Monday, April 28, 2014

Bill and Ted's Excellent Comic Book #1

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A most non-bogus comic about two excellent dudes!



75 comments:

LucasChad said...

Don't worry Linkara, I'm not gonna stone you for liking Ghostbusters II more than the first. Everybody's entitled to their own opinions when it comes to movies especially sequels. For example, I liked Die Hard 5 slightly more than the fourth though they're renowned as the worst of the action series. Now I'm ready for a stoning!

Speaking of sequels, there was supposedly a Bill & Ted 3 in the works that was talked about I think a few years back. Both Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter are said to return with Dean Parisot (Galaxy Quest) directing. I feel it's pretty odd that they're doing a third film over 20 years after the last film. Dumb and Dumber To I can understand because the first film was a timeless classic, while the first two Bill & Ted were a product of the late-80s/early-90s. I don't know, what do you think?

Patrick Carlock said...

I'm not the only one who thinks Ghostbusters 2 can stand alongside the original? FINALLY!!!!! Anyways, I have to say, your video did do a good job of convincing me to check out these movies, so at least something came out of this comic.

Unknown said...

Me to I love Ghostbuster 2 ( I not prefer it to the one but they are equal to me)at the exeption of the last scene when they comment the paint

Anonymous said...

Was the voice of the Grim Reaper a parody of Grim Fandango?

Unknown said...

Awww. No storyline this week? And here I thought there'd be something time travel related that would explain the rather odd choice of comic to review. Oh well.

By the way, when will the next DVD come out?

Kaze Koichi said...

"Did you enjoy my song?"

We probably would, If we could actually HEAR it.

Anonymous said...

the best part is, that if you know you'r history of philosophy well enough, the bit with Socrates in a mosh-pit is actually pretty accurate

the man was apparently a party animal, getting high on mistletoe-toe tea (which has the same properties as LSD), and running naked through the streets of Athens with his students

best
teacher
EVER!

Unknown said...

1) The title artwork for this episode is GLORIOUS. 2) I'm a child of the late 80's/early 90's — why was I not made aware of this comic's existence?! 3) Wait, if those two bad dudes come from a time period where their land is ruled by a king, then why are the speaking the "Queen's English?"

(Granted, one might then ask why they aren't speaking Middle English… oh, sumer is icumen in: lhude sing, cuccu!)

Doug Puthoff said...

If Bill and Ted are indeed part of the Marvel Universe, perhaps they can beat Mephisto and clean stinking mess of dog-doo of continuity left after ONE MORE DAY and ONE MOMENT IN TIME.

Lostshadows said...

That weird clock thing looks kind of like a giant toe.

Anonymous said...

Ghostbusters2 is better the ghostbusters1.

Anonymous said...

Genghis Khan, Napoleon, and Abraham Lincoln in the same room?

I Knew It!
Bill and Ted are responsible of Sid Meier's Civilization series!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygXr_LOsHmI

Unknown said...

A most excellent and triumphant review, dude! :D

Deviant #23 said...

Evan Dorkin also did the Milk & Cheese comics.

Anonymous said...

I have not actually seen the Bill and Ted movies. Now that I know what they're actually about, I'm beginning to think this is a grievous mistake that needs to be corrected.

By the way, that whole "skip the ads" thing that switching Blip players was supposed to fix? Still happening on my computer. Not really sure what the problem could be; I'm still getting the ads on every other Blip show (including SF Debris, who still uses the old player), so maybe it's something on your end?

Anonymous said...

I have a feeling there's going to be a few comments about your Civil War comment.

Unknown said...

Yeah I guess the references to how some of the character's actually died & the grim reaper talking to them as well as behavior hinted that something was going to happen. makes sense now since at the start you mentioned that there are 12 issues.


Now as for marvel & transformers, well there's Prisoner of War featuring spiderman & the GI Joe crossovers.

then theres the New Avengers/the Transformers 3 parter, Man & Machine.

Whether or not it is the same universe, it is still a awesome image of Capt. America getting a boost from Optimus Prime.

Andrew Bull said...

And now it's time for "Typical Fan Boy Talk" in 3 2 1..

