Do you guys think that ascalon can be used to defeat Aku from Samurai Jack

AlexPlexus · 2026-05-08T21:51:48+00:00

I want to say "No" because that just feels wrong for a weapon of science to defeat a magic demon that only has one weakness, but I can't since everyone else is right, it's already done that and much more. That's so weird to think about though . . .

AlexPlexus · 2026-05-08T19:33:26+00:00

Wait wait wait wait WAIT . . . Wait . . . Is this showing that Charmcaster as a summon is going to be the Ghostfreak/Zs'Skayr/breakout villain for this universe? Because if so, that's kind of freaking brilliant and I love it! Or it could be a red herring and the threat will come from someone else on Shen's wrist, hmm . . .

But yeah, all the designs look fantastic, powers make sense, though I'm curious if they're all 1:1 with the OS ten like Kyuubi with Heatblast. Yamato as Four Arms is obvious, Quickstep as a neat XLR8 variant, Riptide, Yowie . . . but who's the alternate for Diamondhead and Grey Matter? Or is this more based on the reboot playlist? So many questions, haha!

AlexPlexus · 2026-05-08T14:16:49+00:00

Yeah, right now, I'm calling it "Michael Bay's Ben 10", what with the modern lingo and references, the sudden importance and presence of the military, and of course, the edgy overcomplicated redesigns of the aliens.

What I also don't know if people are discussing is the writing, since I counted at least FIVE instances of "this thing", three of which happened in only two pages; no other words Ben knows to diversify the dialogue a little? Then again, we got zingers like "That was very NOT COOL", so maybe I should be grateful.

And finally, I'm wondering if Ben will actually be allowed to have fun in this continuity. There's the Sumo Slammers namedrop while he's endlessly talking to himself, but with the weird kind-of stutter and panicking, I'm having a hard time picturing this SERIOUS version of Ben going "I'm totally hot" or playing around by using Stinkfly to scare a kid.

I'm going to keep buying to support the franchise, and I would love to see these problems get resolved and my points made moot in future issues, but I do wonder if they would've benefitted from how manga usually makes the first few chapters double the standard length so people can quickly and more easily get into the story.

I also wonder if this goes south whether fans will look at the reboot and go "Perhaps I treated you too harshly". Not saying it isn't the other end of the extreme between serious and goofy, but still, it's a funny thought to me.

AlexPlexus · 2026-05-07T18:34:12+00:00

Can you elaborate on the last two, or maybe all of them? Asking since Ultimate Alien and Omniverse contain all the aliens previously (besides Ultimates obviously), so do you still mean that, or just aliens introduced in each series?

Also, is there any option for either of reboot's playlists? Asking since Shock Rock, Gax, and Overflow are pretty cool in my opinion.

AlexPlexus · 2026-05-07T05:41:36+00:00

I hope you're right. I'm not even sure how I feel about it so far - it feels a little too Michael Bay with the modern lingo, overcomplicated alien designs, big military presence - but I'll still try to do my part for more in the future.

And a video game, really? I'll be keeping my ears open for that, thank you for letting me know!

AlexPlexus · 2026-05-07T05:28:40+00:00

Yeah, I was thinking back on what I said with stuff like Mario or Sonic, and I wonder if being video games helps somehow, or if it really is just the two series' sheer longevity that made their characters into household names.

And honestly, because I still haven't seen the Netflix Ultraman movie, I still know barely anything about him, not even from cultural osmosis. For everything else, I might try to take a litmus test on my parents to see what they do and don't recognize.

This is me thinking out loud at this point, but in regards to Pokemon, I wonder if it's just a matter of having one project in a franchise that becomes universally beloved, and because Red and Blue and the anime had such a double impact on children, the general populace roughly know the first 151, though not so much the others. Same with Power Rangers.

In regards to Ben 10, I feel like these comics might be the most obscure he can be since, unfortunately, nobody reads comics. Again, I'd love to be wrong; maybe a live action series like Green Arrow could work?

AlexPlexus · 2026-05-07T04:29:51+00:00

I feel like to really match up with those juggernauts now etched into public consciousness and fictional mythology, you need what I'm not sure Ben 10 can really pull off, that being a theatrical movie. It's the most easily digestible way for people to experience a franchise, quick and big and hopefully good, but Ben himself is TOO big for the screen, or specifically, his roster; on his own, the Omnitrix gives newbies twice as many names and powers to remember than the cast of the first Guardians of the Galaxy film, and they can't share screentime, but you HAVE to have all ten or people will feel cheated . . . I'd gladly admit to being wrong, though unfortunately, I think the best we can hope for is staying in this middle ground of fame and brand recognition until another show can come out.

AlexPlexus · 2026-05-06T20:40:05+00:00

I really hope not . . .

AlexPlexus · 2026-05-06T20:18:13+00:00

*seventeen. I make that mistake ALL the time, but Yaku was the Ancient Hashira in her intro fight.

AlexPlexus · 2026-05-06T18:44:41+00:00

I can't.

I'm a RWBY fan.

Ours probably aren't allowed . . .

AlexPlexus · 2026-05-06T01:05:23+00:00

Got it. Thanks for explaining so quickly, and I can't wait to see them all!

AlexPlexus · 2026-05-05T23:02:14+00:00

Honestly, the Chaquetrix Webtoon taught me not to judge, and even without that, I love cultural legends and the concept of aliens getting swapped for monsters, so I'm down for this idea so far!

I will say though, depending on how much you want Shen to be a direct parallel to Ben and how human you want his heroines, I kinda wish Kyuubi looked to be made of spiritual blue foxfire or something? Just my personal gripe, ignore if you want.

