Line #36 Webcomic/Transmission


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/twinsprofile.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:The fastest and furriest on four wheels!]]
3
4	''Transmission'' is a [[UsefulNotes/FurryFandom furry webcomic]] created by Mark Alexander Smith about red squirrels Russell and Reggie, who are identical twins. They are English car mechanics living in Southern California.
5
6	Most of the comic's story arcs revolve around British and American cultural divisions, but also around the characters' love of motoring and exploration. The comic was inspired by the author's own trips to America.
7
8	The comic started in 2011 and ended on November 10th, 2023, with 945 pages.
9
10	[[http://transmission.thecomicseries.com/ Read it here.]]
11	----
12	!!Tropes:
13
14	* TheAllegedCar: The Plymouth GTX was quite literally falling apart when Russell bought it, he largely managed to restore it though, gas mileage notwithstanding.
15	* AltarTheSpeed: The twins' parents conceived them during a one-night stand, and they had to hold a small wedding ceremony to keep things as low key as possible.
16	* AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: During "British Vacation", the twins' mother attempts to show off her sons' baby photographs, much to their horror.
17	* AmbiguouslyBi: Reggie finds himself oddly attracted to a muscular male surf instructor...
18	* AmusingInjuries:
19	** Nick often breaks his hand when he is teaching more risky stunts in martial arts.
20	** Averted in the story arc Jason first appears in, where the injuries he sustains at the hands of his uncle are painfully real indeed.
21	* AnimalStereotypes: One of the strips has a non-anthro squirrel collecting nuts and stashing them. As it does, the author comments on it. In the second panel, he says 'Some squirrels evolved, but stereotypes remain at large...' The last panel shows a dog attempting to pay for Reggie's services in nuts.
22	* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Trevor.
23	* AssholeVictim:
24	** The homicidal truck driver in 'Duel'.
25	** Linda's kidnappers get tortured by the twins (one of whom they had earlier stolen a car from) after they defeat them, forcing them to listen to Jedward. The kidnappers are later killed off in the 'Randall's Ransom' story arc.
26	** The kid who knocks his competitor out by crushing his boat in a model boat race only to have his boat sunk by Russell and Linda, who fired on the boat using cannons hidden in their model of the USS Iowa.
27	** Jason's uncle's henchdogs return after a several-arc absence in 'Geraldine' to get revenge on the Harveys, only to get killed by the titular car in a manner not dissimilar to what happened to Buddy Repperton and his gang in ''Literature/{{Christine}}'' - after having vandalized the car, no less. Zigzagged with Jason's uncle himself.
28	** 'Randall's Ransom' has Randall and his father attempt to rescue Randall's daughter after she is kidnapped by ruthless property developer Lyle Hudson in retribution for Randall chasing the panther's goons out of his store. The end result is that Lyle is killed in his own home and his son Brett is ChainedToARailway. In an earlier arc, Brett had been picking on Jason while the latter was at college, ultimately leaving the twins to arrange for Randall to abduct Brett and leave him in the desert wearing only his underpants.
29	** Blanco Zapka, the tiger antagonist of 'Enter the Vulpine', ends up getting fat and has to be rescued from his house by the Los Angeles County Fire Department - including Jason, no less. [[KarmicButtMonkey Played with]] that he shows up again slimmed down competing in a surf tournament against Howard and wins, only to be told [[SlipperySwimsuit he's not wearing his trunks]].
30	%%* BadassDriver: Russell.
31	* BalloonBelly: After a few months of American fast food the twins have some trouble [[http://transmission.thecomicseries.com/comics/27/ fitting into their seats]]. Whereas Linda's waistline busts after her first time trying [[http://transmission.thecomicseries.com/comics/430 fish and chips]].
32	* BearsAreBadNews: Downplayed. When Reggie and Randall go hiking in Washington State, the guidebook mentions grizzly bears in the woods, which worries Reggie. After the duo actually get there, they are startled to find a bear roaring at them while ripping their tent and run, but it quickly turns out the bear is one of the anthropomorphic kinds and just wanted a word with them about them camping in 'his yard'. The bear later tracks them down to Puget Sound and [[PetTheDog returns their gear]] (minus Randall's last Honey-Nut bar).
33	* BritainIsOnlyLondon: Averted. The twins, who are Midlanders, take offence to the staff in a British themed UsefulNotes/LasVegas casino who are putting on fake posh accents.
