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8th May '12 6:02:31 PM movie007

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8th May '12 6:00:48 PM movie007

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''[[http://www.mezzacotta.net mezzacotta]]'' (yes, [[AllLowercaseLetters all-lowercase]]) is a website launched by [[Tropers/{{Dmmaus}} David Morgan-Mar]] and The Comic Irregulars (authors of ''DarthsAndDroids'' and ''IrregularWebcomic'') to showcase "all the weird, crazy, half-baked ideas we come up with."

It contains the following webcomics:

* '''mezzacotta''', a webcomic "with two people talking to each other. Mostly." Though it launched in October 10, 2008, its archive of daily strips extends significantly farther into the past. The archive contains strips for every day that has passed since the introduction of ''DarthsAndDroids'', ''IrregularWebcomic'', ''SluggyFreelance'', the World Wide Web, the year David Morgan-Mar was born, [[OlderThanTelevision television broadcasts]], [[OlderThanRadio radio]], [[OlderThanSteam the steam engine]], [[OlderThanPrint the printing press]], [[OlderThanFeudalism the fall of Rome]], and so on. The 'earliest' strip in its archive [[OlderThanDirt is supposedly 9,986,270 million years older than the presumed age of the Universe]].[[hottip:* :If you want to know where the comics ''really'' come from, they are [[spoiler: generated by a fractal algorithm seeded from the "publication date".]] One could, perhaps, think of it as the [[JorgeLuisBorges Webcomic of Babel]]... or maybe the [[color:blue:Webcomic]] [[HouseOfLeaves of Leaves]]. You can find the "first one" '''[[http://www.mezzacotta.net/archive.php?date=-9999999999999-01-01 here]]'''.

* '''Lightning Made of Owls''': a webcomic consisting entirely of user-submitted {{Guest Strip}}s (much like the [[http://www.moovok.co.uk/gsp/ Guest Strip Project]]), launched on 15 November 2008. Its name is a deliberate WordSaladTitle. It features the following stock characters:
** Holly, an optimistic, lively young woman. Always depicted with clear round NerdGlasses.
** Ambrose, a learned, eccentric older man. Always depicted with a yardbrush moustache.
** Samantha, a smart, vain, self-motivated young lady. Always depicted with large earrings.
** Oliver, a bald man who is AlwaysLawfulGood. Always depicted with an [[ScarsAreForever L-shaped scar]].
** Meridien, a long-haired spiritual woman. Always depicted with a cloth fashion accessory, typically a ribbon.
** Delkin, a young technician, and the joker of the bunch. Always depicted with HiddenEyes.

* '''SquareRootOfMinusGarfield''': a user-submitted RemixComic inspired by ''[[http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/ Garfield Minus Garfield]]''. Each strip is a remixed ''{{Garfield}}'' strip, but remixed in an entirely different manner to the previous strips. Launched on 21 November 2008.

* '''Comments on a Postcard''': Having finally completed their magnum opus, the phenomenally acclaimed genre-defying webcomic known as ''Postcard'', the Comic Irregulars have started to re-run it from beginning to end. But there's a problem - all of the comic image files have mysteriously been deleted! Furthermore, nobody else seems to have ever heard of ''Postcard'', or have any memory of ever reading it. But, [[RippleEffectProofMemory unperturbed]] by this apparent [[DelayedRippleEffect glitch in the time stream]], the Comic Irregulars are simply running the {{News Post}}s without the comic images, and hoping that the reader's imagination will suffice until they can find someone, somewhere, who has a backup copy of the files in their browser cache.[[hottip:* :Actually, [[FictionalDocument there never was a webcomic]] - they're just making up the "commentary" and leaving it to the reader to imagine the described nonexistant image. Whether or not this even counts as a "webcomic" is a question that'd have Scott [=McCloud=] lying awake at night.]] Launched on 8 December 2008.
** [-The above description is one of many [[MultipleChoicePast random descriptions]] of the webcomic that load when the "About" page is viewed.-]

* '''Awkward Fumbles''': Launched on April 14, 2009. A collaborative webcomic where ''mezzacotta'' readers send in comic strips with blank speech balloons, and [[strike:the Comic Irregulars]] other readers insert dialogue and captions of their own making, to create a finished comic that isn't quite what either of the parties intended! (If this sounds like something that the ''DinosaurComics'' creator Ryan North already did a while back, that's because it is.)
----
'''Awkward Fumbles''' contains examples of:
* PixelArtComic ([[http://www.mezzacotta.net/fumbles/?comic=5 Pixels]])
* ScheduleSlip - Although it doesn't have a schedule, it didn't update at all between May and August 2009, due to it being more work for the Irregulars than the other comics, where the readers do all the work. It changed with an overhaul, allowing readers to not only draw but also write the strip.
** And then it slipped again. Currently, the latest strip was published on March 30, 2010.

