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Smarter Than A Speeding Bullet
Reviewed: 05/29/2007
And more roided than one too. HA! I KILL ME! AGAIN!
Wow; almost three months of ranting and this is the last episode for Volume 1 of Darkwing Duck. So let's rant on shall we and find out if this volume ends in a high note; or leaves me as depressed as ranting on Citizen Khan...
The episode is written by Doug Langdale and the story has been edited by Kevin Crosby Hopps. .This is the third episode animated by WD-Japan and the ANIMATION STUDIOS OF RUIN. Considering the last two episode; I'm almost ready to praise the ANIMATION STUDIOS OF RUIN right now...Almost...
We begin this episode with Steelbeak inside ERNIE'S RUBBER DUCKIE PLANT OF DOOM (oh come on! You knew that one was coming.) calling on the cell phones (complete with TV screen which means FOWL High Command is on the other line to create another FOWL VS. SHUSH episode) while the FOWL EGGMEN steal all of Ernie's Rubber Duckies(TM Childen's Television Workship- Jim Henson Productions All Rights Reversed). You know Steebeak is finished as a villain when stealing Ernie's rubber duckies is the ONLY thing he could do. I told you Ammonia Pine carried that previous episode on her back. He's calling High Command I know the plant is called Quacky; but Ernie is a more fitting pun if you know what I mean. Steelbeak and FOWL exchange notes as usual as the FOWL EGGMEN put rubber duckies inside the steel FOWL egg. Steelbeak ends his conversation by putting the cell phone into his coat which should signal for DARKWING...DUCK to enter with the smoke cloud (AND THAT'S BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH) and the dreaded VOICEOVER OF DOOM beckoning at less than 2 minutes in. (Checks Television Screen and plays DVD) Damn; I'm good and you know this episode is in trouble.
Launchpad is also here I see as Drake steps on a rubber ducky to invoke the squeak sound. Get use to it guys; Chuckles The Silly Piggy made a killing with that sound. Steelbeak blows him off as usual because calling Drake bad names is cool see. Yeah; I don't get it either. Drake responds in kind with the gas gun and tells him to surrender or suck gas. If I were Steelbeak I would take my chances and suck gas knowing how full of himself Drake is. And the episode wastes no time at all introducing our new guest character as the mini UFO shatters through the glass OUT OF NOWHERE and crashes with the MAN-SIZED BUMP WITH CHEESE AND BACON onto the floor. Squeak sounds beckons as we see the mini UFO in the dirt about two feet below the ground. Oh wait; I should have said UFO OF CLOWN CAR DOOM as a roided superhero freak about eight feet tall climbs out of it. Insert Shake Your Moneymaker joke here. Also insert Larson and Gary joke here. I don't want to because this episode is starting to fall fast. The superhero is REALLY STUPID of course as he talks to rubber duckies which just isn't funny for some reason. Using the clown car UFO as a hat is pretty funny though.
He wants someone to take him to his leader and Drake is being really rude to him. Launchpad comments nicely on the costume as Drake blows him off because he wants Steelbeak. I have a bad feeling about this dumb roided guy. Then again I've heard that steroids lower IQ; so that would explain it very well. Or maybe not. He's called Comet Dumb Guy (okay just Comet Guy) and comes from the planet Mertz. So it was Mertz that is responsible for the spelling of s's into z's after a noun! I knew it. And it was a human being that did it; what a shock?! The spotlight spot really sucks along with the promo Comet Dumb Guy cuts. He then invokes the COMET OF SMARTS (because Comet Guy is really dumb see...) and it completely destroys the rubber ducky as Ernie is ready to commit terrorism for avenging his slaughtered rubber duckies. Everyone is full of ash and soot of course. I never thought that Drake would be smart in this episode; but he looks it now. At least the animators didn't screw this scene up; although it would be their right to. Comet Guy is completely clean as a whistle; so his special power is to be cleansed from flaming spots. Launchpad then notices a conveniently placed fire alarm and pushes it. And you thought the conveniently placed royal feathers from the finish of that office guy from the future in Dave THE CLEANING BARBARIAN OF LAUGHS was contrived?
