superhero name
From Homestar Runner Wiki
Strong Bad Email #29
Stiny asks why Strong Bad's name doesn't end in "man."
Cast (in order of appearance): Strong Bad, Strong Badman, The Cheat
Contents |
Transcript
STRONG BAD: All these... emails... I don't understand.
Dear Strong bad: Why is it that your superhero name does not end in "man" just like Superman, Spiderman. etc, etc... Your friend Stiny
STRONG BAD: Umm... {typing} I don't think you're in a very good position to be criticizing people's names, STINY!! I mean, what kind of a name is Stiny anyways? It sounds like some supervillain's little sidekick that he's always ordering around you know. {stops typing} Like, "STINY! GET ME A DANISH!!" {An image with Strong Bad drawn as Strong Badman accompanies this} or "STINY! WHO SPILLED COFFEE ALL OVER THE PLANS FOR MY DEATH RAY?!" {Another image of Strong Badman accompanies this} Stiny... {clears screen, resumes typing} Naw, you know what? I'll change my name to Strong Badman if you agree to be my sidekick: Li'l Stiny. And you can wear a little mask and a little cape...
{The camera zooms back and we see The Cheat appear wearing a mask covering his eyes and a little cape.}
STRONG BAD: Hey The Cheat... er, just doing an email.
THE CHEAT: Hrinun.
STRONG BAD: What? No! Of course you're still my sidekick!
THE CHEAT: Uhuynidah.
STRONG BAD: Yeah, that cape looks great on you. Look, I was speaking hypothetically.
THE CHEAT: Uhuysuwituwa!
STRONG BAD: Oh come on, don't give me that!
THE CHEAT: Ptawoh!!!
{The Cheat walks away angrily.}
STRONG BAD: Ah, The Cheat!
{A "Strong Badman" comic book appears on the screen with a picture of Strong Badman drawn on it (see above). On the bottom of the page, there's a blurb that reads "CLICK HERE TO EMAIL STRONG BAD!!" Click on the text to email him.}
Fun Facts
Trivia
- For the first time, The Paper doesn't come down at the end of this email.
Remarks
- Strong Bad's floppies don't have a name.
- Even though Strong Bad says that Strongbadman is a "supervillain," he gets his name on the comic. This is probably due to the fact that when Strong Bad E-mails first started, Strong Bad was still considered the villain of the Homestar universe.
Goofs
- The "No Loafing" sign is in the wrong place.
Glitches
- You can still click on the contrast buttons when Strong Bad is talking to The Cheat, but nothing will happen.
Real-World References
- Unbeknownst to viewers of this email, Stiny is the name of Homestar creator Craig Zobel's little brother.
- Cheap as Free Comics has the same logo style as most early 90's Marvel comics, including a character in the top left corner, price and issue number, and Comics Code Authority symbol. The black and white logo at the bottom left closely resembles comics featuring Spiderman.
- "All these... emails... I don't understand.", is a reference to the Elton John classic "Rocketman" (another "-man" name), as performed by William Shatner at the 1981 Science Fiction Awards (as mentioned in the DVD commentary). One line of the song is, "All this science I don't understand..." The intonation is dead on. Footage of the performance is available on the Net; it's classic Shatner cheesiness.
Fast Forward
- Cheap as Free Comics also appears in haircut with "The Total Adventures of Strong Badman." It seems Strong Bad finally added -man to his superhero persona.
DVD Version
- The DVD version has a hidden creators' commentary. Just switch your DVD's audio language selection during this email.
Commentary Transcript
(Commentary by: Mike Chapman, Matt Chapman)
MATT: That's a reference to Shatner performing Rocketman-
MIKE: That's true
MATT: -at the 1981 Science Fiction...
MIKE: Science Fiction Awards, yes.
MATT: Video Awards or whatever. Um, so THIS one, it was great. We, um... I remember, we finished this, we worked on it some at my Uncle John's house in Winnemac, Indiana
MIKE: Some at grandpa's
MATT: And we finished it up
MIKE: Aunt Dean's old room.
MATT: In Aunt Dean's old room, and there was nothing there. We could wax the floor that day. So it's this room with this old, that old, like, 2 inch thick wallpaper. And, uh, with some pink print.
MIKE: Pink flowers, yeah
MATT: Yeah. And, just, we brought a TV tray and finished it on this laptop that kept crashing Flash 5. It took us forever to finish it. And, uh, did we, I wonder if you have that picture somewhere, 'cause I remember you took a picture-
MIKE: Yeah, I think I do.
MATT: -'cause we were going to make it look like, the uh, say this is our office. Just this giant, empty old- old lady's room with me and Mike. The laptop. How about those white circles The Cheat has for eyes?
MIKE: Is that the first No Loafing sign?
MATT: Uhh, maybe.
MIKE: I dunno.
MATT: I don't know if processing- was processing around yet?
MIKE: Uh, yeah
MATT: 'Cause I think that's where it first appeared.
Fun Facts
- Matt's talk of processing is a reference to the Email Processing Room (where, coincidentally, the No Loafing sign does NOT make an appearance)
