Today’s comic is very much an inside joke, so my apologies for those that it excludes. But the punchline is one stolen from my good friend from Joe Loves Crappy Movies. It’s his humorous take on Emperor Palpatine from the Star Wars prequels. It comes from this comic, when Anakin finally connects the dots and realizes that Senator Palpatine is actually the Sith Lord, he responds with his signature catchphrase.
Joe’s version of Emperor Palpatine proved to be very popular and became a reoccurring character. He appeared in four other comics.
Why reference something obscure to anyone who wasn’t already a die-hard fan of Joe Loves Crappy Movies?
Well, recognizing the comedic potential of including the line “My God, it’s full of Stars!” from 2001: A Space Odyssey in reference to Hubble IMAX, it made sense to have someone there to point out Tom was stating the obvious and/or being stupid. So why not Palpatine?
You could probably also say I included Palpatine because Joe doesn’t update Joe Loves Crappy Movies much anymore and, well, I miss seeing the character.
I’m not pointing fingers at Joe, mind you. I know he recently got a new job, moved into his first house and has been pouring a lot of effort into his two OTHER comics – Martriculated and Another Videogame Comic. He’s a busy guy. But (for obvious reasons) Joe Loves Crappy Movies speaks to me the most and I miss Joe’s take on what’s new in theaters.
It’s weird, you know – Since we ended The Triple Feature back in January, I really haven’t talked to Joe much at all. I’ve talked to Gordon over at Multiplex a few times through Twitter and Facebook. But that’s about it.
I suppose we could have all used a break from one another. But after 3 years of doing that show every week, it kind of came to an abrupt stop.
C2E2 is coming up in a couple of weeks and all three of us will be there. But in a break from our traditional con set up where we’re either situated next to each other or sharing tables on Artist Alley, the three of us will be spread around the convention floor. Joe and the rest of the Digital Pimp crew are in Artist Alley. Gordon and I will be somewhere in Webcomics Pavilion, but not set up next to each other. So if we see each other, it’ll be after the show. We won’t be hanging out throughout the day like we normally do.
I don’t know why I’m working this out in front of you like I am. Certainly it’s not very funny or entertaining. But I think we’ve come to the point where the three of us were kind of intertwined in terms of the branding of our three comics. Sometimes I’ll get e-mails asking about Gordon and Joe, so I assume there’s some interest there.
Sorry, I’m rambling a little bit.
Let me just say instead that I hope you enjoyed today’s comic and thanks to Joe Dunn for letting me take one of his characters around the block for a little walk.
Cheers and I’ll see you guys here on Friday!
MY GOD, It's full of stars!
Uh-Duuuuuuhhhhh!
Nice shout out! I laughed, at any rate.
I, for one, was glad to see Palpatine as the punchline. I have been missing JLCM too, and while the Crappy Movie Podcast is pretty neat, it doesn’t have a regular update schedule like The Triple feature.
“My God, It’s Full of Stars” is from 2010, not 2001.
I think I got the movies and the book mixed up.
Doesn’t Dave say that when he enters the monolith at the end of the book?
It’s been a while since I’ve read it and/or seen Kubrik’s version.
HAH…. nice shout out to Joe, I read Joe Loves Crappy Movies too!
Great cameo, and I enjoyed reading the blog post as well. I miss the golden days with you three!
“Golden days?” But it was only a few months ago!
That said, I’m sad that a lot of the contemporaries I came up with aren’t updating anymore or have moved on to other projects. Zach Miller, Mitch Clem, Joe Dunn… they’re mah boys!
At first I though that guy was Jack Nicholson and I figured that maybe he narrated the film (who would hire jack to narrate a film).
I laughed at the last clip of Palpatine waiting outside the theater door of “are we done yet” on the JLCM site.
Great comic and great homage!
I really do want to see this movie, but I can’t find it playing anywhere near here. Which is strange, since we’ve got a bundle of IMAXs in the area. Even The Tech Museum doesn’t have it, and this would be right up their alley. Just gotta keep looking I suppose.
@Relaxing Dragon, it’s extremely limited. Not a single IMAX theater in Texas received it. if you go to imax.com they list every theater that is showing Hubble.
I’ve really missed listening to you guys while I work. Please do a Top 10 show at the end of the year.
I’m positive “My God, it’s full of stars” is from 2001: A Space Odyssey, not 2010. Here’s a link to the Dr. David Bowman quotes page on IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0002896/quotes (which lists it). Dave says that just as he enters the monolith and the iconic lights play across his face as they do across Tom’s in the above comic. 😛 By 2010, Bowman had already entered the monolith and was actually a being of pure energy, which wasn’t really discussed, I believe, until 2061 or 3001.
Anyway, a fine comic, and I like the reference to Joe Loves Crappy Movies, though I admittedly read it less than I did Theater Hopper. 😛 I love references to 2001, though. Keep it up!
I could be wrong, but I think “My God, it’s full of stars” was a line added by Arthur Clark in the novelization of 2001, then used at the beginning of 2010. But it’s been forever since I’ve seen 2010, so someone should double-check me.
Huzzah! Palpatine’s been MIA for too long.
Nicely done, Tom.
… NERD! *punch*
Palpatine! Yes! Nice one. Joe would approve.
So I actually thought Palpatine was Dave Bowman in the comic. After traveling through the Monolith in 2001 Bowman grows old and dies before becoming space baby…:) So sadly inside joke zipped o’er my head…I hate that when that happens.
Is it sad that I got the JLCM reference, but not the 2001 reference?