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| Ultimate Movie Series |
 Title text: Sadly, none of the 14 Land Before Time films manage to make the list, although a small but devoted fan contingent argues that The Great Longneck Migration should beat out Guardians of the Galaxy. |
Explanation
This comic lists fifteen films from movie franchises, purporting that each is the "best-in-slot" for the list number and they can be combined into a single "ultimate movie series". This is absurd due to the movies being unrelated, and especially later on, heavily dependent on previous movies that are not present in this list.
The title text mentions The Land Before Time series, a franchise consisting of animated adventure films centered around dinosaurs, but states that none of the 14 films would beat out any of the films already listed. But there is a "devoted fanbase" for the 10th film (The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration).
| No. | Movie | Franchise | Total in franchise | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Godfather (1972) | The Godfather (film series) | 3 | The 1st film in Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather trilogy. It is widely considered to be one of the greatest films of all time. |
| 2 | The Empire Strikes Back (1980) | Star Wars | 12 | The Empire Strikes Back, while subtitled as "Episode V", was the second Star Wars film to release. It is often regarded as the best in the series and among the greatest films ever made; the place on the listing implies Randall believes it to specifically be the greatest direct sequel, as the second entry, of any franchise. |
| 3 | Return of the King (2003) | The Lord of the Rings | 3 | The 3rd film in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy (and the 3rd live-action Middle-earth film released). |
| 4 | Fury Road (2015) | Mad Max | 5 | The 4th installment in George Miller’s Mad Max franchise (following Mad Max, The Road Warrior, and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome). |
| 5 | Prey (2022) | Predator | 7 | The 5th solo/mainline Predator film, after Predator, Predator 2, Predators, and The Predator. |
| 6 | Fallout (2018) | Mission: Impossible | 8 | The 6th film in the Mission: Impossible franchise. |
| 7 | The Force Awakens (2015) | Star Wars | 12 | The second Star Wars film in the list, Episode VII: The Force Awakens was generally well-received. In watching the ultimate movie series, a viewer would likely be confused due to the absence of the film Episode VI: Return of the Jedi between Empire and The Force Awakens. |
| 8 | First Contact (1996) | Star Trek | 13 | The 8th movie in the franchise overall, and the second of the Next Generation-era films. |
| 9 | Badlands (2025) | Predator | 9 | Including the two Alien vs. Predator crossover films, Badlands is the ninth, rather than the seventh, Predator film. |
| 10 | Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) | Marvel Cinematic Universe | 38+ | The Marvel Cinematic Universe is an extremely expansive series of movies and television shows that has made active releases since 2008. Guardians of the Galaxy is the tenth such film, even though it is the first in its own sub-trilogy containing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. It was better-received than many other films in the franchise's Phase Two. |
| 11 | Star Trek (2009) | Star Trek | 13 | The 11th Star Trek feature film overall (following six Original Series films and four Next Generation films) and the first in the "Kelvin Timeline" reboot. |
| 12 | Moonraker (1979) | James Bond | 27 | The 12th James Bond feature film released if you include the non-Eon 1967 comedy Casino Royale (it is the 11th official Eon Productions Bond film). |
| 13 | Beyond (2016) | Star Trek | 13 | The 13th Star Trek feature film overall (and the 3rd in the J.J. Abrams-produced reboot series). |
| 14 | Doctor Strange (2016) | Marvel Cinematic Universe | 38+ | The 14th film released in the MCU (following Captain America: Civil War). |
| 15 | Air Bud Returns (2027) | Air Bud | 14 | The comic humorously asserts that the relatively low-stakes and still unreleased Air Bud Returns will be the best 15th movie of any franchise. Few franchises have reached 15 films, but contenders that Air Bud Returns supposedly defeats include the well-received Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (MCU) and Never Say Never Again (James Bond). |
Transcript
- The Ultimate Movie Series
- Constructed by taking the best Nth installment from any franchise:
- I: The Godfather
- II: The Empire Strikes Back
- III: Return of the King
- IV: Fury Road
- V: Prey
- VI: Fallout
- VII: The Force Awakens
- VIII: First Contact
- IX: Badlands
- X: Guardians of the Galaxy
- XI: Star Trek (JJ Abrams)
- XII: Moonraker
- XIII: Beyond
- XIV: Doctor Strange
- XV: Air Bud Returns (2027) (presumably)
This Week's Explanation for Improvement
As part of the Explanation Improvement Project, each week the community selects one older, stagnant, or otherwise neglected explanation to expand and polish together. This week's pick is comic 1008: Suckville, you can help us by editing its explanation!
