SCI-Spy #4 - Atop the Fourth Wall

Welcome to Atop the Fourth Wall, where bad comics burn. In this episode, Linkara looks at the nonsensical fourth issue of a comic where it's James Bond in space.
atopthefourthwa...
Originally uploaded September 30th, 2013.
ORIGINAL INFO: This comic will be shaken, stirred, and shredded for how dumb it is.
RUMINATIONS: All of SCI-Spy is pretty crappy, but I remember actually having quite a bit of fun with this one. Maybe it was because I had earlier thought this was the end of it, so I wouldn’t have to deal with this crap anymore, or maybe it was just the utter silliness of Starchild as Space Jesus/Superman/Batman/Whatever, but this one was actually one that I felt got a lot of good material out of. The other SCI-Spy issues have this problem of being a bit on the dull side, where even the somewhat cool or action-packed scenes turn to boredom if only because I care so little about the made-up future crap of the book. Unfortunately, this was not the end for SCI-Spy as two more issues followed, but at least it gave me more to talk about.

[@SpeedyEric1]

1:54 to 2:31- Suddenly, I'm already in the mood for a crossover of James Bond , Star Trek, Doctor Who, and Pokemon.

[@dnmstarsi]

Same. Hell, I can take this story and divide it up to the same length as this mini series.

[@cinemagraphic6324]

24:42 - *"The Future is completely BASS-ACKWARDS!!!"* -Linkara, bordering on Adamantium Rage, 2013.

[@potatobombkyle]

Of course Timothy Dalton would fight Daleks, he is Lord President of the Time Lords!

[@shadowking9739]

Also in addition to the infant-is-sent-through-space-away-from-dying-planet thing stolen from Superman, it's funny that Sebastian is called "Star Child" when Kal-El (Superman's real name) is Kryptonian for "Star Child"

[@beneil2]

funny I always called Superman Kal-El the last son of Krypton or Kal-El.

[@Gat720Dua]

Just recently a game called Xenoblade Chronicles X came out and it's premise was kinda similar (haven't completed the game yet) humanity escaping from a doom world cause of an alien war. They even go into extreme lengths to preserve humanity just to survive and the human population was already scarce. Key differences? They didn't made ugly mutants and didn't kept the alien invasion thing under the rug! The premise was revolved around survival and even uniting legit alien races, benefiting with each other, I can almost compare the story with Gurren Lagann. Oh and even though the protagonist was pretty much a mute, he/she was a more exciting main character than Jesus Bond.

[@wisewolftony]

Does the game have any relation to Xenogears. As I'm playing that game right now on my PS1 emulator. It has the Xeno part in common but it also has to do with some war from aliens who crashed landed on earth and the creatures somehow created humanity and their has been some long ass war going on ever since then. Plus the combat also has Mechs like Gurren Lagann like 50% of the combat is your party inside the mech suits which are called Gears and then the other half of combat is your party outside of their mechs just fighting normally.

[@doubleasworkshop1692]

@@wisewolftony incase you still don't know. it's a spiritual successor of Xenosaga and the Xenogears series. created by Monolithsoft. The Xenoblade series is one of the best jrpg franchises to come out in this decade. I highly recommend you play Xenoblade 1 and 2. Xenoblade 1 was for the wii. But the definitive edition is coming out on the switch this May. So if you wanna play it, invest in a Switch. You can play Xenoblade 1 and 2 on the switch. Xenoblade X is on the wii u. The gameplay for xenoblade x isn't necessarily the best, but it's not bad either. Highly recommend 1 and 2 though

[@wisewolftony]

@@doubleasworkshop1692 Yea hopefully this COVID19 shit ends sooner or later as I don't have the money right now to invest in any console. My GF has my PS4 with her at college so can't even play anything on that. I do want to by a switch for their exclusive games and I love pretty much any JRPG so I'm sure I would enjoy the Xenoblade games. Right now I have that I can play are emulators which isn't to bad as it's allowed me to go back and play a bunch of titles I was to young to play when I was a kid. So finally went back and beat games like Chrono Trigger, FF8 and FF9 tried FF7 before those two but for some odd reason I just couldn't get into it so only put about 14 hrs right now into it. Took a bit of a break from JRPG for the moment and just recently beat Castlevania Symphony of the Night and Portrait of Ruin for the second time just had watched the 3rd season of the Netflix series so had an urge to replay them. And right now I'm playing Wario Land 4 which I'm loving.

