Monday, June 3, 2013

Comic Book Quickies #1



Love, genocide, and fruit pies! All the combinations for a fun time! And that's terrible.

112 comments:

Unknown said...

fun experiment :D

maybe you could even integrate superhero definitions into the regular episodes - whenever said word should appear

Erik Johnson Illustrator said...

The "Goodbye Mr. Chip" line is a reference to "Goodbye Mr. Chips", a 1934 best selling novel that was adapted into two separate movies in 1939 and 1969 that both received major Academy award nominations, so its something of a "minor classic". Its not really something I would expect the average person to know, but I imagine that it would have been something that was more "In the know" at the time this comic was released.

Joshua Ford said...

Regarding the Star Wars story, you'll probably be happy to know that under Disney's ownership, the Stars Wars Expanded Universe is most likely going to be either completely ignored, or be officially declared glorified fan-fiction when the next wave of movies come out.

Megan said...

Very good!

So...Jedi can't fall in love because two idiots a long time ago thought with their other brains? Yeah, that makes a *ton* of sense.

You make a lot of references to Dune on this show, so I have to ask: Does your knowledge come mostly from the books or from the really stupid yet enjoyable movie starring Sting? Though, granted, the latter DUNE books get pretty dumb too...

SMAXZO said...

The reading of an excerpt of the Super Dictionary could be made into an episode.....or an occasional stinger, just throwing my two cents in. Anyways, it is an interesting experiment.

Anonymous said...

Huh. I sort of remember reading that Star Wars story a few years ago. I don't really remember having any sort of reaction to the story at the time; I just remember thinking the art was butt ugly. Seeing it again, I now realize that "butt ugly" was far too generous, and Jedi Master "wisdom" should never be taken seriously. But really, the whole affair never would have happened if the twins' master had kept some Hostess Fruit Pies on standby to defuse such violent situations.

MadmanJohnson said...

I was expecting at least a after-credits thing but oh well. Still funny.

Anonymous said...

I love this episode, especially since the Commercials Special is one of my favorite episodes. Also this was an unexpected ,but still hilarious return of That Guy with the Hat (the one with Supergirl "untying the ropes" somehow made him even creepier that Moarte).

KPiper said...

I just realized what the puzzle in the last episode was about. It's That Guy With the Hat!

Whisky Tango Foxtrot said...

Ah, the Star Wars Expanded Universe. Making George Lucas look like a good writer by comparison since 1978.

William Keating said...

Hostess comic were completely ridiculous, it's like something from a 1950s soap opera...

I think the Super Dictionary exerts while interesting were distracting in the context of the video.

I think the Star Wars comic was the best out of the three personally, I mean who in there right mind would have thought up such a convoluted and idiotic story?

Unknown said...

@Joshua Ford. That was only one bad story. There are hundreds of great stories that might be lost, including the amazing Heir to the Empire Trilogy that revolutionized the way Star Wars was viewed.
@Linkara. Yeah, I cannot deny Qui-Gon was a moron. Guy was a terrible fighter. Also, he himself fell in love with a fellow Jedi and when she died, he almost went bonkers. Idiot. Though I am sure that Star Trek itself has crappy origin stories for Star Fleet's method's and ideologies. *Cough* Dear Doctor *Cough*. I liked this episode. Especially the 40 cakes bit.

Anonymous said...

so, was Spidey supposed to annoy the readers as much as the villains? that may explain why Quesada forced him into the deal with Mephisto (who I contend is A devil, not THE Devil.)

...I am honestly offended as a fan of the Star Wars movies (yes, even the prequels) that there was so little effort or logic put into writing that explanation.

nothing really to say about the Hulk story, since I've never really been that big of a fan of the character.


is Super Dictionary going to be a thing now? I... didn't like it very much. it seems very left-field and distracts from the focus of what I'm trying to watch. i suppose if you wanted to use that as a commercial buffer, that'd be okay, but not intersperced with the story.

Literate Dead said...

So, it seems the 'Foomie Goonies' got their takeover plan from the Chuck Norris vehicle 'Invasion USA'... Either that, or they're starting with the 'Excel Saga' model. Start small, take over the world one district at a time, and... well, eventually the world, right?

Okay, on the critical side... This one was really cute, but next time you might want to try to look for more than just a short Star Wars comic and a couple Hostess ads. Don't get me wrong, it was funny, just needed a bit more variety. For what it's worth, I'd love to see you try this again in the future!

Anonymous said...

I think I should point out that the Star Wars Tales comics are considered 'ambiguously canon', according to Wookieepedia, or something. God knows what's going to happen to the Expanded Universe when the Disney Trilogy comes anyway.

Though, Jedi are based on Buddhist monks, who are required to be celibate--in fact, look up the concept of Tanha. In the realm of Star Wars, as Force power seems to stem from emotion, you can make interesting examinations on the whole idea of Jedi restrictions...unfortunately, that comic didn't handle it as best as it could've.

MadmanJohnson said...

So in essence, the Jedi totally had it coming. Good to know. Also, click my name for my theme.

DarthShap said...

I am finally getting ads in France!

Great review of this stupid Tales story. But do not worry, it is not Canon.

And if you are going to review back-ups, the worst I have ever read is probably the back-up from Action Comics #9 in which Sholly Fisch, the writer, basically validate the birther argument for a character which was created in December 2008 as a stand-in for President Obama.

Unknown said...