And of course; it's Comet Guy's one major weakness of course as he is forced to dress almost completely white (with black bowtie and red rose) and DANCE TO IT'S DOOM! I love bad Smurf spots. Or very simply; DANCE TO THE BUILDING'S DOOM. Even Steelbeak thinks it's funny so you know it's lame. Although lame in a good way at least. Steelbeak appears ready to MURDER him; but his suit is soiled and is forced to bail via the FOWL STEEL EGG OF DISMEMBERMENT. See; I told you Steelbeak couldn't help him to Ammonia Pine. He NEEDS her just like Rebecca, Baloo and Kit need each other. However; Drake blocks their way in to waste more time and set up the next contrived spot as Comet Dumb Guy grabs Drake and they DANCE TO THEIR DOOM. I never thought that Drake as an international would be unfunny; but I managed to find an example. The ultra pussy whirlwind spot occurs (since squashing Drake is too funny to see) as Steelbeak grabs the lead pipe to MURDER Launchpad. However; Steelbeak gets bowled over by Drake. Huh?!
Usually; it's Launchpad who get nailed with that spot. They trip over and fall to a decent bump. Well; Steelbeak's bump was decent while Drake's was wussy. Drake cuts him full of himself promo as Comet Guy DANCES TO HIS DOOM by destroying more buildings and causing about $750,000 in damages. Wow; Comet Guy actually did me proud to shut Drake up. So we continue as Comet Dumb Guy absolutely backhands a conveniently placed female dogsperson cop and she doesn't sell. That's a no-no for both the Comet Dumb Guy and the writers (because it was ultra contrived). If this were a video game in Washington State it would be banned..Or maybe not as she blows the whistle on this episode for sucking and offending her. At least I hope that is the reason. That stops the dancing as he apologizes once again. He tells Drake about his weakness as Steelbeak looks completely drunk to the gills. Did Drake slip something into his mouth while that dancing was going on?!
Steelbeak recovers and breaks the chains with his teeth and then walks off as Drake doesn't follow them or put up a struggle to. WHY?! Logic Break #1 for the episode made worse when he walks onto the roided chest of Comet Dumb Guy and completely blows him off. Doug Langdale has already written two excellent episodes in this series and he's completely missing on this one?! Comet Dumb Guy logically sobs on that spot. Don't cry for me Cometina! See; Comet Dumb Guy is here to study the planet's champion to be a champion on planet Mertz because he basically sucks as a champion. Considering that he sobs louder than the media after the Nintendo Summit last week and produces tears larger than Sustainer gamer crying about how Nintendo is ruining them more than Jack The Anti-Gamer one EVER did; color me unimpressed. Drake proclaims that he is the champion of the earth. Riiiight. Which earns the old Oscar Vandersnoot blowing the nose on a curtain spot; in this case, Drake's gay Zorro Cape. I actually liked that spot better than Oscar's. Comet Dumb Guy is HAPPY and wants to start training now and Drake agrees since he won't have a city to protect at this rate...So logically this leads us to....
...We head to DEAD DUCK VALLEY or the SANDBOX OF DOOM (depending on what mood I was in at the time) as Comet Dumb Guy is still dumb as Drake explains that this is a secret SHUSH training camp. I know that Mr. Walker would go on about how it cannot be a secret camp when Launchpad knows about it himself; but this is bad COMEDY BABY and I want to finish ranting on this DVD set so I can move on to fanfics and 4Kids reviews and the Cloudkicking Address. Drake then shows how REALLY STUPID he is by tugging onto the CACTUS JACK OF DOOM which causes acute pain and suffering to Drake. Funny spot there and the animators got it right. Drake pulls the needles as he tugs the proper FAKE CACTUS JACK OF DOOM. Which causes the training area to reveal itself. Let's see; we have a track & field track and a platform where Drake could hang someone if he/she leeches off his heat during the training run etc. When in doubt; insert the annoying STOCK MUSIC OF DOOM to annoy me of course as Launchpad cannot believe it.
