SPOILERS AHEAD FOR 5 YEARS LATER!
In 2017, The Ink Tank, a channel who had been making Ben 10-centered content for years released a web comic on their website called 5 Years Later (or 5YL). Written and illustrated by Ink Tank CEO Robert “Kuro the Artist” Orpilla, 5YL is a crossover story that is set 5 years after the respective series finales of Nickelodeon’s Danny Phantom and Cartoon Network’s Ben 10: Omniverse, the final series in the Ben 10 classic continuity. The series was created after they felt these series were treated unfairly towards their respective ends.
The series follows Amity Park’s very own Danny Fenton/Phantom 5 years after he revealed his secret identity to the world and defeated his arch-nemesis Vlad Masters/Plasmius. During this time jump, he had retired from his superhero career and become an engineer at his father’s lab, Fenton Works. The company had gotten manty deals with many big organizations, including governments to combat evil ghosts. His best friend, Tucker Foley, becomes the city’s youngest mayor of their city and his fiancée, Sam Manson, basically becomes an activist for ghost rights. Danny, in hopes to make his father happy, he tries to help upgrade the Ghost Portal to go beyond the Ghost Zone. He succeeds, but he ends up stranded in another dimension where he meets the shapeshifting hero known as, “Ben 10”. Together, they have to stop Vlad and an old enemy from Ben’s past.
I didn’t know about this series when it came out because I had lost my love for these franchises because I kept trying to fit in and I was bullied a lot for liking “childish” franchises. That all changed in 2021 when I discovered the Ink Tank’s channel through a 50-minute video that recapped the entire Classic Continuity and advertised 5YL at the end of the video. I read issues 1-12 of the comic as they were released and the creators took a detour and made an animated motion comic version while the comic itself was still being released and then released chapter 13 through 14 in motion comic form.
This entire story was steady and interesting all through. It had a finite beginning and a finite end that made complete sense when put together. Each character interests me, even the minor characters like the janitor.
I feel like 5YL is the perfect continuation of both franchises and canon to me; I feel that way because it showcases a lot of elements from the previous series, but still showed that these characters grew a lot in that timeframe. Most of the designs, except maybe the Armodrillo one, are great. I also really loved the idea of “ecto-energy” and ghosts evolving beyond their current capabilities. I love how much Ben has grown since he was 16 and how he’s a Plumbers Commanding Officer, as well as the new transformations (Buck Wild is my favorite). Danny’s identity crisis when he gets back into the game was real and I love how he felt like a true hero again at the end. His romance with Sam is also so real and adorable.
The other heroes were great. They were fun and interesting. Gwendolyn and Kevin were a great addition to the story and healing my inner child. However, I was disappointed that Grandpa Max didn’t show up at the end.
The villains were awesome in their scenes. I’ll be honest, Eon had me genuinely terrified when he evolved into Divinity. The situation literally got worse before it got better. Zim was such a big highlight, even when he was just whining all around. Even the minor villains were assets. Although, I wonder what happened with Eve, Chirp and the janitor vs Ember and Skulker. Alien X vs Divinity is a top-5 Ben 10 fight ever.
Each issue ties into each other perfectly and the flashbacks make it make sense. It had a definitive beginning and a beautiful ending. Looking into a grim future made me a bit sad, but gave me hope because Ben always comes out stronger.
However, it wasn’t perfect.
First, how is ecto-energy able to beat Alien X, a literal god? It just didn’t make sense to me. Next, I feel like Divinity should have been eradicated after all that. I also didn’t like how Ben was sidelined from the final battle, which is a dumb nitpick since Danny’s the main character, but Eon (later known as Divinity) and Ben as Alien X had already fought in the previous episode.
Besides those, I have no other nitpicks/cripes. Ben’s design after he was rejuvenated looks awesome and Danny’s suit after Future Fenton gave him her suit as a close second.
You can tell that the creators really love these franchises and series; the amount of detail that was put into the elements of the franchise makes it feel like Man of Action themselves made it. That’s what distinguishes it from other Ben 10 fan-fictions.
I loved this series, but I NEED A SEQUEL with Albedo and Dark Danny forming a Negative 10 team or something. Dr. Animo is literally alive and wants revenge, so maybe he’ll become a gorilla or something. It probably won’t be happening anytime soon, but I’m hopeful.
Final rankings
Plot: 5
Characterization: 4
Visuals: 5
Importance: 5
Entertainment: 5
Overall ranking: 24/25
5 Years Later is available to watch on YouTube.