I actually think it's beter for him not to give a score on the last two issues. To me it's better to evaluate the whole mini-series first before passing judgement instead of saying that "issue A was good, but issue B was bad" for example.
I personally think that Dan should have done this step in his past reviews of mini series or four parters.
Such a poor, confused, old man...
He does some a bit confused. In this case "United Federation" is not a Star Trek refrence, but to Central City (home of the President Of The United Federation). It's their name for human government and has been since at least Shadow the Hedgehog game, if not before. Not positive that Archie has used the term earlier, but it isn't a ginormous leap of canon or anything Ian made up on the spot.
The only other disagreement I have with this review is his saying Rote doesn't look hurt (Walrus Man is on a strecther, wearing a neck brace. To me that comes across a good visual cue of guy-in-pain)
^ Also, in the previous issue he was leaning on Amy for support and there were lil pain-owie stars to show something was wrong there.
I got a laugh out of Dan's "Les Miserables/Do you hear the people sing" reference, because I made the same one in the #178 thread. I am glad that Dan doesn't seem mad about Sonic and Tails fight yet, since it was Sonic's actions towards Tails in "Line of Secession" that pushed him to take a break from reviewing. He does bring up some interesting points in his review, that maybe the Prowder's have not stated a good altertive to monrachy, telling more about there plans, except Amadeus mentioning the FF's council. It is also interesting Dan's thoughts on how he sees the monarchy in Sonic. At first I had the same romanic/fantasy view of the morarchy in Sonic, but my views have changed since Max got back and made questionable and even tyrancial decisions, like ordering the dismanting of the roboians and his treatment of Sally.
Dan's review of #179:
www.andrews.edu/~drazen/S179.txt
"Little Sister (Sally) then rips into Big Brother and Amadeus for basically acting like guys, and reminds them that she's been in the leadership business ever since the SatAM cartoon premiered in 1993. Underneath her retro-red hairdo, it looks like she's got the most level head in the castle." 
I completly agree!
"Given the Tails back story up until now, I honestly can't think of any other way that Ian could have resolved the Sonic-Tails conflict. Sonic couldn't very well have beat the kid into submission. And 11-year-olds can be full of themselves as they start ramping up toward adolescence. It makes me wish that Ken had never written "Line of Succession" which more or less created the fault line between Sonic and Tails. But Ian played the cards he was
dealt as best he could." I feel the same way. I mean, in this issue, Ian is trying to tie up loose ends from two issues (155-156) that no one really likes with the exeption of Fry's artwork.
I also agree with what he had to say about how Sally looked in this issue. I just hope Tracy will get better on this problem. (I love the rest of artwork though, especially Nicole's face when she bourght in Sally! )
Is it just a silly coincidence that everything that he wants the comic to be is everything I DON'T want the comic to be?
I do agree with Dan, I don't see how Ian could have handled the rift between Sonic and Tails any better, and one of my problems with Tracy's artwork is that he draws Sally inconsistantly. Another thing that I agree with Dan on is I wish the comic would work on making the relationships between family and friends better. They don't have to focus on it all the time, but it would nice if the comic would do better on this, because the special connections between Sonic and his family and friends is what drew me to Sonic. In spite of its flaws, "House of Cards" has probably been my favorite two part story in years though.
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"You said your peace [the phrase is really "to say your piece," but never mind] back in the detention center," Elias tells Amadeus. Translation: "Now it's MY turn to bore the readers with a huge amount of verbiage." But since that's a violation of the Action And More Action Doctrine, the boys are soon threatening each other with sharp, pointy things.
I don't see how a guy what tosses out words like "trifecta" and "shayna punim" can complain that anyone talks too much. *eyeroll*
The rest is pretty much a matter of taste. I like the artwork and the Data Files (they're useful for fan projects: model-building, RPing, fanfic and some such). But I agree that Uncle Chuck could be featured more.
"Is it just a silly coincidence that everything that he wants the comic to be is everything I DON'T want the comic to be?"