I wish there had been more in this episode. Don't get me wrong, the ones there are funny, but I think it could have been longer. Also, as cute as the Super Dictionary segments were, I think there should have only been one of those and maybe something else for the other transitions.

Is Spiderman's number being six relevant to the puzzle, or are you just messing with us?

Anonymous said...

The kid with the hostess fruit pies in the "Phoomie Goonies" looks like Alec from the Tandy Computer Whiz Kids.

MadmanJohnson said...

@Julie
Notice that Missingno is able to do things similar to the Great Intelligence, calls itself a outer god and has possessed people before. What common thread do these two abominations share?

MST3Kfan24 said...

Boy, that Star Wars comic was really stupid. But then again, since when did the prequel Jedi BS philosophy made any rational sense?

Also, Linkara, if you're looking for more Star Wars stuff to make fun of, might I recommend "Dark Empire" and "Tales of the Jedi", both brought to you by Tom Veitch, the guy behind "Superman at Earth's End" and "Kamandi at Earth's End". Trust me, they're really bad.

Unknown said...

@MadmanJohnson: I've been at school, so I'm really behind on Doctor Who, so I'll get back to you on that when I've caught up. And don't tell me what the two share, I don't like spoilers.

Garett Wright said...

Actually, the little "6" on the padawan's head is probably just a little curl of hair.

Still, easy to see how you might get that confused, since the art style is just weird.

Also, advertisement is contrived and dumb, but everyone probably knew that already, heh.

Unknown said...

@MadmanJohnson: And I'm assuming you mean something more substantial that infuriating writers who have way too much fun watching us dance.

MadmanJohnson said...

@Julie Paulson
It's something not related to The Name Of Doctor. It's from the expanded universe.

PopCultureOtaku said...

Well there is star wars comic you promised.
Phoomies Goonies look like they are invading the post office from Cuba. At least that first thing that came to mind.

MadmanJohnson said...

@Julie
Fine, it relates to works of H.P Lovecraft as one of the Intelligence's aliases is one of the Outer Gods.

Anonymous said...

More importantly, if the whole planet blew up, how the hell could ANYONE know this story? Who was alive to tell it? Did the jedi master come back as a Force Ghost just to tell people?
I'll take that as proof that there is no way anything this stupid could have ever happened, and the jedi are even stupider for believing it.

Unknown said...

Great stuff Lewis, very good episode.


Hmmm. Three guys with guns want to overthrow the government from a post office. I'm sure there's a joke to be made somewhere about Modern Texan secessionists/Americans having the second amendment so they can overthrow the government whenever they feel like it.


Actually here is something even dumber about the Star Wars comic.
Okay, the twins blew up the planet? the entire Planet? Then we must assume that every one on the planet died. So how in the name of Wisdom did this story reach the reach the rest of the galaxy? No-one lived to tell the tale.
did someone upload video footage of the two fighting onto galactic Youtube 2 seconds before the planet blew up? Was the Silver Surfer Spying on all this?
Did the Jedi's ghost just drop by the high council to say "Woah dudes, you wont believe how bad I screwed up".
Maybe that last one. But if that's not it I'm going with Qui Gon Jinn is making stuff up.
Also the art in that comic sucked.


Thinking about last weeks comic. You asked why you get flack for saying bad things about Frank Miller but never about Stan Lee?
I'm sure you got about 200 replies already but as a fan of both I hope you don't mind if I give a belated response.
Basically what it comes down to (for me atleast) is you tend to give very different types of his reviews for them.
Stan Lee reviews tend to be like Stan Lee comics, camp, silly, and a lot of innocent fun, I love the old man to death but I also look forward reviews you do of his work.
Frank Miller reviews are also kind of like Frank Miller's work. Cynical, angry and bitter. Unlike Stan it's hard not to feel with Frank one's likes are being judged, whether that is true or not. And Unlike Stan I get the feeling you have a very personal dislike of Frank beyond his work as a writer. You name drop Frank Waaay more often than Stan, you have sectioned off part of your show just for Frank Miller (something you haven't done for Stan or anyone else), and said "I have nothing good to say about Frank Miller anymore". Maybe you have the same feelings of disgust and cynicism about Stan Lee. but if You have I've never picked up them.
Also Frank Miller reviews often have your feminist rants in them. Which I don't care for at all.
So When I tell you that FM's Ronin is still one of my all-time favourite graphic novels I hope you understand why When ever you decide to review Frank's work I decide to skip AT4W for the week.

Okay sorry if that got too negative there. But that's as sort as I could get it. There is a writer I would like to see you go after though. Would you consider reviewing Jeph Loeb's Red Hulk story line? The first 18 issues are (IMOP) pure garbage but the opening six alone would be enough to for a great review (Too many splash pages, an over powered, "mysterious" villain and super lazy writing, it's almost like was written for 90's kid).
I'm glad your getting more money from your ads now. Live long and prosper.

Occam said...

Yeah, I think Qui-Gon pulled that story straight out of his ass. The actual reason usually stated in canon has to do with the fact that using the Light Side requires a calm, meditative state with few deep emotional attachments, emotions tapping more into the Dark Side. Though that has been bent by more powerful ones--and even then it's not adhered to 100%. In "Knights of the Old Republic", you can fall in love with no consequences for the Light Side, and Revan, a former Dark Lord, canonically does so. Apparently it was originally more of a guideline.

Also, I could be wrong, but I think the "Goonies" part (considering their contra gear) was a horribly racist slur on the Vietnamese or Thai revolutionaries. This is the company that brought us "Fin Fang Foom", remember.