34	* BritsLoveTea: The twins offer Tim's family some "good old English tea", which Becky (and her mom) think [[http://transmission.thecomicseries.com/comics/419 tastes like pee]].
35	* TheCameo: Various characters from other furry webcomics have made cameo appearances in some of the comic strips.
36	* CarnivoreConfusion: Randall tries to shoot a sentient deer for food while hiking with Reggie, Reggie tries to stop him only to notice a pig filming them, and the last panel shows them eating fresh pork. Though later on it turns out they forced him to steal a non-anthro pig from a farm and ate that.
37	* TheCasanova: Reggie manages to get quite a few one-nighters. Multiple girls at a music festival, some random lady every now and then, a 41-year-old rockstar...
38	* CatsAreMean: Imelda, one half of the villian duo of the 'The Rusty Chef' arc.
39	* CombatPragmatist: Randall rarely fights fair: [[http://transmission.thecomicseries.com/comics/489/ for example, shooting an enemy in what was meant to be a knife fight]].
40	* CoolCar:
41	** The red Plymouth Belvedere GTX muscle car that Russell drives.
42	** Reggie has owned several cars. His current car is a black Mitsubishi Evo X, in the past he has also owned a grey Subaru Impreza and a blue BMW 3-Series convertible.
43	** The imported Ford Escort Mexico the twins use in the Mexican Rallycross.
44	* CoordinatedClothes: Averted; most notably in that Russell usually wears green and Reg usually wears orange. Though the twins wear the same colour of trousers, their shoes are also different.
45	* CoveredInGunge: When the twins have to clear the LA drains as part of community service, Reggie is reminded of having taken part in ''Run the Risk'' back in the UK when he was young. Russell says that [[NoodleIncident this time they 'can't throw Peter Simon in the gunge']].
46	* CrazyPrepared:
47	** When Zombie Korma stayed in Chicago, they were assigned a [[http://transmission.thecomicseries.com/comics/256/ 'rockstar's suite']] where the television and the furniture was bolted down, [[StealingFromTheHotel least anyone staying there got tempted]]. Bolting everything down can be seen as this on the part of the hotel staff.
48	** When their drummer was stopped at Canadian customs over [[ItMakesSenseInContext a decades-old accusation that he desecrated a war memorial when he was two]], Simon mentions having insisted on packing a drum machine he calls 'Winston', and they use it to salvage the concert.
49	* CreatorCameo: The author himself appears in the background on occasion. Particularly [[http://transmission.thecomicseries.com/comics/150/ this strip]] where he and Thom Alun Jones take up the entire last panel.
50	* CripplingCastration: Randall did this to a gym instructor after catching him having sex with his wife.
51	* DamselInDistress: Linda in 'Kidnapped', Randall's daughter in 'Randall's Ransom'
52	* DarkerAndEdgier: The 'Kidnapped' and 'Jason' storylines are darker and more brutal compared to the otherwise Lighter And Softer approach of the majority of the series. They are presented in more of a dramatic graphic novel format rather than the usual witty punchlines.
53	* DickDastardlyStopsToCheat: Sasha and Charley in the race where they're introduced repeatedly sabotage the other racers, even [[https://transmission.thecomicseries.com/comics/228/#content-start referencing]] the TropeNamer when a misleading sign trick fails.
54	* DisappearedDad[=/=]MissingMom: Jason's parents were killed in a mall shooting when he was four.
55	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Anti-mixed-species-marriage sentiments exist in some inhabitants of the ''Transmission'' world, [[http://transmission.thecomicseries.com/comics/458/ as Linda's mother demonstrates.]] At least one commentator on that particatular strip's comments section compared it to the controversies about same-sex marriage.
56	* DomesticAbuse: Jason was brought up by an uncle who physically abused him.
57	* DrugsAreBad: One story arc sees the twins attempt to get rid of half a ton of cannabis (marijuana) that had been cultivating in their cupboard (courtsey of Trevor), lest they get arrested for possession of drugs. This ultimately leads to a trip to the incinerator and the production of smoke that leaves Russell and Nick (plus a couple of crows) stoned.
58	* EvenEvilHasStandards: Though Charley and Sasha are keen to win the Mexican Rallycross by cheating and causing car accidents to achieve this, they do not want to kill anybody on purpose either because "It's nicer to win races that don't kill people!".