I don't see a big deal why you like the second Ghostbusters movie better then the first, the Second was a pretty good follow up story, in my eyes. Also but GODZILLA IN MARVEL... first the movie now this, today just keeps getting better and better. Thanks for the Deadly laughs... wait!?

That concludes today's "Typical Fan Boy Talk."

Taiko said...

Very enjoyable critique of the comic Linkara; all the jokes worked well, and I didn't find anything that I'd have done differently (or as well) as you did. I would have made a note on how Bill and Ted's time machine doesn't seem to have hangups on where it lands, unlike some other time machines (such as the TARDIS), but your comment on the mean feat of the king being late in a time machine is still valid and amusing. As I've not seen the movie, though, my perspective on this piece is limited, so that's all I have.

Thanks for the hard work, and for the air guitar/violin at the end. Very nice - here's hoping it can be used in the future sometime. :-)

Ash Marie said...

Awesome someone else you also likes Ghostbusters II. Great review Linkara.

shikome kido mi said...

Is it just me or does that horrible clock monster thing look a bit like a thumb or toe mounted on a wheel with the nail replaced by a clock and arms mounted on the sides? And, of course, a grotesque face added.

Speaking of grotesque, that first panel where the princes reveal their true colors was suprisingly nicely drawn, looked like it could have come out of a noir comic.

Also, you like Ghostbusters Two better than the original? It's not as bad as a lot of people make it out to be but it's a lot more hit and miss and full of extra plot-holes so I can't really agree, even though I don't hate it.

Unknown said...

Are you planning to review a Guardians Of The Galaxy comic?

Anonymous said...

Guess you weren't too happy when MikeJ reviewed Ghosbusters 2 as a Shameful Sequel, although he did admit that he thought it wasn't all that bad, just not as good as the first one.

Kth-77 said...

Pfft, don't sweat it, I have utterly terrible taste, or more accurately I have far greater tolerance of what I consider "Enjoyable." It would probably be easier to list the things I don't like than the things I do!

Logan said...

Would Carebears count as part of the marvel universe as well? I don't remember if that was a Marvel comic you had reviewed.

AmuroNT1 said...

Ah, Bill and Ted. I was kind of nervous when I saw you'd be reviewing this, but everything turned out pretty well. Glad to see an actually enjoyable comic every once in a while, both for variety and so you don't have to shout yourself hoarse dealing with crap like Cry for Justice every week.

I honestly thought this was going to be a 90s Kid episode, but then I remembered that the first film came out in the 80s. Maybe he and 80s Dan could team up to look at the movies some day?

And not to be nit-picky, but Rufus technically COULD show up late even with the time machine. Remember that in the first film, he himself says "The clock is always running in San Dimas", so the boys only have a finite amount of time to gather historical figures. I know it doesn't make a lot of sense when you think about it, but at least it's internally consistent.

Finally, in closing...PARTY ON, LINKARA!

Mohsen Lakhoua said...

I have the first half of the series with me. I'm really hoping he reviews the rest, if he needs to.

Marcone Antelius said...

A most-excellent review good sir. I hope you can do more of this series soon.

RobHagen said...

A most excellent, righteous, non-heinous non-bogus review. Solidarity on Ghostbusters II...!

Unknown said...

Logically, if they have a time machine, wouldn't they be able to save Lincoln from getting shot? Oh wait, this is Bill and Ted we're dealing with here. Never mind.

SlyDante said...

Terrific review, Linkara! I will admit I was kind of hoping for the comic adaptation, largely because I honestly consider it better than the film (which is still awesome), & thus wanted to see what you think of it. What can I say, I love Dorkins' art style (which I think is perfect for the world of Bill & Ted), & there's some additional scenes & it alternate ending that it uses which I think work better.

As for the "son" bit...I don't remember if this is in the film, but in the comic adaptation it's revealed Bill's step-mom, Missy, divorced her husband & married Ted's dad. Which I don't think actually makes Bill & Ted step-brothers, but I guess Ted's dad could see it that way. Or maybe he was just using "son" in the general sense.

