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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/scaled5001_390.jpg]]
2
3''[[http://particlefiction.posterous.com/ Particle Fiction]]'' is a monthly webcomic by writer/artist David Wynne in the tradition of ''ComicBook/TwoThousandAD'' (Sort of). It describes itself as 'a monthly comic book that just happens to be online' and is in some ways an attempt to bring a more traditional style of comic books to the webcomic medium.
4
5Currently consists of
6* Volume One:
7** Issue #1 - Eye Of The Tiger
8** Issue #2 - Ideasman
9** Issue #3 - Scorched Earth
10** Issue #4 - Ideasman 2: The Mite of God
11** Issue #5 - The Complex
12** Issue #6 - Ideasman 3: Skeleton Vanguard
13* Volume Two:
14** Issue #7 - Ideasman 4: Personality Clash
15** Issue #8 - The Catch
16** Issue #9 - Scorched Earth 2
17** Issue #10 - Ideasman 5: Ideasman and the Cataclysmic Plot Device
18** Issue #11 - Hypergirl
19** Issue #12 -
20
21After this, the plan is to [[BreakoutCharacter transition to a fully Ideasman comic]].
22
23----
24!!''Particle Fiction'' provides examples of:
25
26* AnthologyComic: Sort of. David Wynne is the main writer and sole artist, but does each issue in a different style
27* GenreRoulette: The point of the concept - each month has a different setting and genre.
28* SpeculativeFiction: Often.
29* SpiritualSuccessor: To webcomics [[http://mindhackcomic.com/ Mindhack]] and [[http://www.webcomicsnation.com/davidwynne/damnationgn/series.php?view=archive&chapter=23562 Damnation]]. May later be an actual successor and carry on the story.
30
31----
32!!Issues of ''Particle Fiction'' provide examples of:
33
34* AbusiveParents: The slavers in Scorched Earth took children made psychic by the aliens and turned them via abuse into weapons.
35* ActionGirl: Dawn Garrett in Issue #3
36* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: 'This '''a'''rchipelago of '''a'''erodynamic '''a'''rchitecture is the '''a'''rena for the '''c'''razy '''c'''acophony of '''c'''reatures and '''c'''ultures from the '''m'''ultitude of '''m'''ultiverses to '''m'''eet in a '''m'''elting pot of '''m'''adness!'
37* AirVentPassageway: Justified in that the tunnel [[spoiler:Gray uses to escape]] is a maintenance and observation tunnel.
38* AlienInvasion: Summarised in the first page of Issue #3, Scorched Earth - and of a Type 1 variety.
39* AllBikersAreHellsAngels: In a dog-eat-dog post-apocalyptic world, they sure are.
40* AllPsychologyIsFreudian: Thoroughly inverted. [[spoiler:Freud is so fed up of his psychology not being taken seriously than he unleashes the monstrous representations of Superego and Id by incapacitating Ego, who normally controls them [[ShownTheirWork (as per his theories)]]. Clearly he didn't consider himself right enough.]]
41* AndTheAdventureContinues: At the end of the first Ideasman, he's called to the Museum of Unnatural History to deal with an escaped Black Hole. [[LittleDidIKnow Little did we know]] that he would be truly returning for another adventure in Issue #4. And #6. [[OverlyLongGag And #7.]] (And who knows how many more?)
42* AndIMustScream: The prisoners of The Complex in Issue #5.
43* [[OnceUponATime Are You Sitting Comfortably?]]: The twist on the classic story start is asked by The Tiger to Eddie Bradshaw when he's recounting the murder and cover-up which he has worked out. 'And then I shoot him in the knees.'
44* AsYouKnow: Issue #4 opens with Ideasman's bosses saying 'So, let's go over the mission one more time...'
45* AsceticAesthetic: The Complex definitely is made of this; almost reaches WhiteVoidRoom within the cell - where there are only doors and the people strapped to their crosses.
46* AsideGlance: After the woman in The Complex has been woken up, she stares at a bemused (or terrified) looking Gray, first seeming to look straight at the reader, repeating just one phrase.
47* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: The theme of Issue #7 - except that they're giant representations of psychoanalytic phenomena.
48* AudienceParticipation: Issue X's genre, Children's Fantasy, was DecidedByOneVote.
49* BadCopIncompetentCop: The police force on Mars after indepdence is described as 'a tiny, underfunded gang'.
50* {{BFG}}: The Tiger has a gun that subverts this--bullets only 3mm long, but with explosive charges.
