8-Bit Theater Epiclogue Complete

[Kris Strife]

http://www.nuklearpower.com/8-bit-theater/

Well, title says it all. Any comments?

[Cristo Meyers]

Didn't do much for me, really. A few lame jokes, a few references to other FF games, and a sub-standard joke callback.

But at least now I don't have to remember to check the site every few weeks.

[Morty]

Pretty okay if not exceptionally funny, I'd say. Fighter and Black Mage are back to square one.

[Gez]

Red Mage is the only member of the cast with a nose! (A few extras in the inn have noses as well. Nobody else, though.)

[Kris Strife]

But at least now I don't have to remember to check the site every few weeks.

Don't like How I Killed Your Master, Warbot in Accounting or Atomic Robo?

[Cristo Meyers]

Don't like How I Killed Your Master, Warbot in Accounting or Atomic Robo?

Nah, they don't really grab my attention.

[Gez]

Don't like How I Killed Your Master,
No. (http://www.nuklearpower.com/2010/04/09/how-i-didnt-kill-your-master-054/) :smalltongue:

Warbot in Accounting
Meh, the premise is funny but has been milked for all that it's worth already.

or Atomic Robo?
Those are not stories. They are tee-shirt scenes stringed together.

[chiasaur11]

No. (http://www.nuklearpower.com/2010/04/09/how-i-didnt-kill-your-master-054/) :smalltongue:

Meh, the premise is funny but has been milked for all that it's worth already.

Those are not stories. They are tee-shirt scenes stringed together.

The others?

Fine. Whatever.

But disliking Atomic Robo is a crime in the eyes of both God and man.

Have you even read it? Because it maintains more narrative cohesion than you seem to expect out of it, the humor is topnotch, and Jenkins is the baddest man ever to exist in a work of fiction.

[T-O-E]

The epilogue characters just don't seem right*... I don't know whether it's the non-sprite artstyle or the undermining of personality traits that usually completely define them to fit the story, or both.

*With the exception of BM and Fighter.

[slayerx]

meh...
Well it atleast seems more like an ending...
Though i would have perfered a bigger punch, like one good laugh to go out on... with something like this, they probably could have done a quick like 6 or so panel strip of "where are they now", with the last strip being BM and fighter going to the cave of no return to find the armor of invincibility

[Gez]

Have you even read it?

Yes. All the free stories available on the site. It's vaguely humorous. There are cool action scenes. That's all. Robo as a character is insufferable. The others are extras without significance. I see no spark in the stories.

[chiasaur11]

Yes. All the free stories available on the site. It's vaguely humorous. There are cool action scenes. That's all. Robo as a character is insufferable. The others are extras without significance. I see no spark in the stories.

Insufferable?

[Gez]

Let me quote somebody else, with which I am somewhat in agreement about this point:

Also, from the newspost, why am I not surprised Mookie like Atomic Robo. I'm sure I'm going to piss someone here off by saying this, but I can't stand that comic. The titular character is so much of a Mary Sue it drives me nuts. There is never any moment when Robo will not be able to easily and instantly win against whatever villain he is facing. The villains themselves and the set pieces are all well-crafted, but the whole thing feels so pointless, because there's no real conflict. Apart from the fact that the art and setting are good, it resembles Dominic Deegan, and I don't mean that in a jokey way.

Personally, I can stand the comic, but it doesn't grab me. Robo is super smart, super fast, super tough, super strong. He's like a cynical superman. I can neither admire him nor pity him. So yeah, insufferable.

[CoffeeIncluded]

I dunno, I kinda liked the ending. It seemed fitting.

I mean, the problem with endings is that so many times, especially with long-running series, the endings just can't match up to the epicness of the series.

[Deca]

I liked the ending. It didn't need to be a punchline. I thought it was very fitting. Also, love the art style.

[chiasaur11]

Let me quote somebody else, with which I am somewhat in agreement about this point:


Personally, I can stand the comic, but it doesn't grab me. Robo is super smart, super fast, super tough, super strong. He's like a cynical superman. I can neither admire him nor pity him. So yeah, insufferable.

So, wait.

He's a Sue... because he wins.

Wow. That is some of the worst reasoning ever, even if it was true. I mean, even restricting oneself to the minicomics:

The Soviet atomic scientist locks him up pretty well, and Robo gets clobbered by the commiebots. Sure, he saves the world, but he kinda has to if there's going to be more comics.

