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1[[quoteright:319:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/DR_and_Quinch_4537.jpg]]
2
3->''"My name is Ernie Quinch, college student. I like guns and starting fights. My psychiatrist says I'm a psychotic deviant. But that doesn't mean I'm a bad person, right?"''
4-->-- '''Ernest Erroll Quinch''', "D.R. & Quinch Have Fun on Earth"
5
6Hey, man, let me tell you about something that's, like, [[TotallyRadical totally amazing]]...
7
8While Creator/AlanMoore is mostly known nowadays for writing dark, serious stories set in [[CrapsackWorld crapsack worlds]], such as ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}'' and ''ComicBook/VForVendetta'', ''D.R. & Quinch'' stands out as something very, very different.
9
10It all began at [[ComicBook/TwoThousandAD The Galaxy's Greatest Comic]] where a young, budding Creator/AlanMoore was frequently tasked with writing for the ''Tharg's Future Shocks'' and ''Time Twisters'' strips. These would always be brief, self-contained stories that are rarely over five pages long and would usually end with a TwistEnding of sorts (often of the CruelTwistEnding variety).
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12Somewhat breaking the trend, a young Moore decided to write up a [[TotallyRadical Totally Amazing]] BlackComedy adventure [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/comics/2000adstrips/drandquinch/drandquinch01.shtml comic strip]] about two teenage alien miscreants who steal a [[TimeTravel time machine]] and head out to [[InsignificantLittleBluePlanet a little planet way out in the boondocks]] that no one else in the galaxy would ever care about called "Earth," all in part of an elaborate revenge scheme on their college dean for [[DisproportionateRetribution suspending them after he found stolen goods and laser guns in their locker]]. This story was originaly published in issue #317 (May 21, 1983). The characters were intended to appear only once in the pages of ''ComicBook/TwoThousandAD'', but they became so popular with readers that they would [[SpinOff get their own series]].
13
14In what can best be described as "RuleOfFunny [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] ForTheEvulz," ''D.R. & Quinch'' tells the [[RuleOfThree totally amazing]] story of one [[MagnificentBastard Waldo "D.R." Dobbs]] (the "D.R." stands for "Diminished Responsibility"), a skinny, lanky, teenage [[{{Delinquents}} delinquent]] who boasts a genius IQ, enjoys acts of extreme violence and destruction, and looks like a cross between [[Film/{{Gremlins}} a gremlin]] [[JustForFun/XMeetsY and]] [[Franchise/MarvelUniverse a skrull]] with a [[GoodHairEvilHair pompadour]], and Dobbs' best friend [[DumbMuscle Ernest Erroll Quinch]], a large, purple-skinned [[TheBrute brute]] who is [[TheQuietOne much, much quieter than Dobbs]] as he prefers writing to talking. Together, these two [[ComedicSociopathy deeply sociopathic]], [[FauxAffablyEvil evilly affable]], [[OmnicidalManiac omnicidal maniacs]] do as they please, and what pleases them usually involves death and destruction on a tremendous scale; it helps that, in their part of the Milky Way, [[NukeEm nuclear warheads]] are [[TalksLikeASimile as easily obtainable as a handgun in the]] DeepSouth.
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16Along with their two occasional companions (and, presumably, only other friends in the galaxy, besides each other) Crazy Chryssie (D.R.'s equally violent girlfriend) and Pulger (a [[ShellShockedVeteran war veteran]] who is always prepared for combat, just in case [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Charlie]] launches a sneak attack), the [[{{Delinquents}} delinquent]] duo have been on a handful of adventures in which they influence all of human evolution (including, very fittingly, the Survival of the Fittest) and a lot of Earth's history, get drafted by the army to fight in a war similar to UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar, and even making a [[CultClassic cult film]].
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18Unfortunately, the strip, [[ShortRunners did not last long]] at ''ComicBook/TwoThousandAD'', as [[Creator/AlanMoore Moore]] had a tumultuous falling out with illustrator Creator/AlanDavis after [[CreativeDifferences a disagreement]] over the reprinting rights to other works the two had collaborated on in the past. Needless to say, Moore abandoned the characters in the aftermath of this, marking the end of D.R. & Quinch's appearances in ''2000 AD'' save for small collection of one-page-long strips known as "The Agony Pages," written by Jamie Delano and Alan Davis.
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20Only five complete adventures were written by Creator/AlanMoore after D.R. & Quinch's first appearance, but despite there being such a small amount of material, the characters remain tremendously popular with the readers of ''ComicBook/TwoThousandAD'', and the strips continue to be reprinted in paperback trade editions. Overflowing with [[RunningGag totally amazing]] BlackComedy and with a sprinkle of SurrealHumor here and there, ''D.R. & Quinch'' stands out as some of [[Creator/AlanMoore Alan Moore's]] funniest, most entertaining work and serves as evidence that he has one incredible sense of humor.