That's because it isn't believable Launchpad. We start the TRAINING FROM HELL with swinging on a rope across a water trap which even a ten year could do blindfolded (Gosalyn) for physical conditioning. I guess he means conditioning your physical stupidity..HA I KILL ME! Drake does is successfully (HUH?! No screw ups?! That's pretty LAME-O!) while blowing off Dumb Comet Guy. Dumb Comet Guy asks why not walk on the water and Drake blows him off while getting wet. Comet Guy sezs he can do it better by using his freezing spray eye beams while cutting another lame promo. And of course he freezes the water trap which is a neat trick; but Drake was still in the ice at the time and is frozen solid. Well; Drake had no one to blame but himself for doing that blowoff. Comet Guy apologizes of course as we head to the DEATH BY HANGING PLATFORM as the next round of training is to climb the rope and hang yourself...Okay maybe not as Drake invokes the grappling hook function on his gas gun and it hooks onto the platform. Drake then explains to him not to causes any more chaos. Why?! I'm starting to like Comet Guy now that he's using his super powers to make you look bad...Oh wait; never mind.
Dumb Comet Guy sells it as he pulls the rope which basically causes the platform to collapse and squash Drake flatter than PlayStation 3's sales. That was a pretty good spot there as Comet Guy is actually starting to impress me...and that's negated with the logical sobbing he does afterward. He makes Oscar Vandersnoot look like a REAL MAN and is a REAL MAN! Launchpad tries to help him see the light of not giving up as Drake's beak comes out just for him to cut another silly promo. We head back to the CITY OF SAINT CANARD at night as Drake, Launchpad and CG are hunting for bad guys in the Thunder Quack. CG's COMET SENSE OF STUPIDITY claims that there is a crime in progress. I guess Tom Paine wasn't from the planet Mertz after all. That's a really sad thing to see CG invokes the POINTY FINGER OF DEATH as it squishes Drake like a freaking bug on my windshield (God bless Kenny Blankenship). Launchpad takes the Thunder Quack down as we see the FOWL STEEL EGG OF DISMEMBERMENT and it's crime fighting time against Steelbeak again. See; Drake has a plan (A PLAN?! FROM DRAKE?! WHAT ARE THE ODDS OF THAT HAPPENING?!) that Launchpad gets all the EGGMEN while Drake gets all the glory while CG plays mimic man which is pretty much all he can do at this point...
So we head inside the plant as the FOWL EGGMEN are stealing boxes of office supplies from Bob's Office Supply. Okay; what exactly is the point of this other than to have CG do something REALLY STUPID at Drake's expense?! Steelbeak is using the cell phone to inform High Command of course as the crack Disney captions team misspells erasers so badly that it deserved to be mocked. Steelbeak wants to hurry up because he knows Drake Mallard is coming to screw with him and he does as he storms right through the front door and cuts his usual full of himself promo with CG in tow. CG mimics everything Drake does (while annoying him with his dumb talk) which somehow is funnier in this era then it was when brothers and sisters started using that spot to annoy people long after this show aired. Maybe overexposure isn't such a good thing and Nintendo is best advised to remember that when it comes to the overexposure of Brain-Age clones.
Steelbeak invokes the ATTACK OF THE FOWL EGGMEN and the phantom Eggman from Bearskin Thug returns to back into the box of pencils which all fall to the ground in front of Drake's feet. Now you would think that Drake would be smart enough not to move when the spot is going on and not slip and slide on the pencils; but then again Drake is REALLY STUPID. Drake slips and slides on the pencil of course and CG shrugs his shoulder and mimics him with better results I might add. Oh wait; the MIMI JOKE ZONE PLAN worked as Drake nails Steelbeak with a pretty good bump and that sends Steelbeak flying into the closet and the closet door slams after him. Drake also takes only the second wussy bump in the entire episode so far and that's into the pencil sharpener which is just begging to be used. And it does as CG goes into a tailspin (BWHAHAHAHAHA!) and takes a MAN-SIZED bump into Drake (with the best animated stars I have seen yet from Disney I should note) and Drake's head eats pencil sharpener and it tastes FOWL! The FOWL EGGMEN scatter leaving their boss like a bunch of chickens...Or maybe they are really chickens?! I SMELL A FANFIC COMING. Wow!
