Line #32 Webcomic/NoBlackPlume


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Car_edited-1_2514.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:[[AltText Curly is a naturally-occurring source of cold fusion. Aubrey doesn't have time for your silly mind games, Joker.]] ]]
3	-> "It's interesting that after 2.7 billion years of evolution, the trait that best secures one's genetic line is 'being delicious'."
4	--> Caption, [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/09/no-black-plume-27.html Comic #27]]
5
6	"[[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/ No Black Plume]]" is a webcomic started in July 2011 by Matthew "Curly" Jeffers (writer) and Aubrey Zepeda (artist). The comics are very short, usually single-panel, and usually deal with [[{{Absurdism}} absurd]] topics and situations, as well as science, literature, and social trends. There is no storyline or recurring characters, and most of the tropes are mocked or played for laughs. The comic is hosted on Blogger and updates Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
7
8	In addition to the comic, each update comes with a "Something Cool", where Curly and Aubrey alternate discussing something they enjoy and expounding the reader to check it out.
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10	----
11	!!No Black Plume provides examples of these tropes:
12	* ACupAngst: [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/08/no-black-plume-8.html A woman worries that her breasts are too small]] and her husband still accepts her, bet she dumps him anyway.
13	* AlliterativeName: The star of one comic is named [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/09/no-black-plume-22.html Lil' Lolita]].
14	* AreWeThereYet: The "[[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/09/no-black-plume-19.html fighting in the back seat]]" variety, featuring a logician's children arguing by saying "P" and its inverse back and forth [[note]]"P" standing for proposition[[/note]].
15	* ArtisticLicenseHistory: The history of [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/09/no-black-plume-28.html "Hangman"]], depicting an actual hanged person (while in reality, earlier versions lacked the hanged person entirely). Played for laughs.
16	* ArtisticLicenseStatistics: Averted [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/09/no-black-plume-25.html in this strip]]. There is a scale for cosplay which is presented in an actual statistical way, with values for appropriateness and awesomeness. According to the author, statistics is Curly's favorite branch of mathematics.
17	* ArtShift: For its six-part "Science Will Ruin Your Life" series, the comic switched to a black-and-white, FilmNoir-inspired style.
18	* BlackComedy: A lot of dark humor is present in the comic, including:
19	** [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/08/no-black-plume-16.html A devil's punishment being transported to a place where his own punishments down mean anything to the people who are already used to it.]]
20	** [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/09/no-black-plume-28.html The origin of Hangman being an actual hanging.]]
21	** [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/08/no-black-plume-17.html Contrasting rejecting food in developed societies to people in poverty without access to food.]]
22	* BlatantLies: Each comic comes with the authors' fake "credentials" that are different every time.
23	* ComedicSociopathy: [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/08/no-black-plume-5.html Someone running over pedestrians to pass their driving test]] is played as humorous.
24	* {{Cosplay}}: [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/09/no-black-plume-25.html Played for laughs]]: a scale of cosplay is presented with varying levels of awesomeness and appropriateness.
25	* DependingOnTheWriter: Curly and Aubrey alternate writing the credentials that accompany each comic. Curly's tend to be shorter and simpler; Aubrey's are longer and more madcap.
26	* {{Eagleland}}: [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/08/no-black-plume-17.html Flavor 2]]: America is represented as a society where people are very picky with food and some don't receive food at all.
27	* ElegantGothicLolita: [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/09/no-black-plume-22.html Played with]]: Lil' Lolita is dressed in the traditional Gothic Lolita attire, but doesn't act too elegantly, rejecting a girl's request to find her puppy and telling her to go away.
28	* GoneHorriblyWrong: A bit of a parodic case. Humanity, as seen in the comic with TheMonolith, is reduced from achieving greatness to making snuggies for dogs.
29	* HeadphonesEqualIsolation: [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/08/no-black-plume-9.html Double subverted]]: A guy listening to music promises his friend that he has his full attention, but the friend inadvertently leads him to sing along to [[Music/LedZeppelin "Stairway to Heaven"]], with the guy going back on his statement and saying that his friend may not have his full attention.
30	* {{Hipster}}: [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/07/no-black-plume-3.html The hipster attitude is applied to relationships]], complete with a guy with the stereotypical hipster glasses, beard, mustache and all saying the following:
31	--> '''Hipster''': I have a new sexual partner. You've probably never heard of her.
