Hello, my friends. The future continues to roll its way towards us as we all try to weave a better tomorrow for everyone around us. On that note, we return to a franchise whose comic book history has had plenty of coverage upon this site. From DC Comics & Marvel to Boom Studios and Dark Horse, our most excellent duo has gone on various ventures that’ve ranged from illustrated adaptations of their original duology to numerous tales told between the second and third film. Even though our rocking duo has completed their own cinematic trilogy, we once again find ourselves backtracking to an earlier moment of their overall trek as we also celebrate the 35th Anniversary of Chris Matheson & Ed Solomon’s signature creation. Not only that, but we once again change comic book publishers in order for a most dangerous game to get played out between our heroic youths and the most ancient of evils. As such, we’ll be talking about a particular tale called…
Published by Opus Comics (located in Palm Beach, Florida), this four-part series saw its first three chapters released from June to August 2022 before its final part came out in October. James Asmus would find himself within the writer’s chair, while Wayne Nichols handled the artwork and Joana Lufuente took care of coloring duties. As for the kind of ordeal that our bodacious duo would find themselves in, let’s set up this dangerous game and find out.
We open in 1991, particularly at the end of “Bogus Journey”, where Wyld Stallyns has saved the day and won the Battle of the Bands contest. In an odd twist though, Bill & Ted were able to be present while their future selves were the ones who performed. With their appearance grabbing some media attention, the future versions are the ones that will be going on tour while their past selves have the time to perfect their guitar skills. We then shift to four months later where Bill and Ted haven’t made any progress on that front, despite being confronted by their skillful future selves from 16 months into their futures. Bill does ask his friend about that, yet Ted says that if they’re going to properly practice, then they need to spend some quality time with their princess girlfriends. As such, he calls them up and asks them if they would like to hang out and rent some horror movies, despite their financial situation. However, Elizabeth and Joanna tell them that because they haven’t made any significant improvements upon their guitar skills, they refuse to be around them since it’ll only encourage their procrastination. Not only that, but they also say that they’re never going to be with them again unless they can prove that they’re able to save themselves before their tearfully hang up. Afterwards, Bill mentions how he understands their plight, but feels like there’s no way that they’ll be able to get as good with their own guitar skills by the time they finally catch up to their future selves. Ted then assures him that because they know that they’re going to become good guitarists, things will work out for them. They then decide to go find something to eat despite their financial straits, unaware that their conversation is being observed within a demonic caldron.
Later, they arrive at the Logan Household where Missy is throwing out Ted’s record collection. While Bill heads inside to find some food, Jonathan tells Ted that Missy convinced him to finally toss his older son’s records away due to them apparently being “evil, gateway-satanism junk”. Missy then reveals that she was taken to a meeting for a group called P.O.S.E.R.S. (Parents Opposing Satanism in Entertainment & Regional Sports) and that the attendees shared stories on how Heavy Metal music and Fantasy tales seem to invite “evil spirits”. She then reveals that it stems from a séance that she held (as shown in “Bogus Journey”) and that she won’t feel safe until all of her stepson’s “occult” stuff has been removed from their premises. Ted argues that the books actually belong to her and that she used them to summon dead spirits within their living room. He then mentions that he and Bill were the summoned spirits, but Jonathan doesn’t buy his excuse before he places those books into his garbage bin. Just then, Bill emerges with some junk food that he’s found along with a copy of Aleister Crowley’s 1912 publication called “The Book Of Lies” that they can use in order to acquire “some Heavy Metal inspiration”. Suddenly, another book pops up upon the trash pile. Later, the duo has managed to take all of the discarded books along with Ted’s records back to their apartment as he asks his friend how liking metal music makes him a bad influence. Bill says that he’s not sure before he mentions how even though they have to start practicing their guitar skills, his mind is distracted by something else. Just then, he notices one of their books called “The Devil’s Nether’ealm Dungeons” as they decide to check it out in order to get inspired. Ted mentions that the book doesn’t belong to him or anyone within his immediate family, though he does dig the inside artwork. Bill wants them to dig into it in the hopes of them finally getting their “next-level music skills”, but Ted tells him that there’s some math inside and that they need someone called a “Quest Master”. Just as Bill wishes for them to have a master, their conversation was once again overseen as they suddenly get consumed by fire before they discover that they’re once again in Hell and confronted by Satan himself. He tells them that their quest will see them on a grueling fight for their own souls, especially since he’s miffed with them escaping from his domain last time.
