DR. BELCH
02-16-2002, 02:29 PM
Pokémon#433: The Stolen Stones!
Ash and company, on their way to Olivine City, meet Ramona and her kid brother, who train Arcanines. It seems these dogs are the size of small horses and can be ridden, if one knows how. Ash attempts it, and performs admirably for a while, until he gets bucked when his dog jumps a small lake.
The two are delivering a bag of sunstones to a competition in the next town--at least until Team Rocket, who appear in an actual rocket ("It's faster than the balloon, but the gas mileage stinks," admits Meowth) this time, appear and swipe the stones.
Now here's where it gets interesting. Team Rocket appears to have learned strategy. They implement a full-scale divide-and-conquer attack. They buy time to escape by means of tricking the Arcanines, running at top speed, to fall into a pit (demonstrating some knowledge of physics). Then the Rockets split up. Brock, Misty, and Ramona chase after James, who--recalling his days with the biker gang--escapes on unicycle, leading them into a second pit. Ash and Ramona's brother chase Jessy, who leads them to a battle field in a clearing. She loses, and seems ready to give up, even returning the stolen stones--Ash, and likely not for the last time in his life, gets suckered in for a pretty face with a sob story--and winds up in another pit, with a bag of dummy rocks. To make matters worse, Jessy de-Pikachus the boy effeciently, then escapes by unicycle (meets back up with Meowth and James. Add to this his companion, whose arm may be broken, and it seems the Rockets have finally won.
The two teams manage to escape from their holes and track down Team Rocket, who are celebrating a early victory with an expensive picnic. James is noticeably worried about the expense, but Jessy assures him once they set the rocks and the rat, they'll ahve more than enough to pay their debts and live comfortably.
However, Team Twerp shows up, makes short work of Team Rocket when they try to escape in their balloon (they breathe fire on it, and it goes up really quickly--what is that thing made of, anyway? Seems it's always burning or ripping or exploding much too easily), and gets back Pikachu. With his companion's arm useless (although he does seem to be lifting his arm pretty well despite his injury) Ash has to ride the big dog, and learns to be one with the Arcanine (complete with a whole ghostly Ash-face superimposed over Arcanine's). Brilliant though the plan was, it couldn't compete with Ash and the sheer brutal effectiveness of forming a mind-meld with a giant man's best friend an an electrifed mouse who doesn't like getting stuck in a cage.
The stones get returned, Brock attempts to ditch the kids and stay on with Ramona (but Misty, perhaps jealous, won't have it!), and the stones get delviered after all.
Standard plotline, but seeing Jessy ride a unicycle is worth tuning in. The great leg strength she gets from that has...well...a variety of applications, I'd imagine. :o
Static Shock#17: Static Shaq
Static is in the middle of mopping up Kangor and Ferret (from "Big Leagues"), along with this new goon who looks like a cross between Ben Grimm and a rhinocerous, when his beeper goes off. Probably realizing, again, why guys like Batman and Superman are single and live alone, he returns home to see what the emergency is about.
It seems Virgil's father--contrivedly, I suppose--knows Shaquille O'Neill from way back when he was a street kid (which must make Mr. Hawkins pretty old) shooting hoops at the center. Shaq's got this little mad-dog PR person who is constantly yapping into her headset, booking him for engagements, and whisking him off to one thing or another. Thankfully she didn't turn out, as I feared when I saw her, to be a Bang Baby--she was obnoxious enough as a normal woman. :rolleyes:
Shaq invites Virgil, Richie, Mr. Hawkins, and Sharon to a small, intimate party (which means a thousand or so people, thanks to that little terrier of a woman). Unfortunately Ferret shows up sniffing around. It seems he had gotten Static's scent earlier off a rag he'd left, and is being used as a bloodhound. After making a less-than-inconspicuous nuisance of himself sniffing all the partygoers, he identifies Virgil as Static. (This is why Bruce Wayne never dates a woman who owns a dog.) While Virgil distracts the nosey mutant by throwing food in his face, Kangor and the big goon come barelling in from the kitchen and trash the hotel ballroom. The crowd is evacuated. Ferret is arrested, but his buddies--who had escaped--break him out of a prison transport truck. Meantime, Virgil tries to get some alone time with Shaq, and they arrange to shoot hoops the next morning, if Shaq has time.
The next day Virgil and Shaq discuss double lives while shooting hoops at the old rec center (Virgil thinks it ideal, being abandoned, but the public still doesn't leave the big guy alone). It seems being a famous basketball star isn't that different from being a hero--everyone wants a piece of you and you risk losing yourself. Of course, seldom on the court does Shaq have to stare down a pack of uglies like Ferret and his associates (well, maybe Rodman). Speaking of which, the three mutie stooges show up just then, and force Shaq and Virgil to retreat into the building.
Shaq demands to know what's going on and why he's being chased by those freaks, and Virgil very indirectly explains that he too nows how it feels to be two people--the closest he's come to revealing his secret. Shaq, seeming to understand, distracts the goons while Virgil disappears and "Static" shows up. Together they slam-dunk the muties.
Basically Shaq's acting has gone from wooden to merely sedate. He delivers all his lines in the same bored-sounding monotone, and when the script calls for emotion, he sounds like he's got something caught in his throat when he tries to raise his voice. Though I did like the bit about stepping outside oneself when put under pressure--that may have been his most heartfelt line. Though since Steel it's a bit hard to take him seriously as a superhero, even though the media jackals made it sound like he took out the mutants at the party singlehanded and his agent books him on a schedule that'd tax even Superman's prowess.
I notice Shaq was animated rather lighter than he really is...and with a beard, no less. Plus he seems on the chunky side. "I'm just your average seven-foot guy."