51* BloodKnight: The Tiger lets himself be surrounded just so he can kill the men sent to kill him.
52* BoomHeadshot: Dawn Garrett is good at these.
53* BreakingTheBonds: Gray wrenches himself from side to side on the cross to achieve this.
54* [[PunkInTheTrunk Brute in the Boot]]: Dawn finds Nigel ANEKA [[note]]Also Not Especially Known As[[/note]] Slick inside the back of a truck.
55* ByTheBookCop: The cop chasing Rey in The Hook follows the rules, even when no other cop on Mars seems to.
56* [[CatGirl Cat Boy]]: Tibbles [=McCoy=] combines this with Film/DirtyHarry. Really.
57* ComicBookAdaptation: Issue #5, of as-yet unpublished novel ''The Purity Construct''. Incidentally, if you want to see what it was adapted from, Tropers/{{Tetrarchangel}}, the author, has put [[https://docs0.google.com/document/edit?id=1MhufKTDFsffcJE64lwy7Gcw1v302d-3iig8fWrjeWb4&hl=en_GB# the appropriate chapters]] on Google Documents.
58* ComicBookFantasyCasting: The woman in Gray's dream is based on Liz May Brice, of ''Film/ResidentEvil2002'', ''[[Series/TorchwoodChildrenOfEarth Children of Earth]]'' and ''Series/DeadSet'' fame. And also, she showed off her JustForFun/OneOfUs credentials - http://twitter.com/#!/lizmaybrice/status/24459301092
59* CoolBike: The Hypothercycle deployed by Ideasman in Issue #7 is a pretty standard hoverbike.
60* CrossOver: Sort of. In the {{Geek}} cult of the runaway I.D.E.A. clerk, the headdresses come from ''Franchise/StarWars'', ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'' and ''Series/DoctorWho'' - one of the masks is of TheGreys.
61 * CrystalBall: Flatulax the Malodorous, Ideasman's enemy in Issue #6, uses one to watch the progress of his battle with the Skeleton Vanguard.
62* CurbStompBattle: What Scorched Earth implies went on between the aliens and our armies.
63* TheCorrupter: Jake Mulligan proves to be this.
64* CurseOfTheAncients: Mostly as homage to such fantasy villains, this is often how Flatulax the Malodorous speaks.
65* CutTheJuice: How Gray 'frees' the woman from her paralysis. [[spoiler:He then uses the heavy cable to smash through the door.]]
66* CuteBruiser / {{Tomboy}}: Although such terms are likely to get you punched by Punchin' Judy, these are the sort of categories she fits into.
67* DeadlyEuphemism: Issue #1, 'persuading'
68* DecompressedComic: Issue #5 focuses on the visuals, as it mostly occurs in silence.
69* DeliberatelyMonochrome: To an extent. Though the colour cover of the trade paperback is awesome.
70* DemBones: The titular Skeleton Vanguard of Issue #6.
71* DoesntLikeGuns: In some times and places, this is admirable. In the Scorched Earth, Mike being this is something of a problem for Dawn who could do with an arsenal to defend him and his family.
72* DirtyCop: The BigBad of Issue #1, the '''infamous''' Eddie Bradshaw. (No relation to [[Series/SexAndTheCity Carrie]]).
73* DisproportionateRetribution: [[spoiler:The theme of Issue #6 - the I.D.E.A. is taking disproportionate retribution on Flatulax.]]
74* DissonantSerenity: Sunrise definitely has this, [[spoiler: still more so when she explodes a villain with her psychic powers.]]
75* [[DistractedByTheSexy Distracted by the Quantum Vibrosphere]]: Ideasman starts Issue #4 not listening to his mission briefing on account of standing on a platform above what is apparently "The Outer Crust of Reality."
76* TheDon: Jake Mulligan in Issue #8.
77* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Rey's loss of innocence at the end of Issue #8.]]
78* EasilyThwartedAlienInvasion: Inverted or Subverted depending on whether you think two panels are enough to set up an expectation of the humans winning in Issue #3.
79* EmphasizeEverything: The narrator of the Ideasman issues is '''[[SelfDemonstratingArticle definitely, absolutely, totally this, dear reader]]''' as an {{Homage}} to old-fashioned pulp science fiction.
80* EndlessCorridor: The prison contains rows and rows of balconies, cell after cell after cell.
81* ExpositionBeam: When Gray touches the socket of the implant on his back, he's hit with an overwhelming rush of images that might serve as this if they made any sense.
