Line #22 ComicStrip/WhatsNewWithPhilAndDixie


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/phildixie_2677.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Don't worry, [[FalseTeethTomfoolery she's wearing dentures.]]]]
3
4	''What's New? with Phil and Dixie'' is a gaming comic by Creator/PhilFoglio that ran originally in TSR's role-playing-centered ''[[Magazine/{{Dragon}} Dragon Magazine]]'', and then in the official ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' magazine. It was [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20070107 republished]] on Phil's website for a time, but now is only available via the [[http://wayback.archive.org/web/20150428204213/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20070107 Internet Archive Wayback Machine]]; most of the links below have not yet been updated and will not work.
5
6	----
7	!!''What's New? with Phil and Dixie'' provides examples of:
8
9	* AdaptationDyeJob: Dixie is a redhead in ''Dragon'' and a blonde in ''Duelist''. In one ''Duelist'' strip, they find their ''Dragon'' props, including "[[http://wayback.archive.org/web/20150428205641/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20090419 my old wig]]". Of course, it eventually turns out that [[RoboticReveal that's not the real Dixie]].
10	* ApplianceDefenestration: Played straight in [[http://tinyurl.com/68e25k page 1]] and [[http://tinyurl.com/69rzp2 page 2]] of the comic in ''Magazine/{{Dragon}}'' magazine #63 (July 1982), in which computers are hurled through open windows by owners frustrated with fantasy {{RPG}} programs.
11	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: On [[http://wayback.archive.org/web/20150428205747/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20081116 casting models]] for ''Magic: The Gathering'' cards:
12	-->'''Agent:''' Do you have any trouble working with elves, trolls, fairies, minotaurs, wizards, merfolk, werewolves, vampires, zombies or artists?\
13	'''Model:''' Ew...''real'' artists?
14	* AuthorAvatar: Phil
15	* BearHug: In panels #5-6 of [[http://wayback.archive.org/web/20150428205501/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20070318 a comic]] from ''Magazine/{{Dragon}}'' magazine #58 (February 1982).
16	* BestHerToBedHer: In the "Sex and D&D" strip, after stating that elves are [[SuperiorSpecies far too superior]] to even ''have'' sex, it then says that this only applies when around other elves, and their attitude amongst other races is ''[[CovertPervert very]]'' different. The female elf is shown in a mud-wrestling pit with a sign reading "Pin 'er to win 'er!"
17	* BedouinRescueService: Parodied in [[http://wayback.archive.org/web/20150428205218/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20100131 one strip]]. "Hi! You folks lost?"
18	* BlandNameProduct: During the ''Duelist'' era, there's an appearance of ''Large Lizard'' magazine, with a headline declaring "Role-Playing Games Are Not Dead, Honest!"
19	* TheCameo: A credited one by Tramp's Wormy, and uncredited walk-ons by many others (e.g. [[ComicBook/ElfQuest Skywise]]).
20	* CanonDiscontinuity / OldShame: They claim never to have heard of ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' in one of the strips after that period ended. (This is justified in-universe by a RoboticReveal, but still.)
21	* CashCowFranchise:[[invoked]] Mocked in "[[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20081005 a story it will be easy to fit expansion sets onto]]" and some others.
22	* CatapultNightmare: In [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growf/growfcomic/strips/growf_20100523.jpg one strip]], Phil and Dixie wake up from a dream (shown in previous strips) in which their {{Character Alignment}}s[[invoked]] were changed to Evil. Unfortunately for them, it turns out it ''wasn't'' AllJustADream.
23	* ChainmailBikini: [[http://wayback.archive.org/web/20150428205455/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20070304 Discussed]].
24	* CostumesChangeYourSize: In Dragon magazine #68 (December 1982), a man who's 6 feet tall and weighs maybe 300 lb. becomes an elven woman at least two feet shorter. When asked how he did it, he says "Special shoes". This is also the secret of the "[[http://wayback.archive.org/web/20150428205215/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20100530 Dragon into Girl]]" trick
25	* CovertPervert: Elves, as revealed in these [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20080525 two]] [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20080601 strips]].
26	* DeathByOriginStory: Parodied when a nascent superhero is subjected to so many different methods of acquiring superpowers simultaneously that he is reduced to ashes.