21
22When you read ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', you think Alan Moore is a genius.
23
24When you read ''D.R. & Quinch'', you think Alan Moore is [[OverUsedRunningGag totally amazing]]!
25
26''S'right!''
27
28----
29!!Tropes:
30
31* AliensAreBastards: Just the eponymous main characters, though.
32* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Even after Quinch shows Chrysoprasia what a real monster her boyfriend, Waldo, is really like, she just commits herself to being as evil as he is, transforming herself into "Crazy Chryssie" in the process, and insists that she's now more compatible with D.R. than ever.
33* BattleCry: "The Official Space Marines War-Cry" is claimed to be "EAT PLUTONIUM DEATH, YOU DISGUSTING ALIEN WEIRDOS!"
34* TheBermudaTriangle: In ''D.R. & Quinch Have Fun On Earth'', one of the segments of the eponymous duo's [[TimeTravel adventure through time]] that sees them influence the course of history on some InsignificantLittleBluePlanet features Quinch recalling a time with his buddy "while cruising just off Bermuda" and trying to pull in human aircrafts towards their ship with a TractorBeam "to get a better look at them," only for the beam's force to break apart the fragile planes.
35* BlackComedy: This describes practically everything there is in the comic.
36* BreakTheCutie: Quinch's method of explaining to Chrysoprasia what her boyfriend, one Waldo "D.R." Dobbs, is ''[[ForTheEvulz really]]'' like.
37* BreakingTheFourthWall: Done at the beginning of just about every adventure with whichever character is narrating the story making reference to the "totally amazing, well-written, awesome adventure" that we're about to read about.
38* BrickJoke: The quad-engine strato-chopper with thirty air-to-ground warpedos in "D.R. & Quinch Go Straight".
39* CasualTimeTravel: One story has them casually time traveling and spending their holiday repeatedly messing with Earth. With everything from creating the first life and meddling with emerging cultures to ''altering the layout of the continents'' so that the planet's appearance spelled out a rude insult against their dean. When humanity was accepted into the galactic union and everyone saw the offensive message, they ordered the planet (and humanity) destroyed just to save face.
40%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample * CatchPhrase
41* {{Chessmaster}}: All of the revenge schemes Waldo comes up with would count. "D.R. & Quinch Go Straight" could be interpreted as a small twist on this as D.R., continually claiming to be doing good will & charity work, explains some of the pieces of his plan coming together before the [[StuffBlowingUp explosive]] climax as the results of honest mistakes on his own part (but they [[UnreliableNarrator really aren't]]).
42* ComedicSociopathy
43* DeanBitterman: Dean Fusk, who suspended D.R. & Quinch after he found fur coats and laser guns in their locker.
44* DrillSergeantNasty: Sgt. Rorchmutt. He also has the nickname [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast "Ribsnapper."]]
45* DumbMuscle: Quinch.
46* EarthShatteringKaboom: The fate of [[spoiler: Earth, obviously]].
47* EvilGenius: Waldo "D.R." Dobbs. As his best bud puts it,
48--> '''Quinch:''' He has an I.Q. of 280 and he blows things up and I respect him totally.
49* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: The title of every story. "D.R. & Quinch Get Drafted"? Guess what happens. "D.R. & Quinch Go to Hollywood"? Guess where they're headed.
50* FauxAffablyEvil: Our starring duo in a nutshell.
51* ForTheEvulz
52* GoodHairEvilHair: Waldo's pompadour would rightfully categorize him with the other [[{{Delinquents}} delinquents]] and [[AntiHero anti-heroes]].
53* GreatEscape: Pulger's master plan to escape from the penal stockade on Ghoyogia. The plan consists of [[spoiler: a bar of soap that was molded to look like a gun, half a pound of plastic explosive that was molded to look like a bar of soap, a hidden escape tunnel, and Pulger in drag. What's going to happen is Pulger will blow up the explosive, then after the guards come to investigate, they'll confuse Pulger in the dress for an actual woman and immediately fall in love with him at which time he'll brandish the "gun" and force the guards into the escape tunnel and hide them there and refuse to tell anyone where the guards went until they agree to let him go.]]
54--> '''Pulger:''' It's an old trick, but it just might work.
55* HistoricalInJoke: D.R. & Quinch's first adventure ever is based entirely on how they influenced Earth's history and development as part of an elaborate revenge scheme against their college [[DeanBitterman dean]].
