» About     » Archive     » Search     » Forum     » RSS Feed     Updates Wednesdays

No. 14: Turmoil has engulfed the Terran Federation...

First | Previous | 2015-04-29 | Next | Latest

Turmoil has engulfed the Terran Federation...

First | Previous | 2015-04-29 | Next | Latest

Permanent URL: https://mezzacotta.net/pomh/?comic=14

Strip by: Ian Boreham

{A screencap from the opening credits of Blakes 7, except the title text is displayed in the Star Wars font.}
Title: Blakes Seven
Subtitle: Episode 2.2: Shadow of the Empire

{Roj Blake is standing in the bridge of the Liberator, speaking to Avon off-screen. He is wearing a pale sandy/cream long-sleeve tunic, belted at the waist and open at the neck.}
Blake: Avon, could you remind be why we're dressed in Luke Skywalker costumes?

{Avon, looking cynical, is wearing similar garb.}
Avon: Because, Blake, we're teleporting down to a desert planet...

{Avon's eyes are closed as if the explanation is tiresome.}
Avon: ...with twin suns and moisture farms.

{Over four frames, Blake, Avon and Jenna appear by teleport on the surface of the planet. The scenery is suitably sandy. The red sun in the background is rather too dark.}
SFX: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZOING!

{Avon has his gun out, pointed skyward.}
Avon: I hope you brought a blaster. Logic dictates there will be...

{Avon, in close-up, is smiling as if to a private joke.}
Avon: ..."womp rats".

{Blake, oblivious, is looking away from Avon.}
Blake: This planet has telepathic "moon discs".

{Avon, Blake and Jenna are peering at a cluster of moon discs on the sand.}
Blake: Must be loaded with midichlorians!

{Blake and Avon are back on the Liberator. Gan is in the background, and a dirty-looking young man is there too. Avon is looking away from the others, with a decidedly snarky look on his face.}
Text: Later...
Avon: All right, so you rescued a slave boy, Blake.

{Same, but Avon now has the tired, eyes-closed look again.}
Avon: It doesn't mean he's the Chosen One.

The author writes:

This strip might be unintelligible to people who haven't watched Blakes 7, but I hope that Star Wars viewers will at least see some of what I'm getting at.

I've been watching the collected series of Blakes 7, enjoying it both as it was intended, and also laughing at it a bit, too. They had some interesting ideas, and the characters were fun and original, but they were sometimes let down by budget, and sometimes the ideas were not explored as well as they could have been. Avon and Vila's characters were entertaining.

I got a surprise halfway through this episode (Season 2, Episode 2: Shadow), when suddenly the characters appeared dressed as Luke Skywalker. Other similarities struck me as I watched it. I don't think they could be coincidental, so perhaps it was a nudge-nudge reference to Star Wars, or the writer was feeling a bit envious or something. I embellished the references somewhat for the strip, of course, including the anachronistic Chosen One reference, so don't shoot me. (Not unless I get a chance to shoot first. Avon would should first, and he wouldn't apologise for it or pretend it hadn't happened.) I was tempted to make some trade federation/Terran Federation jokes, but yeah whatever.

The strip was made using screencaps and edited together in Inkscape. I considered drawing it, but I decided that screencaps would make it clearer that there was an episode that actually looked like that. That, and my facial-likeness-challenged drawing skills.