I thought it was just me. Frankly, I don't think much of Dans reviews. He wants the Sonic books to be like Shakespeare instead of the fun kids comics that they are.
It's like a parent who wants thier child to act like a mature adult instead of just being a child.
I appreciate the fact that Dan Drazen is so highly literate and is willing to take on the belief that Sonic is capable of being high quality story telling. My favorite parts of his reviews are actually the parts where something really moves him or something really pleases him.
The downside is that unfortunately he's going to be disappointed a good deal of the time. Not only because of editorial or bussiness decisions, or target demographics; but due to the flawed nature of the monthly comic. Even if the writer's can't think of anything really awesome for Sonic to do they *have* to have a new issue out every month. They can't stop and wait two years. Staff changes? Realize your story sucks 2 isuses into a 4 parter? Tough. One issue every month or you risk running out bussiness.
He whines about Julie-Su not getting to say "love" or "dead", and then spends forever complaining about the coloring in a flashback?
I don't even know why I read these anymore.
Masochism?
~Tobe
Nah, that's probobly not it. 
He thinks there's too much exposition? Wait til he gets 182...haha.
He spends five paragraphs on a Latin mis-translation in which most people wouldn't even catch on, let alone care about. It wasn't even a important factor of the story.
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He thinks there's too much exposition? Wait til he gets 182...haha.
HA! He thinks there's too much exposition? He should read his OWN reviews!
You know ... I actually kind of liked the colors in the backstory. It seemed appropriate that they were so dark, seeing as practically the whole thing took place underground, and what didn't take place underground was so "depressing" that you'd kind of expect it to be dark anyway. (Oh yeah, and it was a flashback, so I guess it was either this or sepia tones.)
I only disliked the panel where Knuckles grabbed ahold of the Master Emerald and had that fugly black stuff all over him (was that supposed to indicate that the M.E. was hexed?); it looked like somebody'd dumped oil on him and it was clumping in his fur. And maybe that panel at the top of of the page too, where I guess Knuckles is finally getting mad about all the echidnas who died on his watch. I didn't get that he was enraged until I saw the vein in his forehead; at first I just thought he was getting an idea, in melodramatic comic book fashion.
The only thing I really had a problem with in the main story was Lara-Le in those two panels in "Echidnaopolis" village; I seriously wouldn't have been able to tell that was her if it hadn't been for the presence of Wynmacher and Mace. I have NEVER seen her hair look so bad, and this is even counting the long, frizzy 'do she had in RtAI (sorry Dubs, but I really hated that). And then, like so many other minor characters, all three of them had the wrong eye color. *sigh*
But overall, the art wasn't half-bad, and it really shone in places, especially in the backstory. I love Steve Butler's work.
The only panel I disliked in the back story was the first panel, where Enerjak is facing Mobotropolis. The buildings are colored STEEL. This beautiful yellow stone city looked like an industrial factory! What the heck was the colorist thinking?
Why do you people bother to post/ read his reviews if they anger you so much?
Also: stop insulting him about his age. That's against board rules on multiple levels, and extremely dumb and crass.
I missed that before, Vec. Why is this OTHER Toby smearing my good name?
If you don't like Drazen, fine. But, you don't hear me spouting my opinions about him on here and if I can keep my big mouth shut, so can everyone else. :p
~Tobe
And the award for Dan's Monthly Misinterpret-Something-And-Then-Criticise-The-Hell-Out-Of-It goes to:
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I'm sorry, but if Dr. Fin had come to me with
a proposal to absorb rampant Chaos energy into the clothes one is wearing I'd have him transferred out of R&D and into
Accounting for a while.
After reading the review of the Dr. Fin back story, I have came to on conclusion.
Dr. Finitevus is Danny Phantom (only evil... and shorter)
I agree with Drazen with Julie-Su to an extent. For someone who was leading the "Save my boyfriend" campaign, who be a little bit conflicted with Knuckles trying to hurt(?) her.