'''Comments on a Postcard''' contains examples of:
* CelebrityParadox / RecursiveCanon: [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/postcard/?comic=121 Here]] (a shout out to [[DarthsAndDroids the other work by the Comic Irregulars]])
* FictionalDocument
* FundamentallyFunnyFruit (eggplants)
* LampshadeHanging: One of the "About" pages: "How awesome would it be if someone produced a webcomic without the comic? Each day, they'd just post the author comments for the comic, and leave it up to the reader to imagine what they actually drew. Perhaps there could be a fictional backstory about the mysterious lost comic for which only the author's comments survive."
** This was actually the original pitch, as posted on the Mezzacotta forums.
* NewsPost
* NoodleIncident
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes -- the artist ''really'' doesn't like cows.

'''Lightning Made of Owls''' contains examples of:
* AlwaysLawfulGood
* BlindingBangs
* DependingOnTheArtist
* InstantAwesomeJustAddMecha
* JennyEverywhere
* LightningCanDoAnything - being made of owls helps
* NerdGlasses
* NotTheFallThatKillsYou - [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/owls/?comic=29 parodied]]
* ScarsAreForever
* WordSaladTitle
* TitleDrop
* UniversalAdaptorCast

'''mezzacotta''' contains examples of:
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}} - Not the exception, but the norm.
* CutAndPasteComic
* DadaComics - Almost the entirety of the 'archive'.
* DeadpanSnarker
* DuckSeasonRabbitSeason: [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/archive.php?date=-9999999999999-12-10 This strip]].
* ForScience - [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/archive.php?date=2008-01-07 This strip.]] [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/archive.php?date=1703-04-18 Or this one.]] And [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/archive.php?date=1926-11-06 this one]] is verging on FrankensteinsMonster.
* FunWithForeignLanguages
* {{Kayfabe}} / FramingDevice: It's pretty clear that the Comic Irregulars haven't ''really'' been making comics since before the universe began, but that's the story.
** AnachronismStew: References to modern technology and concepts, and the use of modern vocabulary (like "dude"), pop up long before their invention.
** EternalEnglish: Plenty of the comics are in ''nonsensical'' English, but English nevertheless, even though most of them were written before the English language came into being.
** NonLinearCharacter: A possible explanation for the anachronisms. Either that or the Comic Irregulars are time travellers.
** TimeAbyss: Did we mention "making comics since before the universe began"? Even if they ''are'' time travellers, there are literally ''trillions'' of comics, sloppily [[CutAndPasteComic drawn]] and [[DadaComics written]] though they may be. To create them all manually would require an absurd amount of time.
** TheWebAlwaysExisted
* InSovietRussiaTropeMocksYou
* MadScientist
* NoFourthWall - the sheer number of strips make it impossible to say if [[BreakingTheFourthWall fourth wall breaking]] happens constantly or not, but at least [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/archive.php?date=-99-11-18 this strip]] is an example. And [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/archive.php?date=616-11-21 this]].
** So is [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/archive.php?date=-9999999999999-01-01 the "very first" strip]].
** There seems to be [[FourthWallObserver a character behavior set dedicated to breaking the fourth wall]].
*** Specifically Brian has two FourthWall-breaking quotes on the [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/cast/ cast page]] and [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/archive.php?date=2011-08-25 there's more]].
** [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/archive.php?date=1569-02-14 This strip]] is even a ShoutOut to TVTropes itself.
* RuinedForever - the first line in the first comic is "I think this comic is going downhill." If so, it's been doing so since before the universe existed, so it must either be pretty horrible now or have been ''really'' good at some point before.
* SturgeonsLaw - mitigated by the inclusion of a Hall of Fame for top-rated comics.
** Used [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/archive.php?date=-516-08-28 in-comic]].
* TagLine - quite a lot
-->The webcomic that uses the proleptic Gregorian calendar.
-->The webcomic with two people talking to each other. Mostly.
-->The webcomic that uses SVG.
-->The most innovative webcomic for quite some time. By some measures.
-->The website that went online before it was ready.
-->The webcomic that reduces hair loss and increases virility.
-->The website with The Hyperstig.
-->The webcomic that could use more publicity.
-->Post about us in your blog!
-->From the people who brought you [[DarthsAndDroids Darths & Droids]].
-->The webcomic that everyone is talking about.
-->The longest running webcomic on the net.
-->[[LampshadeHanging The webcomic with the rotating taglines.]]
-->From the people who brought you IrregularWebcomic
-->The webcomic that will revolutionise your web experience.
-->The website with the International Phonetic Alphabet pronunciation.
-->The Emil Zátopek of webcomics.
-->The webcomic that broke TVTropes.
-->... [[TopGear All we know is, he's called The Hyperstig]].
-->The webcomic that ''started'' [[JumpingTheShark on the other side of the shark]].
-->The proleptic webcomic.
-->[[WeirdAlYankovic Dare to be stupid.]]
-->Now totally sold out for the advertising bucks.
-->The website with the non-rotating taglines on static pages. (a special one for on static pages)
* TheyCalledMeMad - Mild in [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/archive.php?date=1926-11-06 this one]], meaner in [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/archive.php?date=2011-04-29 this one]].
* UnsoundEffect: [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/archive.php?date=-6021-07-19 The strip for 19 July, 6021 BC]]
* WebcomicsLongRunners - by the page's criterion, ''the'' longest one. Possibly a subversion (or a sign that the criterion needs to be changed.)
* WordSchmord: This is one of "Character 1"'s standard ways of being a JerkAss, like in [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/archive.php?date=1788-08-10 this strip]].
* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe: Used in this [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/archive.php?date=1793-04-06 strip]] from the late 18th century.