Also, I'm guessing if you pointed out every background detail, we'd be here forever (& I naturally don't expect you to recognize all of them), but some bits I noticed: A Milk & Cheese t-shirt, a nod to Dorkins' other famous work, & proving that he apparently knows a bit about the music scene of that time, t-shirts for the rock bands Megadeth, Mr. Bungle, & Firehose (which Dill himself is wearing). Dude did his homework.

But overall, great job, totally glad you reviewed this most excellent comic. One last thing: Any other comic adaptations you think are actually as good as/better than the actual film? ^_^

Lewis Lovhaug said...

"Was the voice of the Grim Reaper a parody of Grim Fandango?"

Nah, just an attempt to be similar to the accent William Sadler did for the movie.

Jok said...

I couldn't stop noticing that at 10:04 there's a guy wearing a MEGADEATH t-shirt. If the artist meant Dave Mustaine's thrash metal band then the actual spelling would be MEGADETH (because poor literacy is... super common in metal band names). Alternatively, it could be THE MEGADEATHS, Pink Floyd's original name.

Unknown said...

You missed another "It's funny because he died this way" joke; Ghenghis Khan died of food poisoning.

So yeah, whoever Rufus hired as caterer just killed Ghengis Khan. Good going there!

CatholicHTowner said...

Ok, from the comments so far, no one has asked this so I will:
Was the phone booth in Bill and Ted inspired by the TARDIS? Anyone know?

Jay McKenzie said...

Wait a minute...

...if Death took a vacation and no one dies anymore, how come those two evil knight dudes didn't come back to life?

I sure as hell didn't see Death reaping them before he got into the Phone Booth...

Leor said...

Lewis! A totally bodacious and most excellent review! air guitar riff

Dude, you seem totally perplexed about which licensed properties are and are not a part of the gnarly canon of the Marvel Universe! Whoa! That is like a major bummer!

Here's a totally non-bogus guide to what fits where:

First are licensed properties like Rom Space Knight, the Micronauts or Godzilla, that totally appeared on Earth-616, the totally radical home of the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, Spider-Man and the X-Men. So Rom, the Micronauts and Godzilla all interacted with major Marvel characters on a regular basis, like Rick Jones, the X-Men or Dum Dum Duggan. Plus Marvel still gets to reprint those old stories... NOT!!! No way, Dude! Thanks to complicated licensing agreements, they can't reprint those old stories, including ones where Rom or any Micronauts from the toyline appeared in other characters' books.

Then there are less bodacious cases, where there was an attempt to integrate the characters into Earth-616, which was retconned into being a parallel Earth. That's the case with ALF, The Transformers and G.I. Joe (who existed in the same universe), and Dr. Who. The main connection were characters like Circuit Breaker (who had a major encounter with the Beyonder in Secret Wars II) and Death's Head.

Finally there are some truly bogus cases where Marvel never tried to integrate a property into the Marvel Universe, even in an alternate universe! Thundercats, He-man, Care Bears, and most totally bogus of all: Star Wars! Think of the possibilities of cross-overs dude!

On a more serious note, the art style that Evan Dorkin used for this series is more akin to the one he used in his indie comic, "Milk and Cheese", than to a mainstream comic. (In fact, in that big crowd scene in the beginning, one of the kids in the mosh pit is wearing a "Milk and Cheese" T-shirt.) I definitely remember this comic when it came out, though I don't think I collected it at the time. I hadn't seen either Bill & Ted movie yet, so I wasn't interested. Later on I saw both Bill & Movies, and I watched the Bill & Ted TV series.

In conclusion, be excellent to each other!

KKDW said...

I really like the movies to, though I saw the second one long before first (and more often!) though it was a while before I saw it all the way through! And I like Ghostbusters II as well.

Also:

'Kaze Koichi said...
"Did you enjoy my song?"

We probably would, If we could actually HEAR it.'

McBain: That's the joke.

FugueforFrog said...

Ah, so that's what happened to Toe from that episode of Animaniacs.

The early 90s were really weird in that sort of way with rock, with all the focus of the Bill and Teds and Wayne's World stuff and focus on classic rock and stuff like Metallica when we had the grunge movement moving in. Honestly I sort of just see 90s Kid as more or less a character of that era combined with the insanity of the grunge era and of course Liefeldinan insanity. But enough of that: bizarre comic but hilarious review.

