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Episode #29 (385-853) – Gear Original Airdate – February 1st, 2003 Richie’s newfound super-smartness leads to him becoming a superhero in his own right and Static’s newest partner. Media by Bird Boy | Credits: Supervising Producer Alan Burnett Producer Denys Cowan, Swinton O. Scott III Associate Producer Bobbie Page Story by Alan Burnett Teleplay by Dwayne McDuffie Directed by [Uncredited] Music by Richard "Wolfie" Wolf Animation by Dong Woo Animation Co., LTD. Voices: |
Pans Sound Clips |
| Review Richie realizes that he has superpowers too. Richie's sudden brainstorms are starting to concern Virgil. He surmises that he is a delayed reaction Bang Baby with all of the gear he is inventing. Meanwhile Ebon recognizes Richie after the Breed break out of prison and deduces that Richie is friends with Static since he's always around when Static is. The Breed kidnaps Virgil convinced he's Static. Richie loads on his inventions including a little robot called Backpack and improved version of Zap Caps. He rescues Virgil by having Backpack play a loop of Virgil on the monitors Ebon's watching. Ebon sees Virgil on the monitors and realizes he can't be Static while Static and Richie take him down. Richie decides to become Static's partner at the end of the episode and takes up the mantle of Gear. I'm going to be honest. I was never too crazy about Gear. Even though I found Richie annoying I didn't mind him as Static’s tech guy but having him as Static's partner kind of diminishes Static in my eyes. The writers were smart enough to take him out of action in Static's big episodes but I wish they hadn't been forced by focus groups to saddle That said, the episode itself is decent and very well done. Richie changing into a Bang Baby after all this time was handled as logically as possible and Ebon is a great villain. The dialogue here is fine and the animation is serviceable. While I don't like Gear the character his introductory episode is pretty good. Story: **** |