59	* EveryCarIsAPinto: "[[http://transmission.thecomicseries.com/comics/131/ Why did the car explode?]]"
60	* FakeBand:
61	** Trevor's group Zombie Korma, who occasionally get ADayInTheLimelight when they become the focus of the strip.
62	** In the 'Zombie Invasion' arc, the above mentioned Zombie Korma find out their slot for their LA gig was double-booked with a 'rock and pop band from the 1990s' called RRRapture, lead by vixen Zoey [=McCluskey=]. Zoey's daughter Zara later ends up in Zombie Korma as a guitarist.
63	** One of the recent strips revealed that the boys' father Tony was the bassist in an Music/AdamAndTheAnts {{Expy}} in the 80's.
64	* FamilyThemeNaming: Tim and his siblings are named after the [[https://transmission.thecomicseries.com/comics/862/ places where they were born]]. Tim specifically was born in a Tim Hortons, while his twin sister Victoria got the name of the city.
65	* FantasticRacism: Implied in the third arc. When Russell attempts to start a minicab service in Los Angeles, he gets a customer who asks for his service. When Russell asks the customer for their species, he is told the customer is a grey squirrel. The next panel shows Russell telling Reggie he didn't get any fares.
66	* FeatherFingers: Lampshaded [[http://transmission.thecomicseries.com/comics/251 here]].
67	* FootballHooligans: The twins are Stoke City fans, but have been subjected to random assaults by fans of local rivals Port Vale as one strip pointed out.
68	* FreudianExcuse:
69	** Charley and Sasha Slater had bad mouselinghoods, which Sasha uses to justify their 'win at any cost' behavior in the Mexican rallycross:
70	*** Their father turned to alcoholism and became sexually abusive later on.
71	*** Their mother turned to durgs and got arrested, before ending up in a battered women's shelter, 'and after that, Florida'.
72	*** Their older brother Adam was killed fighting in Afghanistan.
73	*** Their sister Ivy abandoned the family, and has since married twice.
74	*** The final straw that saw them become what they are now came when their father started sexually abusing Sasha. When Charley discovered it, [[BigBrotherInstinct he beat the father up.]]
75	** Randall's experience of his wife's adultery and the cheater's subsequent CripplingCastration from Randall leads to some bad memories for the coyote when cooking outside because it took place at a barbeque, according to one strip.
76	** 'Enter the Vulpine' reveals it was the grief from the death of Jason's father that turned his brother into the monster he was when the Harvey twins encountered him. Jason's uncle was unable to stop the mall shooting that killed them despite working there because he was on his lunch break.
77	* FullyDressedCartoonAnimal: Practically the entire cast.
78	* FunnyBackgroundEvent:
79	** In two TemptingFate strips, the frame after the TemptingFate moments has a sign reading 'WANNA BET'?
80	** After Russell proposes to Linda, the next strip after the event has a frame with a banner reading 'Congratulations - Now Get Lost!'
81	** In the arc where Linda flies a quadcopter drone, her first appearance in the arc has her showing the drone to Russell. Russell makes a comment about robots replacing animals as mechanics and technicians, and both laugh - not hearing an electronic voice coming out of the drone saying the day of machines will come.
82	* FurryConfusion: Despite the cast being anthropomorphic animals, it does happen:
83	** When the twins move house, the panel showing their arrival has an anthro deer walking no anthro dogs.
84	** In one strip, Randall's truck has a [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Rainbow Dash]] doll hanging from the front mirror, but Rainbow is in her standard four-legged pony shape rather than a Transmission-ified anthropomorphic one, implying non-anthropomorphic horses exist in the ''Transmission'' world.
85	** In a later strip, Russell and Linda accidentally kill a non-anthropomorphic parrot with their quadcopter drone. Despite having interacted with anthropomorphic parrots during their double date with Tim and Willow.
86	* FurryReminder:
87	** The association between squirrels and nuts (and pine cones) have been brought up on occassion.
88	** Instead of 'arms', bird forelimbs are apparentely referred to as 'wings'.
89	** In 'The Slater Connection', instead of screaming, Sasha wakes up from a nightmare while making a squeaking noise.
90	* GlobalIgnorance:
91	** Randall seems to think a hiking site he's headed to with Reggie is east of the Mississippi. As Reggie points out, California (where they originated from), Oregon (which they pass through) and Washington State (where they are heading) are west of the Mississippi. Randall seems to have mixed up Washington State and Washington DC - you'd think an American wouldn't make this mistake.
