Is this the awesomely fantastic first issue of a legendary series and character?! Weeeell, it's early Image Comics...
Monday, March 14, 2011
Spawn #1
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104 comments:
Only 13 min's? Well that's short but sweet…
Unlike Spawn, that's anything but short and about as sweet as a lemon flavoured enema. Spawn is very much a child (if you'll forgive the pun) of the dark age of comics.
Spawn is a little extreme (90s kid voice), in the same way as Bale's Batman voice is a little over the top. There's a lot of imagery in the beginning, that they honestly tried to pay off and it wasn't that bad in the long run. From what I know of the over all story it got really weird but did try to be original. Even if a lot of that originality was torpedoed by some of the more Lifield inspired bits.
Yes Spawn did become very much dated, but in the end you can't say much about this start. You'd have to look at the overall story to get more than the 13 min run time. Nothing much happens and while it tries to build an atmosphere (and there is a really fun scene where he teleports into a giant thug, causing him to explode) there isn't much else. I have the first collection buried somewhere and I cantle you other than atmosphere (and a crap load of firepower) it doesn't really get interesting until the fourth issue, even then most of the stuff we learn is misdirection and almost pointlessly gruesome.
A good review but felt far too much like a filler. Sort of like your setting the foundation for whatever Spawn meets Batman review you say you have coming. Still entertaining and the short length is more than made up with the HOPR you did earlier!
Thomas
"Only 13 min's? Well that's short but sweet…"
I'm frankly glad it ended up being short - we've had a lot of longer episodes and it's not fun to do a lot of long videos in a row.
I think the whole point of it is to have the hero start out small by taking down the most basic of violent crime, i.e. street thugs attacking a helpless civilian, usually a pretty girl. If you start out with the hero taking out a powerful supervillain, where do they have to go from there really?
Trust me: you didn't miss much from the movie. What you admit to remembering was pretty much the only things worth remembering, though for some reason they're remaking it.
quick question zekrom or reshiram?
I hafta say, I'm a little surprised you enjoy the premise of this story seeing as how you blasted other comics involving deals with the devil...Okay, in all fairness, that was Spider-man, and individual we'd think better than that, which makes that situation all the more difficult to stomach. Still, I really wasn't expecting you to like Spawn, not that I have problem if you do.
On a side note, the Superman Meets The Quik Bunny review? It's actually a month and a day before my birthday (June 3rd, 1985), and I had that comic and read it all the time as a kid, so very much looking forward to this unintentional early birthday present. :)
I liked Spawn, and felt you were reaching a bit about the gripes about turning the full pages, and his cape comments.
Funny how the "fashionista" attacks his cape, after you mention the problems with it.
Basically Spawn is to comics what METAL is to music. Some people will think it's silly, and for others it is a way of life. I suppose the same things can be said about comics, blogs, etc.
But to review the reviewer, so to speak:
You weren't there man! It was the 90s is was crazy then. This was all we had! That and 2400 baud modems of all text.
Overall, I thought you did a very good job with the Spawn review. I agree, it would have benefited from an over-sized issue, but this issue has to be loaded so the comic-book stores would order enough books. However, Image eventually drops the ball, and the books start missing their in-store dates.
Great job on this one!
By the way, I like short reviews more than the long ones. I'm also more likely to go back and watch the short ones, that are done well (like this one) than the long ones, which are done just as well.
Cheers,
Faust
Why is your heart on the right side of your body?
I never got into Spawn. I mean the idea kind of sounded cool, but I was never too big on the 90's overwrought art style.
I am glad that you took a look at it though. I find that even the comics that are not hilariousy bad teach me something about comics as a whole. Also it helps me quantify what I like and dislike.
I like Todd's art but I have the same reaction everytime I read a story he wrote: "What the hell is this?" It makes no sense!
Rob Liefeld?!?! Yaghhh!
(Runs into cave, screaming in terror.)
Did you know that Todd McFarlane helped to create venom . First of the millions who will say it.
"quick question zekrom or reshiram?"
I haven't gotten that far in the game. I only recently defeated the 2nd gym leader.
"Why is your heart on the right side of your body?"
I tend to generalize the location of the heart as being closer to the center of the chest. If the knife was cutting in the wrong spot, it's because you've never tried to cut out your own heart. XD
"I haven't gotten that far in the game. I only recently defeated the 2nd gym leader."
I only got it 6 days ago, and I already have 6 badges! I even got my 2nd and 3rd badges on the same day.
Another quick question: Snivy, Tepig, or Oshawott? I picked Snivy.
One more quick question: When are you going to start doing your storyline in Atop the Fourth Wall again?
Is it really "cliche" when the trope involves helping someone in need? Though I will this trope isn't always well presented.
For example, "Robocop" shows a woman in white with blond hair (read as innocent and helpless) being assaulted by thugs. This scene is used to establish Robocop's target accuracy by shooting the thug in the crotch through her dress, which is a fresh twist and double points of awesome for our hero, but also shows his establishes his robot side with his cold, calculating reassurance.
Compare that with say the "Spider-Man" movie, were MJ foolishly runs into a dead end, and Peter only saves her after he's had time to change. Thus establishing that MJ is a bit of airhead (especially for someone living in someplace as potentially dangerous as NYC) and that Spidey really is a bit of stalker.
Though you are free to disagree with that assessment, the Nostalgia Critic's recent Spider-Man video is likely seeping into my brain.
"And then they called my a wiener!" xD! Very nice episode! Btw off-topic i have mailed questions to some people in channel awesome and Linkara is the only one that has ever sent a reply... (Just simple questions to every one i sent to)
Really makes me more happy to watch this then some other shows... :)
Thank you Linkara for all the fun you give us :D!
I was a big spawn fan in 08, reading a good hundred or so comics(Not a joke, thank you library and other sources) however by 101 I just lost interest.