Afterwards, they’re then approached by a sinister figure who will serve as their “Demon Guide” named Samigina. Despite our main duo getting an initial chuckle by the pronunciation of his name, he then orders them to pick their roles for the upcoming trek through “the Devil’s Dungeons”. Bill & Ted say that they would just like to be themselves, while Logan mentions about simply wanting to be himself as well as “an epic musician” as Samigina then uses his dark magic to put them within their respective classes. For Ted, he’s been given the initial role of a Level 1 Bard. As for Bill, he’s been cast as a Squire due to him mentioning his full name (which ends with “Esquire”). Because he’s a knight-in-training, Preston is forced to start off at Level -5. Bill argues for a different starting class while Ted tells him that they’ve possibly chosen the best available classes. However, Samigina tells them that they didn’t and that there’s no do-overs before he presents them with a list of abilities for them to choose from. Because Ted is at Level 1, he’s allowed to start off with three basic enchantments. However, he has to use one of his picks just to get any music instrument he wants while Bill is stuck with cleaning things due to his unintentional class choice. Despite their own disadvantages, Ted decides to have an electric guitar for his instrument as he manages to play so well that it summons some food for them while also making Samigina fart. Just then, Satan disrupts their playful moment and says that he’s finally created their quest. He then tells them that their mission is to reach a pit of Hell that contains a forming Breach. However, their path will be filled with several demonic creatures & minions that await them upon the “fields of slaughter and agony”. Once they reach the rift, they’ll either be able to seal it or else have Satan’s forces unleash their malicious might upon the Earth.
Bill & Ted try to offer another way for them to play, particularly with board games. Unfortunately, Satan doesn’t remotely accept before Samigina receives his Quest Master book and our duo’s campaign finally begins. Samigina tells them that they’re the only ones who’re aware of a devious Breach, yet they don’t have any armor or currency. As such, they have to prepare themselves by taking said items from some fallen warriors. They then find a sword as Bill tries to pull it up from the ground, but he’s unable to budge it.
Not only that, Samigina tells them that they’re not in a graveyard, but in a killing field. From there, Issue 1 ends with them being confronted by a group of towering, demonic lobster-looking creatures called the Chuul.
Issue 2 begins with our main duo getting chased by the monstrous beings as Ted ultimately winds up within one of their cruel claws. Suddenly, the monsters become frozen as Samigina tells our main men that it’s their turn as Logan receives a 20-sided die. They’re then informed that they can choose a spell or action that they have access to before they roll their die in order to find out if it’s successful or not. After they get provided with their own books that lists off their abilities, they soon discover that they can actually complete this quest with their own “Raiding Party”. As such, they request for them to form their own group or else they’ll be given a forfeit win. Samigina reluctantly agrees as he makes the Chuul disappear before our main dudes proceed to discuss amongst themselves on who would be experienced enough to help them out of their situation. After initially thinking of yet ultimately rejecting their princess wives and even Ted’s little brother Deacon, they finally decide who’s going to be in their raid party.
From there, the Time Booth comes in as the duo introduce the historical figure that will serve as their “Holy Knight Warrior”, which turns out to be Joan of Arc. For their dark wizard, they’ve chosen the British writer and occultist known as Aleister Crowley. Finally, they choose a man named Dr. Feelgood as their “Healer Class” representative. Upon his arrival however, he tells the group that he’s actually a New Orleans-based Pediatric Surgeon who performs in a funk band while using Dr. Feelgood as his stage name. Our main duo then informs their comrades that they’ll receive some “totally awesome magical upgrades” for their skills and that they can learn about their own power moves. However, Aleister doesn’t trust Bill’s ability to properly function as a squire as he decides to summon one more member for their party, which turns out to be Italian violinist and composer Niccolò Paganini. Just as the Chuul are about to descend upon them, he manages to annihilate the beings with his violin-based music.
We then shift ahead where the group has begun on their journey while getting informed via “miles of exposition” as Aleister is delighted by the notion of them embarking on a Hell-based quest with their own “skills and experience”, despite the grim fates that could happen to them and everyone on Earth. Not to mention, Niccolò even brings up how the devil likes to figure out ways to never honor his own bargains. Despite that, Crowley says that they’ll simply gain enough strong spells in order for them to escape this realm and return to Earth as Bill reminds him that they also have to seal an ever-opening breach. They ultimately arrive at the Unholy Trinity College, which was founded by Aleister as he prepares to help the group reach the facility. During this, Ted tells his friend about his growing doubt of them ever developing into the rock stars that they saw and are supposed to become as he then wonders if that was a trick from Satan. As such, Bill asks Niccolò for some advice that would help him and Logan as up-and-coming musicians. Paganini warns him that fame is a hollow thing to strive for, to which Preston says that he and his friend just want to know how “to get way better”. Suddenly, Samigina shows up and tells our main duo to just sell their souls just like Niccolò apparently did as he also gives them a green 20-sided die before Dr. Feelgood comes along to take claim of it. Afterwards, Joan tells our central dudes to not listen to the demonic being since she’s already seen their unique way of bringing joy to others. She tells them to focus on the good that they’re capable of bringing to the world in order for their best parts to shine through before she then tells Bill that she’s finally realized his role as a squire. As such, she trusts him with looking after her sword before she hands it over to him, thus giving him 50 experience points.
