Line #43 ComicStrip/OnTheFastrack


1	''On the Fastrack'' is a comic strip by Creator/BillHolbrook (who also made ''ComicStrip/SafeHavens'' and ''Webcomic/KevinAndKell''), launched by Creator/KingFeaturesSyndicate in 1984. Its tech-centered humor is set in the offices of Fastrack, Inc., a company that stores all the world's data. For most of its run, it has starred Wendy Welding, the executive assistant of the CEO and the person who actually keeps things running. Nowadays, more time is given to Dethany Dendrobia, the corporate goth.
2	----
3	!!This comic contains examples of:
4	* AnthropomorphicPersonification: One way to see characters like Autocorrect.
5	* BigLittleBrother: Rusty eventually got taller and heftier than Patina.
6	* BreakoutCharacter: First Wendy Welding, then Dethany Dendrobia.
7	* BumblingDad: Art at times.
8	* CharacterBlog: Dethany tweets. Bud used to have a weekly blog.
9	* ChildProdigy: Every major kid in the comic, at least at one time.
10	* {{Crossover}}: Frequently with ''ComicStrip/SafeHavens'' (see SharedUniverse below). One noteworthy crossover in the early 2000s involved Rose Trellis and Jeanine Argus running for political office simultaneously, with scenes taking place in sequence in both comics.
11	* FloralThemeNaming: Rose Trellis, Thornton Saguaro, and Bud Spore.
12	* FreakyFashionMildMind: Dethany.
13	* GeorgeJetsonJobSecurity: While we don't normally see it, Dethany claims to have seen Ms. Trellis fire Wendy "5,000 times." Wendy says Ms. Trellis doesn't mean it unless she goes through HR.
14	* GoodIsNotNice: [[spoiler: Percy and Thrip don't like to admit it, but they attack technology in order to inspire humans to make it better. They have occasionally attempted drastic measures like dropping a heavy computer on an engineer.]] Another example could be Fistula Breech.
15	* TheHecateSisters: Fastrack is run by the trio of CEO Rose Trellis (crone), her executive assistant Wendy Welding (the working mom) and Dethany Dendrobia (the maiden).
16	* {{Immortality}}: The computer bugs.
17	* InformedAttribute: Dethany is supposed to be covered in tattoos and piercings, but we almost never see any.
18	* InsideAComputerSystem: The action often moves there.
19	* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: [[http://www.onthefastrack.com/?webcomic1=march-12-2014 Dethany illustrates the importance of positive feedback]] with the example of a cartoonist learning how popular a minor character is. She doesn't know why she thought of it.
20	* LettingHerHairDown: Autocorrect has loosened up at Percy's encouragement.
21	* MaddenIntoMisanthropy: Fi UsedToBeASweetKid...until [[spoiler: her own uncle tried to set her up as a scapegoat for his business failure.]] After that, she decided that nobody could be trusted.
22	* MayDecemberRomance:
23	** The marriage of Mark (younger) and Ada (older), to the initial consternation of Ada's children. The fact that [[BlackGalOnWhiteGuyDrama Ada is black and Mark is white]] doesn't even come up.
24	** Percy is tens of thousands of years old, while Autocorrect is, well, younger than many readers.
25	* MeanBoss: Rose Trellis, most of the time. And despite her business savvy, she sometimes veers to PointyHairedBoss.
26	* MeaningfulName: Everyone has at least one. Bud Spore, for instance, is tiny for a man.
27	* MenaceDecay: Percy doesn't cause as much trouble as he used to. In fact, he's pretty much done a HeelFaceTurn, never cast as an outright [[TheAntagonist antagonist]] anymore.
28	* MillenniumBug: Percy was introduced as "The Year 2000 Bug," equipped with [[TheGrimReaper an hourglass and a scythe]]. After the TurnOfTheMillennium, he usually went by "the Bug," until he divulged that the ancients called him Perseus. (He initially [[EmbarrassingNickname objected to the nickname Percy]], but it's grown on him.)
29	* MotorMouth: Fi's assistant. She chose him specifically to drive everyone else away from her office.