The first time I have invoked that joke after 27 episodes even! I thought I NEVER would use that one. Well; at least Doug didn't write a logic break there as Drake pops himself out of the pencil sharpener and basically gives the funny version of the eye contact violence. Well; Drake YOU were the one who said do exactly everything that I do; so you having no one to blame but yourself for that failure. Drake basically blows him off coming him a failure and storms out of the store. Drake is such a meanie and really had no reason to blow him off. At least Kit had more than an excellent excuse to blow off Baloo's joke of a performance in Bullethead Baloo (in a good way I should note). CG sobs and I don't blame him as Steelbeak kicks the closet and pulls the bucket off his head. He notices CG crying and has a plan to train CG as the champion of evil. Didn't we already do this three episodes ago? I got to admit; CG's sobbing is now becoming funny along with Steelbeak's goofy hero sequence promo. Steelbeak calls himself Steelwing Cluck which is actually a proper heel name for him for some reason because he is a rooster after all. CG sells it as being in paradise because he's not a mental giant at all. He's not even one to DARKWING..DUCK either. Drake must be crying in his beer over this one. Steelbeak and CG shake hands to seal CG's dumb heel turn to end the segment 11 and a half minutes in. This episode is actually improving since the ultra contrived beginning...
After the commercial break; we head to the rubber factory as Steelbeak teaches CG how to steal rubber. See these are rubber explosives and CG has to carry it back to Steelbeak's hideout and defuse it. CG gleefully sells everything as he grabs the bucket of rubber and now the Thunder Quack enters through the brick wall which allows for some silly bumping from Drake and Launchpad. All the bumps are wussy it should be noted as Drake notices that CG is stealing. CG blows him off in kind and rightfully so as he introduces Steelwing Cluck to the mean babyfaces while bear hugging him for good measure. Too funny; but Drake notices him right away.
The steel part gave it away of course. Steelbeak blows him off as a bad guy alien duplicate as Drake is surrounded by FOWL EGGMEN dressed up as DARKWING...DUCK. Too funny as CG blows the real DARKWING..DUCK because he's got a phony beak. The better to make full of yourself promos with right Drake?! Drake hates being stood up as he streches his beak back to normal to prove that he's real. Suuurrrreee Drake! Drake wants Launchpad's defense and even the FOWL EGGMEN have him confused. You know a spot is working when THAT happens. CG blows him off because mimicing a hero for the purposes of evil is bad. So what is Steelbeak's excuse?! Steelwing tells CG to basically MURDER Drake more or less so Drake is left to the mercy of Comet Dumb Guy. This ought to be good as CG grabs him by the neck and squeezes him which actually allows Drake to cut his full of himself promo. Squeeze harder dumb hitch! CG rolls him into a ball (HEE HEE!) and scores a perfect three pointer by throwing it into the wastepaper basket. Good riddance to bad rubbish I always say!
If only we did that to the opening scene in this episode. Steelbeak and CG fly away with the bucket of rubber as the FOWL EGGMEN take off their disguises and bail. Launchpad cannot believe this; so he order Drake to take off his mask while pulling on his beak. Too funny as Drake pops out of the garbage can and now he is ticked off and the urge to kill is rising. We know this because he's making train whistle noises. Drake blows off Launchpad and wants to find Steelbeak. Launchpad suggests that they follow the trail of leaked latex. So does Drake gives credit for LP's detective work? Nah; that would be old Drake as he REPEATS THE SPOT. Do I have to go door to door and tell every cartoon character NOT TO REPEAT SPOTS?! Launchpad sells it like he's dumb of course. I guess the Drake spot hogging is now in full effect in this episode.
