Sorry for the lateness of this week’s comic. Originally the comic was delayed because I was clubbed upside the head by a killer cold that I picked up from Pearl. I guess being around a sick baby for 5 days will catch up with you eventually.
Pearl’s been a challenge for us lately because she keeps getting ear infections. Last week, she was waylaid by double ear infections and some kind of bronchial issue that resulted in her being prescribed a nebulizer. On top of that, we’re pretty sure she was cutting a few molars.
So she couldn’t hear, had trouble breathing and wasn’t eating. It was a blast. Add into the mix Henry’s fourth birthday and a trip to the germ farm known as Chuck E. Cheese and it all caught up with me.
Don’t get me wrong. I love my kids. Sometimes it’s just hard to keep up, y’know?
We are particularly motivated to get Pearl well because this Friday she is having tubes put in to deal with her chronic ear infections. So the gauntlet has been thrown down in front of me to be a helpful, engaged parent while simultaneously staying out of my daughter’s face out of fear we’ll get her sick before the operation. Stressful.
Anyway, I hope today’s double comic makes up for all the drama in my life. It actually would have gone up late last night, but the Theater Hopper server kept returning 500 errors. Such is life.
The path to this comic was kind of an interesting one that started on Twitter. Thinking about I Am Number Four, I came up with a comic rather quickly. Specifically, I intended to make some kind of poop joke or allude to how childish making a “number two” reference would be – similar to what Cami does in the second panel here. “Number Four,” “number two…” It writes itself.
Anyway, I alluded to my punchline on Twitter and people pretty much predicted right away what I was planning on doing. What unfolded was a unique bit of crowdsourcing that transformed today’s comic into the monster you see today.
Originally, my webcomic buddy Brandon J. Carr chimed in with the Riker reference from Star Trek: The Next Generation. He quickly followed that up with a Johnny Number Five reference from Short Circuit.
A little latter, Phil Hofer – otherwise known as Comicpress genius Frumph – tossed out the idea to include 9 from the movie 9. The rest, as they say, is history.
I’ll give myself a little credit, though. The “Disassemble?” punchline – that was all me.
Yeah, so what if other people practically wrote 90% of the comic?! THAT PUNCHLINE IS MINE, BABY!
Anyway, credit where credit is due. Thanks to Brandon and Phil for the assist. It was a lot of fun going back and forth with them last Friday on Twitter. I don’t work in a big fancy studio with a bunch of creative types that allows me to brainstorm genius ideas. Twitter is the next best thing.
As for I Am Number Four… well, I guess you can discern from the comic that I really have nothing important to say about it. Sometimes it’s just more fun to go out on a tangent. But if YOU saw the movie this weekend, please feel free to leave your comments below!
Thanks again for your patience and understanding regarding the tardiness of the comic. Be sure to check the Bonus Materials blog during the week for more movie-related updates!
You know what's great about I Am Number Four?
STOP RIGHT THERE.
If this is some setup for a lame, scatological "number two" reference, I'm leaving right now.
What if he makes a refernce to "Number One?"
Or Number Five?
I'M ALIVE!
Or what about Number Nine?
Number Nine?
The protagonist of Tim Burton's and Timur Bekmambetov's animated feature 9. Earnestly voiced by Elijah Wood, his is the Hero's Quest that...
...and she's leaving.
Disassemble?
Wait…is Johnny 5 asking if he should kill Cami in the last panel?
Kind of.
Originally I was going to have Johnny 5’s reaction be much more harsh and have him say something dismissively cruel like “Bitch.”
But that’s not how I think of Cami and I certainly don’t want that reflected in the comic. “Dissassemble?” was a little more benign and character-appropriate.
Saw I Am Number Four at a free screening last week, and felt like asking for my money back! Don’t believe the trailers, what (admittedly quite good) action there is in this film is confined to it’s last 20 minutes. The rest of it is like an overlong episode of that late-90’s XFiles-For-Kids tv show Roswell, although I have read some reviews comparing it to Smallville.
With Twilight set to end with the next film, it looks like studios are throwing mud at the wall and waiting to see what sticks. The ending, indeed the entire premise, is completely set up for a franchise, but there really is nothing here to recommend further entries.
