Time to inflict upon TL another round (probably the last?) of my TLJ related comics.
Much has been said about how the not-Empire's actions make very little sense. Some of my past comics covered this topic already. But I had this idea kicking around for awhile to try and connect all their incompetencies as being the result of an extended labour dispute. The final punch line being Maz as the union buster. It amused me anyways.
As a bonus- my only real thought from the Episode IX's "No one is ever really gone"
Probably should be subtitled: "We're Back!"
After bringing back Maul, this really isn't too far-fetched a scenario...
DJ doesn't work on so many levels. I had so many different variations for DJ comics, but I settled on these three/four: First Viewing
On the first level (and first viewing), it made no sense that there was even a DJ to find in the prison. Given his skill-set, he could've left at any time. After emphasizing just how rare it is to find these codebreakers, they just randomly find another one, and he's in the same cell they are in, and he could've left at any time but hasn't? The first strip is what should've happened, the second is really the only good explanation: DJ read the script.
This is what we call a horrible plot contrivance. You could maybe get away with it at the beginning of a story to push unlikely characters together. But halfway through the story to instantly solve their problem with zero effort (escaping prison). That is ridiculously amateurish and bad writing.
DJ Makes No Sense on the Second Viewing
These two highlight the same idea. For a twist to be good, it needs to hold up on the second viewing when the informed viewer knows in advance what is going to happen. Do the decisions hold up now that we know what is REALLY going on? Were there clever clues buried in plain sight that we didn't realize? Or did the author cheat?
DJ is deliberately set up as a Han Solo type of character. Except that it turns out DJ is what it says on the box. He said he's only in it for the money... and he was. Han Solo was also a mercenary, but turned out that he is a rogue with a heart of gold. On repeated viewings, his motivations hold up- he definitely wants money and needs to be convinced to rescue Leia, but he has a soft-spot that becomes uncovered in the course of the film.
But DJ isn't a rogue with a heart of gold. Gotcha! Well, okay, so then he is actually a mercenary opportunist. We know his character motivation now. So then why in the world would he risk going into one of the most tightly guarded places in the galaxy? They don't have money and he's all about the money- so what is he doing on a mission for no money, where he could die if caught? High risk, no reward? How is that the actions of an amoral mercenary? "It's just business." He can walk out of Casino Planet's jails any time- sounds like a pretty low risk enterprise. Pretty much any con job makes more sense then hooking up with these two losers that don't know how to pay for parking.
This one probably doesn't work, unless you know both Princess Bride and TLJ.
It's a weird 'trick' that Luke pulls. Because it's really a non-trick: Kylo knows everything there is to know about the trick- he both knew that it was possible to do and what it cost (you will die.) Luke gives a sly look as though he knows something Kylo doesn't... but there's the trick. Luke doesn't! It kills Luke just like Kylo said. Kylo just miscalculated that someone would be dumb enough to kill themselves over a temporary light show. Luke drank his own poison, Kylo knew that Luke drank poison... and then Luke died of the poison. Neat trick.
So in the end, the Resistance is in shambles, down to a dozen people a freighter, Luke is dead (once a primary objective of the not-Empire), and Kylo is still in charge of the not-Empire. Pretty good trade-off, I'd say. It went surprisingly well.
(Unless, of course Luke joins Yoda and spends the rest of IX, zapping Hux and Holdo with force lightning from beyond the grave- because that's a thing now.)
Bonus Comic: As this is probably my last entry of Last Jedi comics on TL (though I still have a few ideas), I might as well put this one in for completion. This is the first comic I made- a year ago now. But I'm not super happy with its execution, though I like the idea of the joke.
edit- figured out a way to add Yavin. Not sure if the exploding panel still works the way I want it to, but at least visualizing Yavin last, is a little more visually coherent.
This is someone else's video edit that executed the joke better than I did (green lighting was a good touch):
It's an interesting idea, but probably better for someone else. I'm not very invested in the Marvel-verse. I've maybe seen 1/3 of them in theatres, and only half in total by streaming. Star Wars I love and so I find it frustrating to see mind boggling stupid plots and breaking characters to all be washed up failures. For me, Marvel is enjoyable in the moment, but forgettable.
I mean, there's a real obvious one that's compounded by what Thanos does at the beginning of Endgame- if you know anything about how populations grow, his plan makes absolutely no sense as he really only set them back a generation, at maximum two generations (40-50 years). But there's nothing mind boggling stupid that pulled me out of the viewing experience (so long as I don't think too hard about + Show Spoiler +
time travel
).
Marvel's biggest issue for me is that most of their films are forgettable. I don't really remember what happened in Infinity War except the end bit. Don't really remember what happened in Iron Man except the beginning bit with the terrorists and he fought one of his own suits or something. Winter Soldier was the best of the bunch. I don't even really remember much about Avengers except the end fight and there was some flying aircraft carrier. Basically, I'm the wrong person to mock Marvel.
I think next I want to analyze some films that I like and explain what really worked for me. That or talk about a concept called Critic Fiction.