Now Savage Dragon, there's a fun series that was even fun for a 90's comic. And remember, Savage Dragon started the obama comic plague. ;)
So Lewis if there's another image comic you should read that is good(well it was originally a dark horse), then check out Madman. It's a very funny serious with awesome wacky stories of that old 50's B-movie feel. Oh and Mike Allred is an awesome artist who seems to recreate the silver age art style alittle. And it had a little crossover with a good Frank Miller series Big guy and Rusty course Big Guy was only present in the issue.
Ah Spawn, seeing this though, makes me ponder on your thoughts on The Darkness, though for you it might fall under the early Image comics section of your thoughts.
A nice, simple paced review though, it's nice to have some breathers, even though I loved the Vyce arc.
"Another quick question: Snivy, Tepig, or Oshawott? I picked Snivy.
One more quick question: When are you going to start doing your storyline in Atop the Fourth Wall again?"
-I haven't been playing continuously, plus editing and other stuff take precedent over the game.
-Snivy
-PROBABLY not until April, but you never know. For the moment, enjoy the calm and status quo.
I never really liked Spawn too much. The ideas were good, but the stories that were actually compelling for me were usually in one-shot graphic novels, published many years after the character got started .
That and most his rogues gallery seemed a little one-note to me.
Lucky dog, being able to play Pokemon B/W. I won't be able to get it for another week or two. :(
As for the review, I was surprised to see one so short, but I still thought it was good. Maybe not quite as funny as your other ones, but there didn't seem to be a lot of outright bad material here to make jokes about in the first place.
Hoooo boy, more Liefeld? I'm sure we'll get lots of laughs (and maybe some tears) out of next week's episode though.
Linkage said...
"I think the whole point of it is to have the hero start out small by taking down the most basic of violent crime, i.e. street thugs attacking a helpless civilian, usually a pretty girl. If you start out with the hero taking out a powerful supervillain, where do they have to go from there really?"
True, I remember in the Superman movie he stopped a guy who was climbing the side of a building to rob it. Did criminals ever do that?
My problem with Spawn has been more of taste and possibly philosophy. It may be a well-done comic, but it wasn't my kind of comic and I never got into it.
Great review once again Linkara. I will admit I haven't read Spawn either, but seeing the art work and the tv show I just might pick up a copy. BTW the two page spread was that inked or photoshoped i really couldn't tell? I'm think if it's inked, then I'm really surprised that people can actually pull out stuff like that with ink and if it's photoshoped then it looks really good for 1992 version of photoshop.
"I haven't gotten that far in the game. I only recently defeated the 2nd gym leader."
Not to get off-topic but what starter did you pick because that's going to have an effect on the last 6 Gym Leaders, I'll say that much.
On-topic: Spawn had a movie? News to me.
You know, this review has led me to believe that Todd McFarland, much like Brian Michael Bendis, would rather be writing a T.V. series than a comic book series. You're absolutely right about how comic books should be: Each issue should be a self-contained story.
On T.V., however, the rules of the first episode are clear: Introduce the main characters and the general situation, and expand upon everything in later episodes. That way you get people interested but not quite completely satisfied, so they will be wanting to see more.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that Spawn would work much better as a television series, and should have been on television instead of in comic form, so that the weaknesses of the comic that you mentioned would actually be strengths.
Also, as a side-note, I was surprised that you didn't mention the interesting twist on that "hero saves woman from being raped" cliche. Usually, the hero stands tall and proud before dramatically walking away while the woman stares in stunned silence. Sometimes, the hero takes the time to comfort the woman, letting her cry in his arms. I've never seen the hero having to be comforted by the woman. That's just an awesome twist.
I'm disappointed in you... A series of people being thrown out of a window and you didn't use the most epic word for that?! I do hope next time multiple people are thrown out of windows you use... "DEFENESTRATION!" I mean it just sounds awesome. "Defenestration is the act of throwing someone or something out of a window" Oh the wonders of one word describing an entire act.
And yes... Spawn is classic 90s. I was never a huge fan of Spawn, but I at least found the concept interesting and the character design pretty awesome.
ah yes spawn, I knew someone who was crazy into him once so had passing exposure to the story. It is a fairly interesting concept for a character even if all the ideas did not always work out in the end.
This was one of the funniest episodes in a while, at least for me. Too bad it was so short.
See ya next week then.
Ah, but it's a cliche for a reason. The hero does something almost universally noble and heroic? A simple way to show the hero as a badass? Cathartic release of beating up douchebags? Check, check, and check.
I thought the length of the review was fine. There wasn't really anything to bash since McFarlane can actually draw people and wrote a decent first issue story (even if it wasn't complete) and its refreshing to know that not all early Image stories would have served better as lining for my bird cage.
Now this is a comic I grew up on, and even though it's been a while, I still have a soft spot for the character. Unfortunately, as is my understanding, Al Simmons is currently no longer the titular Spawn...and from what I've gathered of the recent Spawn #200, that's about the only significant change the book's had in at least five to ten years.
Spawn is unfortunately, a victim of a LOT of wasted potential. Todd McFarlane seems to never have intended it to be a traditional superhero comic, and has freely admitted that the earliest issues of Spawn were made as a way to capitalize on his success to that point with Spider-Man, and to generally make the title more marketable to readers of superhero books, all the while planning for it to be something else.
Nothing necessarily wrong with that, but as time went on, it gradually transformed into an odd hybrid of Gothic horror, science fiction, and 90s style extre(-EEEEEEEEEEEEEE-)me shoot-em-up action. On paper, that sounds awesome, and it could've been, if written by people more capable of pacing an exciting story...
In execution, it was, despite a few glimmers of true brilliance (mostly due to the phenomenal artwork of Greg Capullo in the 90s, and an excellent run by writer David Hine from issues 150 to around 180-ish), a meandering mess that dragged plot points behind it for months, sometimes years, took forever to get anywhere, gave little in the way of characterization (especially for Spawn himself), and often only ended up right where it started, if not several steps back.
There were a million different directions McFarlane could've gone with Spawn. Sadly, it hasn't gone too much of anywhere for most of the 19 years of the character's existence.