From there, Dr. Feelgood discovers that he can also use magic as he and Aleister combine their abilities in order to create some stairs towards the hovering building. Eventually, the group manages to arrive at the empty college before they’re confronted by a multi-armed, one-eyed monster called a Nothic. Before they have a chance to properly confront the being, the creature manages to destroy Niccolò’s violin before forcing its way through Joan’s defense in order to smack her out of the way. Afterwards, Samigina appears and gives the group some self-rolling 20-sided dies for them to use before he tells them to take their turn or else the Nothic will attack again. Bill then reminds Ted that he can summon musical instruments as Logan manages to give Paganini a gong, which he uses to roll his own die. However, he ends rolling a one as the Nothic continues to close in on the violinist. Suddenly, Ted is able to save him by summoning a piano and dropping it onto the creature.
Shortly afterwards, Aleister reveals that he’s finally found a spell that will let them seal the breach before Joan tells Bill that she’ll need her sword back. Preston agrees as he thinks that he’s blowing their chances, but Ted reminds him that it was his idea for Logan to use his own instrument-summoning spell. Joan then says that the game is moving far-too fast for her to react without her sword. Fortunately, she’s more than willing to help train Bill into becoming a knight since she trusts him with her life. Suddenly, Nothic recovers and grabs her before it manages to kill her. From there, Issue 2 ends with Bill asking how that’s possible since she was already dead, to which Samigina says that it someone dies in Hell, then their soul will become bound to the realm forever. Now that her soul will suffer for eternity, he tells the duo that the same fate awaits them.
Issue 3 opens with our main dudes kneeling next to Joan’s scorched corpse as Bill blames himself for her grim fate. He doesn’t get to stay within his self-grief for long though as Alesiter and Dr. Feelgood demand for some help since they’re being chased by the Nothic. Fortunately, Niccolò says that he can stop the creature as Ted manages to summon another violin for him before he uses it to smite the monster with his musical prowess, especially since he managed to roll a 17. Afterwards, the group turns their attention towards their recently fallen comrade as Bill realizes that they have two magic-based figures amongst them. As such, he asks Dr. Feelgood to heal her while Crowley returns her soul to her body. While Dr. Feelgood expresses some worry over the process going wrong, Preston assures them that things usually work out for them. He’s then approached by Samigina who had just returned from a meeting with Satan that saw him further developing the quest. Bill then tells him that his group is going to bring Joan back from the dead to which Aleister and Dr. Feelgood manage to successfully do as they each roll a 20 on their own dice. Afterwards, Dr. Feelgood tells Samigina that they just won their recent monster encounter and that they deserve some XP, to which the demonic being reluctantly agrees by giving each member 300 XP. As a result, Ted & the historical figures have advanced to Level 2 and have gained access to some new abilities, while Bill is only able to reach Level -4. Logan then learns that he’ll now be able to summon “tools of art”, which includes paintbrushes, charcoal, pencils and books.
From there, we shift into a montage where our group continues to encounter several more creatures while ultimately prevailing over them. Along the way, they’ve all gathered lots of XP as Bill finally manages to reach Level 0. They ultimately reach a lava-filled cavern as they begin to realize that the breach is somewhere within. With some unknown beings possibly standing in their way, Aleister decides to enchant every single creature within the cave. Despite him rolling an 18, nothing seems to have happened. As they climb up towards an entryway, Joan tells him that his roll could’ve worked since it may have brought every single monster within their area towards them. Crowley then admits that his spell was intended to have every cave-based monster be summoned towards the lava in order for the final stretch of their journey to be easier, yet Dr. Feelgood tells him that some of those creatures are possibly fireproof. Ted then uses his guitar skills to summon Flying Lights in order to illuminate their way before they discover the breach upon a single slice of land completely surrounded by lava.
