#the incongruence between visuals and writing in comics is so so so funny to me. i want to make these jokes but i know people wont get it

[sciderman]

Gwen Stacy was 100 gazillion percent not dead before Peter’s web reached her??? What killed her while she fell? THE AIR????

and here begins one of the more hotly debated topics in spider-man comics canon - what killed gwen stacy?

(i could make a video essay about this)

goblin says that the shock of the fall alone is enough to kill her

and honestly, i don't think that sounds fake. like i mean, i've never been thrown off a bridge before but like, the shock of that could probably kill me. i don't think that's fake at all. i'd have a fucking heart attack mid-air. yeah.

but there is the pointed. snap.

so, really, regardless of whether gwen was already dead or not, the snap is a reality. if she was alive or dead, it doesn't matter, so if the shock of the fall didn't kill her, the snap would've.

i kind of don't know why norman would say she was dead before the webbing reached her. it seems more in norman's diabolical brand to double down and tell peter that his webbing IS what killed gwen. but i think maybe this is another case of the writers and artists not being on the same page - same as how it's described as the george washington bridge

but the artists didn't get the memo. that bitch is not the george washington bridge.

that bitch is the brooklyn bridge!!

headcanon that i guess in 616 the brooklyn bridge is called the george washington bridge. sure. why not.

i figure the gwen "snap!" thing is another instance of the writers and artists just being on distinctly different pages. there's this very funny workflow in comics where they kind of give the artist a rough outline of the plot and the final dialogue isn't actually written until the comic is pencilled so there's always, always miscommunications between the writers and artists. where the artist draws the brooklyn bridge but the writer thinks it would be fun if actually it was the george washington bridge after the fact because get it. norman loves money. but in the synopsis it didn't actually matter what bridge it was so the artist just drew whatever the fuck bridge!!

so. i think it's the same with the snap. in the synopsis it probably says "gwen dies in the fall" - artist interprets it as whiplash, and draws it so. writer has the idea that actually, it's the shock that kills her. synopsis says "dies in the fall" and it doesn't actually matter how. point is she dies! however the fuck!

i'm honestly so obsessed with the running gag in spider-man comics where you know the writers and artists are on different pages. in two separate rooms doing two separate things. rereading the comics is so funny when you know that weird workflow and you see a scene where the art is saying one thing and the words are saying another. almost like a 4kids dub.

that's why you get such great moments such as the panel that has caused the most outrage in my activity feed. the brown/blue pants debate.

HIS PANTS ARE BLUE!!

#sci talks comics #gwen stacy #peter parker #spiderman #sorry about the infodump but i am so passionate about this. #the incongruence between visuals and writing in comics is so so so funny to me. i want to make these jokes but i know people wont get it #jokes that are only funny.. to me. #i want to make intentional artist errors faithful to the comics but people will just think they're mistakes . but i will be laughing #it is doubly funny to say “oh its a miscommunication between writer and artist” because i am the writer AND artist. #jokes that are funny.. only to Me...

[thesffcorner]

How to Train your Dragon 3: The Hidden World

How to Train Your Dragon 3: Hidden World is the concluding film in the Httyd series, directed by Dean DeBois. It follows Hiccup and his crew, who after the events of the previous film, have become raiders, freeing dragons from the hunters’ ships, and bringing them back to Berk. Unfortunately, their meddling becomes known to the leaders of the hunters, and they hire Grimmel, the most notorious and deadly hunter, who has single-handedly killed every single Night Fury, except Toothless. Faced with the very real possibility of war, Hiccup decides to find the Hidden World; a mystical land where all dragons come from and hide there for good; but as always things aren’t as easy as they seem.

I have some mixed opinions on this series. On the one hand, I really love the animation: it’s the best DreamWorks has ever done, and every subsequent film pushes it further and further, with this third installment being no different. However, the stories have always been a mixed bag, and unfortunately, this last film is probably the weakest to date.

Animation:

Let’s start with the positives; like I said this series is known for it’s gorgeous animation and this sequel is no different. The scenes of the dragons flying are absolutely breathtaking, and this film focuses a lot on Toothless and a light fury, who becomes his mate. The scenes of Toothless trying to woo her over are hilarious and the scenes of them getting closer and flying in the clouds are marvelous. The entire design of the Hidden World, though not entirely original was likewise gorgeous; there are so many colors, and small details that make it feel alive.