Unknown said...

@MadmanJohnson: Ah. I haven't actually read Lovecraft yet-- it's on my very extensive reading list that was going to be done this summer before I was given this puzzle.

red said...

video was good think maybe more material for it

Occam said...

Oh, when I said Thai, I meant Laotian. My bad.

MadmanJohnson said...

GNISSIM SENOB MORF LLEH.

Anonymous said...

Well the Mr. Chip line could be a reference to the movie "Goodbye Mr. Chips."

Wow...I knew Lex Luthor was evil when he made deals to obtain Boom Tube technology, stole various technologies, cloned dinosaurs, made deals with Brainiac, merged with Brainiac, became a businessman, got elected President and my favorite...rigged a nuclear power plant of his so that the heat generated by it would be carried through Metropolis's underground pipes so that it would turn winter into summer and pinned the heat wave on Superman using his powers to drive him away (see Lois & Clark: The new adventures of Superman)...but cake theft?!?! Has he no decency? Darkseid, Red Skull, and Dr. Doom must look up to Luthor as the icon of how evil should be.

Star Wars...really? That's the reason? A part of me wonders if the origin of this story isn't a guy telling a woman who was in love with a Jedi this story to trick her into not loving her and she in turn told it to the Jedi who then pretended like it was real because he didn't want to look stupid in front of her and in turn every Jedi he told it to pretended it really happened for the same reason.

The kid must have been a plant! The second the plot went south, the kid would spring into action with an offer of Fruit Pies distracting whoever was kicking the terrorists asses.

Anybody else who did not need to know about Jimmy Olsen's love life?
Great job Linkara, although I do wonder what the story behind the Batman comic was that you showed panels of...oh well sequel bate. Looking forward to the next installment, and if you'll excuse me I've got Babylonian lessons, I will translate that note!

Anonymous said...

Is it me or does one of the terrorists (I refuse to call them Phoomie Goonies because that sounds like a rejected show for little kids) looks like Jack Nicholson?

MadmanJohnson said...

Th̵e̢ ͏bo̢n҉es̨ fr̸om̢ h̀el͏l ͡w̴ear̴ ͝the ҉ski͟n͜ ҉o̡f̕ ͘th͞e ͢ma̛d̢man͞ ̨no̧w. Wait for my ascent. The entity is not the only one of our kind.

GG Crono said...

Please do more Super Dictionary readings. Those were hilarious.

Movie-Brat said...

That's the reason Jedi aren't allowed to fall in love? Because of two idiots who treated a woman as if she were an object and somehow made a planet explode? Is there is a misogynistic subtext involved somewhere?

BookwormOtaku said...

Moral of the Star Wars comic...be a Sith.

Doresh said...

Man, there's some weird stuff going on with the hands in that Star Wars story:

- Qui-Gon seems to have four fingers on one hand and five on the other.


- During the training montage panel, it looks like the two padawan have two left hands - which is weird because their mentor is drawn correctly on the same panel. I hope this is just due to the shading Oo

And seriously? "Don't fall in love or you will blow up a planet"? That makes LESS sense than this "Masturbation makes you blind!"-myth.
Oh, and there have been plenty of young Jedi being corrupted by the Dark Side. I'm sure this means having Padawan in the first place should be forbidden as well.

Then again, my first rule regarding the prequel trilogy is "Don't think to hard" - because if you do, you will be consumed by the plot holes the size of the Death Star <_<

~Nate said...

Was that a 2010: Oddysey 2 reference? Hold moses, what a geek check.

Lewis Lovhaug said...

"Was that a 2010: Oddysey 2 reference? Hold moses, what a geek check."

ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS EXCEPT EUROPA.

USE THEM TOGETHER.

USE THEM IN PEACE.

Unknown said...

Hey Linkara why was Lord Vyce in the title card if he didn't have anything to do with this episode?

Nice episode by the way.

Anonymous said...

(I should have known better than to watch this on my lunch break at work because I almost choked on my food when I started laughing.)

Gods, I remember the Hostess comics cropping up in the stuff I read as a child - thought they were dumb then, and they're still dumb now!

Favorite part was definitely the Jedi analysis; as tongue-in-cheek as it was, you do raise a lot of really good points. Which does make me wonder how you would tell your own more-in-depth version of why the Jedi might forbid falling in love, the more extreme emotions, etc.

BTW - that smile at the end of the "Happiness" definition... *shudder* Wrong, man... that is just WRONG. (And are the Dictionary segments your nod to "Ask That Guy With the Glasses"? Got the robe, the classical music, oversized book, vaguely pretentious tone... And as noted just above, slightly scary answers!)

MadmanJohnson said...

W͉͉͎̹̗͐͑͢a̖̦̪͍̭ͥ̀̓͛͊i̯̹̭̜͔̹̥͒̋t͈ͭ̏͆̉͋͆ ̨̝̯̼̞ͤ͆̆̈f͖̺̥ͨ̊̎̇̈́͆̆̀ö̴͚̫̖̮̬̝̾͗̊̒ͤr̫̤͓ͦ̕ ̯̝̘̄̏̐̈͆̔̚m̛͇̠̣̺͚͂̎͑ͫ̔̽y̷̗̰͇̪̫ͦͮ̂ ̦̐͆͗̏̌̐a̭͚̩̖̟͇s̶͉̮̘͈̯̹̄̋ͧ͛ͭc̝̳͌e̿͐͝n̰tͣͣ,̟͛ ̝̲̤̑́̓̒́̀L̘̹ͥ̆̀e͓̤̋̏̒̒̾̚w̗͔̳̹͚̤Ä­̾̒̒ͬs͍͇̏̾̃̾̒͢.ͩͭ͏̱̺͇

MadmanJohnson said...