Just then, Samigina appears and presents the group with their final boss to go up against as it turns out to be Cl. Oats himself. The demonic being explains that several years ago, Oats made an offhand, yet sincere comment about selling his own soul in order to get his rank. Afterwards, he gives the corrupt colonel his own die in order to summon his own army. Bill reminds Samigina that he and his group can roll their own dice in order to gain first initiative. While Cl. Oats is able to roll a 20, only Ted and Dr. Feelgood are able to roll double-digits. Dr. Feelgood then says that because Logan rolled a 16 and has a +4 Dexterity Bonus, it lets him tie with Oats. While Samigina agrees, he says that their actions will be simultaneous and that the corrupt colonel is still allowed to summon his own army. Our duo then discusses with Dr. Feelgood on how they’ll be able to properly fight back with their own limited skill set, to which he reminds Ted that as a bard, he can inspire people and even influence the kind of army that will be called upon them. Afterwards, Oats begins to summon his dark armada as Logan decides for it to consist of skeletons. Our group is then surrounded by several demonic skeletons as Samigina mentions an oversight with their scheme. Specifically, it’s that nearly everyone has a skeleton within them. As such, Bill and Ted end up punching each other against their own will. Cl. Oats then tells them that because he now controls all of Hell’s skeletons, he also has total command over our duo’s bones. As he ponders whether he wants them to bring up his army’s rear in order to helplessly watch the invasion or send them into the fray, he then reveals that San Dimas is what’s going to be targeted. With our heroes in shock by this turn of events, Logan assumes that Satan is going through with this since he’s still mad with them. However, Samigina says that they didn’t forge this breach and that it was actually caused by their townsfolk.
While Bill & Ted initially think that Heavy Metal music actually led up to this, Samigina tells them that the genre only invokes his dark lord’s name. He then shows some women gathered together in order to burn some “music, texts and worldly creations” that’re somehow connected to Satan as he explains that just because the humans acknowledge that they’re related to his dark master, it allows his power to grow as a “Satanic Panic” begins to fester within their minds and fears. As such, it weakens the bounds between Hell and Earth to the point where one last sacrificial offering will help the dark forces come about. Bill & Ted then realize that they can ultimately prevent all of this via time travel as they explain that once they kick their foes’ butts, they’ll go back in time in order to set up some traps within this particular cavern. However, they notice that the traps aren’t deploying like they usually do as Cl. Oats tells them that time travel doesn’t exist in Hades. Samigina adds onto the fact that Hell is an eternity that exists outside of regular time. Back on Earth, the ladies that’re burning the Satan-inspired material (with Missy being among them) suddenly notice an ominous symbol in the sky. From there, Issue 3 ends with the breach opening as Oats leads a horde of demonic creatures in order to begin their invasion.
Issue 4 begins at the Logan household as Deacon asks his dad where his stuff has gone, to which Jonathan says that he and Missy believe that the “fantasy-darkness devil crap” are a poor influence due to how Ted has wound up within his somewhat-slacker state. Suddenly, Deacon sees a few demons heading towards them as the citizens find themselves under the invading attack by Cl. Oats and the devious creatures. Bill & Ted see this happening from Hell to which Dr. Feelgood reminds the group that the quest is still on and that they also have their self-rolling dice. However, Joan, Aleister and Niccolò remind him that because of the ongoing skeletal curse, they’re not able to move in order to either fight, use their special abilities or even play their musical instruments. Just then, Preston & Logan see Elizabeth and Joanna getting chased by a demonic creature, to which Ted tells Paganini that even though he and Bill aren’t able to make any good music themselves, they’re still Bards and that it’s their job to inspire others. As such, they all have to “break the spell and amp up the party” for the final battle. From there, the gang manages to reach San Dimas as they see the ongoing chaos upon the town.
Preston and Logan are then told by Joan & Alesiter to go save their princess wives before taking on Cl. Oats while they and the rest of the group head out to protect San Dimas. Just as Elizabeth and Joanna get caught by the millipede-looking demon, our main duo manages to reach them in time before Ted rolls his die and gets a 14, allowing him to smite the monster. Afterwards, he and Bill proceed to apologize for causing these series of events as a result of their constant slacking off of their music practice. They even elaborate as they say that between Logan’s parents looking down upon Ted & his heavy metal belongings and Preston’s rocky start to the whole quest, it’s made them start to believe that they can’t do anything right. Fortunately, Elizabeth and Joanna remind them that they’ve just came to their rescue. Not only that, but they’ve gone up against various beings over the years and have prevailed over all of them, which proves that they still admire their husbands. Bill and Ted then proceed to tell each other that they’ve been helpful towards one another during their quest, to which Preston tells his longtime friend that whether or not his dad knows, he’s still “a good dude” that his little brother still looks up to. However, this makes Logan realize that his younger sibling is potentially in danger. Meanwhile, Alesiter, Dr. Feelgood and Joan manage to smite several sinister skeletons as she manages to spot Cl. Oats gathering his evil armada over at the Logan household.
