT...
It ist just me or is there a little problem with the sound right when you beam Insano down to your house? The sound doesn't seem to match the video, it's off by maybe a second or less - I dunno, after about half a minute everything's good again.
Also: So much for "My AI can not turn against me because technobabble" ;)
Linkara:
ReplyDeleteFirst (and most importantly) a hearty congratulations. You were somehow able (even with the con coming up) to pull off getting the double feature finished and up. A second congratulations--and a thank you.
Second, about the conclusion (I don't typically watch the reviews, though I DID watch Star Wars 3D all the way through)
SPOILERS!!!!!!!!
I have to say, I did not see some of this stuff coming, especially Insano's return, and the final shot of Margret. Dude. Fantastic.
And my goodness, NIMUE. As she would put it: "Information. We're in BIG trouble." ;)
But that's for another time. Lewis, I am glad to read on Twitter that you're taking a break from the story for a while. realx a bit if you get the chance, okay? Because you have certainly earned it with this. :)
PS: Looking forward to the next live show video!
I consider myself both a fan of Trek and Wars equally, though honestly I'd still take the prequels (or even a special edition of Episode I that's just 3 hours of a cavorting Jar-Jar) over most of Voyager or Enterprise. Truth be told, I'm conflicted about JJ Abrams apparently now taking over both--dunno if one man should have so much power over nerddom. Still, like you I'm cautiously optimistic for the new trilogy, though knowing the assigned director it may involve a complex time travel plot that results in Han shooting first *and* second.
ReplyDeleteSo was that Holokara as that ship's AI or just some random voice you decided to do for it?
ReplyDeleteSounded a bit like Vyce but that would make no sense at all! Or would it...?
I found the Youngblood review hilarious, especially thanks to Linkara's rants.
ReplyDeleteI actually wonder if Liefeld devised a universe bible to manage his gazillion series that intertwined with one another (Youngblood, Prophet, Bloodstrike, Brigade, Berserkers and others)
It's probably the first time I see a comic without a budget, with all its action happening off screen (Prophet's defeat, the attack of the winged demons)
Just an idea : the Youngblood universe actually shows the Eugenic wars that destroyed Earth society in the 90s, with the Youngblood being the genetically engineered tyrants. Just like Khan, their pattern indicates two-dimensional thinking as proven by their conga-line attack against Darkthornn.
Always a joy to see Spoony. I like how Linksano's character has distanced itself from Dr Insano.
About the stinger (hum, spoiler ?), wasn't that kind of thing specifically adressed (and rejected) in the Star Trek #2 review ?
OK, first, to get things out of the way, this is probably the most awesome Star Wars related title-card I have seen in quite some time!
ReplyDeleteNow to the reviews themselves.
I'm glad you are finally pointing out the TRUE problems with the early 90s comics.
It's not the character designs, which I think are charmingly over-the-top, but the incompetent writing, page-layouts, and perspective.
By the way, if you want to see the concepts of this comic series (superheroes having to deal with publicity and marketing), I heavily recommend the anime "Tiger and Bunny"
It manages to be a love-letter to american superheroes, a biting parody of the american comic industry, and at the same time it's also a really engaging series on it's own.
19 episodes were already dubbed into English, and the rest is on the way
As proven by Warhammer 40000, destroying planets is a great way of keeping a galaxy wide population in-line.
The knowledge that any kind o dissent or resistance can doom you'r entire world is enough to brake any rebel's spirit before they even think about rising.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNc242mbiUs
And yes, I agree, the Force doesn't really give a damn
The thing about Anakin is, he did fulfill the prophecy. But not in the way the Jedi have hoped.
He was said to bring back balance to the force.
And so he did. By the end of episode 3, there were only 2 Jedi, and 2 Sith left alive.
The Light and Dark sides are finally in balance.
Well this was a great treat as compared to the storm we had here making the roads all slick I got to watch a very well done double feature that ended the arc. I hope Jerrius is a permanent member of the team as he will prove to be a useful ally. also what a good cliffhanger for the next arc with Nimue giving us a Hal like look. Hope the storm didn't hamper any of your plans for today.
ReplyDeleteAwesome stuff as ever, though just wondering;
ReplyDelete1) when Jerris hands Linkara the dragon dagger... where'd HE get the dragon dagger? was he considering trying to take the dragon zord back to his dimension?
2) I don't get the inspiration of the gunslinger... like for missingno, the final review was pokemon - but I don't get the connection between Jerris, youngblood and star wars.
I honestly wasn't terribly into this storyline up to now, but this was an excellent conclusion. Will's acting felt a bit lackluster to me at times, but it never got distractingly bad. Although your dad's costume as the supreme-emperor-court-whatsit was mood-breakingly silly.
ReplyDeleteHOORAY! Spoony got a pair of pants to go with his red scrubs!
And man, Insano's got some serious swag now. The "bitch please" faces he makes are the perfect punctuation for pretty much everything he does in that battle.
First off, love the poster. It is awesome. Especially Die-Threepio. By the by, have you seen SF-Debris' video on Homage Vs Ripoff?
ReplyDeleteOn Youngblood: Rob Liefeld will always be my guilty pleasure when it comes to comics. While I do not buy his books at all I do find his love of the medium admirable. Do I say this to excuse him? ...Hell no. The guy is terrible and deluded in his works. I love laughing at his delusion. By the by, when I look at some of the characters whose heads are so damn tiny, I am reminded of that Bugs Bunny cartoon where he used some kind of liquid to shrink the head of his adversary. Oh, and on Darkthorn leaving: WHAT?! How stupid and anti-climactic is that?!?
On Star Wars: I am and always will be a Star Wars fan. It is to me what Star Trek is to you as a franchise. I pretty much went through what you went through with Star Trek, I grew up with it. I admit that it is silly and while I am not firmly in the "Hate the Prequels" camp, I do see the flaws in them and the originals. Just like how I am sure you can see the flaws in most of the Star Trek series and movies. Though I am not going to debate you since I accept that people like different things. Return of the Jedi is my favorite of the films by the way. On the subject of the comic: The colors hurt my eyes. Seriously I feel like I had to watch this while squinting. Yeah, the Empire's Starfighters really do suck. Glad Thrawn was able to prove that the bad guys do have competent officers.
On the Arc Conclusion: Nice twist. Very different. Also, glad you could bring Noah in for a crossover. I did not expect Insano to return.
Is Linkara the only one that can see her? I know the others are aware of her existence, but Harvey was confused when Linkara referred to her by name, Insano didn't seem to notice her and only reacted to Linkara powercharging the gun, and she didn't reappear again until after Spoony left.
ReplyDeleteSomeone seems to have watched Noein. If you haven't, though, check it out, it was on Netflix for a while. Crazy anime about quantum physics, time travel, and the end of the world.
ReplyDeleteYES! I LOVE it when you bring out your Youngblood/Leifeld hatred. It's always so much fun to watch and the fact that you tied it into how pissed you were with what was happening in the storyline was just great :D
ReplyDeleteAlso, Insano was AWESOME in this. I have been waiting for years to see him with that kind of power at his command. This time, I really did see him as an intimidating threat. Plus, I liked how you tried to make him the same offer you made Linksano, and I liked Insano's response as well. Oh and that blooper at the end of the credits got a good laugh out of me.
I will admit though, I didn't find the Star Wars comic review all that funny.
ok, most bad-ass C3PO I have ever seen
ReplyDeleteincluding the time he was briefly turned into a battle-droid
also, a bit of ripping on Star Trek
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1Kju_-1sYM
"1) when Jerris hands Linkara the dragon dagger... where'd HE get the dragon dagger? was he considering trying to take the dragon zord back to his dimension?
ReplyDelete2) I don't get the inspiration of the gunslinger... like for missingno, the final review was pokemon - but I don't get the connection between Jerris, youngblood and star wars. "
1. It was left onboard his ship when they fled in the Youngblood review.
2. Think about the storyline as a whole - not jut Jerris, but all the arcs that contributed to it - it's THEMATICALLY linked to Star Wars in a few ways.
"Is Linkara the only one that can see her? I know the others are aware of her existence, but Harvey was confused when Linkara referred to her by name, Insano didn't seem to notice her and only reacted to Linkara powercharging the gun, and she didn't reappear again until after Spoony left."
ReplyDeletePretty much. She has no reason to appear to the others.
"I still don't understand why didn't the gunsliger just ask for linkara's help."
ReplyDeleteThe problems with Jerris just gathering an army of allies from other dimensions include:
1) The problems with dimensional travel and people adapting or just outright dying. Since Jerris himself had the capability to safely travel dimensions, it made more sense for him to gather completed equipment from other worlds rather than trying to build personal shield devices for a bunch of new, unknown people.
2) The guns only achieve full power when the user reached a sufficient emotional peak, like absolute anger. But at that point, they were "unlocked" and could be wielded by anyone. So in that circumstance, it'd be better to steal the gun and hand it to an ally than to try and talk down the person you just tormented into murderous rage.
Admittedly, Jerris' plan wasn't the best in the world, but with all those factors in place he was kind of ham-strung.
Hey, Lewis ?
ReplyDeleteThanks for making my day awesome. Seriously.
By the by, I haven't seen anyone comment on this yet, so... Around 29:00, we can see Pollo in the furniture behind you. Kind of a screw-up there I think...
Oh, one last thing... Everyone is talking about Nimue going HAL... I'd rather have her go XANA. But I guess it doesn't matter, because nobody will even get that reference it's so obscure.
IT'S MY FAVOURITE ANIMATED SHOW, DAMNIT.
Wait, that had nothing to do with anything, please disregard this previous paragraph.
I absolutely love these storyline conclusion videos. Especially the double features. They technical quality's really good for a no budget show and I'm not even beginning to talk about the masterpiece that is the writing. Over the time, the action scenes got a lot better, as did the acting. I'm honestly going to say, this is better than many things that run on TV nowadays.
ReplyDeleteI don't blame you for not knowing this minor trivia (I feel like a massive nerd for knowing it) but its mentioned in a few places outside the movies that Hutts can't be killed with small arms. Apparently there hides are energy weapon proof. Not blade proof, so like Star Trek swords are more lethal than guns.
ReplyDeleteThat gun that Linkara stole from the gunslinger is going to important later, isn't it. Calling it now, it's gonna be like the one ring.
ReplyDeleteLinkara, I wrote a gag artical (Not published) called "The Things I Will Do If I Am A Star Fleet Captain". Alow me to share one point:
ReplyDelete#18} If my chief engineer or technition says that a repair will take three hours, I will not tell him "You have two". Instead, I will OK any equipment or personel that will speed the work along. He DOES know the situation better than I do and my acting like a jerk will not help.
Just saying.
Linkara you need to use your Red Lantern Ring.
ReplyDeleteI was reading "Grifter" for the first several issues, but once Liefeld took over, I stopped cold. It didn't help that the last issue or two before he joined sort of abruptly dropped new storyline elements. Meh.
ReplyDeleteI have been a very strong fan of Trek and Wars. I was a Star Wars fan first, practically all my life. I became a fan of Star Trek with the Next Gen episode "Relics" in the early 90s. So I am a special example of both fandoms co-existing passionately.
It's sort of good timing for the Star Wars review and your end credits comments about the music since John Williams' birthday was just a few days ago.
Also, I can always enjoy a reference to "The Geek." LOL!
I couldn't find my Freddy's Dead 3D glasses, anyway. I'm not a fan of the effect since it never works right for me, but for free, it would've been worth a look-see.
And it's VERY nice to see a surprise appearance by Insano/Spoony. It's awesome you two actually got together to do this. Coolness! Overall, I think you did a fine job with this two-part special. It's always a great treat to indulge in the excess of crap that is Youngblood.
Yugnat: Code Lyoko? I saw some of that. Interesting looking show, actually.
ReplyDeleteWas Nimue always voiced by Liz? I don't remember it being that obvious.
ReplyDeleteAn awesome job as always, Mr. Lovhaug.
ReplyDeleteI kind of agree with the previous comment that while the Gunslinger's back story was pretty sad, it's hard to sympathize with him since he caused a lot of trouble for Linkara (and possibly the other magic-gun owners) when he could have just asked for help. It would have given him more allies than enemies and would have saved his ship from a beating by Comicron-1.
Either way, thank you for all of the work that you do.
Live long and prosper!
You don't like Star Wars that much?
ReplyDeleteAlright, I'm okay with that.
Even though I think it's one of the greatest sci-fi franchises ever, you have your not to think of it as such.
I mean, I feel the same way about Star Trek that you do about Star Wars.
It's okay and I respect it and all, it's just that I personally think it takes itself way too seriously to be as enjoyable as Star Wars.
"Oh, one last thing... Everyone is talking about Nimue going HAL... I'd rather have her go XANA. But I guess it doesn't matter, because nobody will even get that reference it's so obscure." WRONG! I know where XANA comes from, its just that Lewis said that Nimue is based on HAL 9000 so thats why everyone is saying that. Though it would be cool if it did went XANA.
ReplyDelete"Pretty much. She has no reason to appear to the others."
ReplyDeleteCool, that would make a great future gag. Still I can't imagine what would be in the other gun you took. I mean Magaret was built out of Rage and she only mellowed when He got her. Who knows what the second gun is capable of if not for an awesome guns akimbo moment.
"Well, needless to say the storyline has undergone some changes as it developed. The mobile emitter was going to play a larger part in the finale, but I scrapped it for time." Oh, gottua. Overall though this was just flat out awesome, your best yet I'd say.