27	* DescriptionPorn: The comic in ''Magazine/{{Dragon}}'' magazine (June 1983) played this for laughs. Demonstrating a spy's ability to be intimately familiar with all sorts of weapons, it shows a spy coolly rattling off the name and statistics for a Mauser 1906, an AR-15 assault rifle, and... [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20071118 a rubber duck]].
28	-->'''Spy:''' ...capable of killing five men simultaneously.
29	* DeusExMachina: Invoked in a discussion of why overpowered superheroes are unsatisfying, where a superhero named Deus Ex Machina Man is saved from a gun-toting criminal by a falling safe.
30	* DidntSeeThatComing: The [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20090628 robot doubles]] have already read the comics ahead, analysed Phil's writing style and claim "There is nothing you can write that we are not prepared for." So, he gets Dixie to write the next page, which turns out [[StylisticSuck rather unpredictably.]]
31	* {{Disneyfication}}: [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20080921 Inevitably]] will be applied to ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering: TheMovie''.
32	-->"...of course, there ''are'' elements of game play that'll be changed onscreen to make the characters more sympathetic."
33	* EvilCostumeSwitch: Dixie undergoing a [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20091004 literal lampshaded costume switch]], complete with the large breasts. Phil [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20100307 also gets a costume switch]] when ''he'' turns evil, but with less lampshade hanging.
34	* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: The mini-game ''Escape from C'thulu''. "You just open the box, read aloud the enclosed incantation... [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20070415 ...and then, escape."]]
35	* FaceHeelTurn: [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20091004 Toward the end]] of ''What's New?'', Dixie turned into a CardCarryingVillain because she figured evil has better fashion sense.
36	-->'''Phil:''' You're [[FaceHeelTurn changing alignment]]? But why?\
37	'''Dixie:''' Are you kidding? The perks are fantastic! Better hair -- [[BuxomBeautyStandard bigger bust]] -- bitchin' outfits -- ''plus'' I get my own minions!
38	* {{Fanservice}}: Dixie provides this in spades.
39	* FourthWallMailSlot: Done as a gag, with the pair answering fake letters from gamers. Also [[RecursiveReality an in-character fake letter that Phil sent in as a joke]].
40	* FreakyFridayFlip: A misshap with a mind-switching device results in Dixie and Growf (a small pink dragon) switching bodies for a few strips.
41	* FreudianExcuse: How some [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20100404 evil geniuses]] (with a slight resemblance to a certain [[WebComic/GirlGenius Baron von Wulfenbach]]) come to be.
42	* GameBreaker: InUniverse, the [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20080706 Rukh egg.]][[note]]The card has since been errataed to prevent this exploit.[[/note]]
43	* GulliverTieDown:
44	** [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20070401 Phil wakes up to find]] his lead miniatures have tied him to the bed and are demanding a raise.
45	** [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20071230 A gamer appears tied down in his own prize-winning diorama]] at a game convention.
46	* HandRubbing: In ''Magazine/{{Dragon}}'' magazine #53 (September 1981), Phil shows us how it's done [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20070204 in panel #4]].
47	-->'''Phil:''' Do with it? Why -- I know exactly what we can do with it! Heh! Heh! Heh!
48	* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: In the last few strips, after Phil turns evil, Dixie becomes "uber-good" when she realizes she can still dress sexy while being heroic... but mostly so she could continue kicking Phil's ass.
49	* HocusTropus: [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20100530 One strip]] includes versions of DisappearingBox, PullARabbitOutOfMyHat, and SawAWomanInHalf.
50	* HurricaneOfPuns: An explanation of the "Jester" prestige class includes a demonstration on how to turn a HurricaneOfPuns into an effective -- if [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20071014 somewhat indiscriminate]] -- weapon.
51	* ICanSeeMyHouseFromHere: [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20100509 Said by Dixie]] in a strip about flight.
52	* IGotARock: [[http://web.archive.org/web/20150428205410/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20100117 Word for word.]]
53	* ImpossiblyLowNeckline: Dixie's outfit after she's become LawfulGood combines this with an NavelDeepNeckline. As she remarks, being übergood still gives you the fashion perks of evil.
54	* JanitorImpersonationInfiltration:
55	** [[https://web.archive.org/web/20101205011835/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growf/growfcomic/strips/growf_20070520.jpg This strip]] from ''Magazine/{{Dragon}}'' magazine #63 has a guy dressed as a cleaning woman sneaking into a computer lab.