Dr. Dinosaur wins their little showdown as far as that went.

Robo gets severely banged up in the Yonkers Devil, chewed up, knocked around by an overpowered bullet, and the beast gets away in the end anyway with Robo looking like an idiot.

And in the regular comics, he gets his robot butt kicked all the time. The latest Free Comic Book Day Robo had him get thoroughly humiliated by GIANT BIRDS.

"Punching only makes them angrier!"

Also, there's his fear of bugs. It's a pretty impressive level of phobia.

And if the only two reactions you can tolerate in fictional characters are pity and admiration, well, it's your position, not mine, and I wouldn't trade no matter how valid it is. Loses a lot of reading material.

Now, Jenkins, I could see your point a little more.

[Domochevsky]

It's ...ok, i guess. The art is pretty neat and there are some mediocre to ok jokes, but that's about it.

The lack of noses however... :smalleek:

[Prime32]

White Mage is cute. Red Mage reminds me of Dr. McNinja, which seems oddly appropriate.

[Kris Strife]

I think most of that is coming from the fact that he can eat through his mask. :smalltongue: Anyone else notice Fighter had swordchucks?

[TheSummoner]

So many minor characters in the background of the tavern...

I see that guard is still trying to kill the messenger...

Possibly King Steve taking WM's cloak...

Matoya and Bikke in Panel 4...

The Sulk, Garland, Evil Princess Sara... King Steve's left hand man whose name escapes me yet I do remember that his right hand man is a coffee stain...

I thought the ending was pretty satisfying... Its nice to see that BM is still stuck with Fighter... Too weak to stab him to death and too stupid to just abandon him somewhere...

[AstralFire]

I wrote my brief opinion on it (http://www.theanteheroes.com/news.php?id=45).


So, in other news, 8-Bit Theater has ended. I must admit that I am sorry to see it go, but only inasmuch as it's been a long runner since webcomics got big. As a big fan of Brian Clevinger's other major webcomic, How I Killed Your Master, I think Mr. Clevinger's definitely got writing chops - but they're not in 8-Bit Theater. Long stretches of the comic are very funny when read in rapid succession, but I feel it would have been much better as an episodic anthology format rather than actually having a long-running plot. I feel like Mr. Clevinger spent too much of the comic screwing around with anticlimaxes for a giggle; that's really funny for the author, but it's not quite as funny for the members of the audience who aren't particularly cynical.

The epilogue itself is kind of weak, too. By its own merits, it's not bad - but switching to drawn art just feels odd, for starters. One of the lessons that should be carried from 8-Bit Theater's success is that the value of art is in how well it conveys the essence of the scene, and not necessarily how realistic or 'cool' the characters look in a single, out of context panel. Suddenly switching to a merely suitable but uninspired piece of conventional art feels like a betrayal, and suddenly showing some measure of non-sociopathy in the main cast that late in the story life feels forced. As if the ending had been planned to a tee long before a suitable portion of the middle had - in essence, a similar issue as I had with Harry Potter 7's ending.

All criticism aside, 8BT has played a central part in the rise of webcomics. Mr. Clevinger is one of the most successful webcomic writers, making the jump to print more effectively than any other author I am aware of. It's paved the way for many of us, and it should not be forgotten.

I like swords. Welcome to Corneria.

[Gez]

The Soviet atomic scientist locks him up pretty well, and Robo gets clobbered by the commiebots.
Not really. They manage to annoy him and then he destroys them all. (http://www.nuklearpower.com/2008/07/07/free-comic-book-day-page-7/) He's bulletproof. (http://www.nuklearpower.com/2008/07/09/free-comic-book-day-page-9/) The only way to kill him is a direct hit with a 200 megaton bomb. (http://www.nuklearpower.com/2008/07/13/free-comic-book-day-page-13/) And yet his leg is stronger than the machinery that lifts said nuke. (http://www.nuklearpower.com/2008/07/14/free-comic-book-day-page-14/) Meaning his one leg is stronger than an industrial machine designed to lift more than 40 tons.