ReplyDeleteThat was... AAAWWWEEESSSOOOMMMEEE!!! First off the Youngblood comic. Nothing really especially bad there, just some more horribly laughable Liefeldian art. The Star Wars Comic: I was just about to grab my 3-D glasses off of my desk before you said that the 3-D wouldn't work. The Storyline Conclusion: Ah, yes... The gunslinger actually having a tragic backstory is a good thing. It seems like all of your other villans either just do evil in the guise of doing good(Vyce), doing evil because it's the only thing they know how to do (The Entity), or because they have a grudge (Mechakara). Nice idea to bring Insano into this. Also, I really liked the Gunslinger's computer making fun of Pollo, and vice versa. And then they just go into making fun of each other's mothers. Ha! Didn't Mr. T say that was no good? Oh yeah, and the titlecard for Youngblood seems to be the Star Wars titlecard. Simple fix, though. And then the ending. Nimue is gonna go HAL 9000, and blast everyone to hell. All-in-all, this was an awesome conclusion to a great storyline.
ReplyDeleteI don't hate liefeld as much you do. ::Shrugs:: Looking back at some of the older stuff from where not as great as when I was younger. They are lot harmless then a lot of idiotic crap marvel and dc do every month. I mean compared to dc's making every character depressed or emo or whatever to marvel crossover/event every other month it looks tame.
ReplyDeleteI'm actually a big fan of both Star Wars and Star Trek. I like both and currently read both sets of comics they are currently published. I am looking forward to see what disney does. I mean good step with JJ Abrems. I recently found GI Joe 3d series by the same company (I think). And really has the same problem with reading the text issues. As a matter of fact I never reading the series it was that hard.
But man the story this week. Wow. I'm glad that you were able to get everything out today and came out really good. Return of Insano and Neutro. I sort of feel bad for Gunslinger but he did set himself up for trouble,
Two videos mentioning joesph cambel today. To bad blip being a pain in the ass with loading nash's new video
That was pretty good. I was shocked to see the one, true Dr. Insano here, so that was pretty cool. One question: When was that filmed? I'm asking because Spoony's been sporting some really long hair recently.
ReplyDeleteGreat job I can see why you worried about getting it up on time
ReplyDeleteI really like the narratgive follow of this. I just don't understand why the gunslinger didn't answer could he borrow it rather than steal them. If he just explained himself it could have saved himself a lot of bother. How I liked Insano coming back as with Linksano in your squad I was wondering if he was going to come back as your foe.
ReplyDeleteDefending Liefield for a moment, hes like the Zach Snyder of comic books, that he is someone who really loves the medium but doesn't get why some things don't work in it. I think Liefield has talent as a creative mind, hey he has produced more tthan one good idea for major events. Problem is when you give him something to do with the story he can't draw humans well or write effective stories.I personally can think of people who are worse John Byrne, Frank Miller and Gary Brodsky. As stated from what was said hes a good guy and loves what he does.
The end storylien spoilers We are going to the hal storyline is a bit out of left field. In 2001 Hal was programmed to complete the mission and he saw humans as a threat to that, in this itas alittle shes had faults wouldnt that mean she shuts down rather than go all hal.
Awesome as expected. :D Loved the Insano scenes, loved the Gunslinger scenes! Didn't actually think Linkara would destroy the watch, but then again I could relate. That's good writing.
ReplyDeleteNow let me just watch the story parts again, to see it more as a whole. :)
Just wonder one thing: I have kind of expected Insano being more mad at Linksano's -sort of- treachery, because it was Linksano who offered that all the Insanos should work together and all, though that was waaay back in the Warrior #2 and #3 review...
Good double epsiode. I like the arch for the gunslinger though I do have problems like why didn't the gunslinger just ask for the gun. He could just say I need your gun and I will retunr it. Instead he shot you in the back and stole it. That was going to bite him back at sometime.
ReplyDeleteRight I am going to make enemies by disagreing with Lewis here but here it goes Liefild hasa good creative mind problem is that he doesnt know how to rwrite or draw, however he is good at concepts. Tahts why i would have him as a creative director. If work with him not a lot of them have naything negative to say about him. I mean John Byrne, Frank Miller and Gary Bodsky I have heard negativesabout along with those jerks who wrote that transformers generations book. So yes hes a good creative to hqave around in my opinion.
I liked Insano coming back. Though Spoilers I didn't like the Hal turn that you have its not in character as with Hal he turned heel because he wanted to complete the mission wiuth your computer there has been no reasona why other than shes been malfunctioning which would mean she would shut down unlessyce has gotten into her cricuits. Anyway see where this goes. Other than that enjoyed it. Anyway Lewisgood videos and don't let the spoony haters get you down.
Yes! Yes! Yes! Hail the great Spoony One! Hail the Lord of Tekken! The Finisher of Final Fantasy! The God Damn Avatar himself! SCIENCE! So good to see him do a cross over.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that even if Linkara really made his life a mess, Jerris was really just asking for this. His plan revolved around going from universe to universe, attacking people who own those guns*, getting them as angry as possible, stealing those weapons and then running away. Repeatedly. Really he's lucky it was Linkara who caught him and not some of the others like The Entity's cult.
ReplyDelete*Who are all probably pretty good at combat.
And strange. Either Spoony's a lot more kick ass than I thought, or Insano let himself go after Kickassia.
I greatly enjoyed this double feature and especially a storyline part. But the Gunslinger story arc conclusion is weak compared to others story arcs. With Douche McNitpick plugging the Plothole with his ass, someone should point those weak points in hope next time you'll do better.
ReplyDelete#1. Magic guns. The storyline kinda hinted that all magic guns are the same and different in the same time. Which I would consider strong point, if it would adressed in the story instead of "it just raises too many questions." What am I talking about: All magic guns powered by souls (same), to unlock magic gun's full potential a user must go through big stress (different, Margarett blocked the gun's power and unlocked its full power after talking out the probems with Linkara). However this different part is easily forgotten and never mentioned again. If Margarett is "special," she could block the gun again and make it useless for the Gunslinger, however, you gave no indication that you have acknowledged this possibility.
#2. The Gunslinger. Main problem with the freedom fighters: for those who don't share their believes they look like terrorists. No matter what the Gunslinger's excuse is, he still commited crimes, full list of which was already pointed by someone, so I'll stop here. What would happen if such person managed to win? Well, exactly what would happen if he took Insano's offer: he would become an evil overlord. Most likely.
Here is the thing that could make the Gunslinger's tragedy better. If his "Magnificent seven samurai" allies was slaughtered by the goverment instead of dying by "crossdimentional poisoning." You see, the Gunslinger was managed to make protection for himself,so he has no excuse for not trying to do the same for his allies (past or future). Instead he decided to go easy way - evil way.
The Gunslinger looks a lot like Holokara from Linkara turns evil arc. With the differense that Holokara had too much power, and the Gunslinger had too little. I hope this one was intentional, Lewis.
#3. Linkara writing the Jerris as a friend. The only thing that can excuse him is that Linkara shares "free Internet" belief. I, however, didn't like Linkara's reaction when he figured the Gunslinger's motivation. "Oh my god, what I have done, I beat a good guy!" A better one instead would be: "I glad I stopped him, now let's help him. There is still hope for him to became good again." Lewis was the one writing that, so Jerris made a right choise in the end, but Jerris making an evil choise was just as possible.
I hope I didn't sound offensive, so here is a bit of sweet to this bitter medicine. A thing I liked: Dr. Insano. He was acting completely in character and was a strong point of this conclusion. And I liked how you didn't delay Dr. Insano's reveal after Neutro has appeared. I mean, who else could it be, Vice?
Good job on this part, Lewis and Noah.
Also did you record this Tekken match against Spoony? I would love to see it.
Just wondering; did you and Noah film any more crossover vids while he was there?
ReplyDeleteIgnore my last question; I posted it before I saw the credits.
ReplyDeleteWhy is it that when I see the Comicron 1 computer go red, my first instinct is GLaDOS? Maybe because she's the archetypal crazy female computer these days.
ReplyDeleteThe Gunslinger story and its conclusion was alright. I've felt you've done better, but hey, anything for more Insano.
Speaking of which, nice to see Spoony and Insano again. A lot of fears were going on with his departure and every time we see him with the Awesomeverse people, it heartens me, and seeing him in an Atop The Fourth Wall crossover cements that those fears were not needed.
The thing I love about the storyline element of this show is how completely unapologetic it is about its nerdiness. Once you have Doctor Insano, an obscure character from a different website using power gloves from yet another website to fight a Power Ranger/Michael Jackson from the Smooth Criminal video, you just have to accept it or not. There's no middle ground.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I like that every time the transporters are limited, they conveniently allow one man AND one small object. Never heard that on Trek - "Picard, we can only beam you, and your little robot friend down to the planet...Make it so!"
I actually spent months trying to think of the possibilities of the Gunslinger's reasoning and I ultimately came across the actual reason (being that he's not really evil) as a possibility ,but it was overshadowed by dozens of other theories. But at least one of them was right
ReplyDeleteAs for the reviews themselves, they were okay as a conclusion to the Gunslinger story and the ending is a chilling beginning to that Ghost of the Machine story arc (though it'll take a LOOOOOOONNNNNNG time for Halloween to get here). I admit, I skipped over the Youngblood #5 review and only looked at the storyline stuff in that review since I don't give a crap about Youngblood ,but the Star Wars 3D Stuff was pretty decent (FYI I'm in the Star Wars camp ,but I REALLY want to check out the Star Trek movies)
I also like the Gunslinger/Jevis/Jevis the Gunslinger's backstory. At first I thought it was a dated SOPA/PIPA reference ,but then I thought of it and realized that even without the bills, videos and other media that uses copyrighted material (even reviews) are taken down because of people who think those copyrights are being violated, even though they're technically not. And the Gunslinger's origin does a pretty good job turning that idea into a dystopian society
So bottom line: Thanks, Linkara ;)
Oh crap, I just realized that I called Jerris/Jaeris (seriously, how do you spell that?) "Jevis". I guess my memory failed me back then
DeleteFan-Tas-tic!:D Between finally seeing another fight between Linkara and Insano and just seeing Spoony again I can't decide which was better. The continuity with "To Boldly Flee" was nice too.
ReplyDeleteIt's just too bad Spoony had to cut his awesome hair again. As a man with awesome hair myself, I know how painful that can be. No Mechakara to take out that rage on this time though.
I liked seeing the cool Wrestlemania 25 Shawn Michaels outfit/White Ranger Linkara.
PS Having read the (at the time) 49 comments, no one has asked it yet so I get too. Yay:D
Where did you get all those guns that Gunslinger had? Also, will the gun Linkara kept be brought up later on?
I know you probably don't care, but for anyone else and to stop potential Crazed Warsie fans from jumping on you with a million ridiculous little tidbits, allow me to help out.
ReplyDeleteGist of things, the Force is... complicated. The prophecy thing is inaccurate, Lucas has stated that by balance the Dark Side is supposed to be eliminated as it IS the inbalance itself, corrupting the force.
As for what the force can do or what it cares about, that is more complicated. It is not exactly a omnipresent force nor can it be defined as a being or diety. It is basically two elements of in constant battle within each individual from what I understand. Greed vs. selflessness, hate vs. compassion, passion vs. love.
That last one is important. You see, love... isn't dangerous to the Jedi. Passion is dangerous. Let me put it like this, if you're willing to put the good of others at risk for a singular person and if you're willing to go to great lengths to force that person to stay with you, you don't love them. You just love having them love you. Having an emotional attachment to anyone puts one at risk of compromising one's ability to proparly determine what is good for the greater whole of the galaxy.
Example, siding with an evil wizard who promises you he'll save your wife at the cost of the collective freedom and lives of everyone else... bad, selfish, not love. Learning to let go of someone, even though you cared deeply for them and accepting that you can't control everything and just appreciating what time you had... good, not selfish, love.
The force itself can be comfusing as hell though so people misinterpret it, get things wrong or don't understand what non-attachment means because its based on an Eastern philosophy a lot of westerners don't get. Attachment, boiled down to its essence, means possession, ownership, property. If you consider someone you love like your wife an attachment in that sense its bad. You're no better than the controlling wife beater who won't let her go out and see her friends cause you think she'll have an affair. Except when a Jedi does it he gets pissed, his emotions take over and he chokes the life out of her and gets her killed because of a broken heart or something.
My point is, the Force isn't an easy thing to comprehend or properly explain in a few paragraphs. Let me sum it up like this, it can potentially lead you to what you need more than what you want if you trust it instead of forcing the situation.
I'm not positive it can lead you to someone to tend your farm for you, but, maybe?
I literally squealed out loud when Insano made his appearance. I've always enjoyed your collaborations with Noah and, though I understood why, really regretted that such days might be past. So glad that may not be the case!
ReplyDeleteSo now I'm wondering. In Arthurian myth, Nimue was the sorceress who seduced Merlin before stripping him of his power. Coincidental name choice?
Oh cripes, I hope Insano doesn't partner up with evil Nimue.
Yay, Margaret! Pity we won't get to see more of her.
So this guy you've been fighting is an alternate-dimension Todd in the Shadows?
ReplyDeleteWe've finally seen his face!
i would have to respectfully disagree about the comparison.
ReplyDeletewhile i have to say in some ways star trek is better written, star wars has Infinitely more possiblity in terms of its story telling. in star trek you can only get so much variation on the tale. especialyl since it is totalyl established that most main characters in star trek are some kind of explorer.
in star wars, the potential is everywhere. one can not only view the path of a jedi, or his fall into being a sith, but the violence of war through the eyes of a mass produced cloen soldier. you can follow the adventures of a bounty hunter, seeking money and glory. you can even get more political and step into the shoes of a politician trying to maneuver his way through the legal barriers that block him.
you can even have an mix of these. have a jedi fall from grace, by either a moment of weakness or by betrayal, and become a bounty hunter. you can even have a bounty hunter who gained so much wealth and influence he actually became a politician, and now has to deal with those who are jealous, suspicious, or even old enemies from his dangerous past.
the force also works as a mechanic that can be used for more story tellign as well. the vunerabilities to dark impulses force users have, or further exploring its mystery, and it can be used as an explanation of a phenomenone.