32	* ImYourWorstNightmare: [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/09/no-black-plume-21.html Mocked]]: the line is said word-for-word by a monster, but the fact that he's covered in something brown (maybe chocolate) and the face he makes isn't that threatening makes him look far from what he claims to be.
33	* InkblotTest: [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/08/no-black-plume-7.html Mocked.]] A patient views a Rorschach test and states "I don't get how these are supposed to help."
34	* InsideAComputerSystem: [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/09/no-black-plume-23.html Played for laughs]]: someone claims that he's going to go inside a computer, when in reality he's just fixing its inner workings.
35	* IronicHell: A four-part series of comics on it show a devil giving ironic punishments: for a clown, an eternity at children's birthday parties, for a PBS employee, his death in lava funded by donations from "viewers like you", and so forth.
36	* LonelyRichKid: [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/09/no-black-plume-24.html Sammy the rich kid]] is implied to be lonely since his status is joked about a lot according to the caption and only a few other people showed up to his birthday party.
37	* MoralGuardians: [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/07/new-black-plume-2.html Averted and mocked]]: two people representing science and religion approve of their own explanations for phenomena, when in reality they would object to those explanations from the opposing side.
38	* {{Neologism}}: [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/09/no-black-plume-20.html Played for laughs]]: The word "fxgndxrq" is made up on the spot. Its definition? "It's a word. Who dares to say otherwise?"
39	* NoodleIncident: Comics will sometimes appear InMediasRes, between Noodle Incidents.
40	* ScienceIsBad: Averted [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/07/new-black-plume-2.html here]] (religion accepts scientific beliefs) and played for laughs [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/08/no-black-plume-12.html here]] (the cloning of dinosaurs and invention of jetpacks leads to armageddon via dinosaurs on jetpacks).
41	** Played for laughs again in the six-part "Science Will Ruin Your Life" arc, with one of its themes being an extensive knowledge on science causing people to view things more cynically, even more mundane stuff like watching movies.
42	* ShamelessSelfPromoter: Curly. He has openly asked to do guest comics, addressed to "EVERY WEBCOMIC EVER", and introduces the comic by saying, "You should check it out, click on the ads a few times."
43	* ShoutOut: Tons of 'em. It's the whole point of the [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/search/label/something%20cool Something Cool]] posts, which shine the spotlight on a specific work or group.
44	* SteamPunk: [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/09/no-black-plume-25.html Played for laughs]]: a steampunk costume is presented as moderately appropriate, but not very awesome.
45	* StylisticSuck: The comics tend to be hastily-drawn to maintain a cartoony appearance. Exaggerated [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/07/new-black-plume-2.html here]] (an agreement between science and religion that is perhaps even cruder than the regular comics, mainly due to the differing art style) and [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/09/no-black-plume-26.html here]] (mild NSFW: a crudely-drawn parody of ''Literature/TheTwilightSaga'' with poor grammar).
46	* TakeAThirdOption: [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/08/no-black-plume-5.html To a guy attempting to pass his driver's exam]], there are three options: passing, failing, or his way, which is running over pedestrians without care.
47	* TakeThat: [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/09/no-black-plume-26.html Against]] ''Literature/TheTwilightSaga'', in a comic that mocks the series' romance and presents the characters as bastardized versions of themselves.
48	* TheFunInFuneral: [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/09/no-black-plume-25.html Comic #25]], where a person in a ComicBook/SpiderMan costume gives a funeral service. On the graph, it is presented as inappropriate for the situation, but with the highest potential for awesome.
49	* TheMonolith: [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/08/no-black-plume-18.html Played for laughs]]. A gray ''2001''-style Monolith appears, but then something goes wrong, and humanity takes a turn for the worse.
50	* {{Touche}}: [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/07/no-black-plume-3.html Said nearly verbatim in Comic #3 as "Touche, hipsters"]].
51	* UnderdogsAlwaysWin: [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/09/no-black-plume-31.html Averted and parodied]]: a sports headline reads "More experienced team defeats underdogs in total accordance with odds".
52	* {{Understatement}}: [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/08/no-black-plume-6.html A caption reads]] "I wouldn't describe speaking under pressure as my strong point". Said pressure is someone holding the speaker at gunpoint.
53	* {{Unicorn}}: [[http://noblackplume.blogspot.com/2011/08/no-black-plume-11.html One appears]] in the form of [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Princess Celestia]], but there is a reason why they haven't been documented: their vaporizing EyeBeams make sure that people will ''not'' find out the truth.

Context Webcomic / NoBlackPlume