Running Gag / Atop the Fourth Wall

Linkara (while "Combine Harvester" is playing): I am a goddamn Batman, which is nothing but death and crime, and the adamantium rage of a bees, my god. It just raises too much logic in what he says. Of course! Don't you know anything about poor literacy, you magnificent bastard, I read your book!

— Top 15 Personal Favorite Jokes of AT4W

This page covers Running Gags found in Atop the Fourth Wall.

Tropes A to D | Tropes E to P | Tropes Q to Z | Storyline Tropes | YMMV | Running Gags | Shout Outs

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• If the comic book was written by Frank Miller, the episode will begin with this:
  Linkara: Say… (checks watch as "Pizzicato Playtime" starts up) …it's Miller Time!
  • Occasionally, if a comic is by the similarly named "Mark Millar," he'll make the same declaration but with "Miller" replaced with "Millar."
• Breaking out '90s Kid, usually during reviews of Image Comics, to explain why something so idiotic and '90s-ish is KEWWWWWWWWWWWWWL! Though, sometimes Everyone Has Standards, such as "Dude… did he just vaporize a pregnant chick? That's not kewl, dude."
  "I'm '90s Kid, and what you see is what you get!" (while displaying a WYSIWYG tee)
  • For Marvel 2099, '90s Kid is generally replaced with a different '90s Kid with more futuristic-looking sunglasses, a different font for the "90s Kid" logo and more impenetrable slang.
• People intentionally spell things wrong in comic books… "Because poor literacy is KEWL." Eventually, "kewl" becomes replaced with other words or phrases.
  • Thanks to the Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness of the Xanadu adaptation from Marvel, this became "Poor literacy… is not a problem this comic has".
• Of course! Don't you know anything about science?
• The evil of Ancient Egypt! *cue Imperial March*
  • In one episode this was Ancient Rome
  • And for the New 52 Blue Beetle, it was Ancient Maya.
• Him having a meltdown to The Wurzels' "Combine Harvester".
• The Cyber Leader saying "There is… logic in what he says" when a character reaches a conclusion through a deduction that makes no sense whatsoever.
  • For exceptional moments of insanity, he will instead use the "Is this the human condition called madness?" clip.
• Youngblood's Disease: The curious disease that plagues superheroes where their musculature becomes implausibly disproportionate and their eyes dissolve into featureless white voids, or even vanish entirely.
• Sometimes, when either a character plans something poorly or the relevant military makes a very stupid decision, he has Patton say "…you Magnificent Bastard, I read your book!"
  • This has also sometimes been used for actually brilliant things such as Deadpool defeating Lionheart with a laser pointer.
• Some times, when the art has a Character's arms stretched out wide, Linkara claims it's cause said Character is telling every one about the time they caught a fish "Thiiiiiiiis Biiiiiiiig"!
• "THIS! ISN'T! FUNNY!"
  • Usually preceded by staring angrily into the camera.
• Issues of the Image series Objective Five appears constantly in the Title Sequence as well as several 'comic pile' scenes throughout the series, yet Linkara did not get to review an issue yet.
• Batman's hatred of rock music per Batman: Fortunate Son. "Punk is nothing but DEATH and CRIME and the RAGE of a BEAST!" It's also how Linkara points that All-Star Batman/Crazy Steve can't possibly be the real Batman, because he namedrops Jethro Tull's Aqualung.
  • Also Batman acting like a delusional paranoid nutjob convinced he's terrifying and mysterious despite multiple holes in his logic.
  • There is also his obsession with Beta tapes, One Face being his greatest enemy, and him trying to convince everyone he is not wearing hockey pants.
• "Only a science major could *insert activity here*!"
  • Which became an Ascended Meme when End of the Spider-Verse prominently used the line.
• "Great continuity!"
• "And together, we could be justice!
• Because I AM A MAN! *punch*
  • This is usually accompanied by Linkara pulling something from Behind the Black, like a Sega Controller, Iron Liz or the camera.