.........and now i am gonna be honest. star trek had killer garage door openers, space ships the shape of giant cubes, a magic god man who could do anything he wanted yet chose to just harass a mere mortal he could literally Think out of existence, and most aliens look almsot perfectly human with slight difference. and yes, i declar giant ears and a brow plate slight.
star wars ultiamtely had more sensiblity to them in the end. instead of killer garage door openers, they have blasters that not only do not have to worry about frequencies but are designed like Guns, this giving them accuraccy you do not get from a phaser.
admitably so far star trek has shown more itneresting stories in number, though it is a television series over a series of movies. however star wars jsut has far greater potential, potential untapped in fact.
For me, the odd thing about the SW 3D comic isn't the poor artwork or whether the story is told well. It's the decision to go with that particular story at all. The creators of the comic had the entire Star Wars universe to play with, full of Gigantic space slugs, Rancors, bounty hunters, and planet-destroying weapons. It's a setting specifically designed to tell HUGE stories full of awesome stuff. Instead, they tell a tiny little story about who gets to own a farm. I'm all for character-driven stories that try to generate honest emotion, but in this case it just seems like a poor choice.
ReplyDeleteI love both Star Wars and Star Trek, but I'm probably a little more of a Star Trek guy. I can remember when I first saw Star Wars, but I literally cannot remember a time when I didn't know who Kirk and Spock were. It's like Star Trek is actually a part of my DNA.
And the Mighty Morphin' Pimpin' Ranger returns!
ReplyDelete(In all honesty, the white outfit looks good; but the only thing needed to make the transformation sequence complete is to hire Wasserman to make a variation of the original MMPR theme using the style of a soundtrack from a 70s blaxploitation film......... which would be effing awesome.)
But seriously. Insano dollars? I can't imagine they'd hold up versus inflationary factors or compared to the U.S. dollars versus the rest of the... world's... ummmm....... What's the current exchange rate between USD and ISD, and where could I get some?
And finally:
"Self-diagnostic... cancelled. Evil red colored GUI/desktop theme... initiated."
Great story arc, Linkara. Glad to see how this has all concluded.
ReplyDelete...still this is gonna affect my plans for this mega fanfic I intend to do that involves you guys. If it wouldn't be much trouble, can you help me out with some info and stats regarding you and your characters?
Example:
How would Comiccron 1 fair against a Covenant SuperCarrier from Halo?
Or can Margret call upon Silent Hill to aid you?
Finally, what do you think of the idea that Malechite obliterated his own soul for power?
Hey, is that Charlie Chaplain's first sounded movie, Great Dictator? I freaking love that love!
ReplyDeleteCome to think of it, when did Spoony went to Minneapolis?
I'm sorry, but I didn't like the conclusion of the Gunslinger story very much, for a few reasons. First, its ANOTHER story were we are told Linkara is flawed and needs to be taken down a peg; the first was not very convincing (in my opinion) did we really need another? And second, it felt *very* contrived- why the magic guns were needed, why Linkara could not be asked for help directly, why the gunslinger could not return to his universe, etc. all felt poorly thought out. The Star Wars comic actually made more sense than this!
ReplyDeleteTHAT said, I DID enjoy the episodes. Why? Because it had GREAT acting, particularly from guest star Noah Antwiler. While I feel the story itself was weak and unnecessary, it was still fun to watch. The SFX were good, too.
So overall, a nice double feature. But really Lewis, try to have less convoluted and self-deprecating storylines in the future OK? Thanks!
Loved the episodes this week! Everything from Comicron One in action, to finally getting background on the gunslinger, to Insano trying to get back Neutro, to Margret, all amazing. Oh! And as an avid SW fan, you're perfectly entitled to think the movies are "okay" ...im the first to admit, those movies have ALWAYS been stupid. Stupid, but enjoyable. Thanks for all the hard work, you're doing great.
ReplyDeleteDammit, Linkara, I said it before and I'll say it again: STOP TRYING TO MAKE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCES. YOU APPARENTLY SUCK AT MAKING THEM NOT TURN EVIL.
ReplyDeleteI thought something might be going on with Nimue when she was asked how Insano got ahold of Neutro. Her response had a definite "Look, YOU idiots told me to..." vibe to it.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I can't help but think that it's not her that's evil but some outside force and that maybe she's still in there and redeemable. After all, if Pollo seemed to go evil, we wouldn't give up on him.
Although Iron Liz needs a cameo just to say "I told you so."
It might be interesting to explore the notion that just maybe Linkara would be better off destroying the more dangerous bits of exotic tech he gets ahold of to prevent people from trying to take it.
Not Margaret of course, but this isn't the first attempt to retake Comicron One, and if someone more competent than Insano had tried to take Neutro, that could have been disastrous.
basically moeny talks, linkara. the hutts have a huge advantage also that they are very fucking hard to kill. basically, as how blastes work in star wars, a typical blaster does not have the output to piece the hutt tissue deeply enough. you would have to have a sniper rifle equivalent of a blaster. even then you have to also hit something vital. huts have been known to survive after missing half of their heads.
ReplyDeleteworse is getting too close to them. despite their sloven appearance the huts can make sudden, incredibly quick lunges over a small distance. not as much a problem if you are a fairly large or muscular species, but a human is in trouble.
otherwise a hutt can still be exploded, stabbed, and so on. hwoever hutts are also incredibly long lived creatures that have to be smart enough not only to avoid his enemies, but his fellow hutts. they can live for a thousand years. basically if they get old enough, they have pretty much seen everything. hutts however are vulnerable to lightsabers and force abilities.
there is a secret to killing a hut with a blaster though. you have to shoot him twice in the right spot, in the same spot, basically the first part burning and blsting through the tissue allowing the second shot to hit something vital. the head, however, is pointless to shoot. the moemnt you shoot the hutt you have to deal with not only the hutt itself, but his thugs and also bounty hutners in his employ, which would not want the guy who is signing the checks to die.
technically most of the time the droids of star wars were not taken directly into the hostile environments. C390 provided the function of a translator should one encounter a species whose language that cannot be understood. and r2d2 was in fact a well adapted little machine. he is designed for a bit more terrain than c390 for sure, and had numerous advantageous skills. not to mention that the little droid is the sole observor of the entire conflict of the star wars movies.
....actually that is a little silly. sitll, that is the point of it all. a small, simple droid having seen the entire history of the clone wars and the empire is hard to believe. yet i can believe it.
admitably star trek has data, who is cool. however it also has Q, who is not very interesting to be hoenst. sure he is a good plot device, a dimension changing entity of cosmic origin with an interest in a singular mortal. but he is fucking annoying. both in the fact they could totally do nothing about his presence, and that he really did not fit in his own universe. star trek is a place of science fiction and technology, but Q does not use technology to do what he does. he somehow can just do what he does without proper explanation beyond, or he's cosmic.
star wars has a tendecy to actualyl explain the factors of its universe, though in varying ways. it is a place where they could easily be Q like beings, thanks to the force, but they really do not have much of them. the few that i could call the Q of star wars were incredibly powerful, yes, but not above the limits or strengths of the force. and they could alter the world with some effort and a whim. they were once people, but their connection to the force stripped them of that mortality and made them more yet somehow less. two of them, siblings, were embodiments of the light and shadows fo the force.
Didn't get the chance to say much last week...or anything. But hey it was Miller Time so there was nothing I could have added.
ReplyDeleteInteresting end to the Guns and Sorcery story and can't wait to see how Will's character ends up interacting into the storyline...or if the Gunslinger will ever meet Snowflame, whichever comes first. A bit shocked Insano came back but..hey, he was bound to while the magic was down.
And regarding Deadpool: simply put, Liefeld just felt like drawing Deathstroke the Terminator that day and Niecieza decided to write him nuts. I know you don't care and it still isn't technically Liefeld but...in a way, Deadpool exists because Liefeld was bored, so he still is minutely connected. So yeah, Deadpool is the creation of a Liefeld brainfart that snowballed out of control in a good way.
cybermats always save the day yay btw I loved this conclusion lots of twists turns and oh hi dr insano ha any way loved the twist with the gunslinger being good and oh shit an AI that is evil awwwwww you know for how genre savy linkara is he should have seen this coming
ReplyDeleteMy main problem with the Star Wars franchise is its tendency to treat the struggle between good and evil as objectively real, along with an actual supernatural force that turns well-intentioned people (as in Anakin Skywalker trying to save his wife from dying) into generic villains. To me, the latter comes across as cheating from a storytelling perspective. Even in most real world religions, there is no supernatural force that turns people evil the way the dark side does in the Star Wars films.
ReplyDeleteAlso, what “redeems” Anakin Skywalker in the end is himself acting on his paternal instincts. The reason why Darth Vader felt love for Luke, but so no wrong in killing the “younglings”, was because they were biological related. To me, it does not make up for all of the wrongs he has committed in the past.
There are other problems with the Star Wars films, but those are the two main ones for me. I’m not saying that the basic story is bad. I just would like it better if the villains had more realistic motivations and some of the characters were more morally ambiguous, especially the villain who is supposed to be redeemed in the end.
Nice to see the return of the spoony one, and insano. Glad to know that every once in a great while when the stars align he can show up again. Kudos on the gunslinger (join me full metal alchemist lol ) being a not enemy. Im sure having so many people in one ep was a pain to set up. Great work all around.
ReplyDeleteHey Linkara, I had a brainstorm. Is the Gunslingers universe the same one that Mechakara is from? His universe was taken over by an oppressive force based around the internet, and he assembled a collection of MAGIC weapons to fight them.
ReplyDeleteAmazing episode Lewis! Bravo to you and to Will and Noah and everyone else who worked so hard on it!
ReplyDeleteA few quick comments on the reviews:
1) I agree with you 100% that Rob Liefeld's art is atrocious. He has no concept of human anatomy, no sense of proportions or depth, and is lazy to boot (a perfect example is his aversion to drawing backgrounds). In the review of Youngblood #5, you mentioned the gorgeous backgrounds Jim Lee drew in ASBAR. IMO, Jim Lee was always a very talented artist; the artwork he drew for Uncanny and Adjective-less X-Men is gorgeous. Yes there was a lot of cheesecake, especially of Rogue and Psylocke, but there was a lot of attention to detail. That's always been a hallmark of his artistic style, and probably why he has difficulty sticking to a schedule. I also feel that Jim Lee's decision to focus on the management of Wildstorm studios was detrimental to his continuing to grow as an artist. Jim Lee, Todd MacFarlane and Erik Larsen devoted a large chunk of time in the mid '90's to keeping Image afloat (no thanks to Rob's shenanigans) and it kept them from penciling or inking books for a long time. It is a real shame that they could not hone their talents due to time spent in the office.
2) In terms of "Star Ward 3-D", the artwork is atrocious and is made uglier by the awful 3-D. The story isn't that bad though. Given that it was written in 1987, I'm really surprised that the writer didn't move the story ahead a few years in the timeline, to the period when Luke returned to Tatooine to build a new lightsaber and prepare for rescuing Han from Jabba's palace. It would have made much more sense for the story to have gone as follows: Luke and Artoo have arrived on Tatooine, and are preparing to travel to Obi-Wan Kenobi's old home. Before heading out into a dangerous area of desert filled with Tusken Raiders, Luke and Artoo go to Tosche Station to buy supplies. There he meets his old friends, Fixer and Camie. They tell Luke that a claim jumper has taken over his aunt and uncle's old moisture farm. Curious about the claim jumper, the young Jedi goes to meet him. The farmer, an alien named Throgg, rails at Luke about the Empire stealing his own moisture farm years before. Luke offers to sign the deed over to Throgg on the condition that Luke be allowed to visit his aunt and uncle's graves. Confused, Throgg threatens Luke with a blaster, but Luke refuses to fight, explaining that a Jedi seeks to resolve differences without resorting to violence as a first option. Suddenly, Tusken Raiders attack Luke, Artoo and Throgg, and only by working together are the Sand People defeated. Throgg thanks Luke for his aid and his generosity. Luke spends a quiet moment at the graveside of the Lars, and then he and Artoo head off into the desert, in search of Kenobi's home. Now that would have been a better story! On the other hand, "Star Wars 3-D #1" is apparently canonical according to Wookieepedia. Go figure.
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ReplyDeletePersonal opinions so please forgive me if I repeat anything.
ReplyDeleteLoved the Double Feature.
The most basic idea for getting Gunslinger home appears that it will have a road block from the ship's computer and the Ghost in the Machine.
But I have to wonder isn't Everyone other than Insano, the Gunslinger and Linkara still on board?
Well the basics for getting Gunslinger back home would involve creating a stabilization item here to learn how its done so it can be done again. Make use of the ship logs to find his home dimension again. Go there and find his wife using the link to his magic gun so they are certain its the right place and not a near miss parallel. Ala Sliders.
Then build a replacement for the watch in his home dimension. Bring it to him. Build another for his wife so you can bring her along as well.
Then maybe it might help to round up all the reviewers from Channel Awesome and see about multiversal warfare with proper safety precautions in place.
But that's just my opinion on what I think could be done. Might be a worth while concept to replace the missing annual special and all if you can get people to sign up and cover their own expenses for it.
Wish Noah had time for more things its great when you have crossover vids with him. If only you could get J O to also drop in as Ed-chan some time... I miss her interpretation of that character.
So after thinking about it and watching both videos twice. Was there any point in either of them? I mean when you look at it seriously.
Oh well maybe Black Lantern Spoony, Mechakara-Alt-Pollo Ghost in the Machine, Vyce and Judas Liz can meet up and become the AT4W Designated Overlords of Mankind ( DOOM ) but what are the odds of that happening?