Ash and company, on their way to Olivine City, meet Ramona and her kid brother, who train Arcanines. It seems these dogs are the size of small horses and can be ridden, if one knows how. Ash attempts it, and performs admirably for a while, until he gets bucked when his dog jumps a small lake.
The two are delivering a bag of sunstones to a competition in the next town--at least until Team Rocket, who appear in an actual rocket ("It's faster than the balloon, but the gas mileage stinks," admits Meowth) this time, appear and swipe the stones.
Now here's where it gets interesting. Team Rocket appears to have learned strategy. They implement a full-scale divide-and-conquer attack. They buy time to escape by means of tricking the Arcanines, running at top speed, to fall into a pit (demonstrating some knowledge of physics). Then the Rockets split up. Brock, Misty, and Ramona chase after James, who--recalling his days with the biker gang--escapes on unicycle, leading them into a second pit. Ash and Ramona's brother chase Jessy, who leads them to a battle field in a clearing. She loses, and seems ready to give up, even returning the stolen stones--Ash, and likely not for the last time in his life, gets suckered in for a pretty face with a sob story--and winds up in another pit, with a bag of dummy rocks. To make matters worse, Jessy de-Pikachus the boy effeciently, then escapes by unicycle (meets back up with Meowth and James. Add to this his companion, whose arm may be broken, and it seems the Rockets have finally won.
The two teams manage to escape from their holes and track down Team Rocket, who are celebrating a early victory with an expensive picnic. James is noticeably worried about the expense, but Jessy assures him once they set the rocks and the rat, they'll ahve more than enough to pay their debts and live comfortably.
However, Team Twerp shows up, makes short work of Team Rocket when they try to escape in their balloon (they breathe fire on it, and it goes up really quickly--what is that thing made of, anyway? Seems it's always burning or ripping or exploding much too easily), and gets back Pikachu. With his companion's arm useless (although he does seem to be lifting his arm pretty well despite his injury) Ash has to ride the big dog, and learns to be one with the Arcanine (complete with a whole ghostly Ash-face superimposed over Arcanine's). Brilliant though the plan was, it couldn't compete with Ash and the sheer brutal effectiveness of forming a mind-meld with a giant man's best friend an an electrifed mouse who doesn't like getting stuck in a cage.
The stones get returned, Brock attempts to ditch the kids and stay on with Ramona (but Misty, perhaps jealous, won't have it!), and the stones get delviered after all.
Standard plotline, but seeing Jessy ride a unicycle is worth tuning in. The great leg strength she gets from that has...well...a variety of applications, I'd imagine. :o
Static Shock#17: Static Shaq
Static is in the middle of mopping up Kangor and Ferret (from "Big Leagues"), along with this new goon who looks like a cross between Ben Grimm and a rhinocerous, when his beeper goes off. Probably realizing, again, why guys like Batman and Superman are single and live alone, he returns home to see what the emergency is about.
It seems Virgil's father--contrivedly, I suppose--knows Shaquille O'Neill from way back when he was a street kid (which must make Mr. Hawkins pretty old) shooting hoops at the center. Shaq's got this little mad-dog PR person who is constantly yapping into her headset, booking him for engagements, and whisking him off to one thing or another. Thankfully she didn't turn out, as I feared when I saw her, to be a Bang Baby--she was obnoxious enough as a normal woman. :rolleyes:
Shaq invites Virgil, Richie, Mr. Hawkins, and Sharon to a small, intimate party (which means a thousand or so people, thanks to that little terrier of a woman). Unfortunately Ferret shows up sniffing around. It seems he had gotten Static's scent earlier off a rag he'd left, and is being used as a bloodhound. After making a less-than-inconspicuous nuisance of himself sniffing all the partygoers, he identifies Virgil as Static. (This is why Bruce Wayne never dates a woman who owns a dog.) While Virgil distracts the nosey mutant by throwing food in his face, Kangor and the big goon come barelling in from the kitchen and trash the hotel ballroom. The crowd is evacuated. Ferret is arrested, but his buddies--who had escaped--break him out of a prison transport truck. Meantime, Virgil tries to get some alone time with Shaq, and they arrange to shoot hoops the next morning, if Shaq has time.
The next day Virgil and Shaq discuss double lives while shooting hoops at the old rec center (Virgil thinks it ideal, being abandoned, but the public still doesn't leave the big guy alone). It seems being a famous basketball star isn't that different from being a hero--everyone wants a piece of you and you risk losing yourself. Of course, seldom on the court does Shaq have to stare down a pack of uglies like Ferret and his associates (well, maybe Rodman). Speaking of which, the three mutie stooges show up just then, and force Shaq and Virgil to retreat into the building.
Shaq demands to know what's going on and why he's being chased by those freaks, and Virgil very indirectly explains that he too nows how it feels to be two people--the closest he's come to revealing his secret. Shaq, seeming to understand, distracts the goons while Virgil disappears and "Static" shows up. Together they slam-dunk the muties.
Basically Shaq's acting has gone from wooden to merely sedate. He delivers all his lines in the same bored-sounding monotone, and when the script calls for emotion, he sounds like he's got something caught in his throat when he tries to raise his voice. Though I did like the bit about stepping outside oneself when put under pressure--that may have been his most heartfelt line. Though since Steel it's a bit hard to take him seriously as a superhero, even though the media jackals made it sound like he took out the mutants at the party singlehanded and his agent books him on a schedule that'd tax even Superman's prowess.
I notice Shaq was animated rather lighter than he really is...and with a beard, no less. Plus he seems on the chunky side. "I'm just your average seven-foot guy."