That’s No Latte…
Didn’t think we’d be back so soon, did you? Well, the truth is, we’re not back. This is a special treat for our regular readers who are missing us during our hiatus. We will be taking an extra week off next week as well. We will put up one more strip next week as a prologue to the Holiday Special (don’t forget we are doing the whole Bea Arthur and Wookiee family portion of the Holiday Special too). The Holiday Special will start full blast on July 5th and should wrap up by the end of the month.
Something should be said about Admiral Ackbar making his first teaser appearance in the strip. It was never our intention to go the obvious route with Ackbar, and yet his catch phrase of “it’s a trap!” and “firepower of that magnitude!” are essential to his wide appeal. People never seem to get tired of quoting his famous and brief lines. There’s also not much you can really do with them in terms of puns that hasn’t been done by someone else already. This is the case with “It’s a frapp!” We’re not laying claim to this pun as I saw it elsewhere, but it’s relevance to Vader’s BMS coffee addiction, and the way in which we incorporated it into the visual gag of tackling Vader makes this stand on its own.
Leanne came up with a catch phrase for Blue Milk Special’s Admiral Ackbar, which is an evolution of the already well known “trap” gag, namely “my Calamari sense is tingling!” Expect to see Ackbar and his Spider-Man-like heightened senses again in the future. Fortunately we also have some soap opera drama in store for Ackbar with Mon Mothma in the future too, so there’s more to the BMS Ackbar than a catch-phrase gimmick. To see the Mon Mothma relationship we will unfortunately have to wait until The Return of the Jedi rolls around.
Since we are not updating regularly for the next week, take a moment to check out John White’s Star Wars: Age 9. He has relaunched the website and the comic (first drawn when he was 9 years old back in the late 70s). You can now comment on the cute and oftentimes bizarre adaptation of the film that started it all. Seriously, check it out and join his Facebook fan page. Spare his site a vote on TopWebComics.com if you get a minute and help him increase the exposure of his site to new readers.
Are you new to BMS? If so, then you can start reading this webcomic from the beginning by clicking here.
Hahah, yes – I remember: http://images.geeknative.com.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/its-a-frap.jpg
“We can’t repel flavor of that magnitude!” 😀
There have to be a thousand brilliant Ackbar memes on the internets. I also remember his unit quote in the Empire at War PC game … “Beware of traps!”
Your tongues can’t repel flavor of that magnitude!! Great to see Ackbar finally show his giant googly-eyed face in the strip!
that’s awesome. Frap! I was just thinking of getting one, too.
Ah, Ackbar… this was, although unexpected, a very lovely and pleasing intermission. keep the good work up!
BTW one of the lego sw sets from last year, in the line of “10 years of lego star wars” (99-09) featured a set that included an a-wing pitstop hangar, the briefing room and bridge of the ship in which our favourite admiral call upon his famed lines. Set includes never seen-before minifigs Ackbar, Mon Mothma, Lando Calrissian, Mon Calamri (one of those 2 you can se sitting behind ackbar during the whole space assault) and two remakes of the old rebel a-wing pilot and rebel hangar engineer from 2001. Heh, I actually had the original a-wing from way back then. had alot of the very first lego sw sets ever…
Leanne and I saw that set while window shopping around our local Toys R Us. I was tempted. It’s great seeing Lego sets from the Original Trilogy. Still so tempted. Gah. We have no room for this stuff.
Sounds too epic to be true.
hmn, come to think about it, I think the very first lego sw set I ever had was the duel between maul and qui-gon on tatooine. was a small set, included qui-gon, hooded (and single-saber) maul, with sith speeder-bike and one of those moisture-evaporators thingies you can see on pretty much every “farmland” on the planet. I think it was with my grandpa when i bought it, togheter with a larger set from anoter lego series, some more “earth”-based space-theme. it was a rocket, you know one of the kind which pops off various parts til’ there’s only the top left in orbit or whatever destination there is. IT WAS GOOD DAY TO BE LEGO MAN
When I would collect figures I would try to army build. And seeing the Calamari mechanic makes me want to buy multiples of that ROTJ playset just to have a bunch of Calamari troops, officers, mechanics etc. That’s what stops me from buying it. If only Leanne would have a baby then we’d have an excuse to get at least one of these playsets.
I tried that, but my ungrateful kids will not share there Star Wars Toys with me, no matter how much I beg. They just keep taking my old stuff (without permission). Nothing makes me quite as uneasy as my wife calling me to tell me one of them got into my toy collection again (it’s not like the old stuff is easy or cheep to replace). Maybe they learned to be possessive from me.
BTW you though your time was in short supply before, just wait for junior! Well never see the end of Jedi unless you stand in front of the microwave or something 😉
You never need excuses to buy lego’s. The box says ages X”and up” 😉
whoops, mixed that up, the hangar engineer was a mon calamari. and i forgot the new general madine fig in the set too. if you’re interested in pics of it, use this link http://starwars.lego.com/en-gb/Products/classic/7754.aspx
I cant repel jokes of that magnitude !
LOVE IT!!!!!! [Sarcasm]One thing though…. The ‘It’s a Trap!’ meme is rather reminiscent of Robot Chicken, this close after the whole ‘Family Guy : Blue Harvest’ debacle, are you sure that’s wise?[Sarcasm/]
Okay, okay… I get the sarcasm. Just so long as it’s sarcasm. 😉 EVERYONE has done their “it’s a trap” and this angle is hopefully just a teeny bit our own.
[Sarcasm] WOW ! you re right its also just like this picture : http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/300676/trap_medium.jpg , it makes me so mad that people could possibly have different takes on something 🙁 (/end sarcasm)
In all seriousness this is one of the best if not the best take on that famous line I have seen.
IT’S A TRAP!