  • Catchphrase Interruptus: During the Countdown to Final Crisis review, Linkara refuses to dignify Superboy Prime with the catch phrase.
• He often mentions he has a "grand unified theory" about bad comics, that all of them can be in some way linked back to Countdown, on account of how many storylines, staff shake-ups, or executive decisions trace back to that event.
• Bees. My God.
• A twist in the comic prompts Linkara to make a shocked, open-mouthed face as dramatic "Dun Dun DUUUUUUN!" music plays.
• "What new spore of madness is this?" Mostly because Floronic Man yelled this in New Guardians #2.
• Why? Because the Kool-Aid Man is red.
• "It just raises too many questions…", usually after a long list of headache inducing Fridge Logic.
• Sometimes when a character makes a stupid statement on what they plan to do; Linkara (as whatever character he's voicing): *nonchalantly points out why that plan can't work* *Beat* "…wait."
• "It's a crack baby, Fool!"
• The Continuity Alarm, which interestingly is used as variations than played straight.
  • Later on, he admits that he doesn't do the continuity alarm joke anymore because he thinks it's better to have people know what's going on and that requires context.
• After explains a scene from a pointless subplot… "NEXT SCENE!"
• One when he reviews Crisis Crossover miniseries… "And who was behind all of this? GRANNY GOODNESS! *dramatic music*"
• POWERHOUSE EXCITEMENT
• EXTREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEME! (cue Canon Rock)
• America! Fuck Yeah! Whenever Captain America does something badass.
• "Too much pink energy is dangerous!", a clip from Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers played whenever a comic has a pink energy weapon (surprisingly common).
• Pink Energy = SERIOUS
• Other colors of energy (usually green) often means "Now I'm/it's/they're radioactive! THAT CAN'T BE GOOD!"
• "Be impressed, dammit!"
• "Our hero, ladies and gentlemen!" when the "Hero" does something extremely unheroic, morally questionable or outright evil.
  • Or, in the case of Justice League: Cry for Justice: "Our villain, ladies and gentlemen!"
• BEAR!
• "The Future is dumb/gross/whatever"
• Mentioning Spider-Man's Deal with the Devil. (He even compiles the potshots when the actual comic is reviewed.)
  Linkara: I may have mentioned it once or twice.
• The Mr. T Superpower Count, whenever he reviews a comic involving, well, Mr. T.
• Look at the pretty bunny! Look at the pretty bunny!
• Bloodgun, the superhero 90's Kid made.
  • Blood Gunn #1, the "first fragtacular issue" has actually been made.
• Ultimate Iron Man or pre-Demon in a Bottle Iron Man earns a drunken voice.
• Clips of Mystery Science Theater 3000 to retort stupid lines.
  • The one that occurs most often is Mike's "Space is warped, and time is bendable!" whenever a comic can't keep its own timeline or sequence of events straight.
  • He also seems to start having a liking of using clips from Dragon Ball Z Abridged. Usually of Freeza.
  • When the laws of physics are being disregarded, he loves to bring out his MST3K Puma Man clip: "Help! I'm falling at a sixty-degree angle, breaking all the laws of physics!"
  • WTH, Costuming Department?: "There. Sure glad I don't look stupid in this!" and "Ha Ha Ha Your costume is ridiculous."
  • Not just clips. You can do a Drinking Game for MST3K quotes alone.
    • He has also referenced RiffTrax and even The Film Crew once.
  • "It's time to face your maker on the Muppet Show tonight!"
  • "We hope you've enjoyed No Moral Theater, ladies and gentlemen."
  • "I'm the government! I'm the government! I'm the reason nothing works!" (for instances of government incompetence)
  • "This makes no sense, yet it's working!"
• If Linkara sings during a review it's a fair bet that the song he sings will be played over the credits.
  • Related, sometimes he sings due to dialogue that reminds him of songs.
• He tends to use the "Superboy-Prime voice" for especially whiny characters.
