Bonus Feature Cliché Lookout: Who’s We? You Got a Turd in Your Pocket?
When it comes to cartoon bad guys, they come in all shapes and sizes. From giant, muscle-bound bruisers, to wimpy nerds; alien monsters to boring old office drone humans. Despite this great villain diversity, they tend to all share one common trait: hubris. And, like any great Greek Tragedy, that hubris tends to be their undoing. Well, that and unbelievable luck on the part of the hero.
Take, for example, the classic cliché of the bad guy having captured the good guy, and then not just shooting him in the chest twelve of thirteen times and then going out for a nice dinner at Applebees. No, instead the villain sets up some sort of complex, and often darkly ironic, death machine that taunts the hero with a slow, but unavoidable death. The bad guy then leaves, trusting in his machine to do the rest. The good guy, invariably, escapes and ultimately triumphs over the villain, who could have won had he simply taken the direct approach and gunned down his adversary in cold blood.
About this Episode:
There has been a lot of talk in the comments about my zombie security force, so I’ve been waiting for a moment to show off an example of one. You finally get to see the brave thugs that I would hire to keep the set safe from zombies, and the director safe from disgruntled former employees.
I had to dig through faces for quite a while before I finally found one that captured just the look I was seeking (it’s one of the news backwoods-style criminals from the City sets). I doubt we’ll get to see any of the others, so this poor guy is going to have to represent the entire force.
Yeah that’s what George Romero said then the call of duty zombie map Call of the Dead came out.
“Whatever”?
Exactly.
Dear Karate Man, maybe you shouldn’t try to blackmail someone who has real zombies.
That’s a real life lesson, right there.
I like Dave’s casual “whatever” – that always seems like a popular line in movies! 😉
It’s just so prissy and dismissive; perfect for an asshole villain.
So you’re an asshole villain now?
I’ve lost faith in you again Dave… 😛
Well in-comic Dave is, anyway. Real life Dave… well, you guys will just have to wait and see.
I’m very concerned about your Set’s security.
I think this helps to explain the number of unfortunate accidents on set.
I love the security guy. He looks like Jason Flemming. I have no clue how to make a link but here is the web address for his IMDb.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002076/
oh!! I automatically made it a link!! THANKS DAVE!!
Hah, I can’t take credit for it. Just a handy little function of the comments.
I love the whatever line, it’s so characteristically appealling to shrug off your opponents concerns. Wish that would work in a political debate, or at least was used….”..and as such I(insert name), feel I am better suited to (insert position)”
“Whatever.”
Point:
“My position on energy policy would allow us to tap new oil and natural gas resources in the United States while we continue to develop alternative energy sources and ween ourselves off foreign oil.”
Counterpoint:
“Whatever.”
NB: “Yeah, whatever.” also works really well.
Even more dismissive. I love it!
“Sure, why not?”
Love the security dude and his broken teeth. Can we know his name?
If you don’t have one I would propose to put it to a vote… my suggestion is “Hank”.
I’d love to hear other suggestions for a name. I hadn’t really settled on one I liked just yet, although I’ve referred to him as Festus a few times.
Hubris, Festus… you’re in an “Antiquity” mood? Or perhaps you’re watching Spartacus?
That’s just how I roll.
I actually haven’t seen any of the Spartacus series, although I’ve heard good things.
He looks more like a Bill to me.
I think he looks more like an Azazel or a Mephisto.
Now that I think about it he could be a Kevin too, or you could call him by his last name.
Azazel or Kevin. That’s an interesting contrast.
I like to keep some variety in the world,
http://names.mongabay.com/male_names.htm
I mean come on, what happened to the old names, names like aldrich, broderick, melville, and woodrow?! It is just sad. so many good names that have fallen out of use!!!
Oooh! Ooh! I know! Cephus… He looks like a Cephus.
I’m really leaning towards Pedro…
We are pretty far from reaching a consensus here!
“Dig through faces” sounds way worse than it should.