A Hero Returns Part 1/Commentary

Ello, everyone. I'm Brandon 10, back with another Brandon 10 commentary. I guess that works both ways, doesn't it? Anyways, in case you didn't know or figure it out by now, I'm the writer and artist for the series, Brandon 10 which includes its sequel, Brandon 10: Alien Force.

So, I'll be doing a commentary based on the first episode for that series, A Hero Returns Part 1. Enjoy!

Star sparkling, we're in space: I immediately think about the opening to Star Wars.

Alright, so the aliens- okay, first of all, I'm just gonna say that this was my first ever episode done in dialogue. I think the only other dialogue that I did on the wiki was the movie, Brandon 10: Alternate Chaos, but there's a reason we don't talk about that a lot. So now that that's out of the way, the aliens. A lack of description is very obvious and something tells me that this isn't going to be the only example either so just keep the whole new to dialogue thing in mind when following along with me. But yeah, I guess when someone says aliens it could really just be any kind of alien. I mean, they could be slimy, creepy, fast, strong; they're every shape and size after all. But the new to dialogue thing might just be an excuse at this point, I guess a more solid answer would be that- uh- ...the Zonarians, which are the aliens present in the scene, although the scene is pretty much over already- (heh) -uh, they- I didn't have a design really ready for them, or just a general appearance. They were just aliens. I don't even remember if they have names in this episode yet. I think it took a while just to get their names too and that was all from Zon, to everyone that remembers him.

Speaking of scene pretty much being over already, that intro was probably the shortest intro to any episode- no, any pilot episode. Like ever. I think I thinking of a more cinematic effect, like most of the intro time was just looking at the Earth and THEN the aliens show up.

Okay, now this is the soccer scene. You might be thinking: Alien Force's soccer scene is just like the soccer scene from Alien Force. I assure you, they're completely 100% different. In my Alien Force, the soccer is actually football. But seriously, I was very limited on ideas when it came to Alien Force, at least starting out, and was still getting off of the Original Series train which, in my opinion, only started to get good towards the end. But I did like playing soccer around the time of making this episode, or at least, I wanted to start playing soccer around the time of this episode and I ended up doing that after- like way after- but still after. So, there's one reason to have that there.

So, I could've sworn that scene was a lot longer than it was but now we're in the building where Brandon gets attacked. And that scene is over too. These scenes are a lot shorter than what I remember. And here, I was thinking that longer episodes with dialogue would give me more things to talk about than my OS commentaries.

Okay, okay. This is something to really get into. So Brandon runs into his home and heads for his lab. I didn't really give much thought at the time because I was just getting out of the Original Series but this is the one of out two times we see Brandon's Lab in Alien Force. I elaborate more on that in the second time than this time though. I guess the darkness means that it just wasn't used. Again, descriptions weren't really my thing because of dialogue, whatever sense that makes. But it's the lab, guys. Yay...

So I imagine leaping from OS to AF is probably a little disorienting. I mean, Brandon goes from obsessed over fixing his broken Omnitrix to playing soccer and picking it up as soon as aliens attack. Then Coco is fine and now he's not so fine and beating up punching bags. I'm only saying that because I feel a little disoriented.

Next scene! One of the aliens attacks Brandon and Coco, who suddenly agreed to help him- again, it shouldn't really feel like a surprise but it does for me because I made the whole thing and seen the whole thing. Obviously, some stuff happened to Coco in between the two shows. In fact, I don't think I made it clear that five years have past except in the show's synopsis. Huh. But yeah, that stuff caused some tension between him and Brandon which makes it a surprise that he's willing to help. But then again, it's aliens, so they both understand what type of threat that can be to the Earth since that's what the Original Series basically was. So basically, I'm talking about nothing again. Coco's got a gun now. That's the effect I was going for originally. He was supposed to be an epic weapons master with a twisted past, believe it or not. Five years can change a man. Just look at Oliver Queen.

So as soon as the alien, which was a good alien all along, by the way, realizes that Brandon is Brandon, he wants to take him to a meeting at the Junkyard. Again, I could've gotten more in-depth with this like how he knows him, which is obviously from the tales spread throughout the galaxy and all that, but the episode doesn't make that clear.

I'm just gonna cut that business talk at the Junkyard because we get the iconic Zonarian catchphrase. SPIES! I don't know what I was thinking, if I even was thinking, when I came up with that. I guess it was just such a generic thing to say but I really made sure to utilize that in the future. Also "business aliens". Just made me realize that the illegal business could probably just be real estate scams or off-shore bank accounts. Imagine that. Brandon 10: Alien Force! Brandon fights off illegal business aliens in the very first episode. Next time, catch him stop an identity theft with his lawyer team. The Conqueror is rebooted into the Copyrighter. Alright, that's enough.