56	** [[https://web.archive.org/web/20160202090505/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20090208 Mox cleaners!]]
57	* MatchlightDangerRevelation: The [[http://wayback.archive.org/web/20150428205220/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20070114 comic]] in ''Magazine/{{Dragon}}'' #50 used this. Phil and Dixie were exploring the TSR dungeon in the dark and realized there was someone else with them. Phil lit a match, revealing that the other creature was actually a demon. Then the demon blew out the match...
58	* MirrorMoralityMachine: [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20100228 Responsible for Phil's Face Heel Turn]].
59	* MostDefinitelyNotAVillain: The alien spy in [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20070722 this page]].
60	* MotorMouth: The comic in ''Magazine/{{Dragon}}'' #67 (November 1982) had [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20070715 an example]] (see the last two panels).
61	* MsFanservice: Dixie Null is basically the ultimate [[GeekyTurnOn sexy geek]] GirlNextDoor (aside from her extended stint as a bikini-wearing supervillain).
62	* NeckLift: Once happened to a game-company flack who interrupted yet another attempt by the hosts to address the topic of Sex In ''D&D''. One panel shows him being subjected to this trope; the next reveals that it's Dixie, rather than Phil, who's doing it.
63	* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: ''Magic'' card illustrations.
64	** "Howling, flying, righteous, firebreathing, ''berserk'' [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20080629 mammoths]]"
65	** "[[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20081116 Okay - You want this horde of zombies carrying swords made of lightning, to be erupting out of a volcano, riding dragons made out of lava...]]"
66	* NudeNatureDance: Dixie indulges in [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20100131 a strip about the wilderness]]. Of course she didn't count on the bees, the snakes, scorpions, spiders or nomadic tribes.
67	* OnTheNext: Perennially subverted by RunningGag promises that "Sex in ''D&D''" would be next month's topic.
68	* OrAreYouJustHappyToSeeMe: [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20080601 This strip reveals the disturbing nature of orc flirting.]]
69	* OrWasItADream: Phil and Dixie wake up believing most of the second ''Dragon'' run was AllJustADream. [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20100523 It was not]].
70	* OurDragonsAreDifferent: A recurring character (or plot device) was [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growf.html Growf]], a [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter tiny purple dragon]] that induced {{Squee}}s followed by third degree burns, and reproduced by [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20070204 Explosive Parthenogenesis]] when wetted.
71	* OurGnomesAreWeirder: ''What's New?'' offers [[http://web.archive.org/web/20150428205215/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20100124 this take on exactly why there's no consensus on gnomes]].
72	* PirateGirl: In its ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' days, the strip [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20090308 depicted]] semi-retired characters, including [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=159253 Benalish Hero]] turned into a Pirate Queen and converting the IslandBase into a resort.
73	* ProductionForeshadowing: Towards the end of the run, Krosp from the then-in-development ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' makes several [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20081109 appearances]]. Both Krosp and Agatha also appear in the[[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20090823 fourth panel.]]
74	-->'''[[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20090111 Goont]]:''' Hey... if he wants the chief spy job ''that'' bad, he can ''have'' it.
75	* PullARabbitOutOfMyHat: A strip about live action role-playing talked about how magicians get the short end of the stick. The strip showed a stage magician telling one of his teammates how his 'useless' magic tricks had just saved their lives. The teammate then asked what he was going to do when he ran out of rabbits and pulled back to show the magician pulling rabbits out of his hat to feed to the monster that was attacking them.
76	* PungeonMaster: A proposed "Jester" archetype for ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' is [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20071014 shown to kill monsters with pun-attacks]]. (And, not incidentally, his party, demonstrating that Puns aren't picky about targets.)
77	* RageQuit: "[[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20080928 Oh! No! A power failure!]]"
78	* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Growf
79	* RiddleOfTheSphinx: In [[http://web.archive.org/web/20150428205541/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20090906 a What's New? report on riddles]], Phil is caught by a sphinx who reveals that since everybody knows the answer to the traditional Riddle of the Sphinx now, she's switched to a new one: "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?"
80	* RobotMe:
81	** [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20070520 Page 1]] and [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20070527 Page 2]] from ''Magazine/{{Dragon}}'' magazine #63 (July 1982).
82	** And [[http://web.archive.org/web/20150428205611/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20090628 the rematch]].