• Referring to the All-Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder title characters as "Crazy Steve" and "Dick Grayson age twelve". As of issue #5, he's added "Bonkers Betty" instead of Wonder Woman.
• Continuously having Batman try to feed Robin rats.
• ASBAR also inspired occasional mentions to "Goddamn Batman" in other reviews.
• "We should do something!" "Should we do something?" "We should do something!" "Should we do something?"
• Linkara getting more drunk with each further issue of Marville he reviews. Even Holokara got drunk when he reviewed one.
• It's not a collector's edition first issue unless it has a Mr. T trading card!
  • And then Mr.T and the T-Force #2 comes with another Mr.T trading card. And it is GLORIOUS.
• Whenever there's no clue what chronological order events happen in, he plays "Let's do the Time Warp again!"
  • Mostly because of copyright issues, he replaces it with him shouting "WHAT TIME IS IT?!"
• Refering to any Combat Tentacles or Tentacle Rope as "tentacle hentai."
• Any discussion of drugs brings up Roy Harper's infamous drug "china cat."
• If confused by a twist in the plot: "Did I just turn over two pages?"
• Using Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series clips, usually with original content by LittleKuriboh himself.
  Paradox: My plan is great!
• When commenting on a character's odd course of actions: "Personally I would have just (obvious idea), but I'm practical like that."
• Any extremely flawed writing from the Clone Saga is inevitably followed by "This is starting to sound like a bad comic book plot!"
  • Bonus points with the fact that said clip from the show was an actual Take That! to The Clone Saga.
• Grape jelly and mustard. That showed up in his first "Linkara Riffs" episode and has become a running gag in both "Linkara Riffs" and his main show.
• Describing something he likes/dislikes about a particular setting, character, company, etc. followed with a quick clip of a comic that shows a subversion of his description. Linkara responds to this with an adamant "That doesn't count!"
• Sci-Spy protagonist Sebastian Starchild earns a Sean Connery-like Scottish accent to mock his James Bond-wannabe nature.
  • Though a one-shot comic, he also did this gag with James Bond Jr.. Which is pretty funny, considering the main character is around 12 years old.
• "Stay classy, Marvel" or a variation thereof, whenever a Marvel Comic contains excessive fanservice or gore.
• When a comic has random words emphasized with no rhyme or reason, he makes sure to emphasize all the bolded words.
  • Same when dialogue gets repeated for no good reason other than trying to appear dramatic. Reviews of Frank Miller works feature a lot of both.
• "This isn't going to look good on his performance evaluation" when a character commits an Epic Fail.
• During the live shows, purposely misleading the audience with regards to what he'll be riffing.
• In Star Trek comics, Bones owing Spock 10 dollars.
• Whenever a hero/heroine acts incredibly out of character, Linkara will put forth a theory that said hero/heroine is actually a mentally damaged person wearing a costume of that hero/heroine.
• It's not quite enough to be a Berserk Button, but he's always sure to point out when he has to turn the comic 90 degrees for a Splash Panel.
  • Which becomes hilarious when he reviews Cable #1, which has four (and amounts to Padding.)
• Anytime a comic does a We Can Rule Together, the "Join me, and we can rule the galaxy together as father and son!" clip will be played.
• Anytime two people argue about something of a political nature: "Give sanctions more time!"
• Giving rapid fire answers to questions he knows he will inevitably be asked whenever reviewing a Doctor Who comic.
• Whenever Superman does something questionable in order to solve a problem, he remarks on how he's simply moving the problem "'over there', and that 'over there' has to stand for itself".
  • And/or playing the John Williams Superman Theme over a shot of the Superman logo photoshopped over the comic scan in question while announcing "Superman! Defender of Truth! Protector of Freedom! Abductor of Children!" or variations thereof, especially when Golden and Silver Age Values Dissonance or Superdickery occurs.
• "Multimodal reflection sorting" as stock Technobabble.