'''SquareRootOfMinusGarfield''' is so trope heavy that it gets its own page.
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1st May '12 7:39:27 PM TomSFox

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12th Apr '12 9:09:10 PM ChaoticNovelist

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real life examples don't count as Bt I

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* '''mezzacotta''', a webcomic "with two people talking to each other. Mostly." Though it launched in October 10, 2008, its archive of daily strips extends significantly farther into the past. The archive contains strips for every day that has passed since the introduction of ''DarthsAndDroids'', ''IrregularWebcomic'', ''SluggyFreelance'', the World Wide Web, the year David Morgan-Mar was born, [[OlderThanTelevision television broadcasts]], [[OlderThanRadio radio]], [[OlderThanSteam the steam engine]], [[OlderThanPrint the printing press]], [[OlderThanFeudalism the fall of Rome]], and so on. The 'earliest' strip in its archive [[OlderThanDirt is supposedly]] [[BeyondTheImpossible 9,986,270 million years older than the presumed age of the Universe]].[[hottip:* :If you want to know where the comics ''really'' come from, they are [[spoiler: generated by a fractal algorithm seeded from the "publication date".]] One could, perhaps, think of it as the [[JorgeLuisBorges Webcomic of Babel]]... or maybe the [[color:blue:Webcomic]] [[HouseOfLeaves of Leaves]]. You can find the "first one" '''[[http://www.mezzacotta.net/archive.php?date=-9999999999999-01-01 here]]'''.

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7th Apr '12 11:50:31 AM Fresison

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* '''mezzacotta''', a webcomic "with two people talking to each other. Mostly." Though it launched in October 10, 2008, its archive of daily strips extends significantly farther into the past. The archive contains strips for every day that has passed since the introduction of ''DarthsAndDroids'', ''IrregularWebcomic'', ''SluggyFreelance'', the World Wide Web, the year David Morgan-Mar was born, [[OlderThanTelevision television broadcasts]], [[OlderThanRadio radio]], [[OlderThanSteam the steam engine]], [[OlderThanPrint the printing press]], [[OlderThanFeudalism the fall of Rome]], and so on. The 'earliest' strip in its archive [[OlderThanDirt is supposedly]] [[BeyondTheImpossible 9,986,270 million years older than the presumed age of the Universe]].[[hottip:* :If you want to know where the comics ''really'' come from, they are [[spoiler: generated by a fractal algorithm seeded from the "publication date".]]]] One could, perhaps, think of it as the [[JorgeLuisBorges Webcomic of Babel]]... or maybe the [[color:blue:Webcomic]] [[HouseOfLeaves of Leaves]]. You can find the "first one" '''[[http://www.mezzacotta.net/archive.php?date=-9999999999999-01-01 here]]'''.

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* '''mezzacotta''', a webcomic "with two people talking to each other. Mostly." Though it launched in October 10, 2008, its archive of daily strips extends significantly farther into the past. The archive contains strips for every day that has passed since the introduction of ''DarthsAndDroids'', ''IrregularWebcomic'', ''SluggyFreelance'', the World Wide Web, the year David Morgan-Mar was born, [[OlderThanTelevision television broadcasts]], [[OlderThanRadio radio]], [[OlderThanSteam the steam engine]], [[OlderThanPrint the printing press]], [[OlderThanFeudalism the fall of Rome]], and so on. The 'earliest' strip in its archive [[OlderThanDirt is supposedly]] [[BeyondTheImpossible 9,986,270 million years older than the presumed age of the Universe]].[[hottip:* :If you want to know where the comics ''really'' come from, they are [[spoiler: generated by a fractal algorithm seeded from the "publication date".]] One could, perhaps, think of it as the [[JorgeLuisBorges Webcomic of Babel]]... or maybe the [[color:blue:Webcomic]] [[HouseOfLeaves of Leaves]]. You can find the "first one" '''[[http://www.mezzacotta.net/archive.php?date=-9999999999999-01-01 here]]'''.

24th Mar '12 11:28:14 PM teukkamhome

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19th Mar '12 8:15:12 PM Dtom13

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19th Mar '12 2:11:50 PM ArcadesSabboth

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removing disused markup

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