As an unsuccessful novelist, the fact that I Am Number Four got a film deal before it even came out makes me want to cry.
The book was okay, but it only came out in August!
Also it annoys me that it’s about aliens who know magic. No, not sufficiently advanced technology – MAGIC.
Well done, my friend. Awesome comic. Love the Johnny 5 line: “Disassemble”. Great!
Well, it was your punchline that made me lose some of my drink by way of my nose, so good job!
That right there is every comedic writer’s dream.
You just made my day. Thank you!
This was great! I like seeing you play around with this much room!
Oh man, that was great, my favorite one I’ve seen in a while. Disassemble-good stuff.
I haven’t seen I Am Number Four and I doubt that I will, especially after reading a few synopsese (synopsi?) on line. It sounds like a spin on that old t.v. show, The Powers of Matthew Star. Yes, I know. I am old with obscure knowledge! Fear me! 😛
I enjoyed it – it wasn’t great, but was still interesting. From what I can see, changes from the book (that is, shortening the story from months or more to days) was poor, but ultimately, left me wanting to see the next one.
Not sure why they chose to make the three different species of aliens all die in the same strange manner (which doesn’t happen in the books, as best as I can tell). What is it with aliens dying and destroying all they hold/wear, too? (V?)
First thing I thought of when I finished reading:
NO DISASSEMBLE!!!!!!!!!!
I recently rewatched Short Circuit and I loved it.
One of your best yet. I LOVE it. Not to say I’ve ever really disliked any, but this one definitely stands out. Thanks for doing this, makes my Mondays (or Tuesdays!) that much better! Keep it up!
I love how Cami’s not weirded out by the enterprise’s first officer, a robot that thinks its alive, and that Tom is holding some kind of possessed voodoo doll. No it’s Tom’s explanation of 9 that drives her away.
Also I love the alternate font for johnny number 5’s speech. I can hear him saying “disassemble?”
After 8 and a half years, this nonsense has become EXTREMELY commonplace for Cami! 😉
Hey, with a couple more panels and a willingness to go for TV references, you could have added Patrick McGoohan as Number Six….
It would have been worth it just to use the word “McGoohan!”
Los locos kick your ass into OUTER SPACEEEEE!
I was actually looking for Battlestar Galactica references once I saw where this was going, but I guess this is a movie comic. Also, the “disassemble” line made me burst out laughing and earned me some very strange looks from my coworkers. Well played, sir.
Classic! I love that Riker made an appearance.
If I could co-opt Riker the way Joe Loves Crappy Movies has co-opted Captain Picard, I think that would be pretty funny.
You should totally hengage in that.
Dissasemble was a most appropriate word
it could also be read as “should we all go our separate ways now?” since the little group of number references is no longer holding interest.
it is a perfect word choice.
Thank you, Tom, you took me right back to my childhood with this comic. 😉
Official RottenTomatoes.com Reviewers gave “I Am Number Four” 30%, while the audience gave it 69%. That’s saying something. This movie knows its audience… vacuous, fantasy-leaning older teens and young adults and should be judged by THOSE expectations. This isn’t Dark Knight, after all. Anyway I went into the theatre with low expectations, but was surprisingly HIGHLY entertained! I suspect that the novel is more detailed and fills in more backstory, because the movie version has just about as many gaping plot holes as it does high-octane action sequences. Again, this did not prevent me from suspending my disbelief and thoroughly getting in the spirit of things. There were pretty good special effects. Extraordinary teen – and future hunk – John Smith (Pettyfer) is a “fugitive” on the run from ruthless enemies sent to destroy him. Changing his identity, moving from town to town with his guardian Henri (Olyphant), John is always the new kid with no ties to his past. In the small Ohio town he now calls home, John encounters unexpected, life-changing events-his first love (Agron), powerful new abilities and a connection to the others who share his incredible destiny. Thought this might all sound a bit cliche, the story kept me on my toes. The peformances were acceptable (again, I had low expectations), and the comedy relief in the form of Sam (Callan McAuliffe) kept me engaged for the latter half of the movie. Bottom line: if you’re bored, there are worse ways to spend $10. I personally plan to see the sequel. Ironically, of course.