Over at said house, Deacon is trying to drag his unconscious father inside before he’s approached by Oats, Samigina and their remaining demons as they capture him with the intention of turning him into another member of the corrupt colonel’s “Undead Unit”. Fortunately, Bill and Ted arrive in time as they roll their dice. Unfortunately, they land on a 1 and a 0. Deacon then apologizes and says that Missy was right about his books being bad, but Ted tells him that it’s not his fault and that his statement has given him an idea. He manages to summon a book called “The Riddance of Evil” (which is the same book that Missy used to initially send our duo to Hell in “Bogus Journey”) and speaks a spell that manages to send Oats and the skeletal armada back to their evil realm. Samigina manages to hang onto a tree for dear life and says that his dark lord will deeply punish him if he returns to Hell without Preston & Logan’s souls. Bill then asks him if they can offer said spirits in exchange for them finally gaining some “awesome rock skills”, to which Samigina agrees. As such, Bill & Ted announce that they’re offering their “soles” to Satan in exchange for becoming skilled rockers as they hand over their shoes. Samigina tells them that they have to offer up their actual souls, but Dr. Feelgood tells him that his magic dungeon book recorded it all and that he has to honor the shoe-based payment. Afterwards, Joan uses her sword to slice up the tree and send Samigina back to Hell before Alesiter seals the rift.
Shortly afterwards, a Time Booth pops in as Rufus and an angel arrive in order for them to not only return Joan to Heaven, but also extend an invitation to Niccolò due to him winning his soul back fair and square, to which he accepts. Despite not getting an invite to Heaven himself, Crowley says that he wants to explore the “mischief” that’s transpired amongst the “new decades”. As such, Rufus and the angel head out with Joan & Paganini while Dr. Feelgood ends up taking his leave alongside Alesiter. Just as they notice Jonathan starting to wake up, Ted thinks that he’ll come down hard on him for everything that’s happened to which Bill mentions that he has an idea. Deacon then tells his dad that he passed out via Heat Stroke and that the lawn was taken care of due to his older brother’s suggestion. Jonathan then asks our main duo why they’re wearing their medieval outfits, to which Preston says that he and his friend got some jobs at a Renaissance Fair before Logan hands over a kettle filled with coins (which Bill summoned) in order to pay off their debt. And so, the story ends back at the apartment building as Bill & Ted (having just lost their RPG abilities from the recent quest) tell their princess wives that they’ve tricked the devil into giving them the skills to play their guitars potentially better than their future selves. Once they give a rocking demonstration, Elizabeth and Joanna express their approval as they give their husbands a massive high five.
Even though our featured tale has come to a close, we’re not quite done yet. Throughout all four issues, there’s also a backup story that’s focused on the most prominent foe of this whole franchise. As such, we’ll now embark on a different kind of narrative journey that’s written by John Barber, drawn by Andrew Currie and colored by Joana Lafuente as we delve into “The Lives & Times Of Chuck De Nomolos, The Greatest Man In History”. We open upon our initial chapter called “Fear” with Chuck giving a lengthy lecture about how humanity looks back at history with fear and that he chastises others for running from grand challenges while those who’re willing to stand their ground face it head-on. However, it turns out that he’s in the middle of teaching his gym class within the Rachno Cucamonga-based Jozabeth Middle School on March 11, 2650, as he decides to introduce his students to a new machine called the “Super-Conductive Perpendicular Gravomagnetic Field Generator”. However, he uses it to run a fierce version of dodgeball as it launches a ball and hits a young Rufus in the face. As he gets helped up (much to his teacher’s disapproval), Rufus tells him to be “more excellent” towards the kids that he’s supposed to be teaching to. However, De Nomolos decides that he needs his pupils to be taught a lesson in respect as he cranks up the setting on his field generator (despite the machine warning him against it).
As he and his classmates are forced to dodge the balls coming at them at rapid-fire speed, Rufus essentially chastises his gym teacher for not doing his proper job. During this, Chuck narrates about how he doesn’t blame his pupil for becoming soft, but he instead shames society and the “fragile disciples of untalented musicians”. As the field generator causes some major damage to the gymnasium, Rufus runs out with his classmates and tells his teacher that he’ll grow up and not become “bogus”. De Nomolos then says goes on a little speech about how everyone will one day give him absolute respect, unaware that the field generator is begging to be turned off. As such, the machine overloads and explodes, decimating the whole gymnasium as Rufus assures the reader in his narration that “all of the kids got out” in time. He also narrates how because Racho Cucamonga in the 27th Century hardly has any crime; the vicinity doesn’t have its own police department. As such, San Dimas is close enough as they place De Nomolos within their jail before Rufus ultimately manages to visit him. He tells De Nomolos that while he regrets his comment about coaching, he says that his time in prison would ultimately help him change in a positive way with his inventions. While Chuck thinks that he’s being called a coward, Rufus assures him that he could change the world just like Bill and Ted. However, De Nomolos flips out and gets dragged away while yelling how that they’ll “all see”. From there, Part 1 ends with Rufus narrating about how this was the moment that his gym teacher became a would-be despot and that he’s ultimately to blame for this.