If anyone's interested, I'd recommend McFarlane's initial run on the book as writer/artist, which was about the first fifteen issues - including single issues 8-11 written by, in order: Alan Moore, Neil Gamian, Dave Sim, and Frank Miller (in a glimpse of his batshit insanity in it's infancy), then issues 50-55, then 100, then any and all issues written by David Hine, then whatever the hell issue Jim Downing takes Al Simmons' place, and that's about everything you'd ever need to know about Spawn. Which says a lot. :(
Oh, and watch Seasons 1 and 3 of the HBO animated series. Not season 2. It sucked.
I like Spawn, but it really should have ended after issue 100....
Better writing than your goddamn comic but than again most of you Channel Awesome assholes have Inflated ego's. Also did you start your History of Power Rangers video with another Butt Hurt rant directed at your fans?
You may have to review an issue of the spin-off book Sam & Twitch. Your Sam voice is *perfect!*
Liefeld? (Does the Snoopy dance!)
I've NEVER been a fan of McFarlane though. It's not just professionally, its that he has to take anything(including Wizard Of Oz)and turn into some totally f---ed up nightmare thing. I'd hate to see his version of Christmas Story!
I heard a rumor that back in the day Image actually canceled some titles such as Shaman's Tears, Tribe, and Trencher because they "didn't fit in the Image Universe."
I know next to nothing about Spawn beyond the movie, but even I knew this wasn't half bad.
I'm going to have look for a Spawn comic now and see the movie again.
You know, this review makes me wonder what early image comics you've read.
Ever read Savage Dragon? Wetworks? Union?
Another good review. Allow me to say that a review on a comic you don't absolutely hate, while less entertaining, is a lot more insightful.
I loved the Doctor Who joke. For some reason, it conjured an image of the Doctor travelling through time and space and laughing at the world's deadliest joke from that one Monty Python sketch.
To those who said Spawn would work better as a TV series, did no one see the HBO animated series? It was awesome one of the best Animated Super Hero series out there.
As for the review pretty good Spawn was one of those 90 characters that was actually not to bad for all intents and purposes I just feel that he got screwed because Todd decided to go against his own creed about writing other stories.
All in all Keep up the Good Work
So we're finally getting to SPAWN BATMAN this year? Oh, this should be good. Nothing like excellent art marred by the worst possible writing in the world. (Oddly enough, DC's BATMAN & SPAWN: WAR DEVIL, had lackluster Klaus Janson art and a really good script. It was a very weird flip side.)
One recommendation for that book: Batman is such a whiny bitch in it that the only way to properly convey it is to read his dialogue in an Eddie Deezen voice. Seriously. It's the only way I could read his dialogue in that book without wanting to kill myself.
WOW! I was able to do watch this video WITHOUT A SINGLE GLITCH! Last week it took EIGHT tries! Yes, I'm serious, and no, I don't know why this happens. I hope they remain stable, because I love watching this show.
As for Spawn, I never cared much for him, or the rest of the Image characters. They all felt like such in-your-face, author-pleasing stuff. I didn't even see the Spawn movie until, curiously enough, last week, on TV. I thought it was terrible, not so much the basic idea, but that they tried to cram way too much story into it (and the whole evil plan made no sense.) By contrast, this comic feels almost too simple.
Looking forth to the Batman/Spawn crossover, of which I remember nothing other than that Frank Miller was involved...
Funny enough, a few weeks ago me and my buddy did an episode of our Podcast on the Spawn film, and I tracked a copy down of the TPB of the first five issues of Spawn to compare the film to. Trust me, it goes downhill FAST from issue one.
(and for anyone interested in our podcast: http://www.blip.tv/file/4836183/)
Can't say much on Spawn having not really followed along outside knowing it's the only Image character that went anywhere what with the movie and the HBO series and such. Though you caught me with the hilarious "Somewhere in Time" joke with the Doctor.
As for Indie #1s, you've done plenty: Sultry Teenage Super Foxes Youngblood, that one you mentioned in this review...need I go on? Besides, if Spawn was from '92 and that's 20 next year, that's enough to consider him a classic....well for his time.
"Better writing than your goddamn comic but than again most of you Channel Awesome assholes have Inflated ego's. Also did you start your History of Power Rangers video with another Butt Hurt rant directed at your fans?"
Dissection time!
If you don't like my comic, oh well, nothing I can do about it. I keep hearing about how those of us at Channel Awesome have inflated egos, yet I haven't exactly seen any proof of this other than the unsubstantiated statement. And even if it was true, what exactly does an inflated ego have to do with the writing quality of a comic?
No I didn't, but then again you're the kind of asshole who prefers to make snap judgments about the videos without actually watching them. And maybe if you actually did something useful with your time instead of posting anonymous insults on someone else's blog, you'd find time to check.
Hmmm...
I really think that the whole Caustic Review thing works best with material (be it comic books, movies, video games or whatever) that reeeeeeeally sucks.
Spawn didn't fit that category (yet) when it premiered. Which makes it a weird choice for an AT4W review. Yes, I realize that there was a bit of pressure from the fans to see your comments on Spawn #1, but I don't think it was right to give in and do it.
Especially without an appearance by 90s Kid.
Okay, in re. to whichever Anonymous: If you don't like Linkara's stuff that's fine but could you please keep it a bit more civil and try to avoid ad hominem attacks?
I actually liked this comic, surprisingly. Yeah it has a lot of dated '90s Xtreeeem cliches, and it's kinda all over the place, but I really like the premise of the character and the whole can't-remember-his-wife-but-still-loves-her thing.
Also, your stinger comment about Martin Sheen in a beard made me snort 7-Up out of my nose at the mental visual, even though I've never even seen the movie :D :D :D
Hey Linkara, another great video! First time poster here. I actually had a question for you though.
