History ComicStrip / BuckRogers

* TronLines: The outfits in the comic book from Creator/DynamiteComics.

* ActionGirl: Wilma Deering

* ChosenOne: Buck, obviously, though not much is made of it

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Depending upon continuity, "Buck" is either a legal name or a nickname.
* PocketRocketLauncher: n the novel Armageddon 2419 A.D., which later inspired the Buck Rogers comics, semi-automatic rocket launchers the size of assault rifles are the signature weapon of the American gangs fighting the Han Empire. The 1960s re-release has a note that the weapon is descended from the bazooka, which protagonist Anthony Rogers (from 1927) remembers as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bazooka_(instrument) a comedian's musical instrument.]] In the comic strip, Buck uses rocket-pistols until he decides the Han's DesintegratorRay is superior.

Trope codifier for SpaceOpera and RaygunGothic, along with ''ComicStrip/FlashGordon'' and ‘’ComicStrip/DanDare’’.

Trope codifier for SpaceOpera and RaygunGothic, along with ''ComicStrip/FlashGordon''.

-> A 1932 Radio series
->''Film/BuckRogers'': The 1939 Film serial, where Rogers and his teen sidekick Buddy are dirigible pilots who crash in the Himilayas, and wake up to fight the gangster Killer Kane.
->''Series/BuckRogersInTheTwentyFifthCentury'': The 1979 television series where Buck is an astronaut who defends Earth from the Draconian Empire.
->''TabletopGame/BuckRogersXXVC'': A Tabletop RPG by Creator/{{TSR}}, where Buck is a fighter jock who fights to free the solar system from RAM, the former Russo-American Mercantile corporation that dominates Mars, and extends that influence across the system.

The series has had a number of adaptations, each with its own spin on the tale:

For the 1970s TV series, go to ''Series/BuckRogersInTheTwentyFifthCentury''. For the 1939 film serial, see ''Film/BuckRogers''. Parodied by WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck in ''WesternAnimation/DuckDodgersInTheTwentyFourthAndAHalfCentury'' and subsequent sequels.

For the 1970s TV series, go to ''Series/BuckRogersInTheTwentyFifthCentury''. Parodied by WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck in ''WesternAnimation/DuckDodgersInTheTwentyFourthAndAHalfCentury'' and subsequent sequels.

* Zeerust: The Buck Rogers comics originated, codified or popularized much of the RaygunGothic aesthetic and practically defines "retro future" to this day; The Planet Express spaceship from ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'' is a prominent modern example of the classic Buck Rogers style.

* OpeningScroll: The serial was ab early TropeCodifier.

* [[ArtificialGravity Anti Gravity]]: In the comic and novel, much of the technology is based around the other-dimensional substance called ''inertron,'' which reacts negatively to gravity. Strapping a weighted chunk of it to a vehicle makes it light enough to fly easily, and strapping some on your back (a "jumping belt") allows you to make giant leaps across the landscape or fly with a low-powered jet pack. Of course, if you let go of a piece, it will zip up into the sky and you'll never see it again. Similar to Creator/HGWells' [[Literature/TheFirstMenInTheMoon cavorite]] (or [[WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle upsydaisium,]] for that matter).

* FollowTheLeader: ''ComicStrip/FlashGordon'' was conceived as a result of Buck popularizing SpaceOpera on the comics page. For that matter, Buck and Flash were George Lucas's primary inspiration for ''Franchise/StarWars'', right down to the iconic ScrollingText.

* UsefulNotes/{{Mars}}: The Tiger Men of Mars.
* [[BeardOfEvil Moustache Of Evil]]: Killer Kane, originally.

* NewspaperComics: one of the iconic examples defining the mid-twentieth century golden age.

* PrintLongRunners: The newspaper comic ran for many years, although it's long gone now.

* YellowPeril: The first bad guys Buck fights in the early novels are the Han Airlords, Chinese who invaded America with zeppelins and ruled it for a couple of centuries until Buck shows up and leads LaResistance against them.
** One of the novels does note that the Han Airlords were probably the result of a meteor or probe that crashed in Mongolia. The alien object apparently took possession of the inland Chinese and Mongolians and turned them toward conquest. ''The Airlords of Han'' specifically mentions (in a throwaway paragraph at the end) that the Japanese and coastal Chinese were unaffected, although the 'gangs' of North America approached them cautiously (it also notes that the 'blacks of Africa' are now 'one of the leading races of the world'). A massive case of FairForItsDay (the novels were written well before UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo.)
*** This is not, in fact, very FairForItsDay, because all that stuff about HalfHumanHybrids and the other ethnic groups is a rewrite of the original novels dating to the 1970s.

* ZeeRust: The Buck Rogers comics originated, codified or popularized much of the RaygunGothic aesthetic and practically defines "retro future" to this day; The Planet Express spaceship from ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'' is a prominent modern example of the classic Buck Rogers style.

* AlternateContinuity: Unlike his comic page contemporary ''ComicStrip/FlashGordon'', who tends to stay visually recognizable in most incarnations, Buck and his world have undergone major overhauls in almost every updated version, starting with the Disco-era aesthetic in the 1970s TV series, through Creator/{{TSR}}'s hard s.f. "[=XXVc=]" role-playing game setting, to the TronLines outfits in the Dynamite Entertainment comic. [=TSR=] averted this with the "Cliffhangers" version of the [=RPG=], which was very faithful to the original comic--perhaps to a fault, since it started at the [[CanonDiscontinuity mostly forgotten]], [[YellowPeril politically incorrect]] ''[[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness beginning]]'' of the comic's timeline, before the iconic space opera elements had even been introduced.

* CanonImmigrant: The 1970's revival of the comic gave [[Series/BuckRogersInThe25thCentury Twiki]] a one-panel cameo.
* CasanovaWannabe: In the short-lived 1970's revival of the newspaper comic, Kane came off kind of like an evil version of Larry from ''Series/ThreesCompany.'' And the funny thing is, [[SoBadItsGood it kinda worked.]]

* FemmeFatale: Ardala Valmar
* FishOutOfTemporalWater: In the comics this disappeared fairly quickly, though it showed up in just about every episode of the TV series.

* MythologyGag: The Creator/DynamiteComics version has several references to the TV series, along with other incarnations of the franchise.

* OpeningScroll: the serials were early trope codifiers
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: depending upon continuity, "Buck" is either a legal name or a nickname.

* ScrollingText: The film serials are the TropeCodifier.
* SleptThroughTheApocalypse: in a mine in the book and the comics, in orbit in the TV series

* YellowPeril: The first badguys Buck fights in the early novels are the Han Airlords, Chinese who invaded America with zeppelins and ruled it for a couple of centuries until Buck shows up and leads LaResistance against them.

* ZeeRust: the Buck Rogers comics originated, codified or popularized much of the RaygunGothic aesthetic and practically defines "retro future" to this day; The Planet Express spaceship from ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'' is a prominent modern example of the classic Buck Rogers style.