[@doubleasworkshop1692]

@@wisewolftony my first entry to xenoblade was through Xenoblade 2. Then i went and played xeno 1 on an emulator. I love these games. Like i unbelievably love them. The world in thos games are so huge, sprawling and breath taking. It's unreal. Purchasing Monolithsoft was one of the best decision Nintendo has ever made. They are unbelievably talented. They even worked on Breath of the Wild and Splatoon 2.

[@xcellentcreations3312]

Plus (spoliers) the humans were apparently already dead since the stuff that was meant to resurrect them was destroyed when the ship crashed down on the planet, with the implications that the planet was somehow making them live!

[@zoeybedenbaugh835]

7:46 I never put two and two together here, but you're vastly overestimating how many humans are needed. The closest humanity came to extinction was about 100,000 years ago when the population was dropped to 10k. We all descend from 10,000 individuals. Actually, this could also be used to give the gene editing a logical explanation. It started as simple gene mods to remove negative recessive traits and over time like many things it became a cosmetic thing.

[@joshmariotti2844]

8:48 Man, the new version of samus's zero suit is going to give the games an R rating on their own for sure.

[@kemboi69]

So here's a question that was never brought up: How did they know the aliens were hostile before they reached Earth? Mother bank says they had a month to prepare before the aliens came but she couldn't know what they planned to do unless they sent some kind of message or showed some sign of what their intentions for Earth were. It's obvious they are evil now but these characters can't have known anything about these aliens before they invaded unless they sent a message or did something that made them a threat. This feels like something Starchild should have asked. I know it's a minor detail and probably the writer trying to explain how this civilization advanced so fast but it feels like something that should have been explained more.

[@jfdrac]

Ehh they just watched enough 90s movies to know that no alien race sends an armada for peace purposes

[@arbiter11171]

An advanced race capable of perfectly modifying the genetic code yet motherbank didn't think to make an army of superhuman clones??!!!!! Think of the star wars clones but all of them are captain America!

[@legomaniac213]

Probably because having awesome troops would be kind of moot if you enemies have better guns and ships. That's why the war against the Covenant in Halo is going so bad for humanity.

[@MicrowavedAlastair5390]

That- that improv story- it was beautiful.

[@TheSilverAquila]

Linkara, can you draw up that sci-spy comic you described? I would read it in a heartbeat, it sounds AWESOME.

[@dnmstarsi]

I'd like to see someone else draw it up. That way, it'd be both a reality and something Linkara could review!

[@TheSilverAquila]

ooooh, even better :D

[@dnmstarsi]

TheSilverAquila indeed and if ever happens, we'll all see if s/he or they if theres's a team of writers along with the artist that helps captured what Linkara described in his version of SCI-Spy.

[@joshuahartman3132]

He's clearly SuperSpaceBatJesus, Jr.

[@richmondriddle3405]

The missing dialogue was in non-photo blue, so when they reproduced it for the trade, it accidentally got dropped, because their scanner couldn't see it ;)

[@allowableman2]

That’s hilarious

[@DanteSolablood]

"So Isis & Nile are the Human Spider?" After this & Part of Your World, this rates as my number one FAVOURITE episode of AT4W.

[@FNGLHR]

+Danté Solablood FEED HIM!

[@coldgindrinker5587]

+Danté Solablood We have a ISIS Megazord in Power Rangers.

[@DanteSolablood]

Cold Gin Drinker I wonder how the GaoIcarus got renamed the Isis Megazord in the US? Think someone at Saban is a Sci Spy fan?

[@coldgindrinker5587]

Danté Solablood Most likely.

[@jeremyneill227]

6:16 actually that's a a pretty good illustration of how someone would look post weightlifting, the muscles swell up due to the strain, its called a pump.

[@TVsTewi]

So star child is space batman, superman, and jesus? Yeah Bull crap.

[@wisewolftony]

Hearing you bring up Timothy Dalton just reminds me of the fact that he knows in a live action series based off of the comic book series Doom Patrol where he plays the Chief. Which originally wasn't him forget the original actor who played the Chief in the backdoor pilot for the series in Titans. But they recast the role between that episode of Titans and the filming of the actual series. Which was just a great move no offense to the first actor who played Chief but he doesn't compare at all with Timothy Dalton. Plus in the Titans episode with Doom Patrol the Chief was much to dark and almost seemed completely evil basically. Not that the Timothy Dalton version is a saint as he has done some very terrible things. Just that until you learn that he seems like a very good person just trying to help a group of outcasts.

[@isenokami7810]

Give Starchild some credit: he's far more likable than the "b@#$#y trampoline" from Doctor Who.