Not asking about dates or anything you already said no to, but once you get to RPM in your HOPR videos, are you gonna do at least a section on the MMPR 2010 series? I know it is the same thing, but Saban counts it as Season 18, and I doubt Samurai will be over by the time you get to RPM, but I could be wrong. I know it wouldn't warrant it's own full video certainly, but I don't remember you ever mentioning it in the first few HOPR videos. Its been a while since I've seen those though,
Well, since you've answered a couple of Pokemon questions, I might as well ask my own DS related query; are you getting Okamiden, or don't you have any interest in that.
BTW, good review. I would also recommend Savage Dragon as one of the few good early image comics.
Damn, forgot to ask the most important question. Lewis... is your Rattata in the top percentage of Rattata?
You speak about having little writing in the nine-panel origin story, but being a narrative fiend myself, I rather like description. Quick question that comes to mind: Is there something wrong with description? You can get motivation, depth, nature of character in greater detail with more description, so I wondered if that was an issue.
I really enjoyed this episode, but I'm quite surprised you didn't say "Eat your heart out". It seems like this was the perfect opportunity for that phrase.
I like him short but sweet. Whoa, that sounded dirty... anyway, in fact, I wish he'd just stick to doing the reviews, and not even worry about that other stuff. But that's just me. Plenty of people like it... I guess. I'll just stick to letting it load so I can skip to the review.
Normally I just post a comment here and there but Luis I have to say this. Because I am better than you and have actual skills that will benefit my future unlike you. What does the writing of a comic have to do with an inflated ego? Because that pile of shit you call a comic book called Revolution of the Mask is just stomach hurting experience and I'm sorry I was a fan lets get that straight was a fan. But seeing you rip off elements of Watchmen and 1984 and so on instead of doing something original which we know you can do. But you honestly think its good and all your idiot fans boys think its. See the difference between me and your fans is I OPENED MY FUCKING EYES AND REALIZED THAT I WAS FUCKING SICK AND GODDAMN TIRED OF WATCHING ALL YOU GODDAMN IDIOTS TRY AND BE FUNNY WHEN YOU ALL HAVE LOST FUCKING SIGHT OF WHAT YOU HAVE BECAME! When you all have referred to yourselves has E celebs which at some point went straight to your head and you guys thought everything you touched turned to gold. Which is not the case ever fucking person since the anniversary specials become a pompous douchebag. Hell you can't even come up with your own original story arc titles. "Secret Wars" ring a bell much?
But I digress you will respond back with your Channel Awesome ego about how you guys are never wrong and blah, blah, blah... Also what happens when this gig ends? You might have to get a real job.
"Not asking about dates or anything you already said no to, but once you get to RPM in your HOPR videos, are you gonna do at least a section on the MMPR 2010 series? I know it is the same thing, but Saban counts it as Season 18, and I doubt Samurai will be over by the time you get to RPM, but I could be wrong."
Well, according to PowerRangers.com, it's not listed under the official season listing, sooo I don't think they count it. XD
"Well, since you've answered a couple of Pokemon questions, I might as well ask my own DS related query; are you getting Okamiden, or don't you have any interest in that."
...I have no idea what that is.
"Normally I just post a comment here and there but Luis I have to say this. Because I am better than you and have actual skills that will benefit my future unlike you. What does the writing of a comic have to do with an inflated ego? Because that pile of shit you call a comic book called Revolution of the Mask is just stomach hurting experience and I'm sorry I was a fan lets get that straight was a fan. But seeing you rip off elements of Watchmen and 1984 and so on instead of doing something original which we know you can do."
Which elements in particular were ripped off of 1984? And since Revolution is ABOUT comic books, it's going to make reference to comic books. The particular scene, if I'm thinking correctly, was an homage to V for Vendetta, not Watchmen. The heroes get their plans from comics, their inspiration from them - their entire resistance and revolution is based around people putting on costumes to fight an oppressive society.
"But you honestly think its good and all your idiot fans boys think its. See the difference between me and your fans is I OPENED MY FUCKING EYES AND REALIZED THAT I WAS FUCKING SICK AND GODDAMN TIRED OF WATCHING ALL YOU GODDAMN IDIOTS TRY AND BE FUNNY WHEN YOU ALL HAVE LOST FUCKING SIGHT OF WHAT YOU HAVE BECAME!"
Yes, writing in all caps as if you were yelling at me will certainly convince me that I have indeed gone in the wrong direction with the show. Also insulting my fans is really going to put you on my good side - you know, the people who allow me to do this?
"When you all have referred to yourselves has E celebs which at some point went straight to your head and you guys thought everything you touched turned to gold."
When 40,000 people watch my show every week, when people fill up convention halls to ask us questions, when people send us e-mails, post comments, and make donations for material for us to review, to hold conversations with us and want to hear us on podcasts, I don't think referring to ourselves as e-celebrities is entirely pompous. And even then, we laugh at it because we understand full well that we're famous on the internet, a concept that is a big ol' joke. A few years ago, the idea of doing this kind of thing was laughable and yet here we are.
"Which is not the case ever fucking person since the anniversary specials become a pompous douchebag."
Examples?
"Hell you can't even come up with your own original story arc titles. "Secret Wars" ring a bell much?"
Yes. Every issue in Revolution of the Mask references comics. That's the entire idea. It's a story ABOUT comic books. The first book was titled "Up in the Sky" in reference to the old saying, "Look! Up in the Sky!" as it relates to superheroes and in particular Superman. "Secret Wars" is a reference to the Marvel event series from the 80s, referring to a war that is taking place without anyone knowing it's happening, in this case, a fight against a society that doesn't realize the fight is occurring. Issue 3 is going to be called "Man of Tomorrow," another Superman reference. I'd think this kind of thing is pretty obviously an homage and not "unoriginal ideas."
"But I digress you will respond back with your Channel Awesome ego about how you guys are never wrong and blah, blah, blah... Also what happens when this gig ends? You might have to get a real job. "
No, we're wrong all the time. It's why some of us have lists where we talk about our mistakes and flubs. It's why we'll make notes on the videos and edit videos to correct things. We try our best to not be dingbats, but it happens.