BTW: somehow if you had ever seen the Woody Allen movie "Love and Death", I would have expected a certain scene when you talked about Napoleon.

Anonymous said...

The guitar-violin thing at the end sounded like a joke oancitizen would do lol.

Eban said...

The challenged party in a duel gets choice of weapons, not the challenger.

Also I much prefer Iron Man 2 to the original, so guess I'm up for stones also.

Anonymous said...

Hey, Linkara. Big fan of your show. I'm just curious as to why you think Ghostbusters 2 is better than the original. What does it do better than the first one in your eyes? I'd love to hear your take. :)

The Bill and Ted review was....well...excellent. lol Keep up the great work. ;)

-Kingdomkey23

Anonymous said...

Love the Batman joke at the end of the credits.

Antiyonder said...

While I am in the camp that thinks the first Ghostbusters is the better film, I do still enjoy the sequel.

But for Bill & Ted? Honestly I can't decide which of their movies I like better.

@Doug Puthoff: Bill & Ted undoing OMD? Toss in Death and you're on to something there.

@SlyDante: Yeah, the movie did have the bit early on establishing that Missy was married to Ted's father after divorcing Bill's dad.

That said...
S

P

O

I

L

E

R

The newspaper headlines at the end reveal that she eventually divorced Ted's father and married Denomolos.

Unknown said...

This was a damn fun comic, though I was expecting more 90s kid.

I don't dislike Bogus Journey, honestly, I think I need to see it again. I mostly remember seeing it when it first came out or at least first went to VHS so I was 12, 13 at the most and I'm sure about half the jokes went RIGHT over my head.

Though viewing this comic sort of sucked, the colors really do hurt after a bit.

As for you liking Ghostbuster II more *shrugs* whatever, I like the first more but probably because it was one of the most watched and quoted movies growing up (and I watched censorship on TV change with that movie. I used to be able to pick out the changed lines for the TV version, as I got older, the original lines were there, it was very strange). Also, I was young enough for Ghostbusters I got my first real enjoyment out of being scared at points. I'm pretty sure this was the movie that got me into 'good' scares.

Mekkanos said...

Ah, it was excellent to have a legitimately entertaining comic after all the dreck you've been dealing with for the last few issues. I was starting to worry about your sanity.

Granted, that...clock...thumb...thing probably undid much sanity repairing this comic did. Seriously, what the hell was that? After all these comments, you'd think somebody would know but it seems everyone else is just as perplexed.

Unknown said...

I found myself sad that at the part where linkara said he wanted the grim reaper at any party he is at, he never made a Discworld joke.

It even has a line that would be perfect. "I was at the party."

XD

CatholicHTowner said...

Ok, I figured out the connection to Bill and Ted and Doctor Who…the answer is there is no connection. The makers of the film originally wanted the time machine to be Chevy van but changed their minds because they thought it was too much like the DeLorean in Back to the Future so they changed it to a phone booth.
So no matter what anyone else claims, it's just a coincidence.

Anonymous said...

It actually said that Lincoln was worth "$5.01", presumably a reference to the fact that he appears on both the five dollar bill and the penny.

I've been editing long enough that I notice this sort of thing now. My life is a hollow lie.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm... If there was a trade made of this series I might try looking for it. (last time I went individual issue hunting was during the Knightfall arc. Disliked doing it because I believe I didn't get the entire thing.)

Fiery Little One

Felix Brunschede said...

So... Linkara can do the Air Pianotar. Huh.

Anyway, it seems like this comic is actually worth hunting down for a change. Certainly more than the last four. *shudders*

Anonymous said...

SPOILERS:

No storyline segment this time. I don't mind. My sister and I had a debate over who would be right with their prediction. Neither of us won. We both enjoyed the video! I am especially pleased that my favorite kind of joke was used. I don't know how to describe it properly, so I'll type the trope name: Ha Ha Ha No. (My favorite version of it would still have to be this: Linkara *laughs* Robin, you racist!) Have an excellent day, everybody!

Hanyoumaru said...

Since this is a Marvel Comic, I`ll bet Three issues at most before mephisto will try to Sabotage it.