Part 2 (“Discipline”) begins with Chuck explaining how he intends to bring advanced robotics to the masses through his own San Dimas-based company called De Nomolos Universal Robotics in order to make some improving change to the world. It’s then revealed that he’s explaining this to a high school newsletter reporter (who turns out to be Rufus himself) who’s only interested in confirming to his readers that Chuck had just be released from jail. With the story now taking place on June 5, 2656, Rufus narrates about how his former gym teacher has been apologizing a lot ever since his destructive incident. He also mentions that Wyld Stallyns’ influence had taught everyone to give others the benefit of the doubt, yet he’s befuddled that his former gym teacher doesn’t entirely remember him. Getting back to their interview, De Nomolos says that he owed his students and the whole of society a major debt for his overzealousness that he’s intentionally paid for, especially since he’s always intended to improve other peoples’ lives. He also says that ever since the day that the field generator went awry, he’s taken that moment to create his own robots that will be available for commercial use fairly soon. Rufus then asks his former gym teacher about what exactly inspired him to help out society ever since he got out of prison, to which Chuck explains that it began with him coming across an elderly woman who was struggling to cross a street shortly after his release. Even though he was able to help her out, he realized that he wouldn’t be able to be everywhere at once, yet his “Mechanical Companions” can be. Rufus then mentions that self-crossing roads have already existed for several centuries, yet De Nomolos shrugs this notion off as he returns his former pupil to his fellow high school students. He then tells the group that he’s determined with maintaining a vital drive towards helping society push past its prior injustices.
Because his ideals have been shared by various figures throughout history, he then mentions that his ultimate goal is to inspire others, which leads to him creating robotic replicas of historical individuals. Rufus and his classmates then notice that despite the robotic versions of notable historical figures and famous musicians, there aren’t any robotic versions of Wyld Stallyns’ front men themselves: Bill & Ted. With the mere mention of their names beginning to infuriate Chuck, an employee notices this and brings the tour to a premature end. As the group boards their school bus, Rufus tells Ms. Wardroe that De Nomolos didn’t recognize him, yet he’s ultimately relived to find out that he didn’t send his former gym teacher down a dark path. He then mentions how as long as his former mentor doesn’t come up with “a hair-brained scheme to ruin everything”, he’ll be able to receive some proper praise. Back inside the building, it’s revealed that Chuck actually did recognize his former student before he tells his female employee to keep track of him, due to him being a central figure for his “brilliant scheme to improve everything”. De Nomolos then says that he weeps for the current generation becoming weaker as a result of Bill & Ted’s positive influence while feeling like his former pupil is subtly mocking him. With his female employee following his fellow robots’ lead and putting on masks that bear their master’s face, Part 2 ends with Chuck mentioning how Rufus and everyone else will learn what it’s like “to stand in the way of Nomolos De Nomolos”.
Part 3 (“Order”) opens on August 19, 2663, within the De Nomolos Universal Robotics facility as Chuck gives a speech about how success and triumph aren’t fulfilling enough. Because he doesn’t like a society that’s built on “compassion, understanding and forgiveness”, since it would allow the less fortunate to have a fighting chance and close the margin between “winners and losers”, he says that true victory can only be achieved when the opponent fails. Not to mention, he looks to rise above everyone and achieve true order. It’s soon revealed that he’s telling this to Rufus whom he hired to be his ghost writer on a book that’s supposed to help people understand De Nomolos’ true self. Rufus then tells his former gym teacher that as a genius robotic engineer, his fans wouldn’t be interested in his pronouncements and are instead fascinated with knowing what made him into the man that it is today by him sharing his past. Chuck then says that he truly wants people to obey him, to which Rufus tells him that he can work with it by writing how he wants people to listen to him since it sounds revealing. He then reminds De Nomolos of the time that he visited his robot factory and was shown robots that were formed into “great people from history” as Rufus reminds him of his desire to inspire others. He then mentions a previously told tale of Chuck helping an old lady across the street and tells him that it actually didn’t happen, yet it could be included within the book as a way for De Nomolos to have a good connection with the populace with what he’s doing. Thus, in a roundabout way, it can become something that “came true”. Rufus goes on to explain how there are people out in the world who aren’t able to physically get around like some folks and can’t relate with other people. To that extent, Chuck has made things better for them and it’s what his book can be about, since he has to show others why he’s “excellent” and not just say so.