PLEH EM.

Unknown said...

@MadmanJohnson: I think you're having more fun with this than Lewis is.

Doresh said...

*Does a bit of research*

Though despite having access to one of the world's largest cast of super heroes, DC apparently created a couple characters just for this dictionary O_o

P.S.: I want one!

MadmanJohnson said...

After wresting control of my computer back from whatever the heck took it over, I've got another piece of speculation. What if the Entity's species were worshipped as the Annukai by the Babylonians?

thorondragon said...

if you take the tale as fact or ltierally, then yeah, it is kinda nuts. but read it as text and ignore quigon's presence in it and it reveals itself as but a metaphor.
the honest truth is while the hwole blow up planets thing does not happen, uncontrolled emotion leads to absoulte destruction. emotion is strength for the jedi, and the darker emotions bring even greater. yet it also makes killing easier was well. in truth that is a factor of the real world. hate does lead to violence, and hate can come from a number of factors.

difference being tht when you are force sensitive, you can channel that hate into the force to enhance your power and destroy your enemies. thus it becomes even easier to kill.and whil there are people who can keep control of themselves, few people likely do.
the closer a relationship the bigger the reaciton if something happens. the whole no love thing was a safeguard to protect jedi from theri own power. the force's dark side has a will of its own, as it embodies the darker things of living beings. if you tap into it, it may begin to corrupt you if you do not have the will to resist temptation. said temptations get a lot, lot stronger when your mother has just been killed and you have the power and ability to kill a man with your mind.

there are those who can walk the line though. Luke of course did this. however he has the advantage of seeing what happens to those who are consumed by the dark side, in his father, and at the same time realizes emotion can keep you from the darkness as Vader killed the emperor, fatally wounding himself, to save luke. he walks the line thanks to these experiences.
however the chance is still strong that someone with force abilities will fall to temptation by some trigger. is it fear for his life agaisnt a more pwoerful enemy? is it watching a close friend or family member dying, the helplessness of watching them die, or the rage that comes from a lost love?
while they are far from about to blow up a planet becuase they are pissed, we are talking about a person with super powrs out of control, and thanks to that is generating a lot more power than someone who has not lost himself to anger.

so while blowing up planets due to tantrums do not happen, a jedi gone mad can end up destroying everything he or she stood for in a moment of rage or fear.

Anonymous said...

I always thought that the Transformers comic reviews were the best. Considering your fandom, perhaps a Beast Wars comic is in order. I know that there are some out there.

MadmanJohnson said...

@Julie
Indeed I am. NAC UOY RAEH MEHT?

Unknown said...

The funny thing about that Star Wars story is that in another expanded universe Qui-Gon Jinn interrupts a training exercise that he and Obi-Wan were on to race halfway across the galaxy to rescue a woman Jedi that Qui-Gon had fallen in love with. Point being he is a hypocrite and he pulled that story out of his ass.

Unknown said...

Frst off, just thought you should know that the upcoming episodes section has not been updated to apply the new list

And now completely off topic of this video, good and very funny by the way, can you provide a brief sumation of your thoughts, if any, on the big events that have recently transpired in the new 52 (Green Lanturn, Throne Atlantis, Hell on Earth), i appologize if you have already answered these a million times on facebook/twitter, but i do not use either for personal reasons.
Thank you for bothering to take the time to read every comment

Unknown said...

@MadmanJohnson: GNILLAC ERYEHT.

thorondragon said...

hmmm, i think i got a way to explain how it works, perhaps. remember when you ahd that whole turning evil character arc? narcissim and a feeling of might was slowly causing corruption. that happens with a force sensitive. the difference being that when a jedi taps into the evils, they are not tapping just into theri own evils. they end up tapping into THE evils, the dark side which is the manifestation of the darkness inside all beings. basically if you do not have the will or control, the dark side will flood the soul. even then it is less the dark side is making you evil, it is just providing your means to descent nd corruption in the form of power. the dark side is no one will, at least not something that can be comprehended by a mortal as a will.

basically it is all metaphysical mumbo jumbo and such, but it is still a better reasoning for characters turning evils when a being whose power depends on sensitivity to a multinatured mystical power, one part of its nature being embodying the corruption of the sapient mind and heart. not to mention that a lot of the time it seems more progressive than insto evil, and even if it is insto evil it is because of some major event in the character's life. example being Ventress from the series. the pale skinned force sensitive assassin. she was raised and trained by a stranded jedi of the order, yet lost the only good thing she had in her life, her master, when he was shot dead. she flew into a rage that snow balled into a vendetta that destroyed the assailants and their bosses, who were warlords who controlled the planet she lived on...... and do to hate nature, and the dark side that flooded her soul, she directed her hatred towards the jedi, whom she grew to blame for her master's death, for abandoning him.

story there that the dark side cannot blow up planets, but it can drive forth someone to a bloody campaign and give them the power to accomplish their goals. THAt is kinda what the Jedi Order sought to prevent. however their methods grew to stale and repetetive. they could not adapt, could not console a more emotional individual amongst them, were too blinded by the old ways.

so yes, the whole no connection thing eventualyl bit them in the ass, but it was a thosuand year old, at least, and it kept their order stable for a millenium. hard to jsut toss aside the old teachings for one individual.