We head to the molten metal factory (read: Steelbeak's hideout) as we see Steelbeak and CG looking at the FOWL EGGMEN throwing all of Ernie's rubber duckies into the molten rubber. What does Steelbeak (or Disney in general) have against Ernie or Sesame Street or Jim Henson?! Is there some repressed childhood nightmare about Ernie's laugh that spurs Steelbeak to destroy rubber duckies around SAINT CANARD?! Seriously; I WANT TO KNOW WHY?! Squeak sounds continue of course as Steelbeak blows off the suggestion that CG is remotely accusing him of lying. Ah; the sign of a silly heel! The stuff is defused so claims Steelwing Cluck so the FOWL EGGMEN invoke the KETTLE OF DOOM to pour the molten rubber into a HOLE BOX OF DOOM to cool it off. Hah; the kettle is green I see. I guess calling it black would hit too close to home right Shawn?! Steelwing has a little surprise for CG and CG loves surprises. Which allows Drake and Launchpad to swing in once again in rude fashion shattering an innocent window in the process. Okay; that spot wasn't bad. Drake jumps onto Steelbeak's shoulder and pulls off the bucket. Steelbeak is SO BUSTED! CG hates being duped so he know wants to MURDER Steelbeak. Since when did CG grow a brain?! Steelbeak of course knows his weakness and then invokes the dinner bell and it's time to DANCE BABEE! It's the PINK BALLERINA DANCE OF DEATH which somehow still makes him look like a man for some reason. Think Adrian Adonis only more masculine. He dances to waste some more time with pointless twirling and then boots Drake and Launchpad away which looked wussy and the bumps even more so. Well I can now accept that the assembly animation bug is in full effect now.
It took 24 episodes for it to show up. The babyfaces whistle to bring CG out of it and it's CLUBBERING TIME and Steelbeak invokes the dinner bell to make him dance again. This time is the old Inspector Gadget Zorro dance spot which makes me laugh every time for being so over the top. Sadly; the Mexican music band isn't around to make it more so; so it ends up being merely lame. Drake whistles to end that before CG gains any heat from Drake. Dinner bell again; and it's the ultra silly (since he's male) PUFFY DRESS OF DOOM DANCE. I cannot think of the proper name; so I'll use what I have on short notice. More whistling and bell ringing ensumes and this is going on for far too long to be healthy for CG (this one is the FRUIT SALAD DANCER from Her Chance To Dream). So Steelbeak decides to stop ringing and uncork the lemon launcher which forces the lemons to nail Drake and Launchpad right in the beaks....and of course they cannot pucker up anymore.
Which is too bad for Vinnie Mac since Drake was supposed to join the Vince Mac's Kiss My Ass Club next week on RAW. Or maybe not as the ringing ends up with CG becoming the TAP DANCER OF DOOM now. Well; that one is the least interesting of them all as Drake and Launchpad try to tackle the FOWL EGGMEN but the rope net captures them. Huh?! I guess the writers got tried of Drake getting his butt kicked by the FRENCH DANCE OF DOOM. Funny how the crack Disney Captions team calls half of Drake's speech gibberish and yet that speech clearly sezs that now he's mad. Steelbeak is ready to sic the FOWL EGGMEN on the puckering up babyfaces; but he decides to reveal FOWL High Command on the television. I suspect this is the debut of Drake being aware of FOWL as an true terrorist organization. They introduce the FOWL BALL OF DOOM which is 60 tons of rubber controlled by a remote control which Steelbeak helpfully shows. Yeah; that's a WEAPON OF MASS SILLINESS!