However, De Nomolos just laughs and tells his former pupil that he’s just admitted to him that he’s already achieved his own excellence. Rufus says that he never saw his former gym teacher lack any kind of excellence and that Wyld Stallyns’ signature lesson of “Be Excellent To Each Other” is supposed to teach others that everyone is excellent deep down. Unfortunately, Chuck sees that notion as disgusting before he shares why he’s doing all of this. He wants to prove to everyone who had previously mocked him before he shows off his expensive, top-of-the-line automatons that all share his facial likeness. Later, Rufus has taken his leave as he narrates about how sad he feels for De Nomolos as he wonders what could’ve possibly begun his descension towards becoming a bad person. It turns out that it stems back to a World Sit-Up Championship where he was the reigning champion but ended up losing to a young man named Billiam Tedson. He’s then reminded of what his mother told him following his defeat: “No matter how good you are, there is always someone better.”. And so, Part 3 ends with him proclaiming that everyone will see him as the absolute best while promising his “favorite pupil” that he’ll have a front row seat for that occasion.
Part 4 (“Achievement”) begins at the San Dimas-based Bill & Ted University on February 2, 2671, as Rufus has become a history professor. He then mentions George Santayana’s noteworthy aphorism “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” as a lesson that his former gym teacher should’ve learned. He goes to mention how Chuck started off as a shining figure in the robotics field before his own arrogance led to his downfall since his various De Nomobots led to his own failure. Just then, one of Rufus’ students notices that De Nomolos’ own building is physically right outside as the facility has been turned into a giant robot with a holographic Chuck head and is now looming large over the school. During this, Rufus narrates about how his younger self didn’t know then what he knows now about how there wasn’t such a thing as coincidence. De Nomolos then orders his robots to begin their assault since he felt betrayed by society and can no longer work within their system. Rufus manages to evacuate his students before he confronts his former gym teacher. However, he’s actually talking to Chuck’s robot as he tells the machine how he was supposed “to improve life”. It tells him that in order for life to become better, it has to be worse for others. Rufus then argues that if that’s the case and happiness is finite, then he’s not improving life and is only “shifting happiness from person to person”. The machine then realizes that it’s not making any significant improvement and thus, it has no function as it falls over while telling its master that he sucks “at everything”.
De Nomolos refuses to go down like this as he tries to initiate the override protocols and take manual control over his robot. However, Rufus rips off an automaton’s head and throws it at his former gym teacher, hitting him in the face. Rufus then tells him to power down, yet Chuck refuses to comply. With him unaware that his robot is overloading, it proceeds to explode as Rufus narrates about how this whole ordeal had begun and ended with “a basketball throw and an explosion”. With the fiendish automatons falling apart around him, he also mentions how he wanted his former gym teacher to turn things around and he didn’t want anyone to die that day. Soon as it’s revealed that Chuck did survive, Rufus narrates how it ultimately became his lucky day, though that would become “a whole other journey”. And so, the story ends on the initial scene from “Bogus Journey” as De Nomolos tells his followers that weakness has permeated society for countless generations. As such, they must help him instill his order so that they can control over the weak and help the strong thrive over the status quo. When one of his followers asks him if they’re going to conquer the world, he assures them that they will once “the time is right”.