Loch Ness has joined the party. I think I had to say Brandon AKA Loch Ness because before, I don't even remember if this was true or not but- I would say Brandon shot out fireballs or something like that and if you just scrolled down to read a random passage, you might find that kinda strange and super out of context. Just had to point out that it is Brandon but he's currently Loch Ness.

Coco recognizes Loch Ness as Brandon instead of an alien. I mean, Loch Ness has no description so you would've had to look him up in order to know what he looks like.

(laughs) "It is a man." (laughs again) uhh- I can't take that seriously. (laughs once more) Oh gosh- Brandon's biggest enemy yet: It's a man. It's THE man. The descriptions definitely get a lot better later on, this is just post-OS leaking in.

(laughs more) "The man takes Coco out" That's for questioning his true power, foolish mortal.

Moving on, Loch Ness' hand blaster. Or water blaster arm, yeah that sounds better. I thought this was a cool addition to his character. He wasn't just able to spray water from his hands, but he can morph his hands into water cannons and blow his enemies away with a burst of water. Well, after his arms get cut off but it's still something.

Also, good to know that illegal business papers contain coordinates. I know that's probably not the case, but it's just not as clear as it thinks it is. I'm trying to figure this out as much as you guys, this was like a few years ago for me.

I actually like this scene. So they're driving in Coco's car. What? He has a car now. I guess so. Kinda makes you wonder how they got around as kids. But anyways, they're driving around when Brandon says to stop the car because he happened to see his cousin on the way. And Coco just kicks him out of the car because Sarah's there. Fun Fact: Sarah was actually supposed to be- well, Sarah was supposed to be a whole bunch of things. I guess I should get into that but I just wanted to point out that I thought this scene was kinda cool, both now and back then. Not like cool cool but just nice cool.

So yeah, Sarah's introduction. Could've been better, and explained ahead of time, but I suppose it sorta works. A lot of the things in Alien Force could've been better, and I'm sure it's fans would agree but it just has a certain quality that makes it so likable. I couldn't point it out if I wanted to, it's just there. But going back to Sarah, she was planned for so much more than what I made her. So remember how Coco was going to be a cool weapons master, well that sorta does happen for some of Season 1 but Sarah was going to be a completely different character. First off, she was going to be named differently because the name, Sarah, was supposed to be the girl that Brandon falls for, which later became Amy. And yes, she's named after Amy Pond. Second, Sarah was going to be a villain that Brandon and Coco face during like Episode 2 or something, and she would've been crazy powerful too. But after they manage to defeat her, they would've redeemed her and recruited her. Throughout the season, she would've been like adjusting to her new life as a good guy and would've changed by the end of the season. Sounds cool, right? I have no idea what happened to that idea, I guess I just had something else planned for Alien Force. Most of the ideas were actually used later on rather than right away. This idea? Hm, we'll see.

So the team arrives at a giant castle-themed base which, of course, belongs to the Extreme Bikers. I might not be as obvious as I thought it was, I'll admit. Forever Knights? Maybe, because castles and all, but Bikers? Maybe a stadium or a freaky looking scrap yard with biking obstacles everywhere, sure. I sorta explain this in Ultimate Hero Season 3 but that's later on. The reasoning here was because, well, castles are sorta extreme, right? And they are EXTREME Bikers, after all. Sarah also hacks the system, she is a hacker. Something that I don't actually appreciate as much now as I did here.

So walking into a set of armor, opened up a secret door. Like one of those bookshelves that move, I guess. If I have to mention the new to dialogue, weak at description thing again, I might have to create a counter or something for every time to I mention it. Anyways, it also alerts a robot dinosaur. An accidental reference to Robotic Past, no doubt. Which is pretty much Jurassic Park meets Westworld in Brandon 10. Imagine the Creator was working with the Extreme Bikers? That would've made for a much cooler opening to the series.

But this is what we got and, all-in-all, it's not bad. But it could definitely be better. The main problem is the descriptions, in fact, I had been thinking about renewing Alien Force with a Special Edition; extended scenes, more dialogue, more descriptions, more everything. Maybe I'll get onto that after all, like after UH is over. I'll have some time on my hands, for sure. But that's just me thinking out loud. I guess the real reason I didn't want to do something like that was the same reason I haven't fixed any of the grammar/spelling errors in the episodes. It's because I wanted to keep it as it was as a reminder of how I made episodes back then. Kinda so I can look back and see how much better I get at making episodes down the line. But that's what commentaries are for, looking back at this stuff and feeling nostalgia. A little improvement wouldn't hurt, at least it shouldn't. I dunno, I'll give it some thought but yeah. Back to the episode: It is a two-parter so I'll be doing the next part soon enough.

And that's about it for the commentary this time around. Be sure to check out the previous ones if you haven't already, turns out the Original Series has more things to point out and talk about. But then again, there is Part 2 to look forwards to, might have more things there than this one. Again, the episode is alright but could be better.

Anyways, thanks for checking out this commentary!

It's time for an Ultimate Hero! 00:19, April 11, 2018 (UTC)