Line #11 ComicBook/BillAndTedsExcellentComicBook


1	[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Bill_and_Teds_Excellent_Comic_Book_9951.jpg]]
2
3	''Bill & Ted's Excellent Comic Book'' was a ComicBook series in the ''Franchise/BillAndTed'' franchise, published by Creator/MarvelComics. It began as a standard ComicBookAdaptation of ''Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey'', then was followed by the ongoing title, "Bill and Ted's Excellent Comic Book". The ongoing series was written and drawn by Creator/EvanDorkin; it ran for twelve issues (December 1991 to November 1992) and was nominated for an Eisner Award.
4
5	The entire run (except for issue #8, which was not done by Evan Dorkin) was finally collected in two trade paperbacks by Slave Labor Press in 2005.
6
7	----
8	!!This comic provides examples of:
9
10	* TheAlcoholic: Death. Due to his drinking on the job in issue #1, DeathTakesAHoliday.
11	* AliensStealCable: The Dimension of Utter Boredom managed to pick up a transmission of the Battle of The Bands. They kidnapped the duo's wives and children in order to get Bill and Ted's attention and persuade them to play a gig.
12	* AlternateSelf: Dozens of alternate Bills and Ted's from other universes gatecrash the anniversary party. Notable in that they aren't all human and [[spoiler: they aren't really Bills or Teds. They just imitate the boys after their sons preached about Wyld Stallyns when travelling the multiverse.]]
13	* AnthropomorphicPersonification: As well as Death, we meet; War, Nature and Fate. A time personification called Chronos is mentioned.
14	* ArsonMurderAndJayWalking: The last of Dr Nomolos' LegionOfDoom is "Alan-- The most insane person ever!" Murderer, thief, arsonist and [[MattressTagGag pillow tag tearer!]]
15	* BackForTheFinale: Most of the characters from the series attend the anniversary party in the final issue.
16	* BadFuture: Stopping Abraham Lincoln from being assassinated, turns America into a polluted police state where Bill and Ted were never born and Earth is at war with Mars.
17	* BeardOfSorrow: Bill's dad has been growing a huge one since Missy left him.
18	* {{Bowdlerise}}: One of the fan letters asks why De Nomolos was arrested in the movie but killed in the comic. Chuck himself replies that the movie people softened up his terrible fate for "immature, impressionable cretins, such as yourself!".
19	* BrainMonster: De Nomolos recruits Walter 23, a "Glow-Brain" from Saturn, while in Hell.
20	* ContinuitySnarl: Because Evan Dorkin never saw the first movie, and was working off an early draft of the script when adapting the second movie, there are a few notable changes to the canon in the series, making this a subtle AlternateContinuity. In the letters column of the comic, [[FourthWallMailSlot each month answered by a different character from the comic (such as Death, Missy and De Nomolos)]], the characters would explain the differences being a result of ExecutiveMeddling -- the comics portrayed events as they how ''actually'' happened, but Hollywood executives had changed around a few details:
21	** Socrates was perfectly friendly with Bill and Ted in the movie, and even one of the more enthusiastic time-travelers. In the comic series, he's uneasy with both Bill and Ted and the entire time travel thing, and even ends up [[DrivenToSuicide voluntarily drinking the hemlock that ends his life, rather than accept rescue by Plato, because at least this'll get him away from Bill and Ted.]]
22	** De Nomolos [[DeathByAdaptation dies]] in the ''Bogus Journey'' adaptation despite living in the movie, and the ongoing comic treats him as dead, occasionally showing him in Hell.
23	** Bill and Ted's sons had their names swapped -- in the movie, Bill's son was "Little Ted" while Ted's son was "Little Bill." In the comic, they're both named after their fathers. This was corrected in the reprint trade.
24	** Joanna and Elizabeth's original fiancees are completely different. In the first movie, they are presented as older, rather stuffy noblemen (who don't even get a spoken line), while in the comic they are closer to the girls' age and are basically murderous villains.
25	** The end of the second movie set Death and Station up as members of Wyld Stallyns, but in the comic they're not part of the band at all (though they still have large roles, and Death ends up as the band's manager).