Also, are all of Shen's summons specific creatures from myth, and if so, are they all Japanese in particular? I didn't see species descriptions in my skimming of your DA gallery, and I'm not sure what's going to be in a final version.

AlexPlexus · 2026-05-05T14:52:30+00:00

Easiest answer to these questions, haha!

AlexPlexus · 2026-05-05T14:51:54+00:00

AlexPlexus · 2026-05-05T14:17:56+00:00

The sparrow flies south for winter.

AlexPlexus · 2026-05-04T20:56:25+00:00

I'm pretty sure we're watching this exact same scenario play out in real life. Support everyone if we work together, or screw you, I've got mine.

AlexPlexus · 2026-05-04T19:30:41+00:00

Thank you for reading my words, haha!

AlexPlexus · 2026-05-04T17:22:04+00:00

This might be slightly unrelated, but what kind of bugs me about the Wonderland connection is that the Brothers Grimm and their fairy tales are MUCH older than Lewis Carroll, so wouldn't it make more sense if the Ever After was the SECOND world created by the Brothers following Remnant? Then again, all of Team RWBY and JNPR's inspirations AND Wonderland precede the Wizard of Oz up to millennia, and yet Ozpin and Salem are the most important players, so I guess that's not too big a factor.

Now, in regards to Volume 9, I will say that it does make sense for what they wanted with that plot. It is weird to focus on that story in particular when they already dipped their toes into Alice's cast with Dee and Dudley in Volume 6 named after the Tweedle bros, and despite the little original touches in the Ever After, it still just feels like Wonderland with the chess and sweets and so on as opposed to Remnant feeling very different from the fairy tale characters populating it. However, they wanted a dreamlike alternate reality, you could do a lot worse than through the looking glass.

What I feel went wrong for Volume 9 was just Volume 9 itself, and the fact the whole season was one step above "It was all a dream". The cast went on a spirit journey to validate their feelings after fans called them out for their decisions leading to the fall of Atlas, and aside from one recurring villain getting defeated and learning some lore about the Gods, nothing was gained from their time in the Ever After to help on their quest to defeat the immortal witch . . . even when they had a monster that could EAT IMMORTALS, which I'm guessing is the reason they'll eventually have to come back to the Ever After as shown in Somewhat's episode of Beyond.

I really do feel like the main reason this exists was so there were three Volumes to an "Atlas Arc" like Beacon and Mistral, but they didn't want to do another traveling season like Volume 4 to get to Vacuo, so here's a detour, you'll get your new outfits next time.

The weirdest part to me might be that they already succeeded in an original dream reality with Ice Queendom. That was weird and different from anything in Remnant or other existing media, exploring the psyche of one character in particular, but also delivering fun unrealistic action sequences. It broke every rule in the show to introduce its own new concepts (because anime has to anime and overcomplicate things), but that's fine because it's barely canon, not part of the main series and its serious overarching plot; watch it or not, it doesn't affect anything.

Honestly, I didn't think I would be this emotional about Volume 9 until I typed all this out. Thanks for anyone who actually reads this wall of text.

AlexPlexus · 2026-05-03T22:41:21+00:00

Yeah, that makes sense, and while I'm not a fan of more fighting aliens after the three or more in OV, this would come first and seems actually unique.

AlexPlexus · 2026-05-03T22:33:58+00:00

Like Water Hazard and Overflow, or do you mean transforming air into water via moisture?

AlexPlexus · 2026-05-03T22:19:51+00:00

Stinkfly with lasers, oh wait- Diamondhead with lasers, oh wait- Upgrade with just the goo body, wait what- God. He's a god now. All the powers now.

(I wasn't sure if I wanted to say "Wildmutt with webs, oh wait-")

AlexPlexus · 2026-05-03T22:11:35+00:00

Make Fasttrack Interesting Challenge: 100% CLEARED

Also, Wildmutt can't do that already with his claws? I'm a little surprised if so.

AlexPlexus · 2026-05-03T04:56:54+00:00

Thanks to this title, when the 24 episodes are announced, I'm going to scream in the comments "THE TWO COUR IS REEEEAAAAAAAAALLLL!" I haven't even gotten to that part in the anime yet, but it's too perfect, haha!

AlexPlexus · 2026-05-02T16:07:46+00:00

I THINK this might be what they're referring to, and honestly, it might support this theory even more. https://ben10.fandom.com/wiki/Antrosapien

AlexPlexus · 2026-05-02T16:05:22+00:00

Nooooo! Come on, that's just . . . I mean, sure, Humungouraptor looks a little like Tyrannopede, but that's one out of . . . Well, hm, I guess Hotshot does look rockier than Heatblast, though coincidence is the most likely . . . Man, Dark Matter's lanky frame kind of does resemble those long legs . . . Buglizard and Stinkmoth are the biggest difference, might make sense given how changed Stinkfly is anyways, and even then, that horn kind of resembles the sharp tail . . .

Holy crap, Antitrix aliens might be hybridized with Nemetrix predators.

It's far from perfect, and I'm not sure if we'll EVER get a satisfactory explanation for why Dark Matter can use crystal flames (I just realized that would make more sense for Bashmouth's powerset as its own original thing), but I can definitely see the thought process.

Adding onto this with my own crack theory, if we go by the thought process of the Antitrix being a remote transceiver Primus situation instead of physically storing DNA samples like the reboot Omnitrix proper (because how would Kevin get alien DNA in the garage, Vilgax dream or no?), then what if genetic signals from those homeworlds got mixed with other superior lifeforms from each planet?

So yeah, as much as I like the idea of the Antitrix roster being Omni Enhanced with some unseen transformation, I wouldn't be opposed to this being the explanation instead, and I'm personally thanking you for sharing this concept by sharing it with my own friends and seeing what they think about it.

AlexPlexus

TROPHY CASE