Robo gets severely banged up in the Yonkers Devil, chewed up, knocked around by an overpowered bullet, and the beast gets away in the end anyway with Robo looking like an idiot.
An idiot without a scratch. He's at most temporarily inconvenienced, but he's indestructible. Even Dr Dinosaur's box of grenades is implied to have had no consequence other than making him hate the dino. (http://www.nuklearpower.com/2009/05/04/fcbd-09-page-8/)

It's not a question of only pity or admiration, that was a bit of a shortcut. It's a question that he just cannot be heroic. Nothing ever really threatens him. He is annoyed by his enemies, never endangered. It's pretty much impossible for an Atomic Robo story to have a cliffhanger because of that. Even when he's attached to a nuke, it never feels like he's actually in danger. So, no empathy possible. And because of that, he has no merit when he wins. It's kinda like Tom & Jerry, or Tweety and Sylvester, as far as drama goes. Just with cool stuff like robots and dinosaurs instead of plain old housecats, birds and rodents. These cartoons didn't amuse me that much when I was a kid; and Atomic Robo does not amuse me now.


In other news, just noticed BGE fanart (http://www.nuklearpower.com/images/jade.jpg). That was a cool game. :smallsmile:

[Lord Raziere]

well, that is the end of that, its fitting.

[Bale Fire]

I just read the epilogue, and I thought it was a very fitting and funny end to the series. There were so many cameos and references, and the art style was a little weird but well done. The references to all the other Final Fastasy's at the end in particular I thought were very clever (Anyone else notice a certain Buster Sword and Gunblade anywhere) and Fighter and Black Mage back where they started was something which just had to happen.

So yeah, I loved it :smallbiggrin:

[Trazoi]

It didn't feel quite right to me - too upbeat, and more like a fan-fiction version of an ending especially given the change in art style. I was expecting something much more dark to fit the crapsack world. But at least I know now it's concluded.

[chiasaur11]

It didn't feel quite right to me - too upbeat, and more like a fan-fiction version of an ending especially given the change in art style. I was expecting something much more dark to fit the crapsack world. But at least I know now it's concluded.

Ah, thank you.

Knew something felt odd.

Now it's isolated. It wasn't happy, exactly, but it was only Atomic Robo level downbeat (Which borders on upbeat.) when I was expecting Warbot level soul crushing.

[The Glyphstone]

Coulda been a lot worse, honestly.

[Arakune]

Coulda been a lot worse, honestly.

And that could be actually better. Anyway, it didn't had traumatized onion kid. And some more answers on BM personality could be nice too.

[Drakyn]

And that could be actually better. Anyway, it didn't had traumatized onion kid. And some more answers on BM personality could be nice too.

Well, we sort of already know what happened to the onion kid. Showing him wouldn't really have a point. I'd guess that the light warriors in general have exactly the same personalities as before only with drastically reduced capabilities to screw with/maim people, which has made them harmless enough.

In a way, I don't feel content with this. But in another, completely different way, I also do. I mean, I can't say I expected the epilogue to be "and yeah, everyone was pretty much A-okay," even if we already had Sarda's word that the world would be safe enough for him to learn magic in and the light warriors would be destructively neutered. The worst thing that seems to have happened is that elfland got in a few more wars, and that probably means fewer elves, which isn't so bad.
This is a long meandering way of saying I didn't quite expect this, but it feels right because it doesn't. Or something like that.

[chiasaur11]

In a way, I don't feel content with this. But in another, completely different way, I also do. I mean, I can't say I expected the epilogue to be "and yeah, everyone was pretty much A-okay," even if we already had Sarda's word that the world would be safe enough for him to learn magic in and the light warriors would be destructively neutered. The worst thing that seems to have happened is that elfland got in a few more wars, and that probably means fewer elves, which isn't so bad.

I'd always categorize less elves as a good.

[Deca]

I was just looking over it again and finally got why Red Mage didn't want anyone to order Rat Tail Soup. Now my mind needs to be scraped with a fine-edged comb until I forget it again.

[Lord Seth]

My thoughts on the epilogue can probably be best summed up like so: Could've been better, could've been worse.

[Kato]

Hm... I'm glad it's over I guess but I was expecting something very different. Not saying it was bad, but... could have been better. Kind of toned down the jokes there, i was expecting at least one really... 8-bit-ish joke, but they were mostly so-so.
No matter what, seems fine enough and I can stop checking for it constantly.