I wonder why George W. Bush hasn't labeled it as such yet?! Steelbeak invokes the blue button and the FOWL BALL squashes the FOWL BALL BOX MOLD to demonstrate it's mass destruction. HEE HEE! More like the WEAPON OF MINI DESTRUCTION. HA! I KILL ME! High Command gives the order to Steelbeak to destroy the CITY OF SAINT CANARD so FOWL can terrorize the city with their FOWL making schemes while CG tap dances the entire time. That was pretty funny to see as Steelbeak takes off the towel because it's like being France (WE SURRENDER!) and orders the ATTACK OF THE FOWL EGGS to MURDER Drake with the flamethrower. Drake's you'll never get away with this promo is funnier when he cannot pucker up and kiss Michael Eisner's butt..or feet..or whatever body part Michael feels the need for Drake to kiss I guess. Steelbeak laughs it off..badly..as he goes into the helicopter and flies out of the factory while the FOWL BALL OF DOOM bounces out to follow breaking a wall in the process. The PHANTOM FOWL EGGMEN wants to slice and dice as the FOWL EGGMEN wield various international objects (which all are really more painful than the FOWL BALL) as the babyface gulps to end the segment 17 and a half minutes in.
After the commercial break; the FOWL EGGMEN cannot decide to finish them off properly so Drake channels the powers of Bugs Bunny in 1001 Arabian Tales to fool the heels into dumping them into the molten rubber. Yeah; channel powers from the 1970's Bugs Bunny that's real smart. The FOWL EGGMEN foolishly sell and they turn the kettle on. Really smooth move there guys as that brings CG out of his tap dancing. On second thought; let him tap dance some more as those DON KARNAGE BONKS OF DEATH were painful...On the FOWL EGGMEN and on my senses. CG's promo is even more painful and it does have the sweet sound of MURDERED EGGMEN to dull the pain. CG releases the babyfaces (who have managed to get rid of their lemon mouths I see; Logic Break #2 for the episode) as Drake proclaims that CG has one more final exam left which officially turns him face with Drake. Oh how sweet of him...We head into the STREETS OF SAINT CANARD as the helicopter rides around with Steelbeak inside. Steelbeak invokes the red button and it's PLAYTIME! Oops; wrong character.
The FOWL BALL crushes a few cars along the way to doing nothing else but bounce. Ooooo; the mayor of Saint Canard must be shaking in his boots right now...NOT! CG flies around on his cape (I knew he was Super-dumb-man!) and let's Drake and Launchpad off. Drake proclaims that only he can stop the FOWL BALL and CG no sells because he's hopeless. Drake bullies him because champions NEVER give up which CG blows off because Drake gave up on him. I have to agree with CG on that one Drake. Launchpad agrees with CG on that one and Drake blows it off in a nice way which CG decides to sell. More bouncing FOWL BALL crushing cars. What does FOWL have against cars?! Did one of them run the High Command over while Steelbeak was getting his driver's license at 17 years old?! Seriously; I WANT TO KNOW! And the ANIMATION OF RUIN screwed up because one car didn't get crushed at all despite the car being RIGHT ON TOP OF IT. Drake tells CG to use his comet vision and it freezes the FOWL BALL solid allowing it to be completely destroyed with a MAN-SIZED bump on the pavement. Well that weapon was useless.
However; the helicopter is getting away because the FOWL BALL is not involved with the finish because we still have about two and a half minutes in the episode. Drake gives him the rope and wants CG to do the EXACT SAME SPOT he did in training because it turns a weakness into a strength. I knew Sexy Reggie was cribbing Drake's ideas; Disney should sue right now because Nintendo is making them look bad when it comes to releasing the classics. And of course it works like a charm as the helicopter takes a decent bump on the pavement as Launchpad runs away from the carnage. Good for him I guess. Steelbeak has a headache as he comes out and CG wants to MURDER him. Did you not learn anything about Steelbeak's secret weapon CG?! And of course it is midnight as CG guy is in going to DANCE TO HIS DOOM. It's the joke that is funnier than anything Drake ever does. He struggles as he turns into a rap artist (in 1991!!) and it backfires on Steelbeak as he gets whacked hard by the hip hop star.