And by the way? With this "gig" I made more than enough money to live on in 2010. I'm putting together stuff I need to pay my taxes in April, and it's not going to be any fun. Get a clue - this IS a real job. It's the best damn job in the world, but it's still a job.
Okamiden is the sequel of one Okami, for the PS2 and Wii. If you are familiar with the 3D Zelda games for N64 and Gamecube the gameplay is similar. It's about a godess as a wolf trying to destroy the evil spirits and monsters in Japan while restoring the faith in the gods. I know it sounds kinda weird but it's REALLY touching. Manly tears were shed.
I really suggest you try it. I wish you do.
Now about the review. Personally, I like them more when you are snarky and you show you are having fun with the review like today. Dunno, for me it's more fun when you are not angry most of the review. Just sayin' because today's review puts a smile on my face.
Sorry for my english by the way
"Well, according to PowerRangers.com, it's not listed under the official season listing, sooo I don't think they count it. XD"
Ah, I did not look there. Wikipedia (yes, yes, I know, unreliable :P) claimed it was being counted as its own season by Disney and Saban alike, 18th I think, and Samurai was being counted as either 18th or 19th. Still, thanks for the answer Linkara!
It was nice to see an episode that was considerably long. It was nice to take a step back and see you do a comic that doesn't completely suck (the other ones being Doctor Who and Power Rangers). I remember during two halloweens ago you did a video for Marzgurl talking about Silent Hill: Sinner's Reward and how it DOESN'T suck. I was just wondering if maybe you had put some thought into doing episodes like that every other month or so. Just to mix things up, but too much to the point where you risk turning away viewers.
Green Ranger Tommy or White Ranger Tommy?
Yay! Spawn! I've been waiting forever for you to give your opinion on this series.
I admit to having a bit of a soft spot for Spawn. I guess I liked the fact that he was the only hero out there (that I knew of at the time) who didn't really have an arch-nemesis or even a concrete goal beyond basic survival.
If you can find it, there's a hilarious satire of Spawn out there that I think is called "Spewn" (as in "spewn from Hell" rather than "spawned from Hell").
P.S. How can you make a video about one of the most famous Image properties ever and NOT have 90s Kid appear in it?! HOW?!
Dear Linkara,
If everything you touch turns to gold, please do not touch the Earth. That would completely devalue the gold market.
Also, Prague has had several fine defenestrations, although it seems that only two of them were worthy of the capital D.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defenestrations_of_prague
Sincerely,
A Friend
"See the difference between me and your fans is I OPENED MY FUCKING EYES AND REALIZED THAT I WAS FUCKING SICK AND GODDAMN TIRED OF WATCHING ALL YOU GODDAMN IDIOTS TRY AND BE FUNNY WHEN YOU ALL HAVE LOST FUCKING SIGHT OF WHAT YOU HAVE BECAME!"
What the crapfuck are you talking about? What exactly has Linkara "become"? What is that even supposed to mean?
"When you all have referred to yourselves has E celebs which at some point went straight to your head and you guys thought everything you touched turned to gold. Which is not the case ever fucking person since the anniversary specials become a pompous douchebag."
Huh? What are you, some kind of typing monkey? Precisely how has anyone associated with Channel Awesome become "a pompous douchebag"? Do you even know what those words mean? Or are you, as I suspect, simply parroting words you think sound cool?
What I appreciate Spawn #1 for is the introduction of Sam and Twitch. Brian Michael Bendis's run, specifically Udaku, is the best thing Image ever did.
Have you read any manga? If so, which ones? I reccomend the Batman manga. I forget what it's called but I remember enjoying it and I think you might as well.
Also, any idea where I can obtain the 10th Anniversary concert recording of Les Miserables? I just saw the 25th anniversary on TV and I own the DVD of the 10th anniversary and SOOOO want the dream cast on my MP3.
Many thanks,
@Jvinc
Hey, Linkara, I don't think that guy was talking to you. I think he was referring to a guy named Luis. I'm sort of wondering if English is his second language though. His grammar is a little weird.
"When you all have referred to yourselves has E celebs which at some point went straight to your head and you guys thought everything you touched turned to gold." Huh?
I think he meant, "At some point, it went straight to your heads and you all referred to yourselves as e-celebs who thought everything they touched turned to gold."
Anyway, I really enjoyed this episode. You need to start a service called, "Linkara Read Comics to You" which is exactly what it sounds like.
How did they get permission to use the actual CNN logo? (Also E. What the hell.)
Crazy M.F., nobody jerks with me! I jerk alone! (You know it had to be said on the Internet.)
The bubbles thing was perhaps the best joke you've done this month. Admittedly, it was handed to you, but still.
When you started talking about Spawn's pizza being late, I almost expected you to reference the first ninja turtles movie where Mikey takes 3 bucks off for a guy being 2 minutes late with his pizza (but we are talkin the TMNT here)
During the cape bit, a part of me also really really hoped for some Edna Mose. But when I saw you do your "capes are cool" thing, all that came to mind was Matt Smith saying "bowties are cool." And "fezzes are cool". But then, I just watched those.
Otherwise, pretty good episode. Not much to rage at this time, obviously, so we don't get much angrish, and there's no storyline today, but overall a pretty solid piece. A good episode, really.
Last thing I wanna poke at, which hundreds probably already have, is the woman's eyes are closed in all of the images Spawn has of her in his flashbacks so that might be why he doesn't remember her eye color. Except when she's a snake but that doesn't count.
Hey Linkara
First I wanted to say is major kudos on this review,Like I said before I was kinda worried about this one since Spawn is one of my favorite comic book characters. Never the less,this was handled fairly and I enjoyed it. The newer Spawn series...While it's nice to see Spawn,I don't know how I feel about it,kinda in between. :/
Also,Just out of curiousity even though you said you wouldn't review any other Sonic The Hedgehog comics,have you seen the crossover they did with Image Comics? I now you said no on sonic,but in this case I think you could find some comedic gold with this crappy comic.