[Kurald Galain]

Wait, so who is Red Mage's drinking buddy? Is that supposed to be Garland? Dragoon? Someone else?

[Gez]

Who else than Dragoon jumped to the Moon and back? (Dr. McNinja does not count, he's not in the same comic)

[Morty]

Am I the only one who only now noticed Dr. Malpractice and Dummy Thief in 4th panel?

[Nerd-o-rama]

I will respond to this the same way I've responded to most of 8BT since, oh, the Fire dungeon:

*golf claps*

[Teln]

Honestly, I think this would have worked a lot better in the sprite format.

[Dr.Epic]

No. (http://www.nuklearpower.com/2010/04/09/how-i-didnt-kill-your-master-054/) :smalltongue:

True that. What happened to the art?

As for the ending, it was all right. I liked all the references, some I didn't catch. All and all it was an okay end to the series. Honestly I thought it would go on forever with mostly lame jokes.

[Hyoumu Yau]

I thought it was a good ending and it fitted the style of the comic. When I began to read the comic, I was expecting something different than it was. You know, the whole FF-sprite-thing made me think that it wouldn't be a humor comic with little freaks running around and burning everything. :smallamused:
The end of the comic screws with you, exactly like the beginning and the whole thing between those two :smalltongue:

The fact that some of the characters lacked noses was sometimes disturbing. But very good art style, although the noseless chibi-like faces of some characters looked strange in contrast with all the detail and shading...
And somehow I imagined White Mage with longer hair and a less boyish-looking face. Still cute though :smalltongue:

I have to say I had fun while it lasted :smallbiggrin: Maybe because I started to read it when it was already nearly ended and could read it as a whole without having to wait for updates. :smalltongue:

Swordchucks!

Edit : Who's the "Doin Fine" - guy and the man behind him? :smallconfused: Is it supposed to be that mafia guy from nearly the end of the comic or someone else?

[Zevox]

My thoughts on the epilogue can probably be best summed up like so: Could've been better, could've been worse.
Yeah, I'd agree. I wish he hadn't switched to this art style for it, but at least it allows the joke with Red Mage eating without removing his (mask? mouth-bandanna-thing?) to work. And it is kind of nice seeing all the references to running gags/lesser characters in the backgrounds.

It does kind of feel like, since he introduced the fact that White Mage was looking for Black Mage and Fighter, they really should have met up one last time before the end, though. I was actually surprised when the thing ended with just the BM and Fighter scene, even if it was on a reference to the very first strips. Oh well.

Zevox

[Scoot]

I enjoyed the simplicity of it(The very end, with BM and Fighter). That's about it.

I found it a fitting end.

[slayerx]

There were so many cameos and references, and the art style was a little weird but well done.

Actually the art style really annoys me for the simple reason that i have trouble recognize anybody... with a lot of the background characters i'm left with "wait is that supposed to be so-an-so... i mean the clothes look like it, but that's not in anyway how i imagined so-an-so to look like"... the fact that i haven't seen some of them in AGES doesn't help neither

[Weimann]

I thinks it's... okay. It could have gained points by sticking to its regular style, as has been suggested. But, as has also been said, it's an end. Works for me.

[Dacia Brabant]

The best thing about this: the themed restaurant where servers are dressed to look like some of the Dark Warriors and there are posters of the other Dark Warriors as well. (I think one of the servers might actually be Garland.) I think to pull this off it had to be drawn instead of sprited, though the style is kinda meh.

But then "kinda meh" is par for the course with 8-Bit Theater.

[The Glyphstone]

The best thing about this: the themed restaurant where servers are dressed to look like some of the Dark Warriors and there are posters of the other Dark Warriors as well. (I think one of the servers might actually be Garland.) I think to pull this off it had to be drawn instead of sprited, though the style is kinda meh.

But then "kinda meh" is par for the course with 8-Bit Theater.

...how did I miss this? I'm actually amused now.:smallcool:

[Drakyn]

Hey, there's a couple of stuffed doggy heads on the wall in panel 5 that belong to those werewolf thingies that horribly maimed red mage ages ago.

[Aquillion]

Don't like How I Killed Your Master, Warbot in Accounting or Atomic Robo?He said 'every few weeks', not 'every few years'.

[AstralFire]

He said 'every few weeks', not 'every few years'.