26	* CoolShades: Several characters wear them; most notably Rufus, Evil Robot Bill and Ted (probably to visually differentiate them from the real Bill and Ted) and Phil.
27	* TheDayTheDinosaursDied: Bill and Ted track Death to the Cretaceous period and persuade him to leave seconds before the asteroid hits.
28	%% * DeathTakesAHoliday: Issue #2 is "Death Takes a Most Heinous Holiday".
29	* DemBones:
30	** Death is now a skeleton because Evan Dorkin didn't see any stills from the movie until he was a third of the way through the comic and it was too late to redraw.
31	** Morty also.
32	* DisneyDeath: Being a world that parodies superhero tropes, Hyper-World's denizens don't stay dead long.
33	** Played straight when De Nomolos and nooks get released from Hell but they get sent back again.
34	* DivineDate: Bill's dad starts dating Nature.
35	* EarthAllAlong: The boys assume that the timebooth accidentally deposited them in a CrapsackWorld AlternateUniverse but are horrified when Death tells them that's it's their own universe that they changed by saving Lincoln.
36	* EarthIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse: Rufus's superiors are referred to as "The Three Most Important People In The Universe".
37	* EveryoneIsASuper: Everyone on Hyper-World has superpowers.
38	* ExpandedUniverse: The comic book series downplayed the time-travelling aspect of the movies and turned its attention to zombies, aliens, assassins, super-heroes, theme parks, and record industry executives.
39	* FantasticLegalWeirdness: The Chronological Order putting Bill and Ted on trial for damaging the timeline and Time Thumb defending them.
40	* AFoolAndHisNewMoneyAreSoonParted: The duo are broke again due to spending their Battle of The Bands winnings on parts for Station to build a theme park in their back garden.
41	* {{Foreshadowing}}: During and after the wedding party, Lincoln mentions that he needs to get back to the past due to he and his wife having theater tickets.
42	* FourthWallMailSlot: The letter column was answered by a different character each issue. Bill and Ted themselves never answered any of the letters, but characters like Death, Missy, De Nomolos and even Station did -- the latter replying to every letter with the word "Station!" while the editors tried to translate what he was saying (though they ended up spending more time arguing over how much sense it made to have a scientist who [[PokemonSpeak could only say his own name]] -- "I mean, c'mon, you've got the most brilliants scientists who ever lived, and they can't even say 'eight'?! Let's be real...").
43	* FrozenDinnerOfLoneliness: Bill's dad has been living in an apartment full of these since his wife left him. He even brings one as a present to Bill and Ted's anniversary party.
44	* HumanoidAbomination: Nature is a woman with a flower growing where her head should be and a PersonalRaincloud hovering above her.
45	* HumansArePsychicInTheFuture: Rufus has a huge-forheaded guest professor from the 38th century come to discuss telekinetic drum solos with his class.
46	* ISurrenderSuckers: Geoffrey and Linus admit defeat during their fight with Bill and Ted when Billy the Kid fires a gun into the air and orders Geoffrey and Linus to scram. But when Bill and Ted finally marry the princesses, it becomes too much for Geoffrey and Linus to bear and they try to kill them all, only to finally meet their end for good when they accidentally stab the robot decoys of the two heroes and are electrocuted to death.
47	* InterdimensionalTravelDevice: Time machines can be used to travel to other dimensions, including the afterlife.
48	* KidFromTheFuture: Done in the final issue, where the two main characters are visited by their grown-up children from the future.
49	* KilledMidSentence: A resurrected De Nomolos when a robot head explodes in his hand.
50	** Morty vanishes in a puff of flames halfway through explaining that only God can fire him from being the Grim Reaper.
51	** Geoffrey and Linus meet their end when they try to attack Bill and Ted with their swords, only to stab their robot duplicates and are electrocuted. As this happens, their final words are "DIE, BILL AND T--"
52	* LateArrivalSpoiler: Done in issue #11, when the boys finally find out that Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. HilarityEnsues when they rescue him, then again when they try to send Abe ''back''...
53	* LegacyCharacter: The anthropomorphic personifications. Death is the only one who was there from the start.
54	* LegionOfDoom: In Hell, De Nomolos recruits the princesses' fiancée's, Benedict Arnold, Al Capone and some aliens.