82* FauxSymbolism: Gray is introduced strapped to a cross. Well, technically a Saltire or St. Andrew's Cross. [[{{Rule 34}} And what happens if you google St Andrew's Cross to research this trope?]]
83* FelonyMisdemeanor: Hellvetica's crime, leading to her banishment from the bibliosphere, was Dewey decimal deviance.
84* FightingForAHomeland: What Dawn Garrett is fighting for in Scorched Earth.
85* {{Flashback}} / DreamSequence: Half of the opening of Issue #5 (see {{Zoom}} below)
86* FluffyTheTerrible: Played pretty straight: The dragon is called Fluffykins.
87* FormulaBreakingEpisode: Although this basically happens every issue, special note goes to Issue #8 which is more an [[{{Textplosion}} illustrated prose]] story than a normal comic book issue.
88* {{Frameup}}: The hurried plan for the cover-up in Issue #1, needing The Tiger to ClearTheirName.
89* FreudianCouch: Ideasman appears on one in the cover art for Issue #7.
90* FreudianSlip: The classic joke appears. [[spoiler:Being the Institial City in the Gutter between dimensions, this summons Freud's actual mother. Ironically, this plays into the Freudster's very own FreudianExcuse, which may well make this a FreudianExcuse. Yes, it's no surprise that this issue hits every Freud trope there is.]]
91* FunWithAcronyms: Ideasman Theo Sweeper works for the Interstitial Department of Eternal Affairs.
92* FunetikAksent: The Freudster has a classic faux-Austrian/German/Whatever one.
93* GadgetWatch: Just part of Ideasman's gadget armada.
94* GallowsHumor: How the man that Dawn rescues in Issue #9 hides his injury from his wife.
95* GenreMashup: Issue #3--[[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic]] meets [[TheWestern western]].
96* GrapplingHookPistol: Ideasman sets his lasso to this (pretty convention for him) mode [[spoiler:to lasso the dragon Fluffykins and thereby become a DragonRider]].
97* {{Greed}}: The motivation for the murder and cover-up in Issue #1.
98* HellholePrison: Despite the transparent-able doors and automated guards, The Complex is a Hellish prison, [[spoiler:crossing over into {{Room101}} territory]]
99* HeroicBSOD: [[spoiler:Gray's reaction to seeing the tantalised prisoners reaching out for each other.]]
100* HighAltitudeInterrogation: The Tiger uses this to find out the location of Alex Bradley.
101* HigherTechSpecies: The aliens in Scorched Earth are this; and even more so once they've destroyed humanity, ignoring them as being 'like ants to them.'
102* HumongousMecha: The war scenes in Gray's dream panel in Issue #5 contain soldiers fighting against/with these. Their arms are [[GatlingGood rotary cannons]] that somewhat defy their purpose by [[MoreDakka firing all at once]]. [[JetPack They can also fly.]]
103* HyperspaceArsenal: Given that the Interstitial City is in-between dimensions, it probably makes sense that Ideasman can have I.D.E.A. Control beam him all sorts of equipment.
104* IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim / HeWhoFightsMonsters - The Tiger tries to spare the father of the victim this.
105* ImpendingDoomPOV: Played with in Issue #9 - Dawn can see the biker gang on the horizon and knows it's only so long before they come after her.
106* ImprobableTaxonomySkills: I mean, how can Ideasman figure out it's an Insecuritree so quickly? He gives a quick textbook description of the plant, which is printed in a more academic font.
107* ImprovisedWeapon: [[spoiler: Gray uses the heavy electrical cable that had been keeping him sedated to break down the door of the cell.]]
108* InMediasRes: Issue #2 starts this way.
109** As does Issue #9
110* [[InnBetweenTheWorlds Interstitial City Between the Worlds]]: The apparent location of the Interstitial City, home of Ideasman.
111* TheKlutz: Gray. [[spoiler: He manages to accidentally hit his mad companion into unconsciousness with the heavy cable and gets shards of glass in his leg.]]
112* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler:One of the freed slaves uses a helpful brick to save Dawn from Slick]]
113* LeapAndFire / GunsAkimbo: Dawn dives from the van and takes out some of the bikers this way.
114* LeetSpeek / InCaseYouForgotWhoWroteIt: Issue #4 includes the line "Dave 'For The' Wynne presents"
115* LiteralMinded: The issues featuring Ideasman, has a universe built this way, including a literal WallOfText.
116* MadeASlave: The breakdown of society in Scorched Earth has led to the more common presence of slavers.
117* MagicCarpet: Flatulax has one, [[spoiler:and it is what starts all the trouble.]]
118* TheManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler: Ego, Superego and Id have been unleashed by the Freudster!]]
119* MeaningfulName / PunnyName: Hellvetica.
120** Also, Judy Punchowski. Guess how she fights. Go on, guess.
121* MediumAwareness: When Ideasman finds himself in the situation featured on the SplashPage, he quips 'Woah, deja vu.'
122* MinimalisticCoverArt: Often just a symbol or silhouette.
123* TheMole: [[spoiler:Nigel was a slaver all along, despite seemingly being rescued/captured by Dawn.]]
124* MotiveRant: Eichenburger has one of these when confronted by Ideasman.
125** [[spoiler:As does the Freudster - he was tired of people not taking his theories seriously]]
126* TheMultiverse: Where Interstitial City is located in-between.
127* [[TheNameIsBondJamesBond The Name Is Garrett, Dawn Garrett]]: Dawn introduces herself this way in Scorched Earth #2
128* OhCrap: If Gray actually spoke [[spoiler: this might just be his reaction to seeing the prisoners who are reaching out for one another.]]
129* OneManArmy: Ideasman isn't usually this, but when it comes to fighting the Skeleton Vanguard with the Hands of Boom, he certainly becomes one.
130* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: In Issue #1, The Tiger.
131* OpenSaysMe: [[spoiler: Gray achieves this, with a certain amount of collateral damage.]]
132* OurDragonsAreDifferent: Ideasman calls it a 'big scaly chicken.' It certainly looks and breathes fire like a dragon. And if you find yourself flying with scaly wings, breathing fire at humans, [[Creator/JeffFoxworthy you might be a dragon]]
133* PleaseWakeUp: Lisa says this to Mike as he is unconscious or dead in Issue #9.
134* PlotDrivenBreakdown: Admittedly justified, Ideasman's communicator is disrupted by the Mite in Issue #4. This following the line from his boss "So long as you keep in touch, you'll be fine."
135* PokemonSpeak: A serious use - the woman in The Complex only repeats the phrase 'Will you?' to Gray. It's unknown what action she's asking him about.
136* PowerFist: The Hands of Boom. That is all.
137* PragmaticAdaptation: The prisoners of The Complex are unclothed in the novel. The comic gives them simple black clothes.
138* {{Precap}}: Issue #2 Ideasman's opening with the octoplus.
139* [[PretentiousLatinMotto Pretentious English Motto]]: ''In Infinity We Trust'' - the motto of the I.D.E.A.
140** Although in Issue #4, it also has the slogan ''Keeping the Multiverse Safe and Protecting Every Reality''
141* PrivateEyeMonologue: The Tiger combines this one with ThoughtCaption
142* {{Pun}}: The opening of issue #6 has Ideasman's badge, which is marked Access All Eras.
143* PutDownYourGunAndStepAway: Played straight at the end of Issue #9 [[spoiler: up until the point where the hostage [[YourHeadAsplode psychically explodes the hostage-taker's head]]]].
144* ARareSentence: The opening of issue #6 sure is one!
145* RecycledINSPACE: Issue #8 is a noir drugs tale on Mars.
146** And the Holy Terran Empire can probably be considered analogous to the UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire
147* RousingSpeech: Ideasman uses one to restore Ego.
148* RuleOfSymbolism / MultipleDemographicAppeal: Issue#7 - Giant clay-like wild monster fights smarmy super hero because their average human brother hasn't got them under control. Oh, and their names? Id, Superego and Ego. [[spoiler:The whole motivation of the villainous Freudster was that modern psychologists and people in general don't take his theories seriously. Puns and commentary on the evolution of psychology!]]
149** Later in that issue, there's a bit of FridgeBrilliance as Ideasman restores ego to full size and strength by puffing him up with compliments.
150* ScheduleSlip / OutOfOrder: Not a serious problem, given that it only led to issues #4 and #5 being swapped around. If anything, this makes it better since it means all the even-numbered episodes are Ideasman.
151* SeenItAll: Ideasman is almost certainly this (especially in Issue #6), but of which of the three types is up for debate.
152* ShipTease: The end of Issue #10 [[spoiler:has this for Ideasman and Puchin' Judy]]
153* ShockwaveStomp: [[spoiler: How Ideasman defeats the Skeleton Vanguard - by splitting the earth with the Hands of Boom]]
154* ShoutOut:
155** Hellvetica may be this to TheSystem.