92	*** Randall was right on one thing, though - the natural range of the grizzly bear does not extend beyond the Mississippi.
93	** When Zombie Korma's first album was released, a review of the album misidentified their hometown as 'Stoke Newington' (a London district) rather than Stoke-on-Trent. Trevor was not amused.
94	* HangoverSensitivity: The day after running a wild hen party for Linda, Willow complains that [[https://transmission.thecomicseries.com/comics/461#content-start "the lights are too loud."]]
95	* HomeNudist: Reggie once spent the day naked at home in the middle of a heat wave, much to Russell's disgust. Reg's reassurance that having the same junk due to being identical twins did nothing to comfort Russell about it.
96	* IdenticalTwinIDTag: Reggie wears orange, Russell green
97	* IKnowKarate: Nick, who is a black belt who trains students at the local dojo.
98	* [[ImAHumanitarian I'm a Carnivore]]: Randall
99	* InterspeciesRomance:
100	** Russ, Eurasian red squirrel, and Linda, a ferret. Prior to this Russ had romanced a grey timberwolf named Tiffany.
101	** Reg seems to have a lot of one-night stands with several different girls, all different species. [[spoiler:Eventually settling down with Sasha, a mouse.]]
102	* KickedOutOfHeaven: Reg achieved Nirvana after inventing the perfect chip (that's "fries" for Americans) recipe, a few strips later [[http://transmission.thecomicseries.com/comics/141/ they threw him back out]]
103	* KidsAreCruel: Played with in one strip. In that strip, Reggie has restored a Ford Gran Torino and is delivering it to the customer when he finds himself behind a school bus dropping off children. Some of the children begin ProducePelting the car, and Reggie responds by driving the car straight through the group of kids. The last frame shows Reggie in court (presumably after being arrested for his actions), trying to explain what he did to a judge.
104	* LastNameBasis: Randall's first name is Jack, but this was never revealed until 'D-Fense'. Even then, several characters still refer to him by his last name.
105	* LethalChef: Jason's "experiments" have given a culinary arts tutor food poisoning, produced a rock cake that broke a fork, and something undisclosed that used liquid nitrogen.
106	* LongLostRelative: How the twins procured their business in Los Angeles in the first place.
107	* UsefulNotes/LosAngeles: The primary setting of the comic.
108	* UsefulNotes/TheMidlands: The twins and their family are natives of Stoke-On-Trent.
109	* NakedPeopleAreFunny:A recurring source of humor in this comic.
110	** While on honeymoon in Hawaii, Russell and Linda lose their clothes to the tides while [[MakingLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces]] and try to hide it, only to get their pictures taken in a car and end up on the news. [[HereWeGoAgain This happens again]] when they go on a cruise, only this time their bathing costumes are blown across the ship by a gust of wind, leading to them being chasing from the pool area by security and end up [[ContrivedCoincidence at a nudist gathering.]]
111	** Jason loses his shirt and shorts after sinking in quicksand while hiking with Howard and the twins.
112	** Howard and Jeanette (Linda's sister) slide head first down the water slide (rather than feet first) and [[SlipperySwimsuit lose their bathing costumes]] on the way down.
113	*** Something similar happens to Blanco Zapka, only at a surf competition as [[LaserGuidedKarma]] for being a {{Jerkass}}. Definitely soured his victory in said competition.
114	** When Tim goes to the Harvey twins' place to drop off his kids, they were greeted by the sight of a naked Reg who had been playing StripPoker with Howard, much to Tim's frustration. Thankfully, Reg had the sense to [[HandOrObjectUnderwear "cover up"]].
115	* NeverBringAKnifeToAGunFight: Or a baseball bat, as Reggie found out after his car was stolen.
116	** Randall is perfectly willing to bring a gun to a knife fight.
117	* OfficialCouple: Russell proposes to Linda in "British Vacation". She accepts. They get married in "Hitched". [[spoiler:In the final arc Reggie proposes to Sasha, who happens to be pregnant by him.]]
118	* OopNorth: Though Stoke-On-Trent is technically in the Midlands, it arguably has more in common with the North than the South of England.
119	* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The author revealed that dragons exist in the world of ''Transmisson'' through the introduction of Leeroy, a Welsh dragon who takes the role of Zombie Korma's drummer after the original is let go. The dragons are depicted as favoring anything built of stone or other fire-resistant material (castles included), they can outgrow other animals - and yes, [[DragonHoard Dragon Hoards]] do exist.