The only thing I don't agree (by what I'm getting from reading what Dan has typed) is that she should be an emtionial clustermess.
It's not a HUGE plothole that I will loose sleep over, but agree to an extent.
"I missed that before, Vec. Why is this OTHER Toby smearing my good name?"
Cuz he ran out of peanut butter.
Why does he say "it looks like the Zone of Silence has been renamed once more"? Has he forgotten that the Twilight Zone is a completely different place?
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and that the Zone of Silence has been renamed
once more
Yeah, it couldn't possibly be that the reviewer has two completely separate locations confused.
Seriously, why does he bother? He obviously doesn't care one way or the other about what happens to the characters beyond the events of his years-old fanfiction. All this results in is readers getting mislead by inaccurate, bland "reviews" from someone who isn't putting in any effort beyond reusing whatever "cute" catchphrases and names he himself coined.
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Dr. Finitevus is Danny Phantom (only evil... and shorter)
*laughs and falls* Seeing as Danny Phantom is my current obsession (of two years now), I was very amused by this comment. Incidentally, if you wanna be technical since Fini is eeeeeeeeebil, he can still be Vlad Masters, he got blown up, too...even if it was just the face.
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Why does he say "it looks like the Zone of Silence has been renamed once more"? Has he forgotten that the Twilight Zone is a completely different place?
Probably mistaken it. He's done this before from what I can remember...ironically (once thought Lien-Da was Remington's mother, though in his defense, he was guessing, not finalizing). As for the review itself, the one I do agree in whole is Drazen's attitude to the pointless battle in the main story since that's exactly how I felt.
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*laughs and falls* Seeing as Danny Phantom is my current obsession (of two years now), I was very amused by this comment. Incidentally, if you wanna be technical since Fini is eeeeeeeeebil, he can still be Vlad Masters, he got blown up, too...even if it was just the face.
YES! Vlad Masters. How could I forget about the amazing vocal stylings of Martin Mull?
But yeah. Vlad Masters works better than Danny Phamton, thanks NR373
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YES! Vlad Masters. How could I forget about the amazing vocal stylings of Martin Mull?
Agreed in whole. Rarely does a voice actor really "wow" me, but Martin Mull's portrayal of Vlad (especially the episode "Kindred Spirits"--particularly his villianous "NOOO!") is absolutely excellent and is one of the prime reasons why Vlad Masters/Plasmius is my favorite character...not to get off-subject. *skedaddles away*
"I'm rubbing your nose in this mess you've made, Daniel. Does it smell yummy?"
^my fav Vladdy quote. =] Danny Phantom rocks.
I never saw the Fin = Vlad/Danny parallel before you pointed it out! And it's so true! *thumbs up*
btw, how long until Dan Drazen's #184 review? I'll be interested to read that ^^;
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"I'm rubbing your nose in this mess you've made, Daniel. Does it smell yummy?"
Actually, being a supporter of the pairing Vlad/Danny, that quote--that episode alone--was filled with enough innuendos and subtext to fill a bus. It was a good day for me.
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^my fav Vladdy quote. =] Danny Phantom rocks.
I never saw the Fin = Vlad/Danny parallel before you pointed it out! And it's so true! *thumbs up*
Except Vlad's not insane...unless you count "Kindred Spirits" and the series finale, the latter I'm still disdained over since the entirety of Season Three composed of Vlad's personality at his worst as a result of horrid writing. Incidentally, my favorite Vlad quote can be read below as my current signature.
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btw, how long until Dan Drazen's #184 review? I'll be interested to read that ^^;
From what I noticed, Dan tends to release his reviews at the end of the month, so...*checks watch*...any minute now.
He calls Sonic Rush Adventure (and he does'nt even get THAT right) a lame game, when he's obviously never played it himself.
He seems to be going off a description of the gameplay from Wiki.
He could have just gone and looked at how people who played the game reacted, but...
Marine's not a red panda either, no matter what anyone thinks she looks like.