Zombie Zach
Very interesting review Linkara, keep up the good work! Never really got hooked on Spawn myself. It's got a cool premise and nice visuals, but the rest has always felt "meh" to me, at best.
I can't wait to see the Spawn/Batman review though, man was batman whining non-stop in that turd!
Speaking of whining and turds, gotta love that anonymous troll. He attacks you and the TGWTG gang for being pompous and arrogant and one of his opening lines is "I'm better than you"... Irony or double standards: YOU MAKE THE CALL!
Great review, Linkara! Between the bubbles, the pizza, and being picked on, this was hilarious given the subject.
Also, in response to the freakout however many posts above:
Silly Watchmen fanboy, gold comes from supernovas. You should know better.
"How did they get permission to use the actual CNN logo?"
Fair Use probably. If I recall correctly those news reports were a running gag in Spawn for a long time and they were supposed to be satires of real tv personalities. The CNN one looks like Connie Chung, the fat guy with the beard looks like Michael Savage, and the other guy...I don't know who he's supposed to be, but I'm sure he's a reference to somebody.
Damn, Lewis, people have really been busting on you today. That or I just don't read the comments often enough. But holy hell, o.o
Either way, you're awesome man, and you do great work. Lots of us love and respect you and your work.
Hope you and Liz have a great week.
"Crazy MF!"
MF? Megan Fox? Hey, Megan is alot of things, but I would never question her mental state.
;)
I dont know if anyone has mentioned this but there are spawn video games one for the snes which I played and liked, one for the playstation which I heard sucked, another for the arcade which I heard was ported to the dreamcast(I think) that I want to play, and for the playstation 2 which I found mediocre at best.
I gotta say Spawn actually holds up pretty well, considering I haven't actually read Spawn since 1995 and never saw issue 1, (I got the origin story from the HBO animation.)
By the way this might sound a little nitpicky but I've always found it strange when people call Image "indie." I guess I just have a hard time thinking of them that way.
Considering the people accusing the TGWTG of having inflated egos, I kind of can see where they are coming from
Let's take your friend Spoony in account
He's arrogant enough to claim that anyone with a different opinion than him is an idiot, and even going as far as to say that they deserve to die!
It is one thing to dislike something, and it is another thing to ignite people to violence.
adding a few quotes
"if you think you like this game you are lying to yourself"
or
"If you actually liked Eyes on Me, you are officially a complete pussy. No-no, if you were even able to sit through Eyes on Me, you are a pussy. You see this? These are your man-cards. And these are your man-cards, listening to Eyes on Me. You're a pussy! And that's not a slam against women. You're a pussy! There's a difference! Women have more balls than you."
Other contributors are also guilty of this
Doug proclaimed that anyone who liked Hannibal is an idiot
You yourself did it when you beat a guy to death for liking One More Day
Angry Joe mocked people for not liking Transformers 2 - quote "If you didn't like this movie you're a sissy!"
Then there are the rumours about Doug verbally attacking people repeatedly for liking Avatar, but I'll give this one the benefit of a doubt
People like Doug, Spoony, and even Lindsey tend to fail at doing research or even intentionally misinterpreting the material they are reviewing and never address their mistakes (except for the occasional F*ck-ups videos by Doug)
Marz Gurl even verbally attacked her fans for pointing-out her mistakes
The frequent "character arcs" the reviewers frequently go through (which by the way I totally adore) don't help either
Plus there's the fact that no-one (except for you) answers their fan-mail
"Let's take your friend Spoony in account
He's arrogant enough to claim that anyone with a different opinion than him is an idiot, and even going as far as to say that they deserve to die!
It is one thing to dislike something, and it is another thing to ignite people to violence.
adding a few quotes
"if you think you like this game you are lying to yourself"
or
"If you actually liked Eyes on Me, you are officially a complete pussy. No-no, if you were even able to sit through Eyes on Me, you are a pussy. You see this? These are your man-cards. And these are your man-cards, listening to Eyes on Me. You're a pussy! And that's not a slam against women. You're a pussy! There's a difference! Women have more balls than you.""
If you've actually listened to his commentary on the Final Fantasy VIII finale, he says people shouldn't take it so seriously since, of course, HE had to listen to the song repeatedly as he was editing the video. More on this in the next bit.
"Doug proclaimed that anyone who liked Hannibal is an idiot
You yourself did it when you beat a guy to death for liking One More Day
Angry Joe mocked people for not liking Transformers 2 - quote "If you didn't like this movie you're a sissy!"
Then there are the rumours about Doug verbally attacking people repeatedly for liking Avatar, but I'll give this one the benefit of a doubt."
Okay, here's the problem with all of this - it's exaggeration for comedic effect. If people like One More Day, fine, they are free to do so. We don't hate people who disagree with us. Does anyone honestly think the Last Angry Geek and I literally beat someone to death for liking One More Day? Hell, if I recall correctly, the guy who was in it didn't even like it himself - it was a character he was playing.
While I let people call me either Lewis or Linkara, the fact is that on the show and in such videos, Linkara is a character. He's an exaggerated, over-the-top version of myself. Same thing goes for Spoony in his videos, the Nostalgia Critic to Doug Walker, etc.
Such statements are hyperbole, not meant to be taken seriously as who we actually are. As for Doug and Avatar, his video of "Top ten movies I dislike but everyone else loves" showed that he can be calm about this stuff and show that others are free to have their own opinions, it's just how he feels.
"People like Doug, Spoony, and even Lindsey tend to fail at doing research or even intentionally misinterpreting the material they are reviewing and never address their mistakes (except for the occasional F*ck-ups videos by Doug)
Marz Gurl even verbally attacked her fans for pointing-out her mistakes"
Not necessarily - all of us often have research fails or we interpret the material differently. Some of us try to make announcements apologizing for our mistakes, others don't see the need for one reason or another - it's not a sign of arrogance, it's a sign of different personalities in response to how people take these situations. Hell, sometimes I'll go overboard and respond to almost everybody who corrects me when I make a mistake when I just need to move on.