Okay, think I read or at least skimmed all the posts that were there when I clicked 10 or so minutes ago so I hope I don't repeat anything major.
ReplyDeleteFirst off then, comments to other commenters:
--
-@Yugnat
I get XANA!! Haven't watched in ages but I get it!
Wonder if Linkara will project himself into the computer in Comicron-1 to save Aelita, I mean Nimue.
-"your future rebbetzin said...
Was Nimue always voiced by Liz? I don't remember it being that obvious."
Hey wait... we never did find out what happened to the Liz doppalganger assasin did we?
-"Peteman said...
Why is it that when I see the Comicron 1 computer go red, my first instinct is GLaDOS? Maybe because she's the archetypal crazy female computer these days."
I did think GLaDOS too for a moment, mostly the line from near the end of Portal 2 with "C----e deleted". (and leaving the name missing in case there are those reading who've not played Portal 2 but those who have will get it).
---
Please tell me you're letting yourself have a long break from storylines after this. This was super awesome but break, please, you more than deserve it.
I very much enjoyed the conclusion to this storyline. I had no idea as to the Gunslinger's motives (in all honesty I didn't spend a ton of time trying to think because I enjoy being surprised) and this one seemed both complicated and distant, yet close to home as well.
Oddly the 'being taken in the night' made me think of Witch Hunter Robin first more than anything.
(was your dad wearing the Whatley wig when he was the overseer?)
Nice explanation on why Marget's appearance can/has/will change, even if in the future we don't see her often. Also explained why a spirit would have braces on from when we saw her before.
So, what was 90s kid doing on the ship? Was he helping Ninja Style Dancer corral Cybermats?
Also, YAY for a 90s kid episode bump!
Noticed Harvey has a different cigarette and was actually smoking on the ship.
Was awesomely bad-ass when you went to Red Alert.
I was going to say the other fighters dying from the other universe made me think of Fringe but I think the ones that died going to the second universe was more from the force needed to get them to switch dimensions.
I can't see 3-D for the life of me (eyes don't work right to even notice depth in real life, much less movies and stuff) but I will say without a filter the Star Wars comic was less painful to look at than the California Raisins one.
You know, I rewatch a lot of AT4W and even I can't remember/figure out what the hell has been happening in all the Youngblood comics, they seriously blend together with some of the other image comics.
For the ending with Nimue, seems my question if Linkara knows a Technomancer from the B5 universe will be all the more pertinent several months from now.
I completely wasn't expecting Dr. Insano to suddenly appear and try and steal Nutro back, though it didn't feel out of place.
Does it make you nervous to film fight scenes right by the case with Tom Servo?
Loved the bickering between Pollo and the Gunslinger's computer (spelling for teh fail today...)
All in all, great eps for both reviews and story. Awesome to see Will and Noah getting to work with you again.
It seems like the gunslinger was from an alternate reality where SUCKA was successful, and while he doesn't look like anyone from TGWTG, he said he was a music reviewer, and there's a music reviewer who never shows his face...
ReplyDeleteMy god!! The Gunslinger is really the Rap Critic!!
Also did you double check the title of the youngblood comic? The art style looked more like dooms 4 or cable. Though the series are so different it would be hard to mistake them for one another.;)
In all seriousness, loved the two parter. It was fun seeing insano again, and jerris seems like he could contribute a lot to later story lines. It would be cool if one of his enemies showed up and he needed linkara's help dealing with them.
One more quick comment Lewis, about Star Wars' more quirky aspects. The Force is basically a form of magic. There really is no tiptoeing around that fact, Midichlorians be damned. However that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Star Wars combined five different genres into a single galaxy spanning story: Westerns, Samurai epics, War Movies, Fantasy stories and Fairy Tales, and Pulp Science Fiction. George Lucas' major contribution to Star Wars was to take those genres and the theories of Joseph Campbell, and develop a compelling story around it. Was every decision he made a good one? Absolutely not. But he was not unresponsive to complaints from fans; Jar-Jar Binks had a reduced role in Episode II, and a non-speaking cameo in Episode III, because of fan backlash. Compare that to Gene Roddenberry's insistence on the franchise conforming to his vision no matter what, even if that resulted in the creation of the Ferengi of the first season of TNG. The Ferengi are just as offensive as the Gungans are, at least until DS9 allowed other creators to come up with Ferengi characters with more than one dimension.
ReplyDeleteFor example, Quark may be a greedy, misogynistic coward, but he is also a patient bar tender who is willing to listen to his patrons, loves his mother, brother and nephew, is a loyal patriot to the Grand Nagus, and was personally bothered about his own cowardice. Quark grew as a character over the seven seasons of DS9, to the point where he helped Major Kira's resistance during the Dominion War, and led a squad of Ferengi to rescue his mom from Jem'Hadar. The reason Quark could develop like this is because the writers intended the Ferengi on the show to be three dimensional characters rather than a stereotype, and Armin Shimerman, Max Grodenchik and Aron Eisenberg breathed life into that vision. Lucas may not have intended for Jar-Jar and the Gungans to be offensive, but they were never anything more than flat characters and Ahmed Best isn't exactly Andy Serkis, if you know what I mean.
Finally, Jabba the Hutt was not afraid of being shot. Hutts are very resilient, able to regenerate from all but the most lethal wounds. They aren't immune to Blaster fire, but most of the scoundrels in Jabba's employ are slave races dedicated to the Hutts, or Bounty Hunters and Mercenaries who are on retainer. Killing your boss is a good way to mess up the payroll. Given his toughness and the loyalty of his thugs, it's no surprise Leia walked into his throne room carrying a thermal detonator. :)
YAY SPOONY! Saw someone mention fears... Yep, glad they weren't needed! And the comment about long hair... I feel ya as well. Hate interviews...
ReplyDeleteAwesome double feature Linkara! As always, Love your videos and 'swag'. :D
Ok, I'm gonna sound like a complete asshole saying this, especially since the only episodes of the "Gunslinger" arc I've seen are…well…. this double feature and the ASBAR #5 episode, and I'm too lazy to go back and watch the rest (time is money), but…that's it? The gunslinger arc ends with "i'm not really a bad guy…all just a misunderstanding." That's an anticlimax. The "final duel" between Insano and Linkara was a much better blowoff. I mean, I was never crazy In love with Lewis's storylines, but at least he always managed to make them exciting (to the point where I think Doug and Rob should have let HIM write the anniversary specials. Not the he's that good, but Doug and Rob are that BAD at it).
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of exciting, as much as I've come to hate Noah Antwiler the person lately, when I heard Dr. Insano's voice as the culprit behind Neutro I jumped off of my couch and went YES!!! I have been waiting many long years for the battle between Insano and Linkara ever since the original Mechakara series ended. Then I got the feeling that Insano was just phased out cos Spoony didn't want to do it anymore and the rather uninspired Linksano took his place, but thankfully I was proven wrong! and, well it was 80% worth the wait. The fight could have been a little longer and could have slightly higher stakes, plus you two aren't professional choreographers so the fight itself will never be the highlight of these things. Plus, wouldn't the gunslinger be a bit more pissed at Linkara, like nothing left to lose? Whatever, I'm just grateful I got something resembling a final battle.
The Comics:
ReplyDeleteAnother Liefeld 'masterpiece' joy...
The Star Wars comic would probably amount to 5 minutes in the movies since nothing happened in it.
Your Arc:
The blowing up the watch thing? Smooth move. That said, it was nice that you offered to help find a way to get him back home again.
Having to fight Insano instead of Jerris as the 'final fight' of this arc was an interesting twist, but I didn't think for a second that he'd be won over by that speech.
Nimue going bonkers... I can't help but think of that hypothetical situation you posed to her where she might decide to take over and the fact that I was a little leery about how easily she dismissed the idea at the time...
Fiery Little One
Oh yes, Star Trek is SOOO much better written then Star Wars, that's why the original series is considered stupid by many people, even several fans, The Next Generation didn't hit its stride until after it got rid of horribly written character Wesley Crusher. Sure, Deep Space Nine is good, but then we get Voyager and Enterprise, two series that were critically panned. And Enterprise had an episode focusing on the captain's freakin' dog in the sickbay! And let's not mention the movies, particularly Insurrection as you and Doug Walker made so evidently clear last year.
ReplyDeleteOh sure, Star Wars is nowhere near perfect, and at times, yeah it can be stupid (just read Legacy of the Force, which screws up everything that came before it and has the biggest idiot plot I've ever read. I like to call it the Countdown and Ultimatum of Star Wars literature), but saying that Star Trek is better written is REALLY pushing it.
I'm not saying your opinion is wrong, I'm just saying its a real jackass thing to do and call Star Wars "Stupid" when Star Trek can be just as stupid. That's just plain bias.
I'm firmly a Star Wars lover, but I do enjoy Star Trek, but what is the point in comparing these two vastly different franchises? Especially when the people involved with it find such comparisons stupid? And what's the point in saying either is stupid when they both have their merits?
"I'm not saying your opinion is wrong, I'm just saying its a real jackass thing to do and call Star Wars "Stupid" when Star Trek can be just as stupid. That's just plain bias."
ReplyDeleteSoooo did you actually WATCH the part where I said this exact thing?
I did, but I think it needs to be said as much as possible because some people just don't get it.
ReplyDeleteI've dealt with much worse than that and I'm pretty sure I will get spammed by other people who disagree with me about what I just wrote down.
I loved these episodes man, they rock. While my personal favorite story line end is still the Entity, this is pretty high up there.
ReplyDeleteI don't know where you found the actress to play Margaret, but so far she seems pretty awesome and I kind of hope I'll see her in other episodes. Bringing back Spoony was awesome and a little nostalgic for me, I love when Linkara fights Doctor Insano. I know Linkara is just for your reviews, and I know you make other comics, but hell I'd buy and read a comic which had Linkara and Insano do an all out fight!
Great job do, and can't wait to see whats coming next!
\\//, Live long and Prosper \\//,
ReplyDeleteMay the Force be with you.
Both are the sayings of sexually repressed beings. Only one is a bit less racially biased about it.
Think about it.
Did you know the reason Jar Jar exists is because the Directors who George Lucas hired to work on Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi went and made it so C3P0 had some dignity. If he remained an annoying incompetent then George would have still kept using him that way but nope now that would be breaking character.
It's my experience, and indeed my personal opinion, that there's intense, perverse satisfaction to be had in doing something good based on something bad. The reverse is also true, but hardly as unique.
ReplyDeleteThe fact of the matter is it's the height of pride to take something awful that someone did and then show them, up close and personal, that you could do it so much better. To take a game that was released buggy and unfinished and, as a free enterprise, create a superior product. To take a worthless movie, record yourself mocking it, and make massive money selling the result. Or, indeed, to take a janked, nonsense story or character and craft a much, much better version. Sort of the ultimate response to the old "Let's see you do better" defense. "Sure, let's see that. In fact, let's see what you would have made were you not a monkey with staplers for hands."
Honestly, I think I hate Star Trek: The Next Generation far more than I dislike the Star Wars prequel trilogy. The things the prequels did right were very, very good. I got to sympathize with the Sith and fall in love with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. I genuinely got invested in their relationship and in Obi-Wan's grief. Yoda's fight scenes were ridiculous but awesome.
ReplyDeleteTNG... Well, Riker's chin was cool! I love beards. I loved Worf! But seriously, 80's? You and your pretentious misunderstandings of what emotion is and how someone who genuinely does not grieve would feel are just plain evil. Also, Picard is a short, bald, unlikable, uncharismatic idiot of a captain. He has nothing making him a good character, and he is so arrogant it makes my head hurt. Also, he's a Communist. That really shouldn't bother me as much as it does, but it does.
The two franchises are both pretty awesome. Overall, I think I found something to love in every part of them. But I'm one of the few people who genuinely liked Jar Jar Binks as a character and felt sorry for him, and also one of the few who genuinely liked Deanna Troi as a character when she was off the bridge. They developed and grew and had an impact on the story. I am also one of the few who HATED the Jedi and the Borg. The Jedi were worse than Picard and the Borg were stupid. Look, Star Trek is The Odyssey in space. Stop missing that.
I'm curious to know why so many people like Picard. Does TNG really get a lot better during the fourth season? Am I missing something? Or is Worf just so awesome he makes all offenses forgivable?
To bounce off of Nemesis up there:
ReplyDeleteAs a reviewer, Lewis, you are indeed entitled to your opinion. However, the way you come across your point in the first ten minutes of your Star Wars video...I don't think it flies. I feel that it was a blatant shoutout to how suddenly Star Trek is above Star Wars in any way.
While wholly indifferent to both sides (and with only the original Star Wars Trilogy, the newer Star Trek movie, and yours and Doug's reviews under my belt), I have seen more action done with Star Wars. I don't see the "stupid" things in a series. I see what it's meant to be before anything else.
For Star Wars, I see an action-packed cinematic about space, a chosen one, his Dark Side father, a series of mentors, blasters, and futuristic weapons. I don't see C3P0 as a boon like everyone else does.
For Star Trek, I see a calmer approach to space travel, which is more like the Space Navy. Orders are carried out, day-to-day lives away from home intertwine on a ship, the first interracial kiss on TV is shown (kudos, Shatner), and pressing personal issues are brought up between civilizations.
Between these two franchises, I'm an action-oriented guy, so you'll probably see me liking Star Wars a bit more. But that's not to say that Star Trek sucks.
Each franchise was just meant to do a different thing. There's really no comparing the two anymore. Yes, they're in space. Yes, they fight aliens. Yes, there are dark creatures and inexplicable things. BUT THAT'S SCIENCE FICTION. Sometimes, people (GASP!) don't do enough research on a subject and just say whatever sounds gobbledygooky enough for people, to the point where it makes time travel look like a wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey mess. But enough about Doctor Who (which is also in its own field away from the two).
