What's going on, Beetlejuice fans? I'm back with the chapter 2 review of Cobweb and ... Nope. Wrong one. It's really messing with me that I now review two Beetlejuice related comics. The Ghost with the Most! Exclamation point. I keep on forgetting it. It is part of the title after all. I liked how I did the last Cobweb and Stripes review, where I review as I'm giving you the story, so I'm going to do that here. Let's get on with it.
I never quite understood peoples fascination with what I like to call, the Skunk-do. Eh, I guess I'm a hair snob.
We start off with Lydia asking Beej, what is he doing there? Annnnnd we get sappy Beetlejuice again. He says he wants to know why he couldn't have seen her sooner and that he missed her. He then asks why she stopped calling him and she said, she grew up. I guess Beetlejuice is like Drop Dead Fred where once someone grows up, she doesn't give a damn about her imaginary friend anymore. Beetlejuice SNAPS! What was he? Some pet you could just get rid of when she get's bored? But that's not what she meant. She wanted to live her own life.
She wanted to see the world, get married, and she couldn't do that with him around. He says, she could have, but she says, no. She then reminds him of all the times he would scare people off like Prince Vince or some boys she was interested in. Beej says she didn't want her dating some losers. Which, to be fair, does sound like something Beetlejuice would say. She then says all he wanted to do was play around. Woah, wait a minute here. Oh, she didn't mean it like that. And Beetlejuice was always depending on her. He says they could have talked it out and it didn't have to end like this.
But she was trapped. He can't believe that, his head twirls like it does when he thinks of sandworms. He then drops an F-bomb! -Gaaassssssspppppp!- Eh, I don't care. He says, she has no "fucking" idea what being trapped is like. He was trapped in the Neithworld for 30 years. Every day he waited helplessly for her. Wait, really? Hey, Lyds is cool, but you're in the land of the dead. Couldn't you find Brittany Murphy or someone? I bet she's a fun "playmate" -suavy eyebrows- Okay, I'll stop. In the words of Craig Ferguson on the Late Late Show, when it was actually good, "Come on, man! It was a joke! ... You're such a racist." Buuut to be fair, I guess Beej does make a good point that he didn't know if she was hurt or worse.
HE LOVED HER! I'm not overemphasizing here. That's how it looks.
See?
Ugh. Is this Beetlejuice here or some character from General Hospital? I mean, seriously. It's like we never even get a glimpse of Beetlejuice. We just see some over dramatic person who is just wearing the same clothes he does. Kind of like Robin Thicke or whatever his name is (I hate pop-culture). Anyway ...
Lydia says she never knew. Beej says he was going to wait until she was older to tell him. She says it would never work. His old enough to be her grandfather five times over. I think it would be more, considering he's six hundred years old (or at least the last time he's been with a woman, according to a line in the movie) or maybe Lydia has some really good genes in her family where they can have a long life-span. Yeah, I'm overthinking this, probably. Also, were they lovers before or is it one of those old storylines where one person always loved the other, but could never say anything? That hasn't been established yet. I'll give it some time. Give it a chance.
She doesn't know what else to say and Beetlejuice says, she's said enough. He's leaving. Good! Maybe bring in Beetlejuice now? Too much? Too salty? Probably. But she starts saying the three B's, but he says she can't put him back where he was even if she wanted to and besides, she wasn't the one who brought him there in the first place. Wait a minute. I thought anyone could bring him to them or put him back? When was it established that only the person who called him could put him back? That's new. But she wonders, who would/could call him?
In comes Lucy on cue. Like she was hiding behind something, waiting for that perfect moment. Lydia sees the diary and is wondering, where did she get that? Lucy says that she found it in a box that got mixed up with hers. Don't get mad, Lydia! That's why they created markers, so you could mark shit that belongs to you! Jeez. She wanted to know what her mother was like when she was younger. Come to find out, her mother was hanging out with a dead guy. She read the passage to bring Beetlejuice to her and presto. Lydia, in overdramatic fashion, snatches the book from her hands, and asks, how could she do this? Whoa, chill Lydia. Maybe you should've locked it up somewhere. Then again, that wouldn't be convenient for this story. Lucy says, how could she do that to her? How could she abandon a guy for thirty years? Wait, why should she care? Maybe she's a caring soul, I guess. Not a bad quality to have, I suppose, but still. What's it her business? Lydia asks if she's been spying on them this entire time and Lucy stammers with basically saying, yes. Lydia says, it's a good thing her father is on business or she'd be in trouble. Right, Lyds. Telling your husband you were close, perhaps too close, to a dead dude is really going to go over smooth with him. He'll think she's going ... eh, let this Homer .gif handle it.