156*** This has now been disproved
157** The security automaton in Issue #5 is this to [[Film/ShortCircuit Johnny 5]], except with [[ChainsawGood a chainsaw, a circular saw]], [[KillItWithFire a flamethrower]], [[MacheteMayhem a serrated machete]] [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and]] [[ThisIsADrill a drill]].
158** Punchin' Judy (Ideaswoman) in Issue #7 is a shout-out to violence-laden children's puppet show Theatre/PunchAndJudy.
159* SmokingIsCool: Try and tell me that Rey from Issue #8 isn't cool. This does after all come from a man nicknamed 'The Pied Piper of Lung Cancer'.
160* SomethingPerson: Ideasman.
161* StockBritishPhrases: Gladly lacking mostly in this genuinely British work, there appear a number used humourously in Issue #6, notably 'Blow me down and call me Petunia' (which is structurally common), and Bloomin' (in the more peculiar context Bloomin' Undead).
162* SuperTeam: Ideasman calls for backup in Issue #7 and gets Ideaswoman [[MeaningfulName Judy Punchowski]] and Ideascat Tibbles [=McCoy=].
163%%* SwissArmyWeapon: Ideaman's Blaster.
164* TakeMyHand: [[spoiler: In Issue #8, whilst he does want to escape the cop, Rey does his best to keep him from falling.]]
165* TakeThat: Ideasman: 'Control, what the hell was that thing in the last cage?' Control: 'The one with the body of a lion, and the head and wings of an eagle? That was a griffin.' Ideasman: 'No -- I know that one --! I mean the one with the body of a slug, the head of a pig, and an anus where its mouth should be...' Control: 'That's a [[UsefulNotes/BritishPoliticalSystem Nick Griffin]].'
166* TemporaryBulkChange: Ego has been subjected to this by the villain of the piece, and is increased to [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]]-like proportions by Ideasman's RousingSpeech.
167* {{Textplosion}}: Issue #8 is sparse in illustrations, the storytelling [[FormulaBreakingEpisode suddenly relying on text]].
168* ThoughtCaption: Gray, being trapped in a prison with no sane companionship, spends most of his time thinking in this way, and only rarely uses speech bubbles.
169* [[EmotionEater Thought Eater]]: The eponymous Mite of God from Issue #4 consumes ideas. [[spoiler: Later, this becomes an aversion of GodsNeedPrayerBadly]]
170* TitledAfterTheSong: Issue #1 is called Eye of the Tiger.
171* TorchesAndPitchforks / FantasticRacism: [[spoiler:The refuge town at the end of Scorched Earth #2, perhaps wisely, hates Freaks. And of course, Dawn is traelling with a cute 5-year old who can melt people's heads.]]
172* TouchedByVorlons: Humans living near alien hive cities may develop psychic powers. [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg And]] [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity madness.]]
173* TroubledFetalPosition / DownerEnding: The ending of Issue #5, to beautiful gut-wrenching effect.
174* UnfortunateNames: Flatulax the Malodorous. It may well be accurate, but it is unfortunate.
175* UnhandThemVillain: [[spoiler: In The Hook, whilst Rey has not wanted to kill the cop, just escape him, TheDon Jake Mulligan has no qualms about pushing him to his death.]]
176* UnsoundEffect: In Issue #2, EXPLOSION, followed by BLAST, DETONATION, ERUPTION and CONFLAGRATION.
177* UnwillingRoboticisation / UnusualUserInterface: The closest trope This Troper (Tropers/{{Tetrarchangel}}) has got to how the prisoners in The Complex are held in paralysis/sleep - specifically, a huge cable that plugs into the back of the neck.
178* WarIsHell: A literal interpretation - the background of the war flashback contains wall-to-wall flame.
179* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: The psychic human held by the slavers and released by Dawn.
180* WordsCanBreakMyBones: Hellvetica and Thesaurus Rex together are almost unstoppable thanks to their power over words.
181* WreckedWeapon: Fluffykins makes light work of the Hands of Boom.
182* WritingForTheTrade: Mostly averted. Ideasman is episodic, and Dawn Garrett has yet to be returned to, though more stories are said to be planned.
183* WrittenSoundEffect: Conventional ones from the dinosaur in Issue #2, as well as the more unconventional Zammow! for Ideasman's blaster. Later, when Ideasman sets his blaster to italics and strikethrough, the Zammow appears appropriately formatted.
184* {{Zoom}} / EyeOpen: The opening of Issue #5 mixes this with FlashBack and DreamSequence, eventually zooming in onto the opening eyes of Gray after decades of sleep.
185

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