What's my point? My point is that it's horribly wrong to compare these two franchises in the first place. One was meant to keep audiences week after week, series after series. The other was an experiment by an experimental director developing multiple licenses all trying to keep true to someone's vision of the original. Ergo, series after series. Think of Star Trek and Star Wars as two separate parallel lines. Neither should intersect, and neither needs to.
In the end, neither is better. Saying one is better than the other is just a sick sense of self-inflation. Everything has its problems, as addressed by more instinct-driven fan stereotypes you tend to see in conventions and media. Is it bad? No. Could it be better? Hell yes. Could this slash against Star Wars have been handled better by you, the reviewer? I say so.
But what do I know? I'm just a bystander.
Well, since I'm being dismissed like a nobody, I feel I just have this to say, I actually enjoyed both reviews. They are very funny and very well written, and well acted.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't mean I have to agree with everything said, though.
I can explain why Chewie didn't get his medal. According to A New Hopes Novelization. Chewie was gonna get his medal around the same time that the other two were, but were hesitant out of fear of their arms being ripped off due to a misunderstanding. He got his medal off screen. A stupid mood since a proud warrior race like the wookies would have accepted it regardless, but I don't blame them. Though given Chewies characteristic, he would have just probably whined about it later on irritating his neck since he is fur all over.
ReplyDeleteI've been wondering...is it just a coincidence the Gunslinger's outfit looks like Yuber's from Suikoden 3, or is it an homage? It is one of those 'just really cool outfit' things.
ReplyDeletehttp://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20091205235053/suikoden/images/0/00/S3-yuber.jpg
Wasn't the whole "not falling in love rule" abolished by Luke once he started new Jedi order?
ReplyDeleteGreat two-parter Linkara, although I enjoyed the fist part much more, mostly because of the review and finally the finale to your Youngblood saga.
Anyway what is your favorite thing that came out of Star War expanded universe?
Awesome reviews! Also I like the V for Vendetta homage and of course, return of Dr Insano!
ReplyDeleteand lastly
OMG, Nimoey is going GLaDOS! (or Aia if you've seen Green Lantern TAS)
I think Youngblood's Disease has become worse: the eyebrows are starting to grow over the eyes oO !
ReplyDeleteAwesome finale and awesome reviews, Linkara!
ReplyDeleteI loved the continuity nods to To Boldly Flee. Was also glad you brought Insano in. It had been so long since Linkara confronted him that I was wondering if his interest in Linkara's lost magic was going to be brought up. But I guess I shouldn't have doubted you :)
The space fight scene was a lot of fun, and the reveal of the Gunslinger's backstory handled very well. I know some people still don't get why he didn't just ask for help but I get it. You gotta unlock a magic gun's power and the best way he knows how is to piss them off. When you get on someone's bad side like that, it's a lot harder to then ask for their help, easier just to steal their stuff. So yes, in the case of Linkara, he probably would have helped if the Gunslinger had just asked but how many others would do that?
Poor Nimue at the end there. Linkara's adventures really put her through the ringer, don't they? And now she might be going evil. Wonder how long it will take the gang to notice? Well, first you have to get some well deserved rest before taking up plot again. Us fans will just wait and throw theories about in the mean time :)
I have to applaud your efforts to get both episodes out on Monday. Truly, we would have been fine waiting but you persevered. Well done, sir! Hope it didn't tax you too much.
Can't wait to see what else you come up! Your videos promise to deliver a good time and they have always paid up! :D Thank you for the many laughs and thrills in this storyline, all past videos, and with what is to come. In other words, you rock, Linkara!
I loved this conclusion to the storyline. Actually, I've loved most of the recent ones. You make them twist just enough to throw at least me off the loop for a while (I'm usually pretty good at guessing twists and next lines that the characters will say, but you are one of those writers who surprise me). So the past of the Gunslinger was revealed, I was all "wow, this is good stuff!" and then Insano came in and I was like "OMG how I have waited for this!" (I have. Since Spoony left TGWTG I have been wishing for a video where you actually "show, don't tell" that you guys want to do videos together. I mean I took the "we can do videos together if we want to" and was happy enough, but wondered a bit if both of you wanted to.)
ReplyDeleteThe bit with Spoony in the end was the most heartwarming thing ever for me. You guys just give me the impression that you can agree to disagree and understand each other well and that you have fun together.(I just start missing my best friend when I see you together.) I was also happy to know that you have ideas for future crossovers.
So thanks for the intelligent, fun to watch storyline and for the smile I will have on my face for the rest of the day. :) And of course the reviews too, even if I wasn't waiting for Youngblood to surprise us now by becoming good and on the nerd discussion of Star Trek vs Star Wars I stand firmly on the sidelines (Most fun I've had with either of the francises was the 2009 Star Trek film, but I suppose I'd be stoned if I ever said that to any self-respecting geek or nerd.)
*after having only watched the 1st half*
ReplyDeleteHmm... why was 90's kid down on Earth instead of on the ship...?
*wavy imagination lines*
Linkara: "NIMUE!! BEAM EVERYONE UP HERE NOW!! I DON'T CARE WHAT THEY'RE DOING!!!"
*elsewhere on the ship, probably somewhere where the GUUUUNNNNSSSS are stored*
*Blue teleport lines appear and 90's Kid appears. The water from the bath that went with him in the teleport sloshes across the deck. He still has his sunglasses and cap on regardless.*
90's Kid (as the Dark Heart figure in his left hand): "And now, Sunshine Bear! You are going to die!"
90's Kid (as the Sunshine Bear figure in his right hand): "No, Dark Heart! YOU will die! Ready everyone for a Care Bear Stare?!"
*90's Kid looks around for other figurines, which are absent from his new location. He finds instead a Ninja Style Dancer, recoiling from him into a defensive dance move. 90's Kid stands and covers himself.*
90's Kid: "Dammit Nimue!! Bring me back down!! Let me finish my bath first!!"
Nimue: "Confirmed."
*90's Kid teleports away again*
*Back on the bridge*
Nimue: "Information: 90's Kid will need a moment before he can board."
Linkara: "WHAT? WHY?!"
Nimue: "Reassurance: Trust me on this one."
*Wavy imagination lines*
...Dammit, I just wrote a fan fic, didn't I?!
I'm also more of a Trekkie myself. I like the setting and stories more, and no matter what the reboot is doing (didn't really like the first movie, and the second one isn't looking any more promising), I'll always know that there will probably always be way more of the classic stuff around, unlike with Star Wars XD
ReplyDeleteAnd not everyone had to stand in line. Only the white rebels. The others probably had to continue their work. They truly are racist XD
(Which is oddly weird seeing how the Extended Universe usually portrays the Empire as a bunch of fascists Oo)
And wow, talk about a showdown. And it seems like things might get a bit rough in the near future XD !
Your reaction to Youngblood is kinda like my reaction to DmC and wondering why everyone likes such flawed stories and characters.
ReplyDeleteGreat reviews btw!
There is ONE thing I still don't get. I've read the comments and don't think you've answered it, so I hope you will:
ReplyDeleteWhy did Jerris not opt for the diplomatic approach? He was obviously trying to arm his resistance with the magic guns and needed some rage to unlock them, BUT (considering he has the knowledge to build dimensional anchors) wouldn't it be FAR more effective to try and enlist the current owners (who are already proficient with the specificities of the weapon) FIRST?
"Anyway what is your favorite thing that came out of Star War expanded universe?"
ReplyDeleteI liked the Kyle Kattarn games on PC. Can't remember their exact names, but the last one was Jedi Academy.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete"I've been wondering...is it just a coincidence the Gunslinger's outfit looks like Yuber's from Suikoden 3, or is it an homage? It is one of those 'just really cool outfit' things."
ReplyDeleteIt's not - Will designed the outfit to resemble it. ^_^
Why did the Gunslinger think Linkara wouldn't want to help him back in October?
ReplyDelete"There is ONE thing I still don't get. I've read the comments and don't think you've answered it, so I hope you will:
ReplyDeleteWhy did Jerris not opt for the diplomatic approach? He was obviously trying to arm his resistance with the magic guns and needed some rage to unlock them, BUT (considering he has the knowledge to build dimensional anchors) wouldn't it be FAR more effective to try and enlist the current owners (who are already proficient with the specificities of the weapon) FIRST?"
"Hi there, random stranger - I'm recruiting individuals to come help with my resistance movement in another dimension that could result in capture, torture, and death and the last people who I recruited all suffered and died just by BEING in another universe. I have knowledge of how to construct a dimensional anchor from my own universe without any guarantee that I can create one in THIS universe given how not only magic operates differently, it's probable that science works differently, too. If we fail, I've wasted valuable time trying to do this when it would be far easier and quicker to simply get you mad enough to unlock the gun and get it from you, which is much harder to do once I've already made friends with you."
And that's pretty much why.
A question that occurred to me... do all Magic Guns have people's spirits inside them, or is Margaret a special case?
ReplyDeleteBecause if it's the former, the Gunslinger's plan to essentially force the guns to help him by getting them to full power has some very unpleasant implications...
"A question that occurred to me... do all Magic Guns have people's spirits inside them, or is Margaret a special case?"
ReplyDeleteThey do not. I tried to illustrate that by the fact that the Gunslinger's magic gun is powered not by a dead girl, but by both his and his wife's souls together. As long as both are alive, the gun will keep working.
Oh this would be an ultimate dick move. What if in the near future the Gunslinger's gun stops working. His wife just died.
ReplyDeleteNever on screen just a victim of her reality.
Wow, what an awesome end to such an epic storyline! When Darkthorn just ups and leaves with a last "Beware!", the only thing I could think of was the Box Ghost from Danny Phantom. XD
ReplyDeleteI never thought of it before, but Linkara and Insano have a lot in common. They both draw inspiration from fiction for their equipment, with Linkara using morphers and sonic screwdrivers while Insano uses Neutro and anti-magic fields (Though I assume Insano has to construct working replicas instead of enchanting toys. His obsession with science creates more work for him, it seems.)
ReplyDeleteThey also both devote themselves to an ideal, but can't quite live up to it. Linkara is still quick to anger and revenge despite his heroic aspirations, while Insano proudly declares himself evil despite being too goofy to take seriously most of the time. (It was great to see him step his game up in this video and have a honest-to-goodness showdown.)
And now Insano is even stealing and improving his enemies' technology, just like Linkara with Vice's ship! He's making a grandiose speech about his accomplishments to show his resolve, just like Linkara!
He even has that one little difference that makes him always lose: He only uses SCIENCE, instead of blending magic with it like Linkara does.
What started as a joke turned into a perfect nemesis. Bravo!
Does magic gun 2 (the "I'm keeping you" gun) have a name?
ReplyDeleteLet's call him Blasty... or maybe Ted
Since Linkara mentioned them, the Star Wars games starring Kyle Katarn (which are also my favorite part of the Expanded Universe) were:
ReplyDeleteDark Forces
Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight
Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith
Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
The name for the series as a whole is up for debate; some called it the "Dark Forces" series, some the "Jedi Knight" series and still others the "Dark Forces/Jedi Knight" series. Even LucasArts can't make up its mind and waffles back and forth between the first two depending on who's writing what article/news piece about it.
If anyone interested, the Steam store has the entire series, which they titled the Jedi Knight Collection for $19.99. They're all FPS games, but don't let that turn you off from them. They're excellent puzzle/platformers as well as shooters. (And, to date, among the very few FOS games I will play, along with the "Star Trek: Elite Force" games).
I have a strong belief that there is no such thing as a bad character or concept
ReplyDeleteonly bad execution
And there certainly is a strong allure to take a concept that was done badly, and then show just how much potential it really had
For example, some time ago, me and my friends were thinking of a way to make Captain Planet done right
Give more depth to the characters, make the issues less black and white, explore the social and political implications more in depth...
the result was essentially a mix of Mononoke Hime and Avatar the Last Airbender, set in modern times, but that's beside the point
The point is, some people enjoy fixing a mess
on an unrelated note
and awesome Batman fan-project!
What if Bruce Wayne was just a really talented car-mechanic in the 1950s USA?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86wQt6r6Ei0
You should name that new Magic Gun Kablooey.
ReplyDeleteAlso when I saw that Dr. Insano was out and about I nearly fainted. I was wondering how you were going to put some closure on Insano but this, dayum, and the fact that you actually made him a threat too.
So anti piracy laws caused nazi (Holy? Eastern? Western?)roman empire? I KNEW IT.
ReplyDeleteYeah that part of the story was pretty silly i did like the rest especially doctor insano even if it was a bit Cliché.
Yeah star wars can be very stupid my biggest issue is the sheer incompetence of the empire their troops are idiots their fighters are pathetic they repeatedly have weaknesses on their expensive planet destroying super weapons and their biggest warship was destroyed by one kamikaze pilot.
I do find it silly that you compared star wars to star trek star wars Is a fairytale basically it’s like comparing snow white to the lord of the rings the later has a well explained and thought out mythology the former doesn’t This is not to say that that’s a bad thing.
Normally i'd give feedback and praise, but it seems 90% of your criticisms of Star Wars equally apply to Star Trek. I get they're not intended with malice but you're really going to complain about all the planets having breathable atmospheres after five series of Trek doing just that?
ReplyDeleteAnd the Jedi are religious zealots? You've not been listening to a hack called Karen Traviss have you.
I guess I should probably comment on the reviews themselves too. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteWell the rant at the start of Youngblood was pretty intense, but I assumed from a character point of view it was because Margret was stolen and sure enough that was the case.
And geez, five issues over the course of four or so years and THIS is the ending to the first arc? Really? The bad guy says "Uh yeah I could beat you now, but I won't cause... um its too easy. Yeah, bye! Beware!"