To get involved with the project, you can also nominate an explanation that you think should be improved, or vote on current nominations!
| Suckville |
 Title text: Suckville is considered by the Census Bureau to be part of the Detroit metropolitan statistical area, despite not being located anywhere near Detroit. Wow, cool. Is what a LOSER would say. It is SUPER boring. |
Explanation
|
Welcome to This Week's Explanation for Improvement! Anyone is encouraged to help explain comic 1008: Suckville; click here to get started! If you are new to wiki editing, you can read our editing FAQ for guidance. Here are some suggestions for improving this explanation: .svg){kind=icon} We can elaborate on "ubiquitous signage you see along American roads".
√.svg){kind=icon} The "population: you" joke is poorly explained.
√.svg){kind=icon} Does "SF-1 table P1" mean something, is it a reference?
X.svg){kind=icon} Explain why the city is considered to be part of the Detroit metropolitan statistical area.
√.svg){kind=icon}
√ has been done (or needs a task update) X has not |
Megan and Cueball are playing a card game (possibly Dominion), and Megan uses a play on the common insult "suck" by adding the typical town-name suffix "-ville" to the end of it. This turn of phrase was popularized in The Simpsons Season 3, Episode 16, "Bart the Lover," where Homer suggests that the best way to start a breakup letter is "Dear Baby, Welcome to Dumpsville, population you." Since then, the general format of the quip has expanded to include other variations, such as "Losercity," "Lamesburg," and, in this case, "Suckville," meant to imply that Cueball sucks.
The phrase is based on the signage commonly used in the United States that reads "Welcome to Town X — Population Y." These signs are usually posted on roads entering a town and, as the name suggests, welcome visitors to it. They often mention the town's distinctive characteristics, as well as traffic laws, its motto, its founding date, or similar facts.
Cueball one-ups Megan by pointing out that a town by that name actually exists. Since Cueball knows exactly where Suckville can be found in the census data, he has likely received this insult before (maybe even from Megan) and searched through the census data to prepare a comeback in case anyone used it again. Alternatively, he may have learned of its existence after falling down a Wikipedia rabbit hole, as shown in other comics (such as 1051: Visited or 214: The Problem with Wikipedia).
In the US decennial census datasets (2010, 2020, etc.), SF-1 is the summary file that contains "the data compiled from the questions asked of all people and about every housing unit," and within it, P1 is the main population table. If Suckville did exist in the 2010 Census, Megan would be able to find it where Cueball suggests.
The title text informs the reader that Suckville is classified as part of the Detroit metropolitan area, despite not being located anywhere near it. Detroit is the quintessential example of a city so run-down that it might as well be named "Suckville," or at least include a district by that name. In fact, the city declared bankruptcy in 2013. (Fun fact: when you search the US Census, "Suckville" is "corrected" to Saukville, Wisconsin, which is not particularly close to Detroit, Michigan. Saukville's 2010 population was 4,451 for the village and 1,755 for the surrounding town.)
Transcript
- [Megan is kneeling on the floor, playing a card game.]
- Megan: Hah!
- Megan: Welcome to Suckville–population: You.
- [In a frame-less panel, Cueball is sitting on the floor opposite her, also playing the game.]
- Cueball: Why are you using 2000 census data?
- Cueball: That's an old figure.
- [Megan turns around from the game to look at her laptop, which is sitting on the floor behind her.]
- Megan: I couldn't find Suckville in the 2010 census.
- Cueball: Huh? It's right there in SF-1 table P1.
- Megan: Oh. So it is.
- [Megan turns back to Cueball, who is looking at his cards.]
- Megan: Well, then.
- Megan: Welcome to Suckville–population: 83.
- Cueball: Much better.
Trivia
In the third panel, Megan appears to have 3 arms and 4 legs. This may indicate a movement between the cards and the laptop or just a drawing error.
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