I like that! Thanks for the fix.
Admiral Ackbar is the best.
What impressed me was how they were able to take what was essentially a rubber mask/puppet and make it convey emotion. The moment when the superstar destroyer is taken down and crashes into the Death Star, he shows a relief that is both palpable and believable, despite the limitations of the technology at that time. He’s one of the reasons that that is one of my favorite battle moments in the Original Trilogy.
And how can you *not* love the juxtaposition of Vader, Ackbar, and COFFEE??
….will he be returning at the end of ROTJ to say “it’s a wrap!” X D
LOL See, that’s the problem with Ackbar. A problem for me anyway, because I don’t want to be seen as lifting jokes or lacking imagination. With Ackbar there’s this expectation of puns based on “It’s a trap” which I’m not sure we will use again after this first Ackbar appearance. You will definitely see Ackbar again before ROTJ, but our upcoming new voting incentive strip will feature the first appearance of another major Star Wars character. Can you guess who?
Yoda? :3
Right on the money. Yoda will be making an appearance for the first time in BMS, but of course, in a very unexpected way. Just like we hope no one predicted Ackbar and Vader meeting, let alone doing so in a Starbucks.
When I was younger I was really great at imitating Yoda. but know my voice is too dark for that… boo… >:3
I love that scene but I always wondered how the Super Star Destroyer could crash into the Death Star so fast ? Did the bridge blowing up make the engines go fast making it go in the direction of the death star and gravity did the rest ? What am I missing ?
I’m sure the explosion on the bridge caused the malfunctioning propulsion and I’m guessing it was more good fortune than gravity that caused it to veer into the Death Star. The Force was clearly with the Alliance.
Now Vader will never get that fishy smell out of his cape. ;=
I wonder, do Mon Calamri taste good with butter and dipping sauce? 🙂
God, I bet they have that rubbery squid ring texture…
“It’s a Frapp!” GROAN, That was bad, really bad. I loved it.
Great! Our first official “groan” reaction to a gag! We’ve finally made it!
Rod, you know they colour in space with black in Family Guy too? And Robot Chicken. You might want to watch out for that.
Damn it! Next you’ll be telling me Jawa Giggolos and Swashbuckling Biggs were done by FG and RC first! 😉 Seriously though, the Ackbar “It’s a Trap” is a universal joke among all Star Wars fans and has been since he first uttered the lines. The Ackbar on Facebook and the Ackbars on Twitter frequently get innundated with “It’s a trap” comments. We’re definitely not claiming anything that hasn’t been out there already for a long time. 🙂
I dont think Biggs is in Family Guy or Robot Chicken. But I know there are some human characters in them so you might want to change that.
I agree. And EVERYONE uses those ‘smileys’ too. Just don’t do anything that relates to physical reality. Like anything that could exist within the 3 dimensions.
Pity, it was nice while it lasted.
“Just a gigolo
everywhere I go
people know the part
I’m playing
Paid for every dance
selling each romance
every night some heart
betraying
There will come a day
youth will pass away
then what will they say
about me
When the end comes I know
they’ll say just a gigolo
as life goes on
without me
‘Cause I aint got nobody
nobody nobody cares for me
I’m so sad and lonely
sad and lonely sad and lonely
Won’t some sweet mama
come and take a chance with me
cause I aint so bad
Get along with me babe,
been singin love songs
All of the time
Even only be, honey only, only be
Bop bozadee bozadee bop zitty bop
I ain’t got nobody ‘cept love songs in love
Hummala bebhuhla zeebuhla boobuhla
hummala bebhuhla zeebuhla bop
I ain’t got nobody, nobody,
nobody cares for me
Nobody , nobody
I’m so sad and lonely,
sad and lonely,
sad and lonely,
Won’t some sweet mama come
and take a chance with me
cause I aint so bad
Get along with me babe,
been singin love songs
All of the time
Even only be, honey only, only be”
Hahaha!!! Love it! Good ol’ Ackbar… Wasn’t expecting to see him ’til a lot later. And DV just cracks me up as always: “It’s a small galaxy”, “my latte beckons” X D
I loved it and you’re right it seems everyone does the “It’s a trap!” thing but everytime I see it, it’s done in such a cleaver way that it makes me laugh each time. Hell I’d say my favorite one was a tweet from Han Solo saying he hates playing dungeons and Dragons with Ackbar as the Dugeon Master because everything is a trap. Keep up the good work guys I look forward to when you guys start back up again.
Calamari? But that would mean he was already on a dish… but he isn’t…
IT’S A TRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yay ackbar!!!!!! “IT’S A TRAP!!!” = best star wars one-liner ever.
Haha. Genius.
Personally, I never got the whole “IT’S A TRAP!!! hype…
Am I the only one (almost 2 years after this got posted) that laughed not just because of the eloquent ‘it’s a frapp!’ (Which I laughed long and hard at) but also at the fact that Ackbar saves Vader? I mean it’s only frOm downing the wrong beverage… But still! Hehehehe!
Thank you. Although it looks like we’re just going down the same worn out road of Akbar “It’s a trap!” lines, this was to be our one acknowledgement of the line. When Ackbar really does become part of the story during ROTJ (if we ever get there), we have some original spins on his character we want to explore. Anyway, we’re glad you also appreciate the secondary stupidity of the gag. 🙂
That pun is so bad…so very bad, that it’s GENIUS.
You would think that Vader would prefer a frappacchino it stops all the problems he has with the traumatic flashbacks and screaming NNNNOOOOOOOOOO! when he spills boiling milky coffee all over himself, not to mention the ministry of funny walks gait he gets due to the short circuiting! (Yes I know nobody will ever read this but I’ve only just started reading the strip and I just had to share the idea of Vader doing this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV2ViNJFZC8 )