Yeah... I'm wanting more HIKYM soon.

Warbot can die though. Funny, but I don't see that concept being able to turn out jokes for more than a few more comics.

[Aquillion]

Well, we sort of already know what happened to the onion kid. Showing him wouldn't really have a point. I'd guess that the light warriors in general have exactly the same personalities as before only with drastically reduced capabilities to screw with/maim people, which has made them harmless enough.Wait a minute, I just realized something.

You know that scene where Sardia 'fights' the Dark Warriors?

Well... didn't he know who they were? I mean, he should remember them from when he grew up, right? They were famous as the heroes who saved the world, in his time.

[AstralFire]

Wait a minute, I just realized something.

You know that scene where Sardia 'fights' the Dark Warriors?

Well... didn't he know who they were? I mean, he should remember them from when he grew up, right? They were famous as the heroes who saved the world, in his time.

Didn't Onion Kid get sent back in time? I forget.

Either way, Sarda forgets a lot.

[Seraph]

Not really. They manage to annoy him and then he destroys them all. (http://www.nuklearpower.com/2008/07/07/free-comic-book-day-page-7/)

Which would be an excellent point were it very clear that five pages later he's completely imprisoned and must have gotten into that situation somehow. I mean, I don't know if you really want to believe that he willingly strapped himself into a fullbody restraint just for the sport of it, but its either that or that he was overwhelmed.


He's bulletproof. (http://www.nuklearpower.com/2008/07/09/free-comic-book-day-page-9/)

Yes, because we all know that the AK-47 is the pinnacle of anti-armor weaponry, and that it comes standard with armor-piercing super-ammunition that can bore its way through an inch of metal, yes sir.

Because, you know, he's a Robot. made of metal. and they're shooting him with guns designed to kill fleshy bags of meat and suffering and not, you know, robots made of metal.


The only way to kill him is a direct hit with a 200 megaton bomb. (http://www.nuklearpower.com/2008/07/13/free-comic-book-day-page-13/)

Uh, no. What he said was that he would survive the radiation of a 200 MT nuke if he was on the other side of the planet, which, you know, the Continental United States sort of is, in relation to Siberia.



And yet his leg is stronger than the machinery that lifts said nuke. (http://www.nuklearpower.com/2008/07/14/free-comic-book-day-page-14/) Meaning his one leg is stronger than an industrial machine designed to lift more than 40 tons.

Seemed to me he was pushing perpendicular to the tower's direction of force, not in direct opposition.



An idiot without a scratch. He's at most temporarily inconvenienced, but he's indestructible. Even Dr Dinosaur's box of grenades is implied to have had no consequence other than making him hate the dino. (http://www.nuklearpower.com/2009/05/04/fcbd-09-page-8/)

Fun fact: fragmentation grenades aren't all that useful against armored targets like, say, robots made of metal. Antitank grenades tend to rely more on spalling to kill the fleshy operators on the inside, of which robo has none. Even then, this tactic only works on the really thin areas of armor.

Also, only temporarily inconvenienced? You've never read the comic. one of the first issues involved Robo being completely ****ed up by the exploding internals of an ancient egyptian pyramid tank and spending the whole issue in a world war II flashback while his team tried to patch him back up. Its word of god that he's replaced pretty much every part of his body at least once for various reasons.



It's not a question of only pity or admiration, that was a bit of a shortcut. It's a question that he just cannot be heroic. Nothing ever really threatens him. He is annoyed by his enemies, never endangered.


one of the volumes is about Robo spending a century fighting a losing battle against a cosmic horror! The Dogs of War arc is essentially a long string of Robo getting his ass handed to him by nazis! Of the current miniseries, two out of three issues have involved Robo being a distraction by way of getting his ass kicked, while his teammates solve the problem!

you know what? **** it. You clearly don't even know what the hell you're talking about, and have only read the barest fraction of the comic and are making vast, easily refuted claims about it that show your ignorance. You aren't even going to bother looking at what you're talking about, are you?

[Gez]

I said on the other page I read the stuff that was on the website. And then you're all "but on that stuff that's not on the website then there this that happens!!!! And you've never read it, you philistine!!!" Yeah, I never read it. I read what was put on the website, and I did not find it entertaining enough to warrant getting books that aren't found in the local bookstores in my country. I don't see why I should have to buy all the albums of all the comics whose free samples didn't grab me just to make sure they don't grab me.

