The New Review Crew is Jesse Taylor, James Rinehart, Jon Lennox, Eric Sturgeon, Chris Angelini and *THE* Mason Kramer.
0: Abysmal | (I've seen Power Rangers fanfic better than this.) |
1: Very Bad |
(Ooog. Give me Tales to SMURFIFY any day.) |
2: Bad |
(Little White Dojo. 'nuff said.) |
3: Very Poor |
(Better than Tales, but not by much.) |
4: Poor |
(I liked it. It was better than Cats.) |
5: Mediocre |
("Eh." Okay, not bad, but not good either.) |
6: Good |
(Genuinely good read. Basic Superguyage.) |
7: Very Good |
(High basic Superguyage. The difference between 6 and 7 is fairly slim.) |
8: Excellent |
(Very high quality writing.) |
9: Exceptional |
(Really excellent, even for Superguy. Can have no serious flaws.) |
10: Perfect |
(The kind of thing that leaves you sitting there in front of the screen going "whoa...." for a while. These are VERY, VERY RARE.) Also known as "What's this guy doing slumming with us hacks?" |
Jon: Abst. | Stirge: Abst. | Mason: Abst. | Jesse: Abst. | James: 5 | Chris: 4 |
Total: 4.5 |
Starcruiser Anonymous operates on a somewhat smaller scale than Sfstory has previously been wont to -- it is parodying a somewhat more limited scale of science fiction than the grand space opera of Eric Burns or Gary Olson. Nevertheless, it is still very much in the spirit of the subtopic with some hilarious material well-integrated into the science-fictional genre. The profusion of multiple plot threads is beginning to get slightly overwhelming, but that's also not unusual for the subtopic, and I'm looking forward to their inevitable convergence in upcoming
Jon: Abst. | Stirge: 7 | Mason: 7 | Jesse: 7 | James: 6 | Chris: 7 |
Total: 6.8 -- "Not... Planet Gloom!" Dfale gasped. "Yes, Planet Gloom," Mselt replied. "Where else would I go to find the Emperor? Arorua?" |
Yes, that's a short synopsis. Well, not much happened this issue, so it has to be. This was a character piece, and the characters shined nicely. Louise's strong point in storytelling has always been characterization, and this episode is no exception. The next episode should, from all indications, get us to Winona Falls where Fred waits with a mystery.
Sadly, it's tricky to say when that will be, as Louise is currently taking care of her newborn (Hi, Amanda!) But we eagerly await the day when Amanda lets her have enough rest to work on the next episode.
Jon: Abst. | Stirge: 7 | Mason: 8 | Jesse: 7.5 | James: 7 | Chris: 7 |
Total: 7.3 -- "Well, nicknames are okay, as long as there aren't any reporters around. That's how I got stuck with 'Cubby!'" |
And I mean that most seriously. Um.
The WeaselForce, having somehow recovered from their unfortunate case of death in the last episode, goes to the Olympics to stop the Blue Otter from not killing their sidekick, Snippy the Boy Weasel. On the way, they suffer a jet malfuction do to the fact that none of them are trying to steer, and even if they were, they had no idea whatsoever where they were going. After tossing half of WeaselForce out of the WeaselJet, the rest of WeaselForce eventually ends up at the Olympics, where they all die due to impacting at high velocities, and then being blasted to small bits by the bad guys.
As I said, um.
This is one of those "I have absolutely no idea why I like this, but I do" things. It's violent, strange and silly, but also funny as heck. It... just is. I don't know how I can sum up the essence of weaselness in this post better than that. Ben's high. Way high. As are the rest of "We're Still Bored Productions". They're -way- high.
But it's a good kind of high.
In summation: There is no blue key.
Jon: Abst. | Stirge: 8 | Mason: 7 | Jesse: 6.5 | James: 5.5 | Chris: 6 |
Total: 6.6 |
No, really. They did. Impressive, huh?
Slackers 16 manages a really impressive thing -- a thousand-line fight scene which manages to give good characterization to participants on all sides, while still keeping the battles convincing and gripping. This issue also sees Marv's coming of age, transcending carcature and becoming a real character, whose motiviations grab our sympathy. Finally, Mindburner's transformation is a thing of beauty. She literally becomes a person before our eyes. In all, an excellent issue, one of the Author's best.
Jon: Abst. | Stirge: 8 | Mason: 8 | Jesse: Abst. | James: 7 | Chris: 8 |
Total: 7.75 -- "We *could* ask some of the NSCA personnel over here to recite C++ programming at them." |
This is a typical issue of Crazy Guy: well written and humorous. Unfortunately, a few of the conventions of the title seem to be wearing thin. The digressions make up far too much of the story, and in the case of the lecture on altiversal theory, are almost laborious to read. On the other hand, the plot itself is good enough that it demands more text devoted to it. We know that Something Is Up but not exactly what. And finally, the song is quite funny, especially if you can find the original source tune.
Jon: Abst. | Stirge: 6 | Mason: 6.5 | Jesse: Abst. | James: 6 | Chris: 6 |
Total: 6.125 -- "If some demon sucks my brains out through a straw or this Jack guy drops a burning building on me, I want there ta be an estate for my wives to fight over." |
Rob is high. That's really all I can say. Read this post. It gets a bit long towards the middle, but overall, the payoff is worth it.
Jon: Abst. | Stirge: 9 | Mason: 7 | Jesse: 7 | James: 7 | Chris: 7 |
Total: 7.4 -- "We'd like a book. This one wasn't any good. It didn't have any trucks in it." |
The only problem is one of the pluses, in a sense. Bankert, who created Bunzai in Pizza Wars and left a grand tradition in it and other factors, seems to toot his horn about it a great deal, in a rather throwaway manner. While it's amusing in the short term, by the third ep now, it's starting to get to be a a bit long in the tooth. Perhaps when the elements hinted to in the foreshadowing hit, the joke will be laid to rest.
Jon: Abst. | Stirge: 7 | Mason: 7 | Jesse: 7 | James: 6 | Chris: 6 |
Total: 6.6 -- "Bondo Twin Powers, activate!" |
We're in trouble.
But seriously, folks... This is one of those episodes that's hard to synopsise, not because nothing happened, but because so much happened, and it was so hilarious, that this reviewer can't pick up the printout without laughing hysterically.
Chris is at his funniest with this one, as you may have guessed from the tone of the review so far. The aliens are funny, the heroes are funny, even the bit parts are funny. I've long thought that there were actually two people writing under the name Frobozz, working together in collaboration, as it's the only way to explain how he can do comedy and drama so well, usually in the same episode. Well, this time, the one that does the comedy bits has the whole episode. Fun.
Jon: Abst. | Stirge: 7 | Mason: 9 | Jesse: 7.5 | James: Abst. | Chris: Abst. |
Total: 7.8 -- To be frank, you have to be a damned idiot to try to invade the planet Earth. |
This series looks to be shaping up quite nicely. It suffers some from the scads o' subplots problem, but this isn't a major headache as yet. The humor is well-done, and the story itself is well-written. A worthwhile read.
Jon: Abst. | Stirge: 7 | Mason: 7 | Jesse: 7 | James: 6 | Chris: 7 |
Total: 6.8 -- "Soon it will be complete, and then nothing will stand before Zakav!" He pressed a button on his computer terminal and pre-recorded diabolical laughter filled the room. |
Jon: Abst. | Stirge: 6 | Mason: 7 | Jesse: Abst. | James: 6 | Chris: 6 |
Total: 6 |