[@dandragon8595]

I want to read Linkaras version of this comic it would be a fun time

[@OnDavidsBrain]

Okay, how is it that Bioshock makes more sense then this boring as white toast comic? Do you hear that Doug Moench, people who can shoot bees out of their hands with magic blood extracted from corpses by little girls makes more sense then a person who mutates themselves to have a beak just because some crazy AI said that the coast was clear!

[@davidspring4003]

+1TrulyMad probably because the writers of Bioshock don't worship the pages Batman is printed on. Though what's even more surprising is Bioshock Infinite makes more sense than this comic.

[@FNGLHR]

+1TrulyMad Didn't I see you write this comment before on the original video back at the website? I'm not judging, it's just I swear someone else said the same thing you did.

[@OnDavidsBrain]

+FNGLHR Well yeah I did I just want to preserve my comments since TGWTG and Blip shut down. I also updated the comment a bit since I wrote the originals when they came out.

[@FNGLHR]

1TrulyMad Hmm, fair enough.

[@KidSnivy69]

Much was lost in the website shutdowns. Videos, creators, comments and memories.

[@TheMamaluigi300]

17:56 I don't know why, but the way you said "Space Jesus" was funny

[@KidSnivy69]

16:44 geeking out Linkara is best Linkara.

[@AmaranthOriginal]

+KidSnivy69 I give the edge to "driven to insanity" Linkara. I AM THE WALRUS! GOO GOO GAJOOB!

[@KidSnivy69]

Zachary Amaranth "I WILL WIN THIS STARING CONTEST!"

[@AmaranthOriginal]

KidSnivy69 Oh yeah, I loved that line so much.

[@islamroks11]

+Zachary Amaranth That's one of my favorite too.

[@guidokreeuseler9566]

I get it! It's a weird mash-up of Superbatmanhammer40k fan-fic in which superbatman is actually the Warhammer 40K universe's God-Emperor as detailed in the late 80's source book Realms of Chaos Slaves to Darkness. So Sebastian will eventually change his opinion on genetic engineering after leading the resistance of the remaining human population of Earth and create the Space Marines as future defence against other aliens. Then the whole 40k backstory happens and Sebastian's spirit becomes the Star Child as detailed in Slaves to Darkness, creating the order of the Sensei to guard the universe from the powers of Chaos... I'll call the 40K emperor "Sebastian" from now on.

[@jonahfalcon1970]

Hooray for Super-Bat-Spy!

[@ocallaghandesign]

Is anyone working on the Timothy Dalton/Captain Kirk/Daleks/Mewtwo thing...Can we get a Kickstarter for that?

[@lynngreen7978]

27:07 how can one simultaneously posit that, *and* have Space Jesus?

[@Tareltonlives]

I want to see the Linkara version of Sci-Spy

[@MuscleboySV]

Wow, that comic was so bad, it congealed into a rubber like material and bounced off the futon.

[@Ektalon]

SJ Vinton Looked like it was trying to go for Linkara's throat . . . the Revenge Of Sci-Spy!

[@Savagewolver]

Anyone else kinda wanting a full fanfiction of linkara’s starting rant?

[@jojothebard6687]

(1:54 - 2:33) Why isn't there a comic book about that?

[@dnmstarsi]

Because business sucks sometimes.

[@michaelawalton6579]

11:34 my answer construction workers who are never seen working

[@iamaunicorn1232]

I wanna see the Star Trek/Doctor Who/Pokemon crossover. I hope Team Rocket gets blasted off into real space. Wait, no, then they'd be gone forever...

[@islamroks11]

+Kaleigh Anderson The Heart of Gold might jump by and save them. It's nigh impossible so we KNOW it'll happen!

[@kimifw58]

Ensign Sue Must Die is a good crossover of the three, but there's no Team Rocket.

[@mitchfletcher2386]

Good. I can't stand them. It's about damn time they died.

[@dnmstarsi]

@@mitchfletcher2386 They'll be back. They're like herpes.

[@Reishadowen]

...okay, I actually wanna read that comic you just pitched for us Linkara. Captain Kirk teaming up with James Bond & Pokemon? F*ck yeah, I'd read that...

[@BrianS1981]

The book of Isiah wasn't talking about Jesus, the child mentioned in it was used as an illustration that the war then supposedly going on in Iudaea would last but a few months.

[@AmaranthOriginal]

I would think it'd be assumed he was Space Jesus just from the bit where they ripped off Superman's origin. But also, the original sin stuff which makes no sense here.

[@jfdrac]

Kirk and Rasillion....Now that is a Team up that would havebeen worthy for a Star Trek/Dr Who team up

[@rikacheer]

the dalek v. the enterprise and legendary pokemon. Can this be a thing? PLEASE?!?!?