Even in 1991; rap artists were violent. It was the guns that made it deadly it should be noted. Maybe Koosh was right about gun control too?! Launchpad and Drake decide it isn't wise to screw with a rap artist so they do what he does. Steelbeak backs away as his hope chest is just about gone right now. The FOWL EGGMEN are forced to have a meeting of the mind (do to Drake and Launchpad dancing...badly) and it wasn't at the water cooler. Drake and Launchpad butt bounce them off the island and that was pretty wussy. Steelbeak keeps running away; but doesn't see where he is going and gets bounced off by the ROIDED COMET DUMB GUY OF DOOM (finally; that roided body gets used) and he takes a wussy bump in front of Drake. Launchpad invokes the whirlwind spot on Steelbeak and he drills himself into a brick wall which look just as wussy. Steelbeak whistles to stop CG finally because dancing is worse than CG in his original form I guess. CG does his lame piston promo as Launchpad doesn't know when to quit so Drake forces him to quit so to speak. The stare always works for some odd reason..
So we head to Drake's hideout as Drake does his VOICEOVER OF DOOM just to make sure he doesn't leave without some form of full of himself promo. He does however make sure to give CG his degree of Doctor of Championology. I suspect there will be an ethics investigation in progress after the airing of this episode by the University of Champions Ethics Committee. CG is so happy that he thinks he's on the planet Flug and Drake then realizes that he isn't supposed to be here. CG is not happy to see these events as the writers channel classic Bugs Bunny powers on CG. Well at least they are stealing from the better Bugs Bunny this time around. So CG thanks Drake and stuffs himself into the clown car UFO and speeds off to the planet Flug while making another small hole into the wall in the process. He has never heard the word door or open window in his life. He of course lands on the moon and it's now the moon's problem. Drake and Launchpad shrug it off and do CG's lame promo to say goodbye to end the episode and Volume One at 21:17. Well it wasn't as depressing as Time Bandits was; but it was more depressing than Citizen Khan. Bad start; good middle, bad finish. *** ( 60%)
THE REVIEW LINE
Well; we got a pretty good example of what happens when you let Doug Langdale write Dave The Barbarian huh?! I saw several spots in here that he would recycle for that series later. The beginning was ultra-contrived as Drake let the villain get away without a struggle at all and then blames Comet Guy for it. I was actually cheering for Comet Guy to become a heel afterward. The ending was anti-climatic to say the least as the FOWL Ball was only threatening enough to smash a few cars but nothing else and Steelbeak's capture was basically way too easy and contrived to be convincing. However; the middle was pure gold as the dancing spot were pretty good and I had sympathy for Comet Guy after Drake completely went off on him for no reason since it was Drake's fault to have Comet Guy mimic everything Drake does in the first place. The animation started off good and then it went south fast which is the final omen that Disney's overseas animation studio were going down the chute in quality. I also don't get the point of putting a police woman in there other than getting Ellen Gerstell (Katie Dodd) in as a voice appearance since she was just there to suck and she did NOTHING after that. Overall; this was a decent enough middling episode with a great middle; but not good everywhere else.
That officially ends Volume 1 of Darkwing Duck DVD set. It only take two and a half months to complete and it was harder than I thought. Mostly due to at least two DUD episodes and four bad ones. Overall for this volume, I counted 13 thumbs up, 8 thumbs in the middle and six thumbs down. Talespin had only six thumbs in the middle and the rest were all thumbs up. Volume 2 comes in August and it should be a better set. I just hope the animation and writing improves because right now; it needs it since having six thumbs down in a DTVA show in this stage is unacceptable. Next up for me is Disney's Adventures of The Gummi Bears and I'll start that one after the Nine Years of Cloudkicking is posted on July 4th. I might do the Darkwing Duck Volume 1 DVD review in June; but for now, I have fanfics and editorials to writer in the meantime. So....
Thumbs in the middle for this episode and I'll see you all next time.