30	* TheNameless: Fi has yet to identify her assistant by name. Maybe she never quite caught it in his flash flood of words.
31	* NoPeriodsPeriod: Averted. [[spoiler: Patina Welding]] gets her first one, much to her father's embarrassment as he's asked to shop accordingly.
32	* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The Moat Monster is rarely even identified as a dragon, though she certainly has the key trappings of one. One difference is her ShapeShifting.
33	* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Thrip is now a data vampire.
34	* OutOfFocus: Bob Shirt, former protagonist. An intentional example: According to the creator, the character "turned out to be so boring that the strip survived only by moving the spotlight away from him."
35	** His girlfriend Melody has been even more out of focus.
36	** The Moat Monster as well, but for a different reason: The cartoonist wants to move away from some of the more bizarre elements that may distract readers who came for other things. As [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orzt8yvY8W4&feature=youtu.be Dethany's Mailbox]] explains, with more of the fantasy elements moved into cyberspace (e.g., Dethany's unicorn avatar), the "real-life" fantasy elements have been de-emphasized. The Moat Monster still exists, but in the form of a human with green hair.
37	** Has been happening with Wendy since Dethany's introduction.
38	* PerkyGoth: Dethany Dendrobia.
39	* PerpetualFrowner: Fistula is determined to remain acid at all times.
40	* PetTheDog: Fistula despises the air Dethany breathes, but when she finds that Dethany's going to use tax preparation software, she voluntarily goes through and does Dethany's taxes, saving her a lot of money, and has to be persuaded to accept pay for the work she did.
41	* PutOnABus: Happens every so often, as we might expect from a comic that has run since 1984 ''without'' the rule of StatusQuoIsGod. One interesting example: Meg the Cyber Dog, who was getting old for software if not for a dog, got saved to a disk and hasn't been seen since.
42	* RightBehindMe: [[http://www.onthefastrack.com/?p=1575 A mild example.]]
43	* SharedUniverse: With ''ComicStrip/SafeHavens''. ''Havens''' main character, Samantha, has a standing job offer from Rose (for whom Samantha's father works). Patina now attends the college that Samantha works at, staying in the dorm she's RA for. And now Rusty has joined the dorm.
44	* SourSupporter: For all her unfriendliness, Fi does help Dethany in some big ways, including lending a temporary home.
45	* SuperheroesWearCapes: iPatina's cyber-superhero cape looks like a cursor.
46	* TookALevelInKindness:
47	** Rose isn't as bad as she used to be -- barely. This may be an example of PragmaticVillainy.
48	** Art started the comic as a JerkAss, but for decades, his defining attributes have been laziness and technical ineptitude.
49	* {{Unicorn}}: Dethany's online avatar. Still goth.
50	* TheUnsmile: Fi breaks from her usual dour demeanor [[http://onthefastrack.com/comics/november-20-2014/ here]]. By ContrivedCoincidence, she and Dethany hear the sound of glass breaking at the same moment.
51	* UnsoundEffect: Autocorrect's dictionary doesn't include sound effects like "pow," so her fight with a computer worm was accompanied by verbs like "pummel".
52	* UnusualPetsForUnusualPeople:
53	** Dethany has a raven called [[Creator/EdgarAllanPoe Lenore]].
54	** Fi has come to accept a cowbird.
55	* UnwantedAssistance:
56	** Fi generally doesn't welcome Dethany's gestures of friendship. Not openly, anyway.
57	** TruthInTelevision: Autocorrect rarely gets any appreciation.
58	* UsedToBeASweetKid: OK, Fistula used to be a sweet ''young adult'', until she felt betrayed.
59	* VisualPun: Many. For example, Autocorrect has become a literal spelling bee.
60	* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:When Percy and Thrip (at least back in her computer bug days) wreak havoc on technology, it's secretly an attempt to get humans to improve it.]]
61	* WretchedHive: The Malware Cafe is explicitly called a "wretched hive of scum and villainy" (quoting ''Film/ANewHope'').

Context ComicStrip / OnTheFastrack