Doresh said...

Dude, this episode was most triumphant - though 90's Kid's short appearance was a bit bogus. At least the more bony Grim Reaper was excellent!

Speaking of Batman: Whenever this supposed third movie is being made, it better involve Bill and Ted kidnapping a Nolan-style Batman and have him return as Adam West.

Doresh said...

Oh, and I don't know what the deal is with people disliking Ghostbusters II. I couldn't even tell you which one I like more XD

Adam said...

*breathes a sigh of relief and joy*

It's nice to see a review of a comic that doesn't make me pissed off or makes me want to punch every douche-bag that has ever wiped their asses with the industry.

Bil & Ted's Excellent Comic was the well-needed break from the sexist crap we had to endure. While not a great comic, it was entertaining in a goofy/dumb kind of way. ^_^ Hope we see more of this series down the road.

Anonymous said...

I actually thought you were doing the Moarte voice for Death until you showed that clip at the end lol

Allan Olley said...

Personally while I find Ghostbusters II and Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey inferior to their respective original movies (mostly because the sequels strike me as derivative and a bit tired overall) I don't think the difference in quality is so much that it is odd or heresy to like one over the other. And there are some really awesome scenes in both sequels (statue of liberty coming to life controlled by an NES advantage and Station and their robots in Bill and Ted [you thought the smartest guys in the universe were human]).

I thought the best thing about Bill and Ted was the fact that they realized they could use time travel to solve all kinds of problems, locked in a jail, just remember after you get out to go back in time grab a copy of the keys (that were established to be missing) and put the key in the cell (or in your pocket) so you can escape now, etc.. So few time travels do this (to be fair most have rules around time travel that prevent such predestination paradox engineering).

Unknown said...

Oh, even with you posting the more recent player for Blip, the Verizon ads still won't play on your site. I've been making sure to go TO blip to re-watch things but I imagine not everyone has the time to do that.

boingo2000 said...

I actually know what that thing is!

When I was a kid, my mom bought me issue 7 of this comic.I found it during a move a few years ago and was suprised to discover it held up more than it didn't. That this is called Time Thumb and he's Bill & Ted's lawyer. From what I can piece together, Bill & Ted are summoned to the "chronological order" to stand trial for time tampering.

In the issue, DeNomolos (who has escaped from hell, somehow) points out regarding Time Thumb "It's a thumb on a wheel and it's repulsive!" (B&T counter it's nothing compared to little Bill & Ted's diapers in the morning.)

Shifter's Haven said...

That was really fun episode, thank you ) And I was reminded that I should watch Bill and Ted movies.

You know, I never wrote it, but... I guess it is time to say, that you are the funniest guy in TGWTG, and actually, funniest of all people I know. Definitely my favorite (even if I disagree on some things, but there would be fun in that?). I don't know, but anticipating upcoming episode always makes me smile (actually that's why I was disappointed about RHATO episode so I wrote about it; I knew, there will be no sun). May be your voice, or sense of humor, or both, but man, I love your show. Really, good work, that makes my live much more happier and I'm grateful. Thank you. Honestly, thank you.

P.S. I like Ghostbusters movies, but I am more cartoon Ghostbusters guy. Loved Real GBs and Extreme GBs (if I'm not mistaken in names) as kid, even more than TMNT and Transformers. Huh, "Extreme". Should rewatch some day. So many memories, and I was really frightened by the end credits sequence with creepy music and monster pictures.

P.P.S. My God, that Grim Reaper's voice!

John Pannozzi said...

Dorkin also deserves credit for his comic strip the Eltingville Club (which is getting a hardcover later this year) and the animated special based off it, Welcome to Eltingville (which aired on Adult Swim). Basically, it lampoons all the worst traits of fandom (the two-part miniseries Dorkin just did to retire the characters touching on the misogynistic "Fake Geek Girl" attitude among many other things).

AFAIK Bill and Ted wasn't directly part of the Marvel Universe, but it was the first time a character named was mentioned Fight Man (as being fictional in the context of Bill & Ted's world, IINM). Fight Man later appeared in an eponymous one-shot done by Dorkin, and much later in the Deadpool spin-off Agent X ( a series written by Dorkin and Gail Simone... good stuff, and Marvel has collected the first six issues of it along with Simone's all-too short-lived Deadpool run in Deadpool Classic vol. 9, and I assume the rest of Agent X will be in vol. 10, but I've plugged enough comics today).