Oh, but surprisingly (not, it's not) emo Beetlejuice makes a comeback and asks, "What are you ashamed of me?" Lydia ignores this question and demands Lucy put's him back, but she is reluctant. It's all too much for Lydia. They start bickering, which is what is shown in the comic (eh, it's kind of funny, I'll admit). Beetlejuice said that if he's going back, she's going with him. Wa ... eh ... Why?! And what's funny is Lydia blames Lucy by saying, don't you dare! Umm, it was Beetlejuice who said it. Lucy's just basically standing there. Doing nothing. But she goes through it. She says the three B's, Beetlejuice says "It's showtime!" and they go through a portal. Honestly, only two frames and it is the only time we ever see Beetlejuice acting like Beetlejuice since the beginning. Lydia tries to dive for it, but she's too late. Lydia has a fit and rightfully so.
We're now in the Neitherworld where Lucy opens her eyes to a world she has never seen before. Finally, this has perked my interest. I know I've been very cynical about this whole chapter, but ... I'll get to that at the end. Lucy turns into a Disney princess by twirling around. "This place is so cool!" But she oversteps her boundaries as a cliff crumbles beneath her feet and she falls. Beetlejuice exclaims, "SHIT!" and goes after her ... by growing his arms. He wraps his arms around and tries to pull her up while panting that he needs to work out. THERE! There! We finally have Beetlejuice. She's pulled up and says, thanks, meanwhile Beetlejuice just says, "Sure, whatever." Exactly what he would say. See. There is promise.
Lucy asks if this is the Neitherworld and Beetlejuice basically says, yep. See ya later. That was the grand tour. She asks where does he think he's going? He's done. See ya later, babes. She says, "I don't think so, bub." She brought him to the Outerworld and without her, he would never find out what happened. Fair point. And also, she saved his butt from her mother comtinuing to humiliate him. Nah, Lucy. He was doing a really good job at that himself from acting like every other fan fiction written about him. She's owed a thank you. He says he's not good at the whole "thanks" thing. He starts to go away and she asks him to be her friend. He asks if she's right in the head. She says from her mom's diary, he seems cool. He asks if she's mentally sane? There's not much to do in the town she lives in and it's been exciting since he's shown up. ... Yeah, honey, I don't know if I agree with that, but hey, it's looking good now. Plus, he seems lonely. Dante's Inferno exists in this cannon, right? Cause he won't be lonely then!
He says, he is not! And she says he is the most transparent ghost she's seen. Ha! Transparent. See through. Puns. ... -grumbles- I liked it. And then we get the, "Wait, you're the only dead guy I've ever met." Beetlejuice asks himself, "What is up with this broad?" which I do agree with him. But in all fairness, he has nothing to do and besides, he hasn't messed with anyone in ages. He says, he'll be her friend. First thing is, he's going to show her around. He grabs her and they fly off.
And that's it.
----
What did I think?
No offense to the writer/artist, but 3/4's of this chapter were really rough to get through. I mean, I've made points before on C n S and even in the first chapter of this, that Beetlejuice having human moments is a good thing, but only in small portions. This ... he's a poor, whine ass sap almost the entirety of this chapter. Showing no visible sign that he's even Beetlejuice until the very end. From when they are in the Neitherworld, it's fun. Before that? Boy, it was like reading a transcript for some soap opera.
Some people who read my previous review said I was "too easy" and "less strict" with this. "Too nice" is basically what they were saying. And chapter 1 wasn't bad. It wasn't great, but it had it's moments. This. I'm thinking after this it does get better, but for right now, I'm going to have to say this was the worst chapter. No resemblance to Beetlejuice until the final act, but most of it is just him and Lydia bitching at each other.
Also, Lydia was kind of a bitch in this chapter, which is out-of-character. I would think she would at least have the courage to tell her "best friend" why she can't see him anymore.
I suppose I could give some leverage to the writer, considering it's been thirty years, but like I said, in thirty years I'd be thinking someone would move on. Besides, Lydia will die someday and then she can't avoid him. But my point is, even with it being an emotional scene, Beetlejuice could've still acted like himself. He could act bitter. He could act like he doesn't give a shit. He could try to make Lydia jealous. There were ways around it, but then again, I'm not the writer. But I am the reader and it just wasn't my cup of tea. The last act, from the Neitheworld on, was fine. Before? Sorry, but no.
We'll see what chapter 3 brings to the table.
Until then, this has been another review of The Ghost with the Most!
----
Read more of my reviews of this comic as they became available.
Prologue/Chapter 1 <---> Chapter 3 (coming soon)
Beetlejuice Related Reading Material
Nice *Bleeping* Sequel! (A blog I wrote when news was running rampant about a Beetlejuice sequel)
----
Check out more of BlooeyedSpazz (that's the artist of The Ghost with the Most) at these links:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Only members of this blog can comment. Sorry. Too many trolls and jerks ruined it for everyone.
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.