55	* MattressTagGag: Tearing tags off pillows is one of Alan's crimes alongside arson and murder.
56	* MayDecemberRomance: In a play on the original from the first movie, in the comic book Bill's father (originally the "December" part) marries ''Mother Nature.''
57	* NatureSpirit: Nature.
58	* PersonalRaincloud: Nature has one.
59	* PlanetOfHats: The other dimensions the guys visit;''The world of incompetent stuntmen'', ''Tourist World'', ''Gap of Pretentious Artists'' and ''Hyper-World'' populated by superheroes and villains.
60	* PlantPerson: Nature has a flower instead of a head.
61	* PrehensileHair: One of Dr. Braino's plans is to cultivate prehensile armpit hair.
62	* PutOnABus: Station get sent back to Mars after suddenly realized they're allergic to oxygen.
63	* RaceLift: Likely for the same reasons that Death is now a skeleton, Ms. Wardroe went from black to white.
64	* RememberTheNewGuy: Morty implies that he's been waiting centuries for Death's job but there was no mention of him when Death retired in an earlier issue.
65	* RetGone: Happens in one issue but is inconsistent. When the boys go back and save Abraham Lincoln, the present is rewritten into a BadFuture where the boys were never born though they don't fade from existence. When they go back and stop themselves from saving Abe, the older duo fade out of existence and the comic then focuses on the younger pair.
66	* RippleEffectProofMemory: When the guys go back and stop Abraham Lincoln being killed, Death can remember both timelines.
67	* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: In one of the comics, the duo go back and stop Abraham Lincoln being shot. This leads to the present becoming a CrapsackWorld where none of the characters were born so Bill and Ted have to go back and stop themselves saving Abe.
68	* ShowWithinAShow: We see some of Bill and Ted's favourite superhero comics, ''Fight Dude'' and ''Major Violence''.
69	* StylisticSuck: Death's attempt at writing/drawing a comic called "Major Violence."
70	* SubbingForSanta: The Grim Reaper is forced into retirement (the reason given being that he's been neglecting his duty and getting too occupied with earthly matters) and replaced in issue #9. His replacement, Morty, is an in-universe ReplacementScrappy; a midget skeleton with "attitude." He doesn't last for long.
71	** It's revealed that Death is the only anthropomorphic personification who never voluntarily went into retirement; all the others -- such as War, Fate, Mother Nature -- have long since retired and been replaced by new people. Death is simply too proud (and too bad at doing anything else) to quit.
72	* SuperheroEpisode: Bill and Ted get stranded on Hyper-World, an AlternateUniverse populated by constantly fighting superheroes and villains. They get drafted into the ''Bright, Upstanding Guys'' to find their stolen time machine from Dr. Braino.
73	* TimeCrash: Occurs in issues #5-7.
74	* TimePolice: The Chronological Order and Time Thumb.
75	** The final issue reveals that [[spoiler: Bill and Ted's future teenage sons travel through time fixing Bill and Ted's mistakes.]]
76	* TimeyWimeyBall: Played with;
77	** The Chronological Order want to punish Bill and Ted for altering the timeline but Time Thumb argues that the duo's time travelling [[YouAlreadyChangedThePast was always supposed to happen]] and that more damage would be done to the timeline if Bill and Ted were stopped.
78	** The boys wreck the present by going back and stopping Lincoln getting shot. They then go back again and stop themselves doing it. The Bill and Ted we've been following fade out of existence and the other duo go back to the unaltered present.
79	** The last issue says [[spoiler: that Little Bill and Little Ted travel all over fixing the timeline where their fathers have damaged it.]]
80	* TokenBlackFriend: Phil "B.G.", the Wild Stallyns bass player, who is hired in issue #3 and is more or less a black, more laid-back and more intelligent version of Bill and Ted, pretty much slips into this role for Bill and Ted (though he tends to get moved OutOfFocus increasingly often as the comic goes on).
81	* TookALevelInBadass: Joanna and Elizabeth, compared to their movie selves, are a lot tougher and capable of taking control even in the wildest, most surreal situations.

Context ComicBook / BillAndTedsExcellentComicBook