56* HumansAreMorons: Plays a large role in "D.R. & Quinch Have Fun on Earth." When humans finally discover the alien life and society in the title character's corner of the galaxy, they're given a civic reception at "The League of Disadvantaged Planets' Charity Hall" because everyone thinks they're "mindless lifeforms."
57* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Every single story is given a title along the lines of "D.R. & Quinch _______"
58* IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace: The duo's charity project for [[ShellShockedVeteran war-torn veterans]] from the Ghoyogi Slime Wars, "Massacre House: A charitable institution caring for threatening ugly men with guns and unstable personalities."
59* InsaneEqualsViolent: Pulger, [[JustifiedTrope justified]] given his role as a ShellShockedVeteran.
60* ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne: Before being sent off to [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Ghoyogia]], D.R. isn't phased by his platoon-mates' fears about the planet ("Ghoyogia, where the saliva-trees digest you alive," "Ghoyogia, where even the terrible diseases have terrible diseases") until he learns that there aren't any expensive foreign restaurants there. He then describes this incident as his "first exposure to [[WarIsHell the total insanity that is war]]."
61* KarmaHoudini: D.R. and Quinch.
62* KilledMidSentence: Former screenwriter-turned-[[CrazyHomelessPeople crazy homeless person]] Torquetto "T.J." Jubbli, as he is explaining his plans to return to Hollywood with a new script; at which point D.R. & Quinch steal his script and head out to Hollywood to make the movie themselves. The trope is ultimately subverted, however, when [[spoiler: our two protagonists returned to the very spot where they first met the screenwriter four weeks later, who immediately [[NotQuiteDead snaps back into consciousness]] and finishes the sentence he began a month earlier from the exact point where he left off.]]
63* ListOfTransgressions: "D.R & Quinch Go Straight'' begins with Judge Thorkwung reading all the criminal charges the two [[VillainProtagonist Villain Protagonists]] are being accused of.
64-->'''Judge Thorkwung:''' Ernest Errol Quinch and Waldo Dobbs, also known as "D.R." or "Diminished Responsibility", you are charged with arson, kidnapping, theft, grievous wounding, possession of unlawful atomic weapons, taking and driving away, conspiracy to overthrow the government, coveting thy neighbour's ox, graverobbing, torture, criminal libel, blackmail, polluting the environment, shoplifting, 714 separate driving offenses, forging sacred relics, [[NoodleIncident transmuting]] base metal into gold, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick genocide]], [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking spitting]], and thirty-two offenses [[TakeOurWordForIt so unusual and horrible]] they do not have names.
65* LoveMakesYouCrazy: While D.R. was romantically involved with Chrysoprasia [[spoiler: before she snapped]], he was much less willing to commit acts of violence.
66* LoveMakesYouEvil: Chrysoprasia's reaction upon finding out what the ''[[OmnicidalManiac real]]'' Waldo Dobbs is actually like, and thus [[spoiler: inspiring her transformation into Crazy Chryssie]].
67* MemeticMutation: Creator/AlanMoore actually provides an InUniverse example: The line, [[spoiler: "Mind the oranges, Marlon!"]] from D.R.'s big-budget film adaptation of [[spoiler: a script he can't even read]]. It even helps the movie attain a [[CultClassic cult film]] status afterwards.
68* MumblingBrando: There's a Marlon Brando caricature in "D.R. & Quinch Go to Hollywood." The fact that he's TheUnintelligible isn't really much of a surprise.
69* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Subverted for as far as legal rights can go. The story "D.R. & Quinch Go to Hollywood" consists of several alien characters who look like caricatures of various Hollywood legends; the main one, based on Marlon Brando, is always called "Marlon."
70* NoodleIncident: The beginning of "D.R. & Quinch Get Drafted!" This is immediately [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]].
71--> '''Waldo "D.R." Dobbs:''' I have no idea how I came to be in this incredibly strange, confusing situation. Actually, it has nothing to do with the following totally awesome story and I'd advise you to forget it, man.
72* NukeEm: For whatever reason, D.R. & Quinch have no problem acquiring these and have no qualms with using them for any purpose.
73* PenName: For the first strip, Creator/AlanMoore gave the writing credit to one of his main characters, "E.E. Quinch."
74* TheQuietOne: Quinch. ''S'right!''
75* SatireParodyPastiche: "D.R. & Quinch Go to Hollywood" Because the characters [[spoiler: indirectly destroyed Earth]] before, the Hollywood they end up going to is actually a planet ''named'' "Hollywood" where the principal economy of the entire planet is the entertainment industry, and every resident alien is a caricature of a legendary Hollywood personality.