Christ, we spend all this time building up this bad guy and he just bolts like friggin jumps ship. You know, unless I'm making a comedic disney show where the bad guy is supposed to be all talk and no bite and his dragon does all the work for him... I don't expect this to happen in my comics. Or in villains who are supposed to be evil interdimensional tyrants.
Darkseid would mess this joker up is all I'm saying. Crush his head like an orange. Probably not even waste his omega beam on him.
The Star Wars comic is a major continuity snarl, as in where did Luke find the time to head back to Tatooine after a major space battle? Especially when they need to pack up and move to a new hideout? Also, I do sometimes wonder if R2 is smartass jerk who makes nasty comments behind people's backs. After all, he does it to C3PO all the time.
Maybe that's why he's back at the rebel base. He and 3PO drew straws and R2 totally cheated so he Goldie would get stuck in that planetwide sandpit again.
As for the storyline, I don't really have any complaints. Not the same as the other comments have brought up. I don't mind Linkara getting despondant over the misunderstanding because, well let's be honest, he did act first before questioning the Slinger's motives. I appreciate you trying to show that Linkara will make errors in judgement because let's face it, too many times having a character based on yourself can lead to a dangerous "Mary-Sue" pit where they do no longer. So I like that you keep your critic character grounded in reality by not making him perfect.
I will say that I kinda found some of Will's line readings in the vlog sections slightly lacking, but when look at real vlogs from a lot of folks they do kind sound like that. I guess I just think he needs to work on that a little, no big deal, acting isn't easy after all. He still did great though, for what was expected, just that one part is all. I don't want to discourage him is all, he's a cool guy and he does a good job as the character. I just felt the line reading a bit lacking in that one area.
Anyway, a good double feature and it was nice to see you finally talk about your opinion on Star Wars. Considering you're Trekkie, it's kinda inevitable you have to explain your opinion on Star Wars at some point. Just like its inevitable you have to pick your favourite Starship captain.
- Daniel T. Stack said:
ReplyDelete"Oh this would be an ultimate dick move. What if in the near future the Gunslinger's gun stops working. His wife just died.
Never on screen just a victim of her reality."
--
I fully expected that to happen in the middle of the fight with Insano, honestly; just have the 'Slinger's gun fail, he looks at it in horror, and breaks down. Insano begins gloating, and Linkara, knowing what that means, tears Insano a new one for it.
Then again, something to that effect may well happen in a future story, provided the 'Slinger doesn't go home for good, as was implied.
Hi!
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time I ever commented on your show, and excuse me, if my english sounds weird (german btw)
I am a big fan of the show, watched all your episodes and I really like them for their storyline, because it is pretty creative. And in ways of plot and character-development, you are kinda good at thinking outside of the box. Kudos!
And furthermore, very often, you show vaild points with your critque and don't succumb to nitpicking.
Now, enough with the praising (which you deserve!) but here is the real reason for my comment:
I got to say this to you:
(don't know If anyone else did that so far but still...)
You keep making the same mistakes bad comicbooks you review make. That is failing to do "show, don't tell".
I have not yet watched the Star Wars episode, but the reveal at the end of the Youngblood episode came totally out of nowhere and was all expositiony blabla.
The thing with a good twist is, that - at least in my humble opinion - there have to be hints.
If there were hints to the thing about the gunslinger being a good guy, they were too subtle and I have to watch older episodes again, but it really appeared to be totally out of nowhere.
It felt like the ending to the 1976 whodunit satire "Murder by death".
At the end about crucial people that have not appeared yet and withheld information to the audience appear now, in order to give a big twist, no one has ever thought possible and whatnot.
It feels like, you are doing this more and more often with storylines getting more and more complex. It feels like you chicken out.
Consider the missingno Storyline for a sec. You introduced the poem quite early and the reveal at the end with 90s kid being the entity did not come out of nowhere. The audience was able to understand the plot and the way the world of your show works is explained better. It works quite good!
but with the reasons as to why it is imposible for someone to enter a certain dimension (considering that the term dimension is widely used in a wrong sense, but I digress) because they die then or get absorbed and so on...
It was technobabble and rules to dimensionhopping that never turned up on your show upto that point.
It feels out of place and has to be set up better. Have Linksano talk about the difficulties of dimensionhopping beforehand, or have Linkara have difficulties with dimensionhopping. So far no one ever had problems with interdimensionary traveling.
I'm not sure if I was just rambling and it sounds like "Your show sucks blablabla the older episodes were better blablabla I no speaking english very good blablabla", but since you keep telling that you read EVERY comment, I hope that you can understand my criticism and find ways to make less flawed storylines.
also, when are you going to review lamps again?!
Gosh, I'm waiting for some good IKEA episodes for ages! They yearn to be reviewed!
You know I just realized something, some of your villains seem Batmanish, gives me the oppritunity to unleash the following Joke knock off of itsjustsomerandomguy:
ReplyDelete"Vyce, let me help you."
"Linksano, let me help you."
"Jerris, let me help you."
"Insano." *PUNCH*
"but with the reasons as to why it is imposible for someone to enter a certain dimension (considering that the term dimension is widely used in a wrong sense, but I digress) because they die then or get absorbed and so on...
ReplyDeleteIt was technobabble and rules to dimensionhopping that never turned up on your show upto that point.
It feels out of place and has to be set up better. Have Linksano talk about the difficulties of dimensionhopping beforehand, or have Linkara have difficulties with dimensionhopping. So far no one ever had problems with interdimensionary traveling."
Aaaactually I DID bring them up before. ^_~ Back in the Vyce arc, the reason he ran away when his suit was damaged was because he was afraid of dying before killing the Entity and the suit protected him from different universes, some of which he just couldn't enter altogether, hence the need to act through agents like the Vohrsoth.
Admittedly, it was two years ago, but this is just building on something I had established earlier on.
Awesome double feature, which is a nice treat since it is my birthday today.
ReplyDeleteThe whole issue with the jedi not allowed to love never made much since especially after the prequels set up the fact that jedi are recruited almost after birth. If they joined as teenagers or young adults and had a better understanding of the sacrifice, that would be one thing. However, to take them after birth and basically force this lifestyle on them, I can see how some of them rebelled.
If anikan was allowed to be with padme, then he could have went to the jedi for help instead of having the emperor take advantage of his despairation. It's easy to see why Luke got rid of that rule when establishing the new order.
That rant at the beginning about Rob Liefeld is probably the worst thing I have ever seen you do. Yes, you hate Liefeld and think he's a hack, WE GET IT! That doesn't mean you have to give us a three-minute rant about a guy you hate in the screechiest voice you could manage.
ReplyDeleteIt did feel that you were insulted people who dared to enjoy his work. Insulting people who like something is a pet peeve of mine. Just because you apoogized for it (kinda) doesn't mean it was good to include it.
For what it's worth, only encountered one fan of Liefeld's work. Well, I use the term "fan" lightly, as the guy knows Liefeld's a bad artist but just wanted to explain why people like him liked it (Liefeld's stuff was seen as vibrant and a breath of fresh air, compared to the "boring" standard used previously).
Ok, got a lot to say so I will try to be concise.
ReplyDeleteYoungblood review: Pretty much what I expected. Shallow, devoid of entertainment and dark and edgy just for the sake of it. In other words, the worst parts of the 90s. BTW, by proactive superheroes, you mean like what was proposed in Cry for Justice even though by definition stopping crimes means some illegal activity has to occur in the first place? God, my head hurts.
Star Wars review: I never thought you would review a SW comic given how dispassionate you are about it. That said, this comic really seems dull but I prefer the Dark Horse ones mostly for the ideas and artwork. BTW, I think I know which SW issue you considered reviewing. Didn't it have something to do with a poem or star or some nonsense? I love SW to death. I even enjoy the prequels, flawed, stiltedly-written, and effects dependent they are.
The Storyline: This was different but good different for the most part. I kinda had a feeling that the Gunslinger would turn out to be at heart a good person who was using extreme/questionable methods to accomplish his goal. I also like that even though Linkara made a rash error, he tried to do right by the Gunslinger and help him. As ambivalent as I have been about Linkara's supposed "evil", I like this example of character growth. It was somewhat difficult to absorb all of the Gunslinger's backstory because it was just so MUCH for a character that up until now we had little emotional connection to. But that's minor quibble. Another minor quibble is the science. I am not one of those people who really reads too much into the science of things (not surprising, I know) but it was A LOT to absorb. Lastly, you made good use of Insano even though I never particularly cared for him as a villain and it was a bit out of left-field though at least you tied up that malignant plot tumor from last year. It was also good to see that you and Noah are still friends. I hope you two can have another crossover in the future.
The ending: I am HYPED! NIMUE has really been screwing up the past year. I think she needs more than a tune-up. Plus, am I the only one who found her "evil" voice inflection kinda hot? Ok, TMI. Sorry. Keep up the good work, Lewis. And congratulations for getting both episodes out on Monday!
I really enjoyed this one. You clearly put some effort into arc endings, although my favorite is still "the entity" story ending. A few things.
ReplyDelete1. I couldn't help but notice the similarities between this Youngblood cover and the cover of Pitt #1. In both cases, its basically an attempt to cram as much bizarre-looking face into a comic cover as possible.
2. I kind of agree with you about Star Wars, although I think there are things it does right. It seems more realistic to have the villains basically in charge. Still, the military atmosphere and discipline of the good guys in Star Trek is utterly lacking in Star Wars, and as you said, the writing is generally better. I think each has something the other lacks.
3. On the subject of the ending of the story arc, I think this one reminded me of your very first Mechakara arc; the bad guy makes some early attempts and only reveals his real plan and motives at the very end of the arc, when the fight begins. The final battle was reminiscent of that fight too, I thought, except without as many alternate-persona, backup fighters.
Oddly, even after all that, the character who the gunslinger most reminds me of is Vyce. Each comes from another world, and has been gathering power by illicit means in the hopes of overcoming a more powerful evil force. The main difference, as I see it, being that the gunslinger still seems like he might turn things around.
The gunslinger, to me, was definitely a bad guy. He went around committing theft/kidnapping, and a hero that does not make, regardless of what cause he may cite to try to justify it. Still, the great thing about being human is that we all have the chance to change our ways when we go wrong, and this is where I see potential in the gunslinger that wasn't present in Vyce. I hope we'll see more of him in the future.
I just realized... The title cards were MEANT to be thaat way. The Youngblood titlecard has the Star Wars characters in Youngblood positions, and then the Star Wars title card is vice versa.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I'll be honest. I've never really shared you're (what you have now made evident) seething hatred of liefeld. Sure, the guy it completely talentless and all his stories are incredibly boring, and none of his "characters" (and I use that term loosely) you've talked about so far have been anywhere near close good, but I'm just amazed that he was able to create so many of them. It's like he's a designer of Action 52, or something.
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong. Youngblood sucks on toast, but I would gladly take it over ASBAR any day. At least Youngblood doesn't have a 70+ year legacy to fuck up.
Getting away from that, great review(s)! And awesome twist in the storyline. I'll be interested to see where it goes from here!
REALLY great seeing Insano again. He's always been my favorite Linkara villain--heck, my favorite recurring character period. I hope you and Spoony continue to work together from time to time.
ReplyDeleteThe reviews were also good, but I wasn't crazy about some of the storyline aspects. I know the whole "copyright" issue is still an important one, but I feel like it's been done, at this point... seeing it brought up as part of the plot made me groan. And I thought that Linkara was unrealistically hard on himself in regards to how he treated the gunslinger--maybe they did have a lot in common, but the Gunslinger had been UNAPOLOGETICALLY antagonistic for the entire story arc. He owed Linkara an apology, not the other way around.
Honestly, even if Holo-kara doesn't appear again, I think that it's an interesting plot point that Jarris took him, as it's a logical and in-character move. Holo-kara could potentially use the magic gun as well as Linkara could (better than Jarris could anyways), and as he's a hologram, he'd be less likely to be affected by the differing realities. Seeing as Holo-kara was gungho about taking out those who would abuse fictional characters, then he'd potentially be an ally in the fight against those who would censor said characters, which is arguably worse as it prevents the character from coming out at all. Even if Holo-kara wasn't viable, Jarris could potentially reverse engineer the technology in some manner and give himself an advantage. Really, like he said, one man's junk is another man's treasure. I wonder if Jarris made other acquisitions like this in other realities...really, a great chevoks gun if nothing else. It also leaves room for future appearances. ;-)
ReplyDeleteAlso, I like the rules you've set up regarding different realities in this series of yours. It covers many a hole that other pieces of fiction have regarding the subject, and it makes a mark of sense too (plus, ya know, adds to the characters). You have a good sense of world building, which is impressive considering that this is also about other realities. The note on how Star Wars features many planets that feature only one ecosystem yet remain stable for civilization is another gold moment.
Also also, I think I recognise the prop you used for Jarris' protection device; it's the Master's Pocketwatch, something the clasp at the end gave away. I have one from my grandma, and it's a pretty little thing. Doesn't feel that smooth, but, hey, it's an actual clock. Wonder if the chain itself was part of the device...
Also (x3 combo, apologies for repetition), I do like how you put aside your dislike for Liefeld to look at the story objectively; while I'm sure that a lot of the dislike you put into the show is genuine (it sure sounded like you were getting wound up) it shows that you're not someone who's shaped solely by their dislikes, and are able to think on it logically. It gives credence to your argument, and pulls you back from what strawman-impression you may give off to others just coming in off this video.
really, an enjoyable experience all the way around. Thanks for working so hard dude; I hope that these next reviews give you some time to relax a bit.
Great seeing Dr. Insano again. With Noah leaving channel awesome I thought we wouldn't see that plot point with Insano amount to anything.
ReplyDeleteHow the plot was set up seemed to make reviewing a Star Wars comic out of nowhere, but whatever. And I didn't think editing was bad.
