History Webcomic / PreTeena

[[quoteright:328:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/product_thumbnail_6034.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:328: Teena (centre). clockwise from top: Tess (mom),Stick (BFF), Gordo (friend), Hugh (dad) and Jeri (sister).]]


Allison Barrows' SliceOfLife account of the Keene family of New England. Hugh and Tess Keene are freelance artists with two daughters. The family dynamic is most often viewed through the eyes of eleven year old Teena (the [[http://www.gocomics.com/preteena PreTeena]] of the title), although the other principal characters are allowed their points of view. A webcomic about parenting, growing up, and family dynamics.

[[http://www.gocomics.com/preteena PreTeena]] can be found at gocomics.com

!!This web comic strip contains examples of:
* {{Adorkable}}: Sabra "Stick" Klein.
* AlphaBitch: Jeri really wants to be one and gets most of the way there, as is seen in her dismissive treatment of Stick. But she is let down by a well-concealed streak of basic human decency that surfaces at the most inconvenient moments.
* AuthorAvatar: Compare the way Tess Keene is drawn to pictures of [[http://archives.starbulletin.com/2005/06/19/features/story2.html Allison Barrows]]. There is a definite similarity. Allison is also a mother of daughters based in New England. Tess is a professional artist...
* BilingualBonus: Stick and her family sometimes use a little Yiddish. One of Teena's grandmothers is Lithuanian. It is revealed that Teena and Jeri both speak a little Lithuanian from her.
* BlackBeadEyes: most of the characters, most of the time. Only the key character in the foreground usually has fully realised eyes.
* BlackBestFriend: Gordo.
* TheBrainlessBeauty: Jeri, and her friends Kim and Tracey.
* BrattyTeenageDaughter: Jeri. Although in one story arc, Teena and Jeri's grandmother reveals that Tess Keene was one too, as a teenager.
* BumblingDad: Hugh Keene.
* TheDitz: Jeri Keene.
* DeadpanSnarker: Teena Keene.
* DrugsAreBad: The story arc where Jeri's friends Kim and Tracey are caught smoking behind the football field scoreboard.
* FearOfThunder: Tess Keene manifests this fear. While her daughter and her friends would happily go out to play in a thunderstorm and will sit discussing the cool noise and light show, Tess hides under the kitchen table.
* ForbiddenFruit: Johnson Pinecone only becomes attractive to Jeri after he seemingly stops chasing her and starts - apparently - going out with the gorgeous Candy. [[OperationJealousy In reality]] this is holding out SchmuckBait to get Jeri chasing him.
* ForcedIntoTheirSundayBest; Teena and Jeri, whose parents ensure they are regular churchgoers. Teena does not like dressing girly; Jeri does not like dressing conservatively. One strip has the girls lamenting the fact other people can get away with dressing ''extremely'' casually for church.
* {{Gasshole}}: Stick's burping skills have been mentioned on occasion, and demonstrated once or twice.
* HopelessSuitor: Johnson Pinecone. Who despite being illustrated as the sort of alpha-male teen boy any teen girl would adore (and they do!) - depicted as intelligent, caring, gentle, very good-looking - ''still'' does not meet Jeri's impossibly high standards. She frequently rebuffs him, but it doesn't stop him trying.
* HormoneAddledTeenager: Jeri Keene
* InformedJudaism; AmbiguouslyJewish: Teena's friend Sabra Klein (Stick) who is stated to be Jewish, observes festivals such as Hanukah and Pesach, but still loves a ham sandwich.
* InsaneTrollLogic; Stick. StrangeMindsThinkAlike applies when Teena follows her friend's train of thought to its illogical destination.
* LongRunner: more than a decade at this point
* OverprotectiveDad: Hugh Keene, who finds any sign of his daughters being interested in boys is hard to deal with.
* ThePerfectionist: Jeri. Her boyfriend requirements set the bar impossibly high.
* PlayingSick: Teena tries this - once - to escape a school test she hasn't prepared for. Jeri does this sort of thing ''all the time'', but Teena's conscience gets the better of her.
* PreachersKid: Johnson Pinecone.
* RomanticFalseLead: Candy.
* SiblingYinYang: Teena is good-hearted, cheery and {{tomboy}}ish. Jeri is cold-hearted, moody and [[GirlyGirl girly-girly]]. Teena also still wants to be a good student in school, while Jeri doesn't care about that stuff anymore.
* SeriesContinuityError: Teena's homeroom teacher is first introduced as Mrs Scott. She abruptly becomes Mrs Freeman with no explanation. In addition, Jeri appeals to the authority of an unseen person called Mrs Freeman to stop Johnson Pinecone throwing things at her (paper aeroplanes, and later the threat of ballistic food in the school canteen). But Jeri and Johnson attend a high school; Teena is in the top class in elementary. Her Mrs Freeman might have been a canteen supervisor and not a teacher?
** The [=McBride=] family (with the odd twin daughters) apparently move out from next door in mid-2006. But in mid-2007, Tess casually says to Jeri, when she has to sit through Teena's illness, that if anything she can't handle turns up, she can call on Mrs mcBride next door for assistance.
* StalkerWithACrush: Johnson to Jeri, until he wises up. She misses him when he suddenly isn't there any more.
* SuddenNameChange: Mrs Scott becoming Mrs Freeman.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Teena is not that interested in her looks or clothes (she mostly wears a plain white t-shirt and blue jeans) and has a rather short haircut. And that is enough for the twins next door keep mistaking her for a boy. Jeri on the other hand is a wannabe AlphaBitch with a more "girly" look (including a more feminine wardrobe, long hair, ear-rings and make-up).
* WomenAreWiser: Tess Keene's handling of her daughters. But sometimes this misfires.
* YiddishAsASecondLanguage: '''[[http://www.gocomics.com/preteena/2007/11/09 here]].'''

Allison Barrows' SliceOfLife account of the Keene family of New England. Hugh and Tess Keene are freelance artists with two daughters. The family dynamic is most often viewed through the eyes of eleven year old Teena (the PreTeena of the title), although the other principal characters are allowed their points of view. A webcom about parenting, growing up, and family dynamics.

* ForbiddenFruit: Johnson Pinecone only becomes attractive to Jeri after he seemingly stops chasing her and starts - apparently - going out with the gorgeous Candy. In reality this is holding out SchmuckBait to get Jeri chasing him.

** The McBride family (with the odd twin daughters) apparently move out from next door in mid-2006. But in mid-2007, Tess casually says to Jeri, when she has to sit through Teena's illness, that if anything she can't handle turns up, she can call on Mrs mcBride next door for assistance.

* AuthorAvatar: Compare the way Tess Keene is drawn to pictures of Allison Barrows. There is a definite similarity. Allison is also a mother of daughters based in New England. Tess is a professional artist...

Alison Burrows' SliceOfLife account of the Keene family of New England. Hugh and Tess Keene are freelance artists with two daughters. The family dynamic is most often viewed through the eyes of eleven year old Teena (the PreTeena of the title), although the other principal characters are allowed their points of view. A webcom about parenting, growing up, and family dynamics.

* AuthorAvatar: Compare the way Tess Keene is drawn to pictures of Alison Burrows. There is a definite similarity. Alison is also a mother of daughters based in New England.