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'''Linkara (v/o):''' However, I have watched a documentary called ''The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior''. I don't know how accurate it is, because, again, not a wrestling fan, but they talk a lot in that documentary about the Ultimate Warrior's wrestling style: high-impact moves, big hits, big swings, colliding with the opponent, etc.
 
'''Linkara (v/o):''' However, I have watched a documentary called ''The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior''. I don't know how accurate it is, because, again, not a wrestling fan, but they talk a lot in that documentary about the Ultimate Warrior's wrestling style: high-impact moves, big hits, big swings, colliding with the opponent, etc.
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''(Cut to a shot of a comic involving a fight between Green Arrow and Roy Harper)''
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'''Linkara (v/o):''' In comic books, because all we see are individual panels and not things actually in motion, artists have to find other ways of conveying energy and motion, but in a still frame.
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''(Cut to a shot of the book "How To Draw Comics the Marvel Way")''
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'''Linkara (v/o):''' Hell, the Marvel guide to drawing comics actually tells people that it's more exciting and more energetic if characters are drawn with their legs farther apart.
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''(Linkara stands up and spreads his legs apart)''
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'''Linkara:''' ''(pointing to his legs)'' THIS IS EXCITING!
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'''Linkara (v/o):''' And they're not exactly wrong, but bringing this back to my point...
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''(Cut back to the "Youngblood" comics)''
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'''Linkara (v/o):''' ...Rob Liefeld's artwork is exactly like the Ultimate Warrior's wrestling: it's all about big, high-impact punches and gestures. It's good ''sometimes'', but when ''every'' fight is like this, it gets dull quickly. Anyone who actually fights like this is going to get exhausted pretty quickly, and it's exhausting for readers who are trying to get into the moment.
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''(Cut to a clip of ''[[Star Wars: Return of the Jedi]]'': the lightsaber battle between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader)''
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'''Linkara (v/o):''' Let's compare again. ''Return of the Jedi'' features Luke, angry and adrenaline-fueled, just whaling on Darth Vader at the end. It's only as exciting as it is because it built up to that moment, and he's doing it because he's emotional at that point. It complements the character.
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''(Cut back once again to the "Youngblood" comics)''
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'''Linkara (v/o):''' Not so much Rob Liefeld fights, where everyone looks pissed off 24/7 and is always scowling and straining themselves as if they're constipated.
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'''Linkara:''' ''(his head resting on his hand)'' And yet... ''(suddenly laughs)'' the man still gets work! At the time of this video's release, ''(holds up index finger)'' one more book that Liefeld was on got cancelled! And DC turned right around and put him in a creative position on ''(holds up three fingers) three'' other books! ''(shakes head)'' We live in a strange, strange world. So let's dig into ''(holds up today's comic)'' "Youngblood #4" and... maybe we'll see what the hell DC executives see in this junk.
   
 
'''This guide is not complete. Please finish.'''
 
'''This guide is not complete. Please finish.'''

Revision as of 05:27, 16 October 2019

Youngblood #4

At4w youngblood 4 by masterthecreater-d4pple4-768x339

Released
February 13, 2012
Running time
23:48
Previous review
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Tagline
A double feature of Atop the Fourth Wall episodes and the end of the "His Blue Soul" storyline!
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(Onboard Comicron 1 IN SPAAAACE, following the events of the "Star Trek: Wrath of Khan" review, Mechakara, in Pollo's new body, is reactivated and goes through the ship and comes across the Shade containment area. Mechakara's Pollo eye glows red. Then cut to black to the AT4W title sequence; title card has "Youngblood" by Frankie Addiego, formerly of The Dying Ego, playing in the background)

Linkara: Hello, and welcome to Atop the Fourth Wall, where bad comics burn. We here at Atop the Fourth Wall love anniversaries, probably because there's always so much crap and misery in the world that we feel we could use some celebrations.

(A montage of shots of the covers of past "Youngblood" comics is shown)

Linkara (v/o): And that's why I celebrate the first review I ever wrote of "Youngblood #1", back in February of 2007. Sure, nobody cares about the written reviews I did before videos, but I know how a causality works, and if I hadn't started writing those reviews, I probably wouldn't have started doing the show. And that's why it's important for me to celebrate a really crappy book made by Rob Liefeld in the early '90s. I say "the early '90s" because, while the first issue was released in 1992, 1992 only had three issues released. No, I don't mean one in each month of October, November and December. I mean, the first issue came out in April, then the second in July, and the third in August. Admittedly, the "zeroith issue"... "Zeroith"? Is that even a word? ...came out in December of that year... An "issue 0" after three issues have already hit. ...but that was it.