"The frequent "character arcs" the reviewers frequently go through (which by the way I totally adore) don't help either"
Thanks! However, once again, it's the problem other people seem to have separating us from our character vs. who we actually are.
"Plus there's the fact that no-one (except for you) answers their fan-mail"
The thing is that nowhere in our job description says we HAVE to answer fan mail. Bands, actors, singers, politicians... no one actually is REQUIRED to answer that mail. And for some of us, trying to do so would be a full-time job in itself.
I've seen Doug's e-mail list - he has over 10,000 unanswered messages. I have watched him read a few and then store them, but again, the sheer number of them means it's not possible to respond to everyone.
For me, I understand that fans want to talk to me and I equally understand that without the fans, I couldn't do this as a job. Also, the amount of e-mails I get, while still a lot (at this moment I have 75 unanswered e-mails), is still significantly less than others. But even now, a lot of them I can't respond to right now because I'm working on other things. I have the X-Force #1 review open on my other monitor and I'm multitasking editing on it while I write this.
I'll eventually get to the e-mails people have sent, but a lot of them I either CAN'T respond to (AOL and Comcast e-mail addresses reject my e-mails) and some I just have nothing to say in response, so I've recently started not responding to some e-mails because of one reason or another. Question e-mails I'll always try to respond to, but if it's just "Hey, check this out!", I either have already seen it or don't have time to see it so I won't respond.
Anyway, yeah, I'm rambling. I still don't accept this idea that we're somehow arrogant, but I suppose from some of that I understand where a bit of it is coming from... though it's still no excuse to troll.
"Marz Gurl even verbally attacked her fans for pointing-out her mistakes"
This I haven't heard about, though.
Incoming wall of text:
Frankly I am impressed at the sheer lengths you (and by you I include TGWTG crew in general and you in particular) go to when doing these reviews. Sure the occasional mistake happens, the majority of research these days is done via the internet and its a notorious engine of half truths and outright misinformation. Being a casual fan of comics I find the context enjoyable. Whether it's a something I myself have read, or as is much more often the case something I never heard about but cannot now unwatch, it's entertaining and informative. You have filled my brain with some of the best worst things I have ever seen. Thank you.
tldr version: Thank you for the funny videos you magnificent bastard.
The aforementioned Marz Gurl incident happened during her "Terrors of Translation: 4Kids" series of videos
Also, while failing at research (or not paying attention while watching the movie - like with Dough's Lost World review) can be somewhat forgiven, misleading the audience can't
Which sadly was the cas with Dough's "The Last Action Hero" review.
The movie was an Affectionate Parody of action movie cliches and film buffs, his video made it look like a standard action flick. The movie's jokes were reinterpreted by Doug as idiotic and unintentional mistakes that the crew made.
I'm not sure if this can be excused as simply "In character"
"The movie was an Affectionate Parody of action movie cliches and film buffs, his video made it look like a standard action flick. The movie's jokes were reinterpreted by Doug as idiotic and unintentional mistakes that the crew made.
I'm not sure if this can be excused as simply "In character""
No, with that one, he gets that entirely. He totally gets it.
He just doesn't agree that it's done very well. He honestly didn't think they did a good job with the concept and as a result played itself AS a standard action movie. He totally gets what people are saying, he just doesn't agree that it's very good.
I DO like the movie, though, so once again it comes down to tastes.
Hey Linkara,
I noticed how you have a particularly large about of naysayers in this line up of comments :(
I just wanna say that I think you're still a funny as hell reviewer and I hope you still keep it up
(Plus I hope to see you do a Let's Play of Elite Force 2 in the future :D )
Hey, Lewis, quick question: Do ypu plan on releasing the fight music Ron W. did for the Zeo review?
I know Mr. W tends to release music himself when he can, so I assume with your permission, we can all jam to the awesomeness of Zeokara's fight theme.
"Hey, Lewis, quick question: Do ypu plan on releasing the fight music Ron W. did for the Zeo review?
I know Mr. W tends to release music himself when he can, so I assume with your permission, we can all jam to the awesomeness of Zeokara's fight theme."
I'm on the fence about it. Ron DID give me permission to do whatever I wanted with it, but I can help but feel that it'd be exploiting it a little since he wouldn't be getting any money off of a public release.
A SPAWN COMIC!!
Love SPAWN. I find him to be a very interesting character because he is a superhero trying to salvage his identity.
Most superheroes are trying to hide or disguise their identities. SPAWN, on the other hand, would give anything to get it back.
One reason why you will see SPAWN's cape and chains doing weird things is because they are sentient. They're symbiotically attached to his body and act on their own.
Have you seen the anime? It's pretty good! I like the part where SPAWN's daughter gets a glimpse of the "sad man" in the dark alley.
'See the difference between me and your fans is I OPENED MY FUCKING EYES AND REALIZED THAT I WAS FUCKING SICK AND GODDAMN TIRED OF WATCHING ALL YOU GODDAMN IDIOTS TRY AND BE FUNNY WHEN YOU ALL HAVE LOST FUCKING SIGHT OF WHAT YOU HAVE BECAME!'
So you've opened your eyes, realized you're sick and tired of watching a group of idiots damned by god try to be funny...and yet you're still here?
Don't take this the wrong way or anything; I'm not going to attack you for not sharing my opinion, but if I don't like any piece of entertainment or its creator, the last thing that comes to mind is to waste any more time on it.
I waste a good 40 hours every week doing stuff I don't like at work so I just can't see the point of wasting half an hour of my already limited free time watching a video that by the end of it only serves to make me angry at its creator.
As for Marzgurl attacking her fans for pointing out mistakes, I haven't seen the incident but I'd have to admit that if her fans were as subtle as you when pointing out these mistakes I'd damn well understand it if she struck back.