So, either Nimue is evil, or Mechakara is back.
I came for the comic reviews. I stayed for the Noah cameos.
ReplyDeleteGreat as always Lewis... but the true question is... WHO WON THE TEKKEN MATCH!?
ReplyDeleteComing in relatively late with a comment so I'll try not to repeat too much of what others have said, except for this one thing - Awesome finish to the storyline!! I'm not going to say it was perfect, only that I liked it so much that the negatives aren't even worth mentioning.
ReplyDeleteFavorite scene - The scene in the house-ship (this spaceship design trend is catching on!), with Pollo and Sierra's hilarious bickering, and grappling for the gravity controls, while the Gunslinger and Linkara alternately fight and get thrown all over the room (having the guns scatter everywhere was a nice touch, too). Drama, tension, comedy, and unexpected pickpocketing-during-a-fight skills.
Most nail-biting moment/unintentional mood whiplash – destroying the watch. I've always liked the Gunslinger and believed he wasn't motivated by evil, but for some reason I also had this horrible idea that he would die in the finale... so when Linkara nuked the watch, I was like, oh, hell, no, this is it *horror*... and then Pollo goes “Linkara, you IDIOT!”, and I almost fell over laughing. I don't remember ever hearing him express emotion like that before.
But, oh, boy, Linkara, did you ever mess up this time! So, you were angry past listening to the Gunslinger, but the fact that Pollo was telling you wait should have been a hint... If you want your friends to keep you from doing evil, you've got to listen to them!
So, the Gunslinger/Jerris/Jaeris was an internet reviewer with access to magic and tech stuff... *shrugs* sounds plausible. Really got me when he talked about the nine dying - all the more moving to see him look so broken when the character had came off really over-confident all the way through. I get why he did things the way he did, it was the least damaging way he could do it, if he wanted any hope of saving his world - better someone lose their temper, and their gun, than they lose their life. Also good to know not all the magic guns are powered by someone's death, it makes it a lot less dark.
Gunslinger drinking and looking miserable. I'm still like, oh, yeah, he's gonna die...
Best setup – the slow reveal with Insano. First it looked like Spoony had just filmed in front of a green screen somewhere, then he and Linkara actually fight hand-on-hand... then they're in the apartment and... wow! Very well done, guys, keeping that under wraps. Loved Insano's part, especially his reaction to the Gunslinger's arrival. I figured there'd be a payoff to that earlier Insano appearance, but I was only expecting a little cameo or something. This raises questions. Hope you eventually do that behind-the-scenes thing you mentioned.
Emotional high point of the piece - Linkara offering Jerris the gun. And then I get one thing I've wanted to see but never really expected I would – Linkara and the Gunslinger fighting together on the same side. Also liked that Jerris didn't accept Linkara's handshake, he wasn't ready to let him off the hook, and that was realistic. Giving him back the dagger was hopeful, without being so perfect that it negated the impact of what Linkara has done. Also. took until this point to finally satisfy me that Jerris wasn't going to die. I really hope we see more of him in the future.
Lastly, great to see Margaret's physical form again. Nice that she confirmed that she can change her appearance at will, it addresses some of the criticisms of her first appearance – the fact that she looks different to the original pictures, and also the thing about why would uncaring parents bother with braces and glasses? Well, if braces and glasses are signs that one has caring parents, then its so sadly understandable that Margaret would chose a form with them. Unintentional, I know, the actress just happens to have them... but that's what I got out of it :)
Congratulations and very well done... and thanks for all the work you put into these stories, they just get better all the time, both in the writing and in the execution.
Wow, I never realized how huge Will's eyes are. oO
ReplyDeleteThe reviews are great, as usual. I'm much more a Trekkie (Trekker? idek), since I'll happily watch TOS ad nauseum whereas never much sought out Wars viewings, but I enjoy the first trilogy anyhow. The whole rivalry thing never really made sense to me. -shrug- Then again, I grew up with B5 much more than either Trek or Wars. Back on topic, though, your review was certainly fair, and it wasn't a terrible story were it not for the awful 3D effect.
On the storyline: INSANO! SQUEE! SPOONY! SQUEE! :D
-cough-
Maybe this is a stupid and obvious thing to say, but I like how even after the last arc about not turning evil, the Linkara character is still imperfect. You could have easily written him stopping to listen to Pollo or even Jarris before destroying the watch, but instead, driven by (completely understandable at the time) rage, Linkara does something impulsive (and kind of petty, since, other than Jarris' concern, he had no way of knowing the true import of the watch) and has to deal with the consequences.
Going to weigh in as another person not terribly sympathetic to the Gunslinger. He makes sense, but he still sorta brought this whole thing on himself.
The one thing I'm shaky on is the whole direct-parallel evil-government-silencing-reviewers thing. I understand it's a big issue right now and it makes sense to use it as a point of conflict, it just... I dunno, maybe it felt too soon after the big hoorah of TBF, especially since you kept calling back *to* TBF? Or too convenient that Jarris just happens to have also been an internet reviewer in his home dimension? I feel like the parallel should have been obscured just a little, even if just with some magibabble alternate-universe 'totally not the internet' thing, but maybe that's just me.
To conclude: YAY INSANO. :DDDD
I personally thought that "The Force Unleashed" was the best piece of expanded universe and would have made a far better prequel than the official ones we got. It just goes to show what happens when you don't let George Lucas lead your Star Wars story and why I have hope for Episode 7.
ReplyDeleteIt was awesome to see you working with Spoony again and that he travelled all the way to your house for this finale. You two have a great on-screen buddy thing going on.
ReplyDeleteDoes this mean we are going to get the commentary for the Star Trek III review soon?
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing the Gunslinger's gun stops working at some point and he thinks his wife is dead and that it is all Linkara's fault. Just a guess though.
ReplyDeleteI'm probably in the minority here, but I like Trek and Wars equally. I grew up with both, and I think both have merit. While yes, Trek often has better writing, TV often does. However, Star Wars has the better video games, especially Knights of the Old Republic. And some stories that are really good can only be told in one of those universes. But that's okay, because an equally good story can come from the other. And hey, if George Takei wants Star Peace, shouldn't we listen to him?
ReplyDeleteI was hoping that you made a minor modification to the theme song intro for the first part, since you didn't have your gun there. I thought it would have been a nice touch to alter that sequence of you suiting up to review/kick ass without including the gun. It seems like one of those little things that you would have thought of. But I guess it's entirely possible that you did consider the option, and you just chose not to do it, so you could get the video out on time.
ReplyDeleteOkay, am pretty sure I checked all the entries with his name so this wasn't asked yet but, was Doctor Linksano's name written on his trench coat now?
ReplyDeleteThe only complaint I have about the videos is one I've had for a while. I think you should try to speed your fight scenes up a little bit. Your choreography is pretty damn good for someone who is just having some fun with friends at home. But the one problem is the speed. There are times that I can tell you or another actor is holding in an action, waiting for a reaction from your opponent.
ReplyDeleteI know you're probably taking it as slow as you can so you guys don't hurt yourself or each other. However I think that if you sped up the footage just a little bit in post production, it would go a long way to covering the pauses and hesitations, and make the fight scenes a little more stream-lined and believable.
Other than that, great videos, Linkara!
I'm glad you'll work with Spoony but what you did to that Gunslinger FAIL! YOU FAIL! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO HIM YOU SCHMUCK!
ReplyDeleteAre you ever going to have anything Yugioh related happen? I'm not sure how it could be pulled off, but I'd love to see some kind of shadow game. Hmm, considering you're a comic book reviewer... do you use HEROES? :)
ReplyDeleteGreat job as always with a great storyline but I notice a few people are referring to the change to Nimie as being Hal while I am reminded that you are a Star Trek fan and despite everything Voyager is a star trek series which featured Dreadnaught an AI controlled weapon.
ReplyDeleteSo this is either the original Ship AI taking over again or something else.
Also it seems now that the ship is having trouble the only way now for Linkara and the Gunslinger to cross the boundaries of space and time "safely" is via reviewing a Warrior comic with Spoony.... However is there any left that powerful enough to break dimensional barrier again? and can they keep their sanity....
"I tried to illustrate that by the fact that the Gunslinger's magic gun is powered not by a dead girl, but by both his and his wife's souls together. As long as both are alive, the gun will keep working."
ReplyDeleteForeshadowing??? O_O
No, no, no! Linkara is far to busy for a Major plot twist like that!.............................................Or.......IS HE?
DeleteDUN DUN DUN!!!!!!!!!!!
Fantastic finale, I really enjoyed this one and the Star Wars review.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that even though Star Wars is not your thing you know it well enough to intelligently comment on the comic.
So Margret is kinda like Linkara's Obi-wan force ghost companion? That's kinda cool...
HA! About time Nimue went evil. I know you as a creator knew the implications of naming the AI Nimue, but Linkara the character really should have known better. Especially if Camelot is his favorite musical. Great acting from everyone involved, and I really like the direction in which you took Jariss' (sp?) character. Bravo!
ReplyDeleteThat was an awesome finale. I'm actually glad to see Dr. Insano (and Spoony) after To Boldly Flee and especially after that whole mess that led to his departure from Channel Awesome. Insano hijacking Neutro and fighting Linkara may be the most awesome thing since Kickassia.
ReplyDeleteWhy does Liefeld keep working in comics? We all know he sucks. Every February, we get a reminder of how bad he is with a beatdown of Youngblood. This guy is the representation of everything that is wrong with the 90s and the Dark Age of Comics.
Star Wars 3-D doesn't appear to be that bad, though the fact that it was designed for 3-D glasses did not help. Still, I would rather see Star Wars 3-D comics than the horrors of the Star Wars Holiday Special!!!!
After learning the origins of the Gunslinger (Jaeris), I can see why you chose Star Wars. The franchise influenced To Boldly Flee, along with SOPA. The Gunslinger's origin story (a universe where SOPA is passed and created a totalitarian government) mirrors Star Wars's theme of a resistance army vs. evil empire. And don't get me started on Linkara's quest and the Holo-kara.
It's a shame we didn't actually get to see the holo-emitter used in the final fight (presumably by Sierra, I think), though it may come up again in future storylines, along with Jaeris.
This is a bad sign for everyone. I have this feeling that Lord Vyce may be involved with Nimue's malfunction.
Speaking of resistance army vs. evil empire, what is your opinion on the upcoming video game, Injustice: Gods Among Us?
I thought he didn't care about comic adaptions
DeleteGreat...Nimue's gone rampant. This ought to be fun. Of course, "fun" may vary on whether her rampancy ends in SHODAN style (antagonistic delusions of Godhood and attempted organic genocide) or Durandal style (Meta-stable, delusions of Godhood, but a whole helluva lot more benevolent).
ReplyDeleteOverall, a nice ending to the storyline. Even if I did guess part of the twist from a ways off, I still enjoyed it.
To Rebetitz
ReplyDeleteWait you actually watched first two seasons? I love TNG and even I can't sit through that pile of shit.
Seriously, the series gets MUCH better later on. Picard wents through a lot of character development after The Best of Both Worlds and after seeing his brother and father, I really can't blame him for being such a jackass.
What's wrong with The Borg?
Was that 'Mars, God of War' you played? (You don't seem to credit out-of-copyright music as much... or I just didn't notice.)
ReplyDeleteI was confused about the song 'Young Blood' until I saw the credits. I've got the Coasters' original, but not the Beatles' cover, and I could tell it wasn't the Coasters.
It was actually pretty easy to follow along the 3D with my glasses on. All I had to do was look at the comic... which I have.
I bought #1 and #3 years ago (but not #2 for some reason).
Y'know what? Another criticism: I couldn't remember a thing about it, apart from the fact I owned it.
Memorable much?
(I thought the story, though, was a 3D'd up reprint of an earlier story. Could be wrong.)
~ Mik
Cat C:
ReplyDeleteI can't answer your question, but that's a lab coat, not a trench coat.
Also, it's a bit rich for the Gunslinger to work very hard at making Linkara angry, and be so petulent about Linkara acting like an angry person.
Oh, and whether Hutts can be killed by blasters or not...
You realise that real life gangsters can command respect and gather armies of people while they can be killed by guns, right?
It just seems like that one was a bit of a stretch in trying to make Star Wars look silly.
Also, if Star Wars (or Star Trek) is silly, sign me up for the silly party.
~ Mik
Just a random note about Arm Rings. Not to say it's a good design decision for costumes, as I don't believe it is... but those rings could potentially have a use.
ReplyDeleteHorizontal stripes can actually give the illusion of something being shorter and wider than is acutally the case, while vertical stripes do the opposite and create an illusion of looking slimmer and longer.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/9336938/Horizontal-stripes-really-do-make-you-look-fat.html
In the above case, it is used in reference to how fat they make you look, but it was indeed a fairly science-y affair, as it won an award for BBC's Amateur Scientist of the Year.
I've also seen the concept used in an animated medium before, that being the anime and manga series Rurouni Kenshin. One of the fighters, Han'nya, actually uses arm stripes as a technique to trick his opponents and make his punches difficult to dodge.
I must reiterate that I highly doubt that Liefeld thought of it that way, and I'd bet he simply used them because they "looked cool". It could, however be useful for a primarily melee fighter to make their arms look shorter and wider by using rings instead of solid gloves, thus potentially tricking opponennts into dodging later and wider than needed.
Linkara swore...shit just got real yo.
ReplyDeleteI'm kind of surprised you still had your voice after your Liefeld rant.
Oh my god...INSANO! Awesome, different shirt that usual, isn't it?
Not only did Insano have time to steal Neutro, he had time to install a new control stick and get it washed! Unless keeping Neutro shiny was also part of Nimue's duties...that might have been the protocol that broke the AI's programming.