[@lorddrayvon1426]

I should point out that the only gasses that turn the air brown are nitrogen oxides which can several damage your airways and lungs with just a roomful. Imagine what they'd do if that replaced oxygen so no, it's not harmless.

[@jackmonaghan8477]

It would have been better if the aliens were actually the Vogons trying to expand the hyperspace bypass.

[@lukecarlson4710]

Babylon Five reference. I approve.

[@somethingwickedthiswaycome9943]

ever write yourself into a corner? use dialga (apply generously)

[@andreworders7305]

Starchild doesn’t know what “Playing God” means

[@Merit2397]

I wonder if the Sci-Spy robo bugs or whatever inspired Lewis to create his cybermats. If so, at least that's one good thing to come out of this bland forgettable mess.

[@jodonovan4341]

You could say Superman is a sort of space Jesus

[@sheepheadsez2229]

"The name is Jesus... Space Jesus."

[@SasukeUchiha-ix2yk]

By the way Linkara, how do you make your "Cybermats" if i'm saying that right, props?

[@RabblesTheBinx]

@@Delightfully_Bitchy nope, Cybermats. It's a Doctor Who thing.

[@philiphockenbury6563]

Xenos? Time to declare exteminatus on these heretics.

[@New3DSLuigi364]

@20:31-20:34 Patton: YOU MAGIFICENT B@$7@RD, I read your BOOK!

[@joshuahartman3132]

I would totally read sci-spy as you dedcribed.

[@counterstructure4908]

10:00 Blind Al?

[@CX462]

@22:59 well if Gazorpazorp is a planet in the arcturus sector, then yes, i imagine robots would give birth in this society

[@leonardomaranhao2861]

I still don t get why Linkara does a Sean Conrey accent for Star Child since the character looks like Timothy Dalton or Pierce Brosnan.

[@jfdrac]

Because its the easiest and most esasily recognizable of the Bonds to mimic.....I mean does anybody even do a Dalton Impersonation lol

[@joshuahartman3132]

That's not a giant cherub statue- it's just the Statue of Loberty's baby from The Angels Take Manhattan. Don't Blink, or it'll trap tou in this comic for all eternity and live off your misery!

[@GrandArchPriestOfTheAlgorithm]

3:36 GRIFFITH!!! (no really, whenever I hear that song I think Berserk)

[@andreworders7305]

Quite a lot of fiction has no idea what a Spy is

[@hitomisalazar4073]

That... is a very frustrating thing in Science Fiction for me when it pops up. The whole "Emergency craft is better than the actual ship it was a lifeboat for". Like... no. Why? Why would you design like that? What possible reason would you not make the more effective ship the main ship and not waste the materials that get lost when the "main ship" is blown up so you can ditch to the superior small one? Why? Why do writers keep doing that? It's not even just a Doug Moench thing. So many do that.

[@andreworders7305]

So he’s James Bond, Batman, Superman, AND Jesus!?

[@dakotadoyle7573]

I care about the science of the wormhole

[@Chaosmage42]

so when is the first issue of your epic cross over of james bond star trek doctor who and pokemon going to be in print or is this a web comic

[@alyssaedwards6938]

love ur sibermats

[@andreworders7305]

Star Lord is also space Jesus

[@andreworders7305]

Lots of Youngblood’s disease

[@LittlePaul1002]

Where can I find the scene where the song "Tommorrow Never Dies" plays?

[@morganyoung3557]

The two leads are so boring and unlikeable that the thought of them possibly dying also fills me with glee.

[@averagegamecritic]

This doesn't even pass as "Genetic experiences pass on through genes" as those are certain feelings mostly. Sure today we can encode some things in DNA sort of, but not this!

[@andreworders7305]

Culled? Did they mean pulled?

[@andreworders7305]

14:44 well, they’re referencing the Bible where original sin IS passed on to everyone until Jesus made up baptism

[@sirderpington7704]

[@AT4W]

...Why would you assume that?

[@sirderpington7704]

hum...hold on...crap. sorry I was watching multiple vids and I think I commented on the wrong one. sorry will delete. owo b

[@EnhanceRaptor]

Marcus Cole was a better Space Jesus.

[@DianaGohan]

no offense but the whole "I thought there were only 4 issues" isn't really that good an excuse as well... in your first review of Sci Spy you saw it's part of a 6 issue story. And granted I know you don't like your earlier material but I always thought you'd try and go back over stories where you go months upon months withour reviewing issues to ensure you got the proper plot points in order and aren't repeating jokes already made which meant watching older material.

[@clresseg]

Good Southland Tales reference. That movie is so so so terrible. SO TERRIBLE.