Also, Bean's line is a reversal of a common saying (well slap my *body part of choice* and call me Fanny), but I guess that was lost with Bean (being Bean) mixing it up and the letterer changing it to "snap" (wouldn't be the first time the script gets mistakenly copied into the final).
Oh well.
I have read Dan's Best and Worst of the year, here are some thoughts:
I thought the "House of Cards" story was the best of the year. True, there were flaws, there could have been more build up. However, it was fun to watch at times, and I was glad some reforms happened. I admit I didn't pay much attention to the story Dan choose as the best of the year though. Also, it is a shame that Dan is probably right that we will not see much of Tails' parents in the comic book anymore, they are interesting.
I just didn't really get that line from Bean in "House of Cards.
"
Lastly, I agree with Dan that is it going to take a lot for fans to give up on the comic, for all our complaining most fans are loyal.
I think that Dan was trying to hedge his bets on how most fans would take Sonic Rush Adventure. I do remember reading reviews that criticized the vehicle gameplay and the constant need to redo levels. It probably would have been better for him to remain neutral on the game itself since either he chooses he'd have the other half of fandom to disagree with the verdict.
Anyway, I'm surprised he didn't think more of the House of Cards two-parter. It was a Two-part story that had conflict that didn't come from an overzealous villian and reached into the mythology of the universe and actually did some world bulding. Seems to me that's the sort of thing that would be right up the alley but I guess the execution bothered him.
My favorite story arc from 2007 was the Eggman Three parter so I'm glad to see it get the "Best Story Arc" of the year award. I remember Dan was so shocked in his review for #175 that he wouldn't give it a rating until the arc ended. He seemed ready to tear it apart, too, if it was going to fall apart a la Endgame. Glad to see he could warm up to it.
Am I the only one who feels him plugging his fanfics that no one reads as distasteful?
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Then, too, this is a comic book, and the industry as a
whole is notorious for giving death a bad name. The latest
example is the recent announcement by Marvel Comics that
Captain America, who was killed off almost a year ago, will be
coming back to life, sorta kinda.Let me explain. Marvel killed off Captain America by
having his alter ego, Steve Rogers, assassinated in March,
2007. End of story? Hardly. In the beginning of February
2008, Marvel announced that they're planning to have the Cap's red-headed sidekick Bucky Barns thawed out of suspended animation a la Austin Powers ("Oh, behave!"and start
throwing the shield around. This sort of playing fast and
loose with storytelling is why I generally hate comic books,
or at least the kind of writing they rely upon.
First off, having someone else become Captain America isn't "bringing him back to life" because the original is still effing dead. Someone else taking up the mantle is something comics have been doing at least since the Barry Allen Flash in 1956.
Second, Bucky had been thawed out with issue 1 of the current series, so he's been around two or three years. And the Marvel press releases I saw didn't say he'd only just been thawed out this month/issue, so I dunno where Dan's getting this from.
Third, the comic built up to Bucky becoming the new Cap from #26 and everyone knew it was coming. Everyone. That's not "playing fast and loose with storytelling", that's regular old-fashioned "this leads into that" storytelling.
Fourth, when there's a #26 after the lead's death in #25, everyone knew it wasn't "end of story", surely.
Very, VERY bad example here, Dan.
I do not find it distasteful, and I myself have read them.
Somehow, I sincerely doubt Mr. Drazen has been reading Captain America.
Which is a shame. Ed Brubaker is one of the best comic book writers out there right now. I'm not a big fan of the Captain America mythos, but Brubaker has done fantastic work with the series.
Bucky's resurrection as "Winter Soldier" might have been a better analogy. Then again, that was perhaps the single best character resurrection handled in comics - also by Brubaker.
I doubt he's reading it too, but he could at least do a brief Google-recce to double-check his accuracy.
Accuracy? When the Twilight Zone and the Zone of Silence are the same place? When Marine's a red panda? When New Mobotropolis doesn't have a name and Elias is the biological father of Alexis? =P