(Cut to a shot of the cover of the fourth issue, today's comic)

Linkara (v/o): To make it worse, issue 4 didn't come out until February of 1993.

Linkara: Where am I going with all this? Well, it's just I've seen a lot of praise for "Youngblood" coming from creators, and I really have to ask, "What the hell book were they reading?"

Linkara (v/o): "Youngblood" sucks. There's no tiptoeing around about this. It is awful. This is the fourth issue of this book, and what has happened so far? Pretty much jack all! There are at least twelve members of Youngblood, and aside from a few names, I couldn't tell you a damn thing about them: their personalities, their backstories, hell, not even their real names for a few of them. And if that wasn't enough, there are actually more than just those twelve. We have some previous team, we have this Prophet guy, we have the villains. It's just a mess! And releasing each issue so far apart makes it easy to forget what the hell happened in the previous ones! Let's face it, comic books are easily consumable media, especially when there are a once per month kind of things. You need to really make your book memorable to keep people interested.

(Cut to a shot of some text by Mark Millar in the remastered "Youngblood" collection)

Linkara (v/o): Mark Millar in the remastered "Youngblood" collection talked about how edgy "Youngblood" was, with books about celebrity superheroes with endorsement deals and talk shows and crap. Um, maybe that's more explored in later issues, but it's sure as hell not going on in the first few issues. And what, superheroes treated like celebrities, with, like, toys and crap?

(Two more comics are shown: "Watchmen" and "Booster Gold")

Linkara (v/o): Uh, yeah, "Youngblood" wasn't the first to do that by a long shot.

(Cut back to the "Youngblood" montage)

Linkara (v/o): And even then, it hasn't exactly been an integral part of the series. You know what has? Action scenes! Lots and lots of action scenes! Really bad action scenes! If you pay attention to my theme song's visuals, you'll note that one thing that has remained throughout all versions of it is the visual of Diehard attacking somebody with their [sic] crotch. It's not just because it's poorly drawn, though that is a big part of it, but rather if you see this, you've seen every Rob Liefeld action scene.

Linkara: Now, since a lot of you aren't comic book fans, let me try to explain this with an analogy to another niche market that more people care about: wrestling. And in particular, our old pal, the Ultimate Warrior.

(Cut to footage of The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior)

Linkara (v/o): I am not a wrestling fan. Any information I have on it comes from other people who care about wrestling.

(Cut to a clip of The Spoony One)

Spoony: WRESTLE! WRESTLLLLLLLLLLE!!!

(Back to the Ultimate Warrior video)

Linkara (v/o): However, I have watched a documentary called The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior. I don't know how accurate it is, because, again, not a wrestling fan, but they talk a lot in that documentary about the Ultimate Warrior's wrestling style: high-impact moves, big hits, big swings, colliding with the opponent, etc.

(Cut to a shot of a comic involving a fight between Green Arrow and Roy Harper)

Linkara (v/o): In comic books, because all we see are individual panels and not things actually in motion, artists have to find other ways of conveying energy and motion, but in a still frame.

(Cut to a shot of the book "How To Draw Comics the Marvel Way")

Linkara (v/o): Hell, the Marvel guide to drawing comics actually tells people that it's more exciting and more energetic if characters are drawn with their legs farther apart.

(Linkara stands up and spreads his legs apart)

Linkara: (pointing to his legs) THIS IS EXCITING!

Linkara (v/o): And they're not exactly wrong, but bringing this back to my point...

(Cut back to the "Youngblood" comics)

Linkara (v/o): ...Rob Liefeld's artwork is exactly like the Ultimate Warrior's wrestling: it's all about big, high-impact punches and gestures. It's good sometimes, but when every fight is like this, it gets dull quickly. Anyone who actually fights like this is going to get exhausted pretty quickly, and it's exhausting for readers who are trying to get into the moment.

(Cut to a clip of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi: the lightsaber battle between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader)

Linkara (v/o): Let's compare again. Return of the Jedi features Luke, angry and adrenaline-fueled, just whaling on Darth Vader at the end. It's only as exciting as it is because it built up to that moment, and he's doing it because he's emotional at that point. It complements the character.

(Cut back once again to the "Youngblood" comics)

Linkara (v/o): Not so much Rob Liefeld fights, where everyone looks pissed off 24/7 and is always scowling and straining themselves as if they're constipated.

Linkara: (his head resting on his hand) And yet... (suddenly laughs) the man still gets work! At the time of this video's release, (holds up index finger) one more book that Liefeld was on got cancelled! And DC turned right around and put him in a creative position on (holds up three fingers) three other books! (shakes head) We live in a strange, strange world. So let's dig into (holds up today's comic) "Youngblood #4" and... maybe we'll see what the hell DC executives see in this junk.

This guide is not complete. Please finish.