I feel there are two things to consider when we’re comparing Valerian and Fantasia, though. The first is that Fantasia is adding visuals to classical music, and there wasn’t necessarily any kind of narrative underpinning that, so it makes sense for Fantasia to sideline or forgo story altogether. Valerian is a more…

I think Star Wars is an interesting example as we can’t really talk about it in the same way as other sci-fi films... or other films full stop. Star Wars, irrespective of any genuine quality, has embedded itself so deeply into our culture that you can’t not see it. I mean, it does have many excellent qualities, but…

The difference between a film and an open-world RPG, though, is that where one is typically guided and story-focused the other loosens the leash a bit more. Minecraft doesn’t tell you a story (outside of Story Mode, anyway) but it acts as a vehicle for storytelling. The places you go and the things you choose to do in…

I don’t know; personally, I find an emphasis on visuals over story to be a tad infantilising nowadays. It takes an entire universe and sidesteps any truly sophisticated elements to give us something colourful to coo over for a bit. And maybe that’s fine for some people, but I want more films that use amazing visuals…

The Australian one looks like a screenshot from a Deus Ex game.

That’s actually a good point; you’re making an entirely silent adaptation of a film largely inspired by music. I guess they feel the visuals are strong enough to carry the comic past that particular roadblock.

I’m talking about 2-dimensional characters in terms of character growth rather than animation style. 2D characters don’t grow or change as a response to events; rather, they stay the same, and react to the changing events around them. The Beatles in Yellow Submarine are 2D characters, but that’s okay because the…

Yes, exactly. Yellow Submarine doesn’t have a story in the conventional sense, and its characters are pretty two-dimensional for the most part. But as a canvas for fantastical adventures I’m sure there’s some great stuff you could do with it.

The artwork is wonderful, but it doesn’t really do anything to contradict my argument. If you want to make some Yellow Submarine inspired art, why not produce a series of posters, or something else that celebrates the film rather than retreading it, in the vein of Batman ‘66?

I’m as big a Yellow Submarine fan as you can get; I grew up with the original film, bought the Macfarlane toys and got the Lego model for my 25th birthday. It’s a wonderful, off-the-wall piece of animation and there hasn’t been anything quite like it since. But I have to ask what adapting the film to comics in this…

The common thread between the two acts is that they’re the last thing you’d do in that situation, and can be done much better elsewhere.

At first, I thought the rain gutter one was actually a picture of a CCTV camera aligned with the phone’s camera as some kind of savvy political statement. Alas, it was not actually the case.

But that idea doesn’t really work when we consider that a) Batman has had a Robin in the comics for donkey’s years and b) The Lego Movie already showed Batman forming relationships and working with other people for a common cause. It wasn’t a family structure, per se, but Batman had no problem with collaborating with…

Actually, depending on your classification, it’s either Dee Bradley Baker, or Warwick Davis and Alfred Molina with the most minifigures. Source

This sounds like an interesting idea, but it also sounds like the same territory that The Lego Batman Movie explored, with the expected level of success. Barbara Gordon argues that Batman in his current state is ineffective at best and actively harmful at worst when it comes to fighting crime... but by the end of the…

I guess that makes sense, but if it’s actively preventing people from using the game feature (irrespective of how capable they are of doing so) it doesn’t seem to have worked out too well. I imagine it wouldn’t fit with the game world, but something like GTA Online’s strategy (lots of apartments in a single building)…

Having a literal housing shortage in an entirely virtual environment is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard.

The Sorting Hat seems to decide your Hogwarts house based on your aptitudes and your ambitions; the things you have the potential to do. It’s hideously invasive, especially when you consider the film version of the Hat goes through its entire thinking process within earshot of everyone else in the school.

I realise that, you know, this is the internet and it’s raison d’être is to obsessively take apart the minutiae of everything. But scrutiny of any aspect of Harry Potter is almost sure to come down to ‘a wizard did it’ sooner or later without any loss of clarity. If the Sorting Hat doesn’t do its job properly it’s…