120	* QuintessentialBritishGentleman: Again, averted.
121	* RankUp: When Tim first appeared in comic he was a traffic cop. As of "D-Fence" he's a detective sergeant.
122	* RestaurantOwningEpisode: In "[[https://transmission.thecomicseries.com/comics/136/ Chips Off the Old Block]]" the twins open a fish-and-chips truck after Reg invents the "perfect" chip recipe. The arc ends with a big corporation buying them out, without giving the twins a cent, and then burning the truck down trying to replicate their recipe.
123	* RoadsideWave: Russell and Linda get splashed by a bus while holidaying in the UK - [[TemptingFate right after discussing how the rain had cleared up]].
124	* RuleOfPool: During the second panel of a strip set during Zombie Korma's first tour of America, the band are shown near a swimming pool at a hotel in Cincinnati. A caption says that rock bands 'have a history with swimming pools' (a reference to a story about [[Music/TheWho Keith Moon]] driving a car into a swimming pool). The next panel has the guitarist, Graham, trying to explain to hotel management why his bandmates drove a Lincoln Town Car into the pool - while apparently paying damages at the same time.
125	* SeparatedByACommonLanguage: The twins have difficulty adjusting to American dialects at first, as shown [[http://transmission.thecomicseries.com/comics/26 here]] and [[http://transmission.thecomicseries.com/comics/35 here]].
126	* ShoutOut:
127	** Occasionally the comic refers to real life music groups and other webcomics and other forms of media.
128	** One story arc prominently parodies ''Film/{{Duel}}'', right down to the mean [[VehicularAssault Peterbilt Tanker chasing the twins]].
129	%%* SiblingRivalry
130	* SniperRifle: Randall packs a PSG1 when taking Reggie out hiking in the Mount Rainier National Park so he can shoot animals to eat - fellow anthropomorphic animals!
131	* SpeechImpediment: Simon, Trevor's friend and fellow musician, is a stutterer.
132	* TheStoner: Trevor and Nick, but for entirely different reasons.
133	* StupidSexyFlanders: Regular ladies' squirrel Reggie gets a tad distracted by surf coach Howard's shapely, [[http://transmission.thecomicseries.com/comics/267/ tail]].
134	* ThemeTwinNaming: Russ and Reg are the alliterative version.
135	* {{Tomboy}}: Russ' girlfriend (later wife) Linda, to an extent, she's a computer engineer and wanted to build Series/{{Battlebots}} when she was a kid. Tim's wife, Willow, is an even bigger one, they met when he pulled her over for street racing. Sasha, one of the antagonists, also qualifies.
136	* TokenEvilTeammate: Randall more or less fills this role for the main cast. A fair amount of his actions are morally questionable, but he's a loyal friend to The Twins and can be relied upon in situations where violence is deemed necessary.
137	* TookALevelInBadass: Jason, ultimately against his abusive uncle.
138	* TorchesAndPitchforks: Zombie Korma get chased by Christian rock fans after Trevor said he owed his music to Buddha of all people. [[LowSpeedChase While riding what looks like a golf cart]]. Bonus points for the panel actually including torches and pitchforks.
139	* TricksterTwins: Russ and Reg, of course.
140	* TwinSwitch: This happens occasionally. Such as the time Russ stole a hooker Reg hired in Vegas.
141	* TheVoiceless: Jason, owing to his abusive upbringing. In his introductory arc he had one line on the last page, though in later arcs he gradually became more talkative.
142	%%* WeddingEpisode: "Hitched"
143	* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: [[spoiler:The first part of the epilogue skips around a few months at a time, then the second part jumps ten years forward to Russ and Reg and their families reuniting while scenes from the side characters' lives are shown.]]
144	* WholePlotReference: The 'Duel', 'Geraldine' and 'D-Fense' story arcs reference ''Film/{{Duel}}'', ''Literature/{{Christine}}'' and ''Film/FallingDown'', respectively. Lampshaded in 'Geraldine', which references [[Creator/StephenKing the book's author]].
145	* WhoShotJFK: Randall's first appearance in 'D-Fense' sees him claiming to have been 'behind the Grassy Knoll', a reference to several JFK conspiracy theories concerning that location.

Context Webcomic / Transmission