76* ShapedLikeItself: Many of the descriptions whichever character is narrating the story gives for things. For example,
77--> '''Waldo "D.R." Dobbs:''' A Hatchway in the craft opened with this sound which was just like, y'know, the sound of a hatchway opening."
78** The [[spoiler: eventual, easily foreseeable, violent climax at Massacre House]] becomes known as [[spoiler: "The Massacre House Massacre"]] in the media.
79* ShellShockedVeteran: Pulger. He did some fighting the Slime Jungle Wars on the planet Ghoyogia and is now completely crazy and beyond reform.
80** ''Everyone'' admitted to Massacre House counts, really.
81* ShortRunners: Only six adventures were written by Creator/AlanMoore in the span of two years.
82* ShoutOut: The [[spoiler: oranges]] that [[spoiler: crush Marlon]] in "D.R. & Quinch Go to Hollywood" are a clear reference to ''Film/TheGodfather'' in how they always signify that [[spoiler: danger]] is looming a character. Both stories also include [[spoiler: Creator/MarlonBrando]], cementing this as a clear movie reference.
83* SpinOff: Their first adventure was supposed to be a one-off for ''ComicBook/TwoThousandAD''[='=]s ''Time Twisters'' strip. It proved popular enough for D.R. & Quinch to get their own strip.
84* SophisticatedAsHell: Seeing how, Waldo Dobbs, has a 280 I.Q., it doesn't come as much of a surprise that he says an occasional "sophisticated" word here and there mixed in with his more usual lexicon that's based around more TotallyRadical words (i.e. Asking for The Judge's '''appellation''', rather than his '''name''').
85** His recitations of Shakespeare sound like something translated into a foreign language through Babblefish and then back into English.
86--> '''Waldo "D.R." Dobbs:''' But, like, soft, man... What's all this light that through yonder window breaks?
87* StandingBetweenTheEnemies: When the entire gang caught between the enemy Ghoyogian Army and their own Space Marines platoon [[spoiler: with whom they're in trouble for creating a friendly fire incident with a tactical nuke]]. Waldo attempts one plea for sanity by stepping up to "cry out at the horror and injustice of war..." It doesn't work.
88* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: The ending narration to "D.R. & Quinch Get Back to Nature."
89--> [[spoiler: "Before closing, I would like to make clear that nobody has forced me to write this letter, even if at a later date I claim they did. And, like, under no circumstances whatsoever was I held upside-down over a pterano-gator-infested water-hole until I agreed to sign it." Followed by the kid's signature, written upside down]]
90* TooDumbToLive: Pretty much everyone who isn't D.R. or Quinch, PlayedForLaughs.
91* TotallyRadical: Both title characters are likely to describe just about anything with a two-word phrase based on an adverb such as, "totally," "incredibly," "unbelievably," or "extremely" compounded with an adjective like, "amazing," "awesome," "incredible," "unbelievable," "extreme," or "stupid."
92* UnreliableNarrator: In a few stories, either D.R. or Quinch may try to portray their actions as being far more well-intentioned and sincere, even though they never really are. Occasionally, the narration tells us [[BlatantLies the exact opposite]] of what we're actually seeing or is a general understatement.
93* VerbalTic: When nervous, Chrysoprasia is "unbelievably quiet apart from the weird, squeaky little 'EE-OUK' noise that she keeps making in her throat."
94* UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar: The Slime Jungle Wars on the planet Ghoyogia.
95* VillainProtagonist: And not just one, either.
96* WeaponForIntimidation: Pulger once carved a (fake) phaser rifle out of a bar of soap as part of a prison escape attempt. When in traveling the tunnels burrowed out by a species known only as the "Snufflegruffs". When one of them shows up and turns out to be incredibly dangerous, Pulger makes [[http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bDUK5U-yua8/SvnbQFsZE1I/AAAAAAAAAEw/k1SUQC6-drE/s1600-h/D.R.+%26+Quinch+-+Fleetway+Definitive+Edition+-+048.jpg his best attempt at this.]]
97-->'''D.R.:''' Pulger, that gun is made out of soap, man!
98-->'''Pulger:''' Yeah, [[ComicallyMissingThePoint but]] ''[[ComicallyMissingThePoint he]]'' [[ComicallyMissingThePoint doesn't know that!]]
99** And then he does it yet again with [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bDUK5U-yua8/SvneeYxjzAI/AAAAAAAAAFo/kbE6rtogzr0/s1600-h/D.R.+%26+Quinch+-+Fleetway+Definitive+Edition+-+051.jpg what's left of the soap gun]] in the following installment.

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