So Insano's looking for some sort of solution to the air in the zone he's in...some sort of AirZone Solution.
Out of curiosity, what's the book behind the Pokeball (Pyramidhead's Pokeball?) that your Seventh Doctor umbrella's on top of? And for that matter what's the book beside Bear and behind the Cybermat?
Huh, actually when you get down to it Star Wars does seem silly. Upon reflection I think I enjoy the Expanded Universe of it more than the movies. Clone Wars has had some great arcs lately (especially the Robot commandos one) and Timothy Zahn's Thawn triology is among the best books I've read, I think you'd like Thrawn.
Actually the secret of the Force is the fact that its bipolar.
You mean the Force ghosts of Life Day...yeah never mind its stupid.
Correct me if I'm wrong but are the story bits of these episodes the longest we've had?
Star Trek style display screens in Neutro...awesome.
*Gasp* You incourage underage Cybermat drinking?
Holy crap...this was awesome! You and Spoony in the same room at the same time! And it wasn't a hotel room!
I'm guessing that time prevented a moment with the Ninja-Style Dancer but what was Boffo up to?
Anyway, great job Linkara, every major arc finale feels bigger than the last one. I think you've definitely deserved a break from story based episodes.
ponders for a moment.
ReplyDeletewhat if someone was born outside of normal dimensions? born in the rift the connects the dimensions. would that mean they would be able to enter any dimension they wanted without fear of this star trek esque technobabble? because, as extra dimensional beings, one would only partially adapt to a dimension, enough to exist there without harm yet not be rejected or unable to itnereact with the world.
one would also think that the magic of the guns might be able to ease the transition, as magic is something beyond mere dimensional barrier..... also makes me ask if you think if you have mind control how can you lose, if you have magic how can a guy with Science beat you? if you think about it, it really would not take much to destroy the likes of Neutro. just needs a small amount of energy, where neutro's energy reactor is, and a reaction inside of it to cause a meltdown or at least irreparrably damage him from within. even if it is protected by a force field, the force field is also a target of manipulation.
.....did the gun slinger ever think about also seeking the help of other kinds of magic users? i am pretty sure there are different varieties of magical devices and instruments outside of guns, maybe in fact better than them. the gns would mean the use of a newer, younger magic than more ancient magic that a sword or staff would have.
.........actually linkara, here is a question. is it possible that the empowerment magic that your character uses to make his stuff real could be used on non science ficiton items? for example, if you got your hands on a replica of the Master Sword of legend of zelda, could the magic be used to make the sword a real sword with the characteristics of the master sword? the sword that is imbued with the power to slay evil in all of its forms?
....another, maybe simpler, example would be the Claymore sword. claymore, as you probably know, is a series about half demons who fight full blooded demons, but the factors behind it kinda get complicated, conspiracy stuff and stuff (has an odd pace to it at times, but ultiamtely things begin to make sense). in the series are the titular claymores, swords made of an unknown metal that is super durable, seemingly indestructible even as the blades can withstand the force of superhuman shapeshifting demons without harm. could the magic be used to imbue a replica of a claymore sword with the same seemingly indestructible qualities?
hmmmmm....
ReplyDeleteAbout the force, it really depends on what one perceives it as. in star wars the force is a kind of reality field that itnerconnects verything. it is mostly mystical strangely enough, and in some case can work a lot more like magic than some kind of psychic power. the Night Sisters are a cult of, quite literally, witches who use the force in a very different way than a jedi or sith. manifesting through green mist, they use chants and rituals to manipulate the force to do theri will. it is in fact an incredibly powerful and effective variation. it can heal someone at the edge of death, enhance a relatively small man into a seven foot tall berserker, and can even alter matter and raise the dead.
there is apparrently some god liek will to the force, but what luke did seems to be a different variation. he used the force to vaguely identify a man who was a farmer before and, perhaps, wanted to be a farmer again. it is possible he became a spice trader (drug trader, lets be honest), becuase he had lost what he had before, and wanted to return ot that life. through the connections of the force, Luke detected this.
and that is why the force is powerful. it is not only something you can choke people to death with or shoot lightning, but you can use it to sesne the connectiosn between the billions fo life forms and bring you to where you need to go.
however whether or not the force itself is sapient in a sense tht we understand is as complicated as trying to prove or disprove god.
and for all the flaws of the prequels, emotional trauma like what padme went thorugh, along with giving birth, isn ot so out there. the trauma of child birth and her under incomprehensible physcological stress could have had it that her body could not survive the process. it actually CAN happen in the real world.
and as linksano once said, the path to hell is often paved with good intentions.
....and the death star is obviously a comparison to nuclear weapons. weapons we threaten to use but do not want to use. blow up a planet, and a hundred others will bow to your will.
I liked these episodes an awful lot, from the very beginning when Linkara's fury just about ignited the screen. (And, hey, good choice of a review for a day when he was in no mood to be nice about it.) The performances were pretty good, and there were some great action sequences--I particularly liked the way the effects came out on the "oops, I have disrupted the gravity" fight scene. Which reminds me, Pollo and Sierra were awesome--blueberry, heh.
ReplyDeleteThe Gunslinger's backstory makes total sense, it's sad, and it opens up a lot of future plot. (I did roll my eyes a little at his being an internet reviewer, but the story moved on from there fairly quickly.) I don't feel he was horribly wronged by Linkara, given what he was doing and what Linkara knew--even given his side of the story, his defense is that he's justified in committing assault and theft, and of course Linkara didn't have his side of the story. But I can't really expect the Gunslinger to take such an awful loss rationally, and if anything it speaks well of Linkara that his response is "Oh my god what did I do?!" rather than "well, he had it coming." (And Linkara shouldn't have done it in the first place, not when he didn't know what he was doing and his enemy was practically begging him on his knees not to and also Pollo was telling him to stop. That was a fail, no argument.)
And Insano! Insano with a giant robot! Insano with the power gauntlets that he would logically have gotten in To Boldly Flee. Insano cackling hysterically and being immune to rational negotiation because he's going to RULE THE WORLD! ...I was pretty happy with the Insano appearance. Plus the dual temptation of Jaeris, Margaret's brief appearance, and the awesome three-way fight scene--all excellent.
...all of that said, however, I flinched really badly when Linkara offered to give Jaeris the magic gun. How does Margaret, previously referred to as Linkara's partner and friend, feel about him trying to hand her over to a stranger?
Ah, so nice to see a satisfying resolution to a good storyline. Kudos, Mr. Lovhaug. ^^
ReplyDeleteIn particular, I quite like the opening to the Youngblood #5 review. It's quite nice to hear all that presented intelligently, Linkara's histrionics aside. And even nicer to have a critic who doesn't consider their opinion to be a test of intelligence or taste.
I must admit, at this stage of your look into Rob Liefeld's series of incredibly lucky breaks that constitute his career, I can't really hate him that much. I try not to hate creators personally--unless they're Gary Brodsky, or Rick Olmey, or Pat Lee, etc.--and with Rob, I just get the feeling that he really is trying, but his fame has long since eclipsed his own talent. If anything, he's guilty of not realizing his own limits. That's what an editor is for, after all. (Take notes, DC Comics.)
Of course, a friend of mine came up with a theory as to why there are people who like Rob as a creator and not just as a person.
He draws exactly like a teenage boy. Not to mention writes like one, too. In that way, I guess he serves as the 90s equivalent of Kevin Smith: the common fan who rose to prominence and went on to be the industry's most popular creator.
Then again, Darkthorn... Speaking as a writer, I'm pretty sure I could knock out a better script over my lunch hour. It's simple: "Darkthorn blasts Diehard away with his super-mega-laser-eyes! Then Psyfire fries Darkthorn's brain because he's stronger than fifty Jean Greys!"
Just once, I wish some of these writers would follow the Jojo's Bizarre Adventure style of villain design. A villain who's just powerful, or who kills a bunch of civillians or established heroes isn't a good villain. If they're going to lose, give them powers that make for a unique challenge.
But oh well. Thank goodness Rob at least has the clout to rope in creators with more talent than he does nowadays. And Jeph Loeb, I guess.
Tangent done. Great episode, noneltheless. And speaking as a Star Wars fan, thanks for getting around to it!
Hey, Linkara! You should really look at the DC comic called: "Batman: Rules of Engagment". That Comic Really Sux! And if you too, find that this comic sux I would be pleased to donate the comic too you, and you review it? Would that be ok?
ReplyDeleteOh dear Arceus.
ReplyDeleteMethinks your ship has a data based malignancy.
A...entity-like being, if I may.
(hint, hint)
Anywho, love the video, and the addressing of your and Spoon's relationship.
I'm a little late to the dance comment-wise. But this was one helluva double-feature. I like how things actually ended. Not only was it fun to see an old rivalry re-emerge (short as it was), but with the overall story not quite resolved it just gets my brain churning on what's coming up. Good job old bean.
ReplyDeleteYou know with Nimue's recent malfunction, that reminded me: Marvel did a "2001: A Space Odyssey" adaptation with Jack Kirby...sort of wonder if that will be how this is resolved. (introduced X-51 the Machine Man even)
ReplyDelete[[SPOILERS]]
ReplyDeleteI think I figured out why Nimue is turning evil. If you remember her introductory episode, you know the one where Iron Liz crossed over into the mirror universe, you recall that Nimue was uploaded to Comicron-1 during an ion storm, the same ion storm that caused Iron Liz to cross over. My theory is that a large chunk of Mirror-Nimue crossed over from the mirror universe and became a part of Prime-Nimue's programming, a AI equivalent to a split personality if you will. It was Mirror-Nimue's atempts to slowly gain control of Comicron-1 that resulted in the malfunctions throughout the past few months. And when Prime-Nimue attempted a self-diagnostic, Mirror-Nimue realised that she will be discovered and took complete control, possibly aided by the fact that prime-Nimue has been overtaxed by Linkara to the point where it was easy for Mirror-Nimue to take over.
One piece of evidence to my theory is that when Holo-kara tried to destroy Marvel Entertainment, Prime-Nimue didn't try to stop him, she didn't even seem to realise that what he was doing was wrong until Linkara pointed it out, almost as if her morality and ethical programming was degrading, programming that Mirror-Nimue probably wouldn't have i.e. Mirror-Nimue influencing Prime-Nimue much like how split personalities influence individuals all throughout fiction.
Yeeeeees. At last, NIMUE is acting...Nimue-ish. Don't go into any caves, Linkara!
ReplyDeleteAlso, this was the most awesome of awesome things, and 3D has always been, and always will be, over-rated. =^-^=
Great review, Linkara! Though, I must say I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum. I like Star Trek, but I LOVE Star Wars! It's just more fun to me, but you were spot-on when comparing it to superheroes.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the Force is concerend I believe it's not the same as a 'god', and more of semi-sentience, kind of like Neutro. It all depends on how you use it, therefore people can (And do) abuse it. I may be wrong, but that's my belief on it.
Anyway, if you're thinking of doing another Star Wars comic and you need to do some research, I strongly suggest Wookiepedia, it has EVERYTHING you need.
Again, GREAT REVIEW!!!
I see some Dr.Who revival influence in the redhead in Javis/Gunslinger's flashback and I was right to call the gunslinger a tall and "evil" Edward Elric from FMA. It's the pocket watch that's dear to him (for different reasons) and a loved one who's soul is trapped into a inanimate object and Insano's comment just seals it. By the way, it's good to see Spoony' agian. Okay, I'm curious at what Youngblood is like without Liefield's drawing style. I'll .I'm leaving the topic of discussing that crap comic to everyone else. Yeesh was that double Liefield comic was bad and the Star Wars was just eh in my opinion. I enjoyed the conclusion to the Gunslinger arc. He makes a good ally at the moment than friend. Uh Oh, I really don't like the evil makeover on Nimue. I'm not looking forward to a possible Nimue 9000 story arc. Because Linkara already has a robotic nemesis. I'll say this, If Nimue was human than Psychologically and physically she would be stressed out and be like all REDRUM at the moment. That or else someone else is causing that temporary evil make over We the audience just say right now. I'll wait till We see what else is happening next in the story line
ReplyDeleteAnother well executed review, and I thank you SOOOOO much for the great rant on why Liefeld shouldn't have a job.
ReplyDeleteTook me a bit to actually get this comment in due to some personal issues.
I hope you rested well after this amazingly done double-feature and I look forward to the next part of your storyline.
Fun addition:
Apparently Liefeld's too lazy to do his own writing, he's asking his fanbase (yeah, I'm shocked he has one too) to actually write FOR HIM and apparently he'll use his "talent" (more like serious lack thereof) to "draw" (I think to him this is a synonym for "defecate") the scene that's pitched.
http://robliefeldcreations.com/?p=3314
Heh, just want to comment that in your review for what's wrong with Identity Crisis you had a problem with adding dark backstory for no reason. And used the Miller time watch as an example, saying you took it from a man you killed. That would make the references to Miller time a bit less funny. All this talk of girl's souls reminds me that the magic gun you use(d) for comedic effect has such a weird dark backstory. Isn't that kind of similar and makes those jokes feel a bit off?
ReplyDeleteThe ghosts of "Christmas Past, present, and a Long Time Ago."
ReplyDeleteHaha! That's a great line.
Interestingly, this Star Wars comic is actually acknowledged in the wider canon. I remember some of this stuff from a Rogue Squadron book.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the late posting. I'd like to say that I understand your feeling for Star Wars, I feel that both are very good, but different types of stories where Star Wars is more fantasy than Star Trek is.
ReplyDeleteOne great Star Wars material is the Bioware games: Kotor (Knights of the Old Republic) if you've ever played them. The first was absolutely amazing and whilst the second isn't as good, it's okey so far.
Also it was a rule in the old republic jedi that jegi could not fall in love where as when Luke rebuilt it, he allowed it.