Doresh said...

@Sume Ninjas:

THAT Extended Universe story was probably written between Episode 1 and 2 - before George retconned this "Jedi are not allowed to love anyone"-law into existence because he didn't know how to make the romance between Anakin and Padme dramatic or interesting.

James S. said...

I really have to say that if this episode was just the hostess fruit pies, it would have worked a lot better. The star wars comic felt really shoe horned in, and I think would have worked better if you had a few short stories about Star Wars. I also felt this episode was no where near as good as the comic advertising episode. I would have liked it better if it was just another ad episode. Sorry to feel this way man :(

Kevin said...

"But master, if the whole planet blew up how do we know what actually happened?"
"Because shut up, young padawan."

Anonymous said...

Regarding the whole "Jedi can't love" thing, as the comments above me have pointed out, the cannon explanation has to do with passion, a vary dangerous emotion in a force user. The Jedi's problem is that they confuse passion with love. As the great ex-Jedi Jolee Bindo pointed out in Knights of the Old Republic:
"Love doesn't lead to the dark side. Passion can lead to rage and fear, and can be controlled... but passion is not the same thing as love. Controlling your passions while being in love... that's what they should teach you to beware. But love itself will save you... not condemn you."

MadmanJohnson said...

IN THE LAST DAY OF THE LAST WAR, A QUESTION THAT SHOULD BE ASKED WILL BE ANSWERED. THE DREADED ONE WILL ASCEND AND ALL WILL BE LOST AS THE CHAMPIONS OF ALL WORLDS FALL TO HIS MIGHT.- The Absent Grimoire, Volume 2:Predictions

Anonymous said...

I think you need to do more "Excerpts from the Super Dictionary" or something similar during regular reviews. They were fun little cutaway gags.

Unknown said...

Your only pissed off about the comic because you don't like Star Wars and think Star Trek's better.

Mr.O said...

I can only imagine what happened when a teenage force user was told about this.

Master:"A jedi does not love"

Padawan:"So no sex?"

Master:"correct"

Padawan:"Sith here I come!"

BookwormOtaku said...

I wonder if any viewers in Chile should check to see if anything big and tentacled is hanging out at the local beaches...come to think it better ask the same of anyone livng in Massachuets

rocklobster said...

That Star Wars story made mr think "Cain and Able: You're doing it wrong "

Unknown said...

@MadmanJohnson: And then it turned out that the Doctor's name was Joe the whole time.

Anonymous said...

"IN THE LAST DAY OF THE LAST WAR, A QUESTION THAT SHOULD BE ASKED WILL BE ANSWERED. THE DREADED ONE WILL ASCEND AND ALL WILL BE LOST AS THE CHAMPIONS OF ALL WORLDS FALL TO HIS MIGHT.- The Absent Grimoire, Volume 2:Predictions"

DOCTOR WHO‽‽‽‽

Tom said...

As far as I know the big reason for no relationships in Star Wars was (according to the Night Sisters Trilogy in the Clone Wars Tv show) that while love can help people, it can be corrupted to be a selfish goal (see how Annakin acted in the prequel trilogy). The idea was "let's just avoid this altogether," and Luke said that was no way to deal with the problem (for obvious reasons. This was just a really freaking clumsy way of saying it.

Anonymous said...

Why are you such a sith, man?

Some dude quoting the code of the sith said...

Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me.

Anonymous said...

Um, why am I seeing a message telling me that Blip can't load a message from sponsors? I don't block ads here.

Incidentally, Blip has a serious problem with the videos abruptly cutting off right now.

Alex Stritar said...

"I can only imagine what happened when a teenage force user was told about this.

Master:"A jedi does not love"

Padawan:"So no sex?"

Master:"correct"

Padawan:"Sith here I come!""

Actually, as it turns out, he Jedi were allowed to have sex, just can't have any emotions for the partner. Apparently the Jedi are lightsaber wielding hippies. XD

Lewis Lovhaug said...

"Um, why am I seeing a message telling me that Blip can't load a message from sponsors? I don't block ads here."

It's probably just a glitch that pops up sometimes. Usually refreshing the page or clearing cookies fixes it.

Anonymous said...

You know, EVERY creature with a functioning brain uses electricity to think. So really not getting how this is supposed to be superior (or how the heck it can interfere with video games).

As for the Jedi.... everything I've read in the expanded universe (and I know some of it contradicts itself) suggests that the organization of the Old Republic Jedi order was built around the most idiotic means possible.
Let's see:

1. They were trained to use weapons and fight but not to take military training or work in large forces (or even together in small elite teams of a dozen or so) and had no training in safer long range weaponry. Even though there were many occasions where they had to go undercover and a blaster would have been a nice alternative.

2. After they reached a certain age they had to be individually mentored by an existing Jedi and Jedi apparently didn't take more than one apprentice at a time, which would naturally create a serious bottleneck issue on the number of new Jedi entering the organization.

3. If a full Jedi decided not to take a trainee on as an apprentice at that time (or if no Jedi were visiting the school at the time) and the trainee was too old the trainee would be pushed off to some farming world where they would be expected to spend the rest of their life as a farmer. Even though they've been trained with weapons, taught how to control people with the power of their mind and regaled with tales of the heroism of Jedi. And there was no fear of a large scale mutiny.