Likewise the scenes with the Vikings are also great; you really get the sense that Berk, as cool as it is, is getting overcrowded, with dragons flying everywhere. There are several smaller set pieces in Berk that have to do with the dragons and they are hilarious; this series does rely a lot on visual humor, and I think it’s the best to date. The dragon designs are likewise very creative and cool; there’s a new type of dragons this time around, and they are like a dragon version of manticores, with cool poison spitting abilities.

The part where the animation flounders are the fight scenes; for whatever reason, DreamWorks excels at character designs and facial expressions, but when it comes to the human characters fighting or even really moving, they always struggle. The few fights we get are stiff and unnatural and it’s very strange considering how good the animation is in all other departments.

Story:

This is where we run into some issues. The stories in these films have never been especially complicated; they usually make up for this by having really great character relationships and a focus on Hiccup and Toothless’ friendship which is very strong and well developed. Unfortunately this time around, it feels like DuBois either didn’t have enough time or just didn’t know what kind of story he wanted to tell, so he took the plots of film 1 and 2 and frankensteined them together in this mess.

Let’s start with the good first. Hiccup and Toothless are the backbone of this franchise, and even here their relationship was great. I loved the idea of Hiccup having to let Toothless go, him coming to terms with the fact that Toothless is after all a dragon and can’t stay with Hiccup forever. I even liked Hiccup thinking he was nothing without Toothless, even though that was a plot-point from the first film. The entire epilogue of the film was incredibly endearing and sweet, even though I didn’t like how the film came to it.

There were some jokes that landed; the scene with Ruffnut and Grimmel was funny, the bit with Gobber and the dragon that multiplies, both of the confrontations Grimmel has with Hiccup, and especially the two scenes we have with Stoic.

Unfortunately, that’s about the positives I can say. The story really isn’t very good, and it starts with the villain.

Grimmel has a cool design and F Murray Abraham does a good job with his voice, even if his accent fluctuates wildly. However his motivation is just absolutely dumb, makes no sense, and we’ve already seen it before. He wants to kill dragons because he thinks humans and dragons can’t coexist. This is a) something we already covered in the first film with Stoic’s character, and b) incongruent with the idea that Grimel is this Dr. Zaroff type character who just enjoys the hunt so much, and thinks of dragons as nothing more than animals. Why would he be so concerned about humans befriending dragons, if he thinks dragons are just prey?

He has no real backstory, and he’s in the little too little to actually be threatening. He’s built up to be this insanely smart villain, but he gets outwitted by Hiccup twice, and even the way he finds the group at the end is by a mix of complete coincidence and Ruffnut's incompetence.

Then there’s the issue of the Hidden World. First, we have never heard anything about the Hidden World before, so Hiccup growing up with this legend that Stoic was obsessed with comes out of nowhere. The idea that he can just take the entirety of Berk and hide them in the Hidden World with the dragons is also utterly ridiculous. Granted, it’s supposed to be a bad idea, and he even gets called out on it by both Astrid and Valka, but no one points out that like, how will humans live there? Also will all the humans of Berk just completely agree to disappear and never see anyone not from Berk ever? No one has friends or family outside of Berk at all? Really?

The ending also feels so rushed and kind of dumb. I get the idea that Hiccup learning to let Toothless go is in a way a grander statement on the relationship between the humans and the dragons, but… A) dragons still hunt for food on human territory; they don’t stay in the Hidden World forever, they come to the rest of the land to eat and mate, that’s how humans have come in contact with them in the first place. B) Not one person out of the few hundred people that live in Berk disagrees with this decision to simply let all of the dragons go hide? Not one? Not one dragon decides to stay behind? Toothless is just that much of an alpha that they all just unanimously agree? What about dragons that were not at the battle? Ones that are still in captivity?

It was just such a sloppy ending, and a really ‘simple’ solution in a series that prides itself on more complex ideas and problems, or at least it did in the first two movies.

Characters:

The characters also all suffer from this story and writing. First we have the supporting characters. There are simply so many of them, and none of them are really used or have any impact on the plot. With the exception of Astrid (who will get a whole section afterwards, because boy oh boy did that make me mad) and Ruffnut who gets 1 funny scene, none of the other dragon riders have anything to do. They each get a bit here or there, but it’s all humorous (a lot of it is just cringey and targeted at very small kids), and none of them get any character development. The running joke with all of them is that they are incompetent; it was the running joke in 1 and in 2 and it’s back here again. You are seriously telling me, that after 3 movies you still can’t think of anything interesting for any of these characters to do other than be annoying and incompetent?