The crowded, over-detailed style is sort of Dorkin's thing, but it's funny that you should talk about the coloring. When the Bill & Ted comics were collected by SLG Publishing (the company that, along with Dark Horse, has published the bulk of Dorkin's creator-owned work), they reprinted in black-and-white. I read on Amazon that apparently Dorkin wanted the series to be black and white. Regardless, I'm a little bummed those trades are no longer in print and the second one goes for outrageous prices on the used market.

Unknown said...

I admit it, I haven't seen the two Bill and Ted movies on account of me being a little toddler when the movies came out . Besides that, I liked the comic review. Sometimes, there is a need for a good comic review. I might be over thinking it, but I wonder if the screw up with the guitar effect has something to do with the electronics and the king of worms Or it could just be a case of close enough.

Josh said...

I never knew of this comic series. I might have to pick it up. I'm already a huge fan of the movies, as I own them on DVD. Even I'd have this version of Death at a party, haha. Also yea, they did seem to get Bill and Ted's dads backwards. Since Ted's dad was the cop.

Brian said...

Huh. Death in this comic reminds me a heck of a lot of Death from Discworld. I'm pretty sure it was the book Soul Music where Death gets all melancholic, goes out drinking, abandons his duty to reap souls, and so things just stop dying.

Dude said...

It's great to see a decent comic for a change. While it's fun to hear "this comic sucks!", I've also enjoyed your good reviews like Doom 2099, US-1, and Mr. T and the T-Force. Thanks for mixing things up a bit with that!

monica said...

I too love Bogus Adventure and Ghostbusters II over the originals. But that has more to do with I just watched the sequels more than the first films. But it does drive me up the wall when people call the second Ghostbusters a bad movie, when no it really isn't. Its not great, but it's definitely not bad.

Mohsen Lakhoua said...

"I am my own grandmother".
Scandal of the century.

Ming said...

This is a most excellent review of this awesomely fun comic!

Hope you will do more of the Bill and Ted comics (along with Godzilla Marvel). Party on, dudes!

Anonymous said...

definitely a more worthy sequel than Biodome

Trekker4747 said...

This, indeed, looks like a neat and fun comic. I may have to see if I can acquire its entire run on EBay or something.

RoninFox said...

I'm with you on the Ghostbusters 2 love, the only thing I didn't like about that movie was the rap-fueled soundtrack. Anyone who complains too loud about a movie with that performance from Peter MacNicol does not have a valid opinion.

Love Bogus Journey too, as much as both movies rock you just can't beat the pure beautiful insanity of Bill and Ted in the afterlife.

Anonymous said...

Brian, do you mean Soul Music or Reaper Man? Both have death quitting his day job, but I seem to remember him being more melancholic in the latter, but it's been a long time.

De Nomolos was named after film co-writer Ed Solomon (backwards). Fact.

I could never enjoy this comic as much as you did, Linkara, probably because of the introduction in the trade version I have. Dorkin admits he's never seen the movie, and I think it shows. Also, the crowded artwork got to me.

I thought your 'Death' accent was a bit Russian, but the Death in B & T was Scandinavian, after Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal.
See also: The Last Action Hero.

~ Mik

Tantum Ergo 2 said...

Actually, far from creating a paradox, the time travel in Bill & Ted is entirely coherent, which is hard to do. The real problem with time travel is that it leads to the possibility of self-contradictions forming (such as going back in time and preventing your parents from meeting, for example,) but in Bill & Ted, no matter what you do, all you did was fulfill the way things were to begin with, so there's no contradiction. I've heard from an actual professor who's published work on time theory, who says that Bill & Ted is his favorite time travel movie because it makes so much more sense than any other.

misfit119 said...

So I was just re-watching the episode on an archive binge and noticed something peculiar. Is it just me or do Rufus' "Bestest Man" shoulder plates look like Space Marine shoulder plates? It's almost like a spin on the Blood Angels armor. Weird.