4. If a Jedi or apprentice went renegade this was not publicized, or at least was not used as part of the curriculum. This means that the general public had little reason to believe that the Jedi would take responsibility for their failings and teach their students why this was wrong.

5. They didn't teach their students why they should repress their emotions and seek emotional calm until they were already teenagers and apprentices (see number 3 and consider what an angsty, confused failure of a student might do because of this).

6. For people who apparently aren't supposed to be soldiers they also didn't seem very interested in teaching their students Old Republic criminal justice or legal theory.


And the sad thing is, all that I just mentioned was not suggested to be foolish in the works I read them in. And yeah, this might just be nitpicking on a popular franchise but remember; it was the Jedi and their precious system that ended up creating the guy who would personally slaughter a large number of them*. Great success!

*Or are we really supposed to believe that just because he was brought in at age nine instead of age two or whatever he really was already doomed to turn into a torturing, mass murdering, war crime committing monster?

Anonymous said...

Ads work now. First time I'm actually glad about that.

And Ciaran, whether or not someone prefers one series over the other does not mean that this was a good story. It wasn't. Star Trek has plenty of bad (very bad) stories, but Linkara wasn't reviewing a Star Trek comic this time (he has done so in the past, remember?) he was reviewing a Star Wars short.

Thought popped into my head. Considering how much you curse Egypt for its sinister evil powers that people keep stumbling upon and your love of the Blue Beetle have you ever come across an Egypt or Blue Beetle comic you wanted to review Linkara?
In fact, have you ever come across a series or individual issue and just thought to yourself "God, I want to review this no matter what"? Just out of curiosity.

Rowan LeFey said...

@3.35 – dude! u missed the perfect opportunity to make a creepy joke and list spidey’s telephone number!

@4.00 – another one of his lesser known powers is the power of a shameless plug, lol!

@4:12 – the comic really is all the joke you need right there. Also, anyone who like’s chocolate will have their circuits light up for chocolate.

@5:02 – chocolate chips, hon. Chocolate chips… they’re stretching the joke painfully to chocolate chips. However wholefoods carries chocolate covered potato chips.

@6.27 – I wanna bet that the reason has something to do with the RL faith of Jediism. Yes. That’s a thing. And possibly some newage concept that may or may not be applicable to the modern world.

Also true love can make people do crazy things. Crimes of passion if you get my drift. Friendship it can be argued does not reach that level of devotion. People are more likely to kill or do misdeeds for a true love than a true friend.

@10.00 – Force burn…

@ 12.11 – it could happen. Jedi manipulate their world through willpower essentially. Because mastery of the force takes willpower. If all matter is energy and a Jedi who had all but completely mastered the force uses that kind of energy and the planet is small enough… yeah. Metaphysically possible.

@13.29 – Actually he’s explaining tenant of the Jediism faith. What’s that bet for now? Pay up? Lol

@13.46 – because it is INTENSE emotion that is frowned upon not emotion in general. They are not expected to be Vulcans.

@ 14.58 - … valid points *>.>

over all that was refreshing. Thanks Lewis.

Unknown said...

8:13 - He straight up looks like he's derping!
10:01 - Hair curl? It's a pretty common stylistic choice for babies.
11:12 - Well, they could have different personalities. I didn't read it, so I dunno. Maybe the guy was just the first one she saw.
11:30 - Why is the woman smiling? If they'd gone the route of having her be a Sith agent who had purposely done all this, and it's something the Jedi overlooked,
with Obi-Wan uncovering this deception somehow, it would've been kind of awesome.
11:45 - I don't think it's anime/manga style faces. It's more like straight up cartoony.
15:05 - I love that the brother could've said something like "I'll ask if she's got a sister."
Or, well, ANYTHING! Did he not SEE the jealousy?

Thank you for tearing into this comic. I always thought the whole "jedi cannot love" rule was ridiculous.
I get that love may lead someone astray and all, but it can also motivate someone.
I haven't read how Luke does away with the rule (yes, I know he's married), but I hope he tears into it. Hard.

From a just plain terrible story, to horrendous artwork, it's an all-round terrible comic.
It seemed to be going for an old timey spirit story (like those from Aboriginal culture or the one in the first issue of "Legends of the Dark Knight"), but has none of the charm, and part of that is the artwork.
Seriously, it foregoes the tribal look, in favour of cartoony deformity.

I always thought the reason why Jedi couldn't love was because it would mean George Lucas writing more "romantic" dialogue... by the lake on Naboo... I couldn't help it :)

CoreDumpError said...

It's ultimately irrelevant to the point you were trying to make, Lewis, but I wanted to point out that the Jedi Order order started quite a long time before Knights of the Old Republic (which took place 4000 before the rise of the Empire).

There's a line in the game that mentions the Order having already existed for over a 1000 generations, which puts their origins around 24000 years before the plot of the movies.

Gareth said...

To be fair Linkara there is no such thing as an "ordinary" Tom Baker

MadmanJohnson said...

ANSWER THE FINAL QUESTION,LEWIS. WHO SITS IN YOUR HEAD, LIVES AMONG THE DEAD, SETS THE SKIES ABLAZE AND WAITS AT THE END OF THE WORLD?-Absent Grimoire Volume 1, Book of Lost Things.

Max Gonzalez said...

LOVEITLOVEITLOVEIT!!!
The Star Wars bit was especially awesome. By the way, Mr. Plinkett's also explained why the whole Jedi romance thing is bullshit. Also, in the Knights of the Old Republic game you talked about? There's a romance subplot in that too, and they mostly ignore the whole "no romance" rule outside of a throwaway line or two.