I could bother replying point by point (the "commie bots" are made of peanut butter I guess, because against them the AK-47 works just fine; the mad scientist specifically said he wanted Robo at ground zero; etc.) but it's kinda useless anyway.

[ZeroNumerous]

Yes, because we all know that the AK-47 is the pinnacle of anti-armor weaponry, and that it comes standard with armor-piercing super-ammunition that can bore its way through an inch of metal, yes sir.

Because, you know, he's a Robot. made of metal. and they're shooting him with guns designed to kill fleshy bags of meat and suffering and not, you know, robots made of metal.

I would like to point out that the AK-47 is, in fact, extremely effective at penetrating steel and can penetrate a bulletproof vest depending on the type of ammunition used.

Granted, he would be relatively unhurt but the fact that he wasn't even dinged shows Brian didn't do his research.

[Deca]

The best thing about this: the themed restaurant where servers are dressed to look like some of the Dark Warriors and there are posters of the other Dark Warriors as well. (I think one of the servers might actually be Garland.) I think to pull this off it had to be drawn instead of sprited, though the style is kinda meh.

But then "kinda meh" is par for the course with 8-Bit Theater.

It's not just people dressed as the Dark Warriors. The waitress is dressed as Matoya and there was someone dressed as King Steve in one of the early panels as well.

[Kato]

The best thing about this: the themed restaurant where servers are dressed to look like some of the Dark Warriors and there are posters of the other Dark Warriors as well. (I think one of the servers might actually be Garland.) I think to pull this off it had to be drawn instead of sprited, though the style is kinda meh.

Oh, they were supposed to be cosplayers? I was actually wondering why Kingf Steve would be a waiter now... (And I didn't really pay attention to most others... there's even the Sulk!)

btw, in the latter panel with Fighter and BM, who's that guy with the DOIN FINE sign? (And why does Akbar sell Bustersword and Gunblades? They aren't useless! (Really!)

[MReav]

btw, in the latter panel with Fighter and BM, who's that guy with the DOIN FINE sign? (And why does Akbar sell Bustersword and Gunblades? They aren't useless! (Really!)

Technically, he's selling tools, not weapons.

[Kobold-Bard]

I don't read threads about it so I genuinely had no idea this was to be the last one, I just thought he was taking a leaf out of Megatokyo's book.

I liked it.

Also: Actual Sword-chucks :smallbiggrin:

[Zevox]

Also: Actual Sword-chucks :smallbiggrin:
Holy crap, I did not notice that Fighter was carrying actual sword-chucks. I am very happy now. :smallsmile:

Zevox

[Jerthanis]

The 'epiclogue' is so unexceptional and mundane that I have difficulty summoning the energy to even finish this sent...

[Indon]

It's a good ending. Not remotely as epic as Adventurers!, its' primary peer game-mocking humor webcomic, ended, but it's hard to top that (Meanwhile, it crushes RPGWorld just _by_ ending in the first place).

[ScionoftheVoid]

15th panel, is that Garland (or a lookalike of him) looking surprised at Princess Sara arriving? I liked the ending, not as good as the rest of the comic, but all the references were nice. I like the fact that Fighter has named his swordchucks (Stabby and Slashy, on the hilts), among other things. Sad to see the comic go, but everything must end at some point.

[TheSpartanMoose]

Well on the forum Matt (the artist) said whether it's Garland or not is up to the reader. I prefer to think it is because Garland would totally work in his own restaurant. That being said it was a fitting end.

[Bad Situation]

Did anybody else catch those Red ninjas in panel 21?

[Calmness]

The 'epiclogue' is so unexceptional and mundane that I have difficulty summoning the energy to even finish this sent...

It was different. The author made a happy ending, which wound up contrasting horribly with the rest of the comic, and with the black humor that has characterized the strip.

With that said, i found it funny how Clevinger shamelessly ripped off the Kingdom Come comic with the restaurant part. The art was excellent though, and the story brought a certain level of closure to the main characters. I'm glad it's over.

[Gez]

The different art style was jarring, but looking back on it it makes sense. It's the epilogue, that is to say, GAME OVER. This is like the FMV sequence at the end of a game, so it is logical it's not with the sprites.