Eret, Gobber and Valka might as well not have been in this film; they have nothing to do, and are completely wasted. Eret isn’t even used as comic relief; he does nothing the entire film, and I don’t understand why he was here.

Valka especially hurt, because the second film spent such a long time building her up as this really interesting complex character, and having this very complex and tender relationship with Hiccup, and here she has one scene with him. It was like all the meticulous character development was completely forgotten so we could have her just be the dotting mom in one scene and nothing else.

Stoic makes an appearance as a flashback, and that was the only scene that was touching in this whole film, outside of Toothless and Hiccup’s relationship.

The way Astrid’s character is treated made me mad. First she and Hiccup are forced in this really weird marriage subplot that comes out of nowhere and feels really odd to say about someone who sounds exactly the same now at age 20, as he did at age 13, like Hiccup. Then there are so many scenes where Valka is telling Astrid to go talk to Hiccup because he’ll listen to her, to make sure he’s alright, to put up with his dumb decisions and bad choices because… because why? Why can’t Astrid take the lead? Why is it Hiccup? She’s clearly more authoritative, respected and frankly just better suited to the role and the film makes no effort to disguise this or make an excuse as to why maybe Hiccup should lead other than he’s the main character. It’s kind of a bad message to send to young girl that they should just become completely subservient to the motivations and growth of their male love interest, is all I’m saying.

Then there’s Hiccup. Poor Hiccup. Though his character design changed, his character is still the same as the first film. He’s still incompetent, still insecure, still has no sway on the villagers. His character arc in the first film was realising he was worth something, and that the only way to be a leader and a Viking isn’t only what Stoic says. In the second film he learns to accept himself again, to become a leader. And now again here, he has to have Astrid tell him that he’s not a leader just because of Toothless, that he’s his own person. Like, it’s the third film, and he’s still going through the absolute same character arc. There’s no growth, no change, and it’s not fun to watch. It’s exhausting.

Conclusion:

I think this film is a pretty big letdown from the past 2 films. I don’t know what DreamWorks’ issue with third films in a series is, but this one falls into the same trap as Shrek and Kung-Fu Panda 3. It’s rushed, unoriginal and disappointing, which makes me very sad to say.

letterboxd

#httyd3 #httyd #how to train your dragon 3 review #how to train your dragon 3 #film review #moni talks

[thelifetimechannel]

ok i got a lil behind on updates here but is that a reference to the classic fancomic I Love You Too, Juicebox on page 1077

Not to my knowledge.

There’s actually a whole saga behind that update’s development. They usually shift a bit between draft and final product, but that one went through the wringer.

I’m not a very visual thinker most of the time, including when I’m writing, but I usually write narrative prose. When I’m writing for a comic, I *have* to think more visually and figure out where the characters are, what they’re doing, etc. And for some reason, I’ve found that imagining them interacting with props helps. For this log, I imagined juice boxes. Usually I cut the props out of the final version, but the idea of the non-mission kids peacefully sipping juice boxes while everyone around them is getting slaughtered was so funny I kept it.

Now, I hadn’t specified a location for the non-mission Beta kid updates, so Gill picked Prospit. I belatedly realized this might be a problem (as Rose says, Prospit’s gonna get interesting soon) but she decided we should keep it because it’s funnier that way. Rule of funny triumphs in most of our decisions. So that entire conversation got reworked to include that information. Tbh I think it made it stronger (I got to have Rose and Jade talk about their similar hangups rather than just mentioning it) but it did shift the tone enough that the juice boxes felt out of place, so I cut their mention in the log. However, Gill still thought the idea of Rose walking in incongruously with a juice box and ominous news was funny, so she left it in the art. Maybe she’s heard of this fancomic, but the juice box's presence is the fault of me and my limited spatial organization skills. 

#Anonymous #tlc mail #gill deciding something would be funny in the art has inspired a lot of last minute changes #such as when she decided to have dave on the ground for no reason in an earlier update #but then his pose is identical to his dead pose and he's covered in his swarm animal #so i guess you could bill it as foreshadowing