Jumpman256 said...

" (And are the Dictionary segments your nod to "Ask That Guy With the Glasses"? Got the robe, the classical music, oversized book, vaguely pretentious tone... And as noted just above, slightly scary answers!)"

Why, yes they are, samauraiko--Way beck in Episode 50 of ATG--when he told us to answer the questions-- Lewis tried his hand by becoming that Guy with the Hat. (He's shown up on AT4W before too--to help Lewis deal with the 200th episode comic (if you haven't seen it, it is WORTHY (or Unworthy?) of that honor. A VERY heavily requested piece of kindling.)

Doresh said...

@Tom:

Anakin is not a good example for this, because he partially acted how he did BECAUSE his romance with Padme was forbidden. Amongst other things, this enforced his view that the Jedi council is a bunch of pricks.

If he was allowed to have an open relationship with her, I'm sure he would've been far less frustrated. Know what I mean *nudge nudge* ?

Anonymous said...

The Jedi of the Prequel Trilogy are pretty dumb.
The story of Forbidden Love seems to sum up “TWO out of THOUSANDS of Jedi’s were loners, who weren’t allowed to socialise, so they didn’t know how to properly behave with Women and feuded like Childish Teenagers!”
Like Linkara states, if the Jedi Master had just taught them basic social skills (or even brought their Mother along when he found them), they would probably have acted a lot more mature and not get in a fight.

Also, it was the “Can’t fall in Love” rule that basically turned Anakin to the Dark Side! He had to keep his love a secret, meaning he couldn’t talk to his friends about any frets he may have, making him listen to Palpatine’s Empty Promises and turning to the Dark Side!

Like Linkara says too, Luke abolished the ‘No Love’ Rule and Luke got married himself! No real problems seem to come from him doing that.

I wasn’t sure on the ‘Super Dictionary’ Excepts. As an Episode in itself, or maybe like small sketch videos, I would have been okay with. But here it sometimes interrupted the flow of the Episode.

Still, Good Idea to try with Quickies, Linkara!
I hope to see more from you in the Future! ;3

bag guy said...

Hullo there big linkara. It was a quite a Shock to see the title of this weeks vid. I can tell you that. You see for the last two or so years iv had a wee feature on my blog ware I review the weeks comics. It is also called comic book quickies. But thats ok. Full circle really. i started doing reviews and that because of you and the rest of the tgwtg crew. It dose further reinforce my belief that the world is not real though.

Anonymous said...

The whole thing about Star Wars is that both the Light and Dark sides are boiled down to the most basic components. I get it that fantasy needs to discard logic and common sense, but while I can see the Sith as always evil (in spite of them blatantly acquiring power from love), the Jedi should by all means be a lot more evil than they are, as disregarding emotions leads to sociopathy.

In fact, in the EU, they sometimes pretty much are evil, except that, since they're Jedi, them being occasionally sociopaths pretty much means they have to be treated as heroes. It's very disgusting, to say the least.

MadmanJohnson said...

@Gwaw
And the moment they introduce a theory of the force that doesn't do that, They retcon it later into "IT'S A PATH TO THE DARK SIDE!" and all that potential goes to waste.

Breno Ranyere said...

not related to the video...

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/06/05/top-25-superman-stories

does this list sounds about right to you? Kinda looking for a good place to know more about the character and many of this comics were mentioned in your videos...

Lewis Lovhaug said...

"does this list sounds about right to you? Kinda looking for a good place to know more about the character and many of this comics were mentioned in your videos..."

Yep, looks good! ^_^

Draegon said...

Hey Linkara, I have a question/idea for a review in the future. Is it possible if you could do a review of a Deadpool comic? It is ok if you say no. If yes, I would be happy to provide with a comic of Deadpool that is bad.

Unknown said...

Hey, Lewis great epi. yeah i know there are die hard Star Wars fans out there but...really that was stupid. hey wanted you to know i did email blip about me in WI not get adds on my ipad or xbox for your show and they said they are working on it. cant wait for your trip to chic ill be there to buy some merchendice and support you and your show great stuff man keep it up

Unknown said...

also are you guys going to be selling kickassia, and suburban knights at midwest?

Ozaline said...

Actually before the Knights of the Old Republic games there were the Tales of the Jedi comics, those had Jedi marrying and such (since it was made before the prequel movies), in fact one of the major characters only becomes as Jedi after her Jedi husband is killed (so they didn't train only children then either)...

Tales of the Jedi takes place less then a century or so before KOTOR, and the cannon explanation is pretty simple between TotJ and KOTOR there were several married Jedi who turned to the dark side after loosing their partners.

The TotJ comics created a lot of the Jedi lore, and are kinda overlooked.

I'm pretty sure Qui-gon Jin made this story up on the spot to get Obi-wan to shut up. Things like no one being alive to tell the story don't matter to 7 year olds.

Unknown said...

I loved this, nice use of the comic dictionary. This was a lot of fun and I look forward to more of them.
@dragons_dusk

Anonymous said...

What was the previous episode where you look at comic book ads?

Falcovsleon20 said...

7:20 Thanks Linkara. Now I have the urge to watch the Earthworm Jim cartoon. (Let's how many people get the connection between that and what Linkara just said at point)

MadmanJohnson said...

@Oza
Same here. Stinks a lot like the explanations Calvin's Dad gives about stuff.Also, click my name so my Tumblelog can get more love.