• Whenever the Marvel Comics version of Captain Marvel is mentioned, specifying that it is the Marvel version and not the DC Comics version.
• He tends to fly into mini-rages whenever he's reminded of One More Day.
• Whenever Linkara gets to a big milestone, (100th, 200th, etc.) The Cinema Snob will appear and begin quoting Caligula, only to be informed that he's reviewing something else.
  • Linkara began the 600th episode as if he was going to review the Caligula comic, only to receive a phone call informing him about what Brad had said about him and his fellow Change the Channel reviewers. Upon hearing the news, Linkara said "screw him," picking out Spider-Man: Sins Past instead and putting the gag to rest for good.
• Linkara will never be as popular as The Bee Gees. (Back in his review of "James Bond Jr. #3", a troll made said claim in response to one of Linkara's criticisms of Frank Miller.)
  • As of his 10th Anniversary, he now has more Twitter followers than the band's official account. He'll still never be as popular as them, though.
• "Can this marriage be saved?"
• "This remake/reboot of [something the scene is similar to] is weird."
• "Pants to be darkened."
• Reed Richards and Office Max.
• Batman is now keen to remind us all of his new nemesis... One-Face!
  • Later, Batman found another nemesis...VHS TAPES!
• A disagreeable character pointing out something truthful and Linkara opens his mouth to provide a rebuttal only to realize said character has point.
• Appearances from Darkseid will result in him either talking about going to take a nap for a thousand years (reference to him awakening in the future in the Legion of Superheroes' The Great Darkness Saga after that time) or being obsessed with sitting on people's couches.
• Whenever Linkara is reviewing a My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic comic, expect pony plushies to be thrown at him by Viga. Even Linkara's cameo appearance in Dr. Crafty resulted in a pony being tossed at him!
• Referring to Ray Palmer as "our old Great Disaster-stoppin' pal," whenever he's brought up in a comic being reviewed.
• Similar to MST3K above, the usage of Dr. Cox from Scrubs to call out anything idiotic in a comic.
• "Also... Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww..."
• "You betrayed the law!" "LAAAAAAAAWWWWWWW!"
• Anytime a comic ends up pulling some sort of Epic Fail, he will angrily yell "You Fail!," at it, followed by the word "FAIL" in red appearing over the previous panel, accompanied by a buzzer noise.
• Whenever Kang the Conqueror shows up, Linkara will make reference of the time he showed up in a Star Trek/X-Men crossover and battled the USS Enterprise-E.
• If the Cosmic Cube is brought out, expect to be reminded that “THE COSMIC CUBE CAN DO ANYTHING!”
• From the P.O Unboxing videos, Is the mic on? Check it again. Also, Lewis waving the "Is The Mic On" sign around to the tune of the intro, much to Viga's annoyance.
• “Because comic books” whenever he describes something ridiculous-sounding from Marvel or DC.
• Ever since his review of the Catwoman (2004) comic, he has taken to using a certain clip in response to massively stupid moments:
  George Hedare: "Your incompetence is STAGGERING!"
• Replacing Donald Trump with Anton York, the other 45th President of the United States.
• As of October 2019, Linkara now has cats. (weird glitching effect) Linkara has always had cats.
• Whenever an event comic kills off a major hero and makes a big deal out of their death, Linkara will dryly point out how they eventually came back after X amount of years.
• Ultimate Marvel’s strange fixation with cannibalism.
• "X or Y?" <points at the audience> "YOU MAKE THE CALL!"
• "...or just [do some bad/stupid thing], that works too."
• Any time a character is seen reading a newspaper it'll cut to Linkara saying "New petitions against taxes." or "SOGGIES MAY RULE?!"
• Linkara has developed a little jingle for pointing out egregious instances of casual bigotry. For example: (sung) "1930s casual racism!"
• If ridiculous ninjutsu styles are created or brought up, expect to have demonstrations by the Ninja Style Dancer.
• Anytime there is very flat and wooden acting is followed up by "My boat."

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