Welcome to Atop the Fourth Wall, where bad comics burn. In this episode, Linkara looks at the final two issues of The Thing from another World: Eternal Vows!
atopthefourthwa...
Originally uploaded October 13th, 2014.
ORIGINAL INFO: If this was an imitation, a PERFECT imitation, how would you tell if it was a real Thing comic?
RUMINATIONS: I actually ended up filming the storyline portions here on the same day as my brother’s birthday party. We had it in my apartment complex’s party room (the same one used in the movie) and while I hung around for a while, I eventually had to slip off and film all of this in about an hour or two. The good news is that none of this was TOO complicated. Really the most difficult part was the cybermat composition scene, since it required me to have to constantly move them around the floor to be in good spots where they weren’t overlapping each other and give the illusion that I had so many. In reality I only have about 7 or 8 of varying designs, but the composite shot helped give a very decent illusion about how many there really were. The auton hand that Harvey sports was something I had bought a year or so previously with no knowledge of what I was actually going to do with it, but I thought it might make for a good prop eventually… and it did, for the revelation that Harvey, too, had been replaced by a robot.
The robot revelation was the big reveal of all of this, of course. People had been speculating for quite a while about how clearly Harvey was also under the sway of the King, but thought it might NOT be the case since he had shown no signs of acknowledging the King of Worms like Linksano had.
Much like the “Ghost in the Machine” arc, this episode’s special effects have been enhanced! The Game Show reviewer volunteered to update the special effects for the youtube version, producing new photon torpedo, portal, and force field visuals for this. The force field visuals in particular needed the upgrade, since I had just quickly whipped up a forcefield shot for the cybermat in the original version that looked reeeally fakey. These effects have actual energy ripples when something touches it.
The original portal visuals were made by taking the “Fire and ice” Halloween lights that I had used in Longbox of the Damned and projecting them at a black sheet. After playing with the contrast and opacity and a few other little stretches, it created a decent portal effect (combined with some shimmering lights for good measure). While I like the more homegrown effort for my effects (practical and whatnot), there’s no denying that these updated effects look a hell of a lot better and I’m more than happy for them. The good thing about being at this point, where we’re MUCH closer to current times is that I still have all the original storyline files, meaning it’s easy for me to whip up higher quality renders for him to work with. It’s probably not too noticeable for all of you, but it makes me feel better regardless.