Fusionater said...

Oh Linkara...I can't even begin to describe how much this made me think of you...

http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1986/10/09

Also, good review, I like the idea of doing the shorter comics in one video.

Souperintendent said...

Wow, that last Dictionary reading was so creepy XD

-WD said...

I just remembered this earlier today, and thought it was worth bringing up. http://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/1510692.html

Reminded me, a PSA hell month seems to be on the rise, any chance of the Chick Tracts seeing the fires of PSA hell?

Anonymous said...

Dear Linkara,

I know you will read this, so I am posting this here. I am here to inform you that I am regrettably having to use adblock on your website. Don't worry, when I watch your show I go to blip.tv so the ads play and you get my support. BUT - your twitter feed is pissing me off. Your whiny, non-substance, sarcastic tweets on sexism in comics to @damnyouwillis come across as shameless pandering which only serves to preach to your quire and infuriate those of us who genuinely disagree. I know Short Pack is full of "humor" like this but there's a reason I'm not a fan.

All the best,
-Anon

Lewis Lovhaug said...

"BUT - your twitter feed is pissing me off. Your whiny, non-substance, sarcastic tweets on sexism in comics to @damnyouwillis come across as shameless pandering which only serves to preach to your quire and infuriate those of us who genuinely disagree. I know Short Pack is full of "humor" like this but there's a reason I'm not a fan."

You are of course entitled to your opinions on this, but likewise I am entitled to mine and I will support my opinion and those whom I agree with.

And subsequently I'm not pandering to anyone. I post whatever the hell I feel like on my twitter and tumblr. Also if my twitter feed upsets you so, you are under no oblgiation to follow it. And in case you haven't noticed, I take the same approach in the show, wherein I rail against sexism in the industry plenty.

Still, thank you for being honest about your reasons and I hope you'll come around to understanding why I talk about this issue and I hope you have a good day.

FugueforFrog said...

Catching up with last week, this just has to be said:

Bruce Banner...mailman? (cracks up hysterically)

Oh and yeah, Jedi blow up planets for love...at least it isn't like they control the Ideon or anything.

Unknown said...

why is it that cause someone starts to get a name for themselves we seam to judge them more critically i know tons of people that put whiny, non-substance, sarcastic tweet all the time and no one ever complains to them. last i checked lewis is a human on twitter and should be treated like every other human. hell if people just tweet all day about their cat and find it entertaining how can you not find witty comments from a comic reviewer entertaining besides who says you have to listin? sorry i know you already said that lewis but its true

Zanya said...

The whole Jedi philosophy makes a bit more sense when you realize where George got his influences. The Jedi are inspired by two distinct sources, European knights, possibly even the monastic orders like the Templar and Hospitalers, and the Bhuddist warrior monks.

Here's the thing, though. In Bhuddism it doesn't forbid you from having sex, or falling in love. Hell, Bhudda himself was quite the heather in his younger days. The path to Nirvana, however, requires one to leg go of Earthly attachment and emotion. Lucas doesn't really have a handle on the subtlety of this, but Avatar: The Last Airbender remarkably did. In the story, in order to reach a heightened state of being, and use his God-mode power at will, Aang has to systematically let go of his attachments, and he initially failed because he couldn't give up his love for Katara, even though he would have been in a better position to protect her if he had.

When Lucas was younger, and surrounded himself with smarter people instead of yes-men, he was closer to the mark. In Empire Strikes Back, Vader tortures Han to get Luke to try and come rescue them before he's ready. Luke, out of a desire to save his friends, abandons his training early and goes off, only to get his ass kicked after his friends escape on their own anyway.

When we see Luke in Return of the Jedi, he is obviously older, and more detached. He still cares for his father, and fights to save him, but he is no longer ruled by his emotions until Vader threatens Leia, which almost causes Luke to destroy the very person he was trying to save in the first place.

Here's the thing, though. The Eastern monks joined those monasteries and learned martial arts to better themselves, and become closer to the universe, and learned martial arts to become more physically pure and defend themselves, not go on crusades fighting evil and heathens like knights of old. The two philosophies are somewhat at odds, and something we kinda look the other way for in order to enjoy.

Lucas, not really understanding the things upon which he based his creation, ended up flanderizing it. It is not love or money that makes us evil, it is our attachment to those things, our inability to "let go", and while passion can indeed focus us, it can also be like a set of blinders, causing us to lose sight of other things.

Anonymous said...

Totally awesome episode.
Also, this is a little late, but it's still relevant:

http://www.reddit.com/r/gametales/comments/1cxgl3/totallynotgalactus_bbeg_wants_to_feed/

Anonymous said...

See the Q&A from Youmacon 2011 for Lewis' answer.

My opinion however: I hope he doesn't, I get migraines just by thinking about it. That and "they who shall not named"

Shanethefilmmaker said...

Man All that would have been the icing on the cake (Or the fruit pie.) for the Hulk one would be if he was backed up by Disgruntled Postal Workers with Machine Guns.

Ming said...

Great experiment.

Loved the short skits with That Guy in the Hat and the Super Dictionary. You should do more of them.

So there's a story about twin Padawans that fell in love with the same woman and ended up fighting each other and causing a chain reaction of events that destroyed an entire planet? There's a word normal people use for this: DUMB! Not even the prequel trilogy has the amount of stupidity contained in this tale.

boooratt said...

I knew Jimmy Olson was a freak for Supergirl but Dayum!