83	* RottenRoboticReplacement: In ''Magazine/{{Dragon}}'' magazine #63, TSR Labs creates a robotic version of Phil Foglio to replace him. The robot shocks Phil and knocks him unconscious for most of the strip. Phil gets his revenge by pouring water in the robot's ear and short circuiting it. In the last panel, just as Phil announces that he and Dixie are finally going to do "Sex and D&D" next month, a robot replacement for Dixie appears (it replaced her offscreen).
84	* RunningGag:
85	** In the 1980s run of ''What's New?'', Phil and Dixie kept promising that their expose of "Sex and ''D&D''!" was on its way, only to be put off for another month each issue. [[spoiler:When it finally did arrive, it was just about the mating habits of various monsters. Psych!]]
86	** Mammoths.
87	** The [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20090823 mail snail]] became a slo-o-owly crawling gag.
88	* ShameIfSomethingHappened: [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20100124 The gnomes' modus operandi.]]
89	-->'''Gnome:''' This cartoon, for instance. It would be a shame if something ''happened'' to it.
90	* ShapeshifterBaggage: [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20090802 An aversion]] is described as one of the potential problems with shapeshifting. The shapeshifter tries to disguise himself as a flower in a field of flowers... but he cannot change his mass, and so his flower rather stands out.
91	* ShockParty: One of the strips in ''Dragon'' magazine was about espionage {{Tabletop RPG}}s. Part of it explained why it was a really bad idea to throw a surprise birthday party for an undercover spy. It starts in the last panel [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20071118 here]] and concludes at the top of [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20071125 this one]].
92	* ShoutOut: Regularly.
93	** [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20070916 This comic on werewolf variants]] features a were-aardvark who looks just like ComicBook/{{Cerebus\|TheAardvark}}. Also cleverly namechecks CerebusSyndrome with a pun when the doctor comments "It's more serious than we thought!"
94	** [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20071202 Gazebo Boy]] ([[Funny/TabletopGames Eric and the Dread Gazebo]])?
95	** [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20071223 Gallimauphry magazine]] and the Winslow on the next page (''ComicBook/BuckGodotZapGunForHire'').
96	** "Franchise/{{Godzilla}} [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20080309 Festival"]] also has the Winslow.
97	** [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20080622 DM girl reads]] ''Buck Godot'' behind her DM-screen.
98	** [[http://web.archive.org/web/20150428205541/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20090906 Come see beautiful]] (and smelly) [[{{Literature/Discworld}} Ankh-Morpork]].
99	* SomethingPerson: The look at roleplaying superheroes featured Gazebo Boy.
100	* {{Stripperiffic}}: [[http://web.archive.org/web/20150428205617/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20090614 Dixie's ninja outfit]], among others.
101	* StatingTheSimpleSolution: Lampshaded in [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20090111 a strip about minion recruitment]].
102	-->'''Greven ''il''-Vec:''' Done much minioning?\
103	'''Krosp:''' "All is in readiness." "You're a genius, sir." "Don't screw around -- kill him ''now!''"\
104	'''Greven:''' Not bad, but Volrath won't listen to that last one.\
105	'''Krosp:''' They never do.
106	* SweetPollyOliver: [[http://web.archive.org/web/20150428205728/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20081228 Timothy Peter Hugo Stanley]], the ''Weatherlight'''s cabin boy.
107	* {{Underboobs}}: When Dixie is in her Ninja persona, her outfit includes [[http://web.archive.org/web/20150428205617/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20090614 underboobs]].
108	* UnwantedAssistance: InUniverse in a piece on animal companions: "Some animals possess human level intelligence or better. These can be disastrous. [[http://web.archive.org/web/20150428205547/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20090823 And some are just animals that want to help you and think they can. These are worse.]]"
109	* WeaponsGradeVocabulary: The strip in ''Dragon'' magazine #72 (April 1983) was about jesters. The middle of [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20071014 this page]] has a jester killing a monster with bad puns. The next panel shows the danger of unintended side effects.
110	* WhatDidIDoLastNight: [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20100523 The end of the Heel Face Revolving Door arc.]]
111	* WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway: An episode about superheroes included a panel about the need to have powers that are actually useful: "Gazebo Boy finds his singular power of metamorphosis useless against the evil Termite!"
112	* YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm: A god in a game uses [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20080608 this reasoning]] for explaining why he has to appear in the form of a fiery horse.

Context ComicStrip / WhatsNewWithPhilAndDixie