@kyuuketsuki et al:
When they really start running low on names for superheroes, "The Defenestrator" should definitely be considered.
Maybe the reason some people don't get that Atop The Fouth Wall is only half a review show (starring an imaginary character) and half a Sci-Fi series is because so many other reviewers in the Net make reviews as "themselves" (cool names optional) with nothing else going on. Of course, most of those reviewers are also rather amateurish, not even bothering to edit their material for errors, awkward pauses, etc. The reason I enjoy ATFW (as well other shows from TGWTG) is because of how professional they are; other than a small FX budget, they are written and acted well enough to compare with many actual TV shows.
Should the show feature both reviews AND stories, or instead split them in two separate series? I'd say the later, but I don't make the show. As a fan, I just decide whether to watch it or not. Oh and post to allow others to know my opinions. But never with a sense of entitlement over their efforts.
Oooh. Speaking of your Secret Origins Month, I was wondering: do you have a time decided for your next Secret Origins Month? Is it going to be the same time as last year? I hope you do it sooner, 'cause I'm reeeeaaally looking forward to it!
Anyway, if you want any suggestions for what to review whenever you *do* do origins month, I've got some ideas. Since last time you did the most iconic characters, doing characters that had a big impact would be great to do next. So I was thinking:
Captain America (Exemplified the WWII era)
The Flash (Dawn of the Silver Age)
The Fantastic Four (Kickstarted the Marvel Universe)
The New Gods (Jack Kirby is just plain awesome.)
"I'm on the fence about it. Ron DID give me permission to do whatever I wanted with it, but I can help but feel that it'd be exploiting it a little since he wouldn't be getting any money off of a public release."
Well would it be possible to have it in an embedded music player on the blog's front page so we can hear it in full
(possibly also with "If You Should Want the Moon", the full theme song, etc.)
Hey Linkara, since I've been asking you some PR related questions, what do you think abot Jonathan Tzachor saying the Disney seasons are non-canon to the series? I dunno if this is something you might address in your videos later.
I don't like that idea, as I think some hard work was put into those seasons, and stuff like dino thunder is pretty good.
"Hey Linkara, since I've been asking you some PR related questions, what do you think abot Jonathan Tzachor saying the Disney seasons are non-canon to the series? I dunno if this is something you might address in your videos later."
SEE: My tweets from a few hours ago. ^_~
@MightySamurai:
"are you, as I suspect, simply parroting words you think sound cool?"
IPSO-FACTO! VIS-A-VIS! CONCORDANTLY!
@Japan文化maniac:
'Defenestrator' is a great name for a super character! Why wait until you run low on ideas?
@Lewis himself:
You're doing X-Force #1? Marvel Premiere Classics will soon be (or has just) collecting that. *sigh* I'll have to get it, then...
worse, I got it at the time.
Also, YES!!! Pat Benatar!!!
Well, that was a decent review, hard to be as funny when the source material isn't dramatically bad (or really dramatically anything) but you gave it a good try and you were fair, which is important.
@日本文化のマニアック, kyuuketski, le-messor, maybe more: Isn't the Defenestrator already a character? I could have sworn he was one of the 'heroes' of Section 8 from "Hitman". Along with Jean de Baton and Dogwelder. I'll never understand why I have such a soft-spot for Dogwelder. So, if you're that interested in seeing the character, I think he shows up in the "Ace of killers" storyline.
Won't play. All I see is a faded Quick Time Logo with a question mark in front of it.
Thanks for the heads-up, shikome kido mi.
Have you come up with a theory yet as to why Green Ranger's helmet is different in "Fighting Spirit?"
Hey everyone, just to let ya know, I'm doing a Spawn podcast at www.tsaproductions.podbean.com called the 8th Circle of Hell. Just thought I'd throw in a word about it, since this is Spawn...
The creation of Venom is a lot more complicated than "Todd McFarlane was one of his creators". He was merely the first artist, since the writer, David Micheline, began setting up Venom in Web of Spider-Man more than a year or two prior to Amazing Spider-Man #298.
Erik Larsen was the first person to truly draw him as he is now, with the giant fanged teeth and huge slobbering tongue. That's the version that they still sell as the character, even in the film.
Then, of course, you gotta factor in the Symbiote suit's creators, which dates back to some kid sending in a suggestion to Jim Shooter that he ended up using in Secret Wars!
Very complicated stuff.
Out of curiosity, I decided to pick up the first five issues of Spawn. So far, I'm really liking the writing. Unlike SOME superheroes, where a deal with the devil will give you back your dying aunt, your secret identity, and your best friend, Spawn tells us that a deal with the devil will make it so you no longer look like yourself, your wife will remarry thinking you're dead, and every man you kill in revenge is only sending another soul to the devil. It's quite well-written, so far.
However, it is definitely a violent series. In the second issue, we have the Violator ripping out multiple people's hearts, in the fourth issue we had arms being ripped off, and in the fifth issue (the last one I picked up), we had a child mutilator who was killed quite gruesomely, which only adds to the feeling that it was trying to be like Watchmen. It's definitely a very extreme book, but it at least tries to have a good story packed with its extremities.
I really like above all that Spawn comes across as more human than the average nineties-style anti-hero. He has a human motivation (the desire to be with his wife), and it's only when he loses everything that he becomes brutal. Let's face it, being brought back from the dead by the devil without your memory, becoming horribly scarred and unable to assume your original form, and losing your wife because she thought you were dead are bound to do horrible things to a man's psyche, which in a way explains why he's so violent. Sure, he's a jerk, but there's a good reason why he's a jerk. Youngblood never had reasons for being jerks. Cable never had a reason for being a jerk. Deadpool had to be given a reason to be a jerk (and what a reason that turned out to be!). It just goes to show how much better Spawn is than the usual hero from the nineties.
So overall, pretty good, just not my kind of thing. I will, however, check out the HBO series, as I've been looking for an adult cartoon that wasn't just adolescent. Also, thinking about picking up Savage Dragon; heard good things about it.
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