Overall, the mainline narrative is an enjoyable tale that maintains the franchise’s familiar feel. While it continues to harness our central protagonists’ positive (even if somewhat unfocused) attitudes, wholesomely silly humor and a reasonable level of stakes for them to overcome, there’s some good moments where Bill & Ted actually doubt themselves on whether they’ll be able to live up to the musical prophecy that they’re supposed to ultimately bring to pass. Between our two main characters, Bill has the biggest struggle of all due to him accidentally choosing a lesser role for the quest and not reacting in time for him to properly help Joan out of their predicament with the Nothic. While this notion isn’t as prominent as I may have wanted it to, their closest comrades are the ones who remind them of their importance due to the positive influence that was already imparted onto them. As far as their supporting players are concerned, they handle their roles with effective ease. As for the one who gets to stand out the most, I would have to give that honor to the most prominent historical figure within the overall franchise: Joan of Arc. She gets her most significant contributions since Boom Studios’ second mini-series known as “Bill & Ted Go To Hell”. Unlike there where she’s on a rescue mission to save the Grim Reaper and faces her own unique situation where she needs to help Satan out in order to stop a different kind of evil, she takes on the role of a motivational warrior. Because she’s already familiar with the duo by the time this otherworldly venture comes around, she’s gotten used to their quirks & inspirational vibes in order to take that and infuse it with her skillset. As such when Bill & Ted begin to question themselves, she’s able to provide the most emotional comfort out of the entire group and assure them that they have genuine purpose with their actions. In terms of our villains, Samigina and Satan each loom over our heroes during their trek while the former is more physically present throughout the proceedings. While Samigina was fairly handled as a demon who’s meant to be taken seriously for the most part (even if our rocking duo don’t always do so for comedic effect), Cl. Oats became prominently intimidating once he came around during the second half of the overall tale. Though he’s popped up within the comics a few times already, the way he’s handled here allows him to have his most devious role since the aforementioned mini-series. Even though he’s still doing the devil’s work as a result of an ill-advised decision, his new position allows him to become a singular entity of evil as he effectively delivers a reign of terror upon our central group as well as San Dimas itself. Because he sold his soul in order to achieve a high military rank, it would’ve been nice to have seen some demonic abilities that he acquired as a result of him eternally serving the dark lord, since it would make things a little bit tougher for our bodacious duo. As presented though, he held his own and made a good impact upon the narrative. If there’s a narrative thread present within this tale, then it would be that acquiring a desired skill takes time, care and practice to fully harness. A little luck along the way is fine, but the regular tried-and-true method is more often the best bet way to get there. Sure, Bill and Ted do manage to trick Samigina into giving them effective guitar skills by the end, yet a follow-up story could see them struggling with their new traits in order to make effective music and ultimately create the song that’s destined to unite humanity in peaceful harmony. Maybe one of Opus’ one-shot tie-ins to this franchise has this narrative thread, but I can’t tell since I haven’t read them at the time of this article. Either way, it’s a notion that has the potential to be expanded upon in a creative way. As for my final thoughts, the opening impetus for this story did manage to make me tilt my head in confusion. It takes the ending to Bogus Journey where Wyld Stallyns’ front men have a masterful performance in the Battle of the Bands competition and makes a twist to it by making another regular Bill & Ted watch said performance from afar. It does make me wonder where this version of the iconic duo came from, since no one seems to notice this odd inclusion. If we continue to take Ed Solomon’s notion on how all of the comics and TV shows are non-canonical with the movies and are more of a “What If” multiversal notion, then there’s still no explanation as to how the Bill & Ted that we ultimately follow for this story appear in the same time and place of the Bill & Ted we’ve been following throughout the movie. Ultimately, it’s a somewhat clunky start that manages to recover well-enough in order to provide an enjoyable ride that’s still satisfying by the end. As for the four-part backup story, it does an interesting job in fleshing out the most notable antagonist to ever stand in Bill & Ted’s way. Between Bogus Journey and what we’re presented here, Chuck has been spurned by our duo’s influence upon the human race and because of the peaceful harmony that society is under, he thinks that no one is allowed to strive to be better than anyone else and thus, they would fall into utter stagnation. Rufus serves as his multiple opportunities to change for the better since he’s one of the shining examples of Wyld Stallyns’ positive influence helping him achieve a worthwhile life. However, De Nomolos has been stuck in his ways ever since that embarrassing moment from his youth and refuses to believe that a society not under his strict rule would be less-than-satisfactory. Seeing how this story is already being told over the course of 21 years and only has one token scene that shows him as a young person, it would’ve been nice if we got a series of events that he witnessed that would’ve further solidify and informed his opinion. After all, it would also show the audience that while Bill & Ted’s peaceful notion is the most idealistic of all, it’s probably not as rock-solid of a philosophy as we would all like it to be. Maybe some examples could’ve been created as a way of showing the few flaws within the intended mindset and that Chuck could’ve initially tried to get with the program, but they went against his individuality and are ultimately appalling to what he believes is the true mindset that everyone should strive & survive for. As for the development we get here, it’s suitably fine and fits within the condensed format. It neatly expands upon a familiar foe’s past and makes his troubled teacher-student relationship with Rufus shine very well within the forefront. In the end, both stories do their best to add onto or expand upon the multi-path mythos of the Bill & Ted Universe. While each had a notion or missed opportunity that prevented them from becoming effectively solid entries within the vast scope of the I.P.’s existence, they’re still wonderfully done and respects its established cinematic lore in order to make them recommended reads. Now, this wouldn’t be the only time that Opus Comics would have with this franchise. There’s still a trinity of one-shots for us to delve into, but those are for another set of days. Until then, may we all continue to work towards a positive future and as always: “Party On, Dudes!”.
Bill & Ted (created by Bill Matheson & Ed Solomon) is owned by Nelson Films and is distributed by MGM & Orion Pictures.
