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The World's Finest Presents

Gear

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
Review by Matt Zimmer
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:
Phil LaMarr as Virgil Hawkins/Static
Jason Marsden as Richie Foley
Gary Sturgis as Ebon
Brian Tochi as Shiv
Tia Texad aas Talon
Kevin Michael Richardson as Kangorr
Crystal Scales as Daisy
Screen Grabs






Pans



Sound Clips
Static and Richie Discuss Names (52kb, MP3)
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. Static can escape from the cell they locked him in but realizes they may be watching him for signs of superpowers.

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 Static with Gear in the first place.

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: ****
Animation: ****
Average: ****
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