Scared Sheetless: Cobweb and Stripes Review with James Paradie: Chapter 14

What's going on, Beetlejuice fans? It is Friday, which means another review of The Ghost ... no. What's this? Cobweb and Stripes? But that's supposed to be Monday? Oh, right. I was a lazy asshole on Monday, so I didn't get to it until today, being Friday. Oh, well. At least it's up.

Willy Wonka reference? As long as it's not the Johnny Depp version, we're cool. There is only one Willy Wonka and that is Mr. Gene Wilder! Then again, it could be not a Willy Wonka reference and I'm just ranting for no reason. What a tit I am if that's the case.

Ada warned me. This is the big one. The large chapter. What are we waiting for? Let's go!

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Overview/Review

We start off with Lydia's alarm going off and it's a vampire in a casket. Nice. I'd totally own one. But as soon as she presses it, Beetlejuice is now the vampire. He greets her with a jolly, "Hello there!" Lydia bids him the same and brings him to the Outerworld by saying the 3 B's. Lyds heads out of her room as Beetlejuice follows. She tells him he doesn't have to accompany her all the time, seeing as they're not chained to each other anymore. He asks if he's bothering her, but she says no, it's just ...

Holy crap, it's Delia! She finally makes an appearance in this comic. Please tell me she's still a bitch and not all of the sudden jippy, perky, annoying cartoon Delia. She tells Lydia to watch where she's going and walks away, asking where are her gloves. I'm glad it's movie Delia, but damn it, Ada, we all want to know where her gloves went! Umm, plot hole much? See. I finally made up that fake excuse to not show favoritism! Yes! I knew I could come up with a reason. Missing gloves ... never resolved. PLOT FREAKING HOLE! Boom! Yes, of course, I'm kidding. I always joke every week that I need to find some problems with this comic, so people who read the other comic won't think I'm being bias. Anyway, Lydia sarcastically says it's good to see her too.

Now we see Charles, who's appearance is an improvement from the last time we saw him. He's going over a check list as Lydia comes in and asks him why Delia is uptight. She is flying to New York, because a gallery is going to exhibit her art. He's also leaving, because he has a conference. Hmm. Wasn't Charles retired in the movie, because his nerves were shot? I could be wrong.

Lydia asks why today? Charles apologizes, saying he knows it's her birthday, but there was nothing he could do about it. Lydia, I hear you. My family decided to go to the casino -not on just one birthday's of mine, but two- and they used the same excuse: nothing we could do about it. LIES! He says that he will be back tomorrow. He says to take advantage and invite one of her friends. He says to invite the one he met on Halloween. Betty. Lydia looks over to where Beetlejuice was sitting, but he's gone. I should've mentioned that up until now, Beetlejuice was following Lydia, but was invisible.

Eventually her parents leave and Lydia decides to start partying ... by developing photographs. Hey, who am I to judge? I write reviews for a good time ... and people love me for it. Yeah ... no. They don't. -sad face- Lydia put's on a little tunes. That of Harry Belafonte's "Jump in the Line." Good tune, always hoping they would make a metal version.

Oooh, we have some risque stuff happening. Lydia is taking her pajamas off. But bummer for those of you who have the hots for Lydia (yes, like me), you don't see anything. Unless you're a back guy/girl. Just as she is getting her shirt on, Beetlejuice appears in the mirror. He comments, "Looks like I've missed something ..." Yeah. We know, bud. We're bummed out too. Minus five stars for the tease, Ada. Not appreciated! I'm kidding. Of course. Do I really need to keep saying that? Oh, well.

Lydia asks where he's been and Beetlejuice says kind of awkwardly that he had stuff to do. As soon as Lydia says the 3 B's bringing him into the Outeworld, he covers her eyes. He spins her around and suddenly she's blindfolded. He tells her it's a game and to seek.

He tells her to be careful. It's big and hard. ... You know what that means. Sound the alarm for the Beetlejuice erotic fan fiction! No. False alarm. Phew! I mean, I have a feeling if Ada ever took a whack at the erotic stuff between Beetlejuice and Lydia she would be fine. But Beej confirms it's not what she thinks. It's a gift! Rather than explain it, I need to show you, because we see our next cartoon nod come into the realm of Cobweb and Stripes.

It's her spider web clothes/rob-thingy (I'm terrible when it comes to clothes). The other surprising part was Jacques is married? Of course, we need to remember this isn't following the cartoon exactly. It's just bringing in characters from the cartoonverse into this universe, so of course they're going to have new or altered back stories. Looking forward to GINGAH! (Ginger. You'll have to read my The Ghost with the Most reviews).

Lydia asks what the key is for and Beetlejuice says it is to enter the Neitherworld. Beetlejuice tells her that she must have heard about people contacting the other side. She says they know it's not hard from experience. Beej has something different in mind than just chatting through a mirror. What he wants to do is have her cross into the Neitherworld while she is alive. No out of body experience, because nobody can do that without skill. She needs someone to guide her.

Lydia tries to take the key, but Beetlejuice tells her not so fast. Something is missing. Beetlejuice takes out a single hair and put's it inside. Oh, it's a potion. Lydia doesn't seem all that keen on drinking it, but says, "Let's do it." But wait, what if something goes wrong? Beetlejuice says, she won't kick the bucket. It just won't work. That's all. Lydia asks if his hair (or as she puts it "lovely spicing") wills serve its purpose? Beetlejuice says it creates a bond between the two. It grants her a small amount of Beetlejuice's power to travel to the other side. Okay. I will remember that on my next paranormal investigation. All I need is some ghost hair!

Beetlejuice warns her there may be some side effects and she may go bananas, but just a little. Some people have a hard time handling what they see in the Neitherworld. Lydia says she wouldn't do it if she wasn't a little unbalanced. ... Kinky? Actually, I did like that line.

This next page made me laugh, so I'll just post it.

Lydia falls down a very deep abyss. I thought they were going to have to play 20 questions just to pass the time in a la Bill and Ted fashion.

Lydia: Hey Beej. Wanna play 20 questions?

Beetlejuice: Okay! I got one!

Lydia: Is it a mineral?

Beetlejuice: Yeah!

Lydia: Are you a tank!?

Beetlejuice: Whoa! Yeah!

And then they do an air guitar solo. Oh, you know it would be most excellent!

Back to the comic, Beetlejuice is racing her down and says, whoever is last smells like old people. I'm sure some old people will be TRIGGERED! when they read that. My grandfather smelled good actually. No. It's not like I put my head up to him and took a big whiff. I'm not THAT weird, guys.

She then hit's the ground and ...

Leaving it right there. This is a pretty long chapter, so I'm going to break it up in pieces. With that said ...

What did I think?

I'm excited they're finally entering the Neitherworld together. I know they brought Lydia's room to the Neitherworld for Chapter 8 for Beetlejuice's court case, but we didn't exactly see it, see it. It will be interesting to see Ada's version of the Neitherworld. And yes, I know, I'm spelling it wrong than what she does in her comic. I'm just spelling it the way it is in the cartoon, which is also wrong, but play on words was Beetlejuice the cartoon's specialty. More force of habit than anything.

As always, I thought the dialogue really fit the characters. I'm not scratching my head like, "What? They would never say that!"

The art is great.

Nothing bad to say about this at all. I did make up a few knit-picks, but I was kidding.

I'm going to try and get part 2 up on Monday and get back into the regular scheduling of these reviews. I am also going to try and post the next The Ghost with the Most review today, but no promises.

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Read my other reviews on Cobweb and Stripes: