1 | [[quoteright:330:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2009-10-26-adventure1.jpg]] |
2 | [[caption-width-right:330:Would you leave the fate of the universe up to these wallies?]] |
3 | |
4 | ->''"Oh my!"'' |
5 | -->-- '''Nob T. Mouse''', [[CatchPhrase all the time]] |
6 | |
7 | ''[[http://www.nobmouse.net/ The Life of Nob T. Mouse]]'' is a [[GenreBusting surrealist science-fantasy comedy]] webcomic. [[LongRunners Created in 1996]], it is the oldest British web comic and, according to research by Podcast/TheWebcomicsCompany podcast, either the 16th or 17th webcomic ever created. |
8 | |
9 | The strip began as a series of hand-drawn and hand-lettered comics, coloured in coloured pencils and updated intermittently before the creator, Creator/ZoeKirkRobinson took an [[OrphanedSeries eight-year (unannounced)]] [[SeriesHiatus hiatus]]. She [[UnCancelled picked up where she left off]] in the middle of 2007 and began co-writing the strip with her partner, Jennifer Kirk, in 2008. This has the odd effect of making it one of the oldest continuing webcomics, but not one of the longest-running. |
10 | |
11 | The premise of the comic is to subvert the standard view of reality and make a joke while doing so. Plot points range from the totally random to discussions on how a child might explain the world if she had overheard half a physics lecture, missed the point and then tried to explain it to someone else, who wrote it down. |
12 | |
13 | While clearly influenced by the dadaist and surrealist movements, the artistic style also mimics children's pictures by ignoring perspective to a great extent, using primary colours and containing an army of characters that are, effectively, splats of colour with feet. |
14 | |
15 | The comic was originally the sole purview of one writer-artist, Zoe Robinson, but now the writing duties are shared between Robinson and her partner, Creator/JenniferKirk, while Robinson continues to produce the artwork on her own. |
16 | ---- |
17 | !!This comic provides examples of: |
18 | * AffectionateParody: ''[[Series/DoctorWho Doctor Nob]]'' and ''[[Franchise/StarTrek Nob Trek]]''. |
19 | * AllThereInTheManual: The website has little biographies hidden on it, accessible by accessing individual blog posts and then clicking on the name of the post's author. These biographies give a little insight into the world of the comic. According to the website: |
20 | ** Robinson did not create the Nob Mouse universe, she won the rights to the characters and supplementary material off Hubert Schlongson when she beat him in a drunken game of poker. |
21 | ** Schlongson originally wrote the ''Blobland Band'' stories to pay his gambling debts. |
22 | * ArtEvolution: It began as crude, hand-drawn comics in pen-and-ink with coloured pencils and poor lettering. It's now rounded, streamlined and coloured/shaded on computer, with computer lettering. For examples, compare [[http://www.nobmouse.net/1996/12/05/welcome-mr-nob/ the first strip]] with [[http://www.nobmouse.net/2010/09/24/a-growl-in-the-dark/ this one from 14 years later]]. |
23 | * ArtShift: Used to demonstrate [[http://www.nobmouse.net/2010/12/10/into-another-world/ passage between universes]], or shifts in genre. |
24 | * BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: and so can everyone from Blobland. |
25 | * BigBad: [[spoiler:The Pie Ghosts of Somewhere]] in ''Pie Noon''; King Nastie from the ''Nasties'' stories (although he's also something of a [[TheDragon Dragon]]); Frederick (to some extent); and Grandfather Time. |
26 | * BilingualBonus: Bricky speaks Laterian, which sounds a bit like 'Latin'. 'Later' is Latin for Brick. |
27 | * TheBlindLeadingTheBlind: It's often the case that ''none'' of the cast know what they're doing, but they do it anyway. [[CrazyEnoughToWork Sometimes it works out]]. |
28 | * BoundAndGagged: Occasionally, the Big Bad will try this to keep the Blobland Band and their allies from ruining their plans. It never works out. |
29 | * BSideComics: The interlude strips that ran during ''Pie Noon''. |
30 | * TheCameo: Emily and Tesrin from ''Webcomic/AllOverTheHouse'' appeared in [[http://www.nobmouse.net/2009/05/15/revenge-of-the-nasties-epilogue/ this]] ''Revenge of the Nasties'' story. |
31 | * {{Cephalothorax}}: Most of the cast are simply giant heads with limbs attached. |
32 | * CharacterCatchphrase: Several. |
33 | -->'''Franky''': Wait up, I've got to get a hat! |
34 | -->'''Nob T. Mouse''': Oh my! |
35 | -->'''Wilf''': Hello, everybody. |
36 | * CharacterBlog: Hubert Schlongson occasionally pops up on the website to provide [[http://www.nobmouse.net/tag/anecdotes/ increasingly surreal anecdotes]] about his time visiting Nob Mouse and friends. |
37 | %% * CharacterDevelopment: All the main characters, and many of the minor characters, have become more rounded as time goes on. |
38 | * ChekhovsGun: Although Spam's [=CrowdMaster=] trolley was a problem at first, it certainly came in handy when dealing with Grandfather Time's minions. |
39 | * ChristmasSpecial: Seasonal stories in which Santa usually needs Nob Mouse's help to deliver presents on time. |
40 | %%* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Franky, Frederick, ... actually, the entire cast to some extent. |
41 | * ContinuityNod: Series Two and Three often make passing references to previous stories, such as: |
42 | ** In ''Pie Noon'', Doctor Franky arrives in Blobland using a Phase Induction Bubble first introduced in ''Parallel Land''. |
43 | ** Nob Mouse and Co. visit Memory Lane to figure out why [[Webcomic/AllOverTheHouse Emily and Tesrin]] arrived in Blobland. |
44 | ** The door to Frederick's secret lab in ''Pie Noon'' is covered in the same 'warnings' as his original secret lab in ''Nob & The Pies''. |
45 | * CrossOver: Although the characters don't meet save for a cameo, the Nob Mouse story ''The Great Tea Adventure'' crosses over with the ''Webcomic/AllOverTheHouse'' story ''Homeward bound''. Both act as lead-in stories, for their respective characters, to the crossover story ''[[http://www.nobmouse.net/2009/12/04/unscheduled-stop/ All over the mouse]]''; which ran in tandem on both comics' sites. |
46 | * CrisisCrossover: The ''All over the mouse'' storyline and its lead-in stories almost certainly qualify here. |
47 | %%* DadaComics: Arguably the whole comic is one big example of this. |
48 | %%* DoomsdayDevice: Frederick tends to make these. |
49 | * EasterEgg: The biographies of Robinson and Schlongson, accessible only through clicking on their names in blog posts. |
50 | %%* EldritchAbomination: Grandfather Time is definitely one of these. |
51 | * ExactTimeToFailure: Used as a joke in ''Pie Noon'': |
52 | --> '''Computer''': Malfunction! The universe will be destroyed in 50 seconds. |
53 | * ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: The comic details the life of Nob T. Mouse. |
54 | * FictionalDocument: ''The Blobland Gang'' is a set of books, [[AnimatedAdaptation TV]] & radio shows, and even [[TheMovie a film]]. They are all based on [[AuthorAvatar Hubert Schlongson]]'s visits to Blobland to learn about the adventures of Nob Mouse and Co. |
55 | * FillerStrip: They tend to be jokes about why there's no comic on that particular day; like [[http://www.nobmouse.net/2009/11/23/why-the-long-pause/ this strip]]: |
56 | --> '''Franky''': Nob! Nob! Why are there no updates? |
57 | --> '''Nob Mouse''': Because the writers messed up on their scheduling... |
58 | * FunnyAnimal: Given that Nob is a 'mouse', Wilf is a 'dog' and Frederick is a 'rabbit', this is given an abstract, almost cubist, twist. |
59 | * GoMadFromTheRevelation - The reason for Frederick's madness is [[spoiler:he saw the true form of Grandfather Time]]. |
60 | %%* Hidden epths: Frederick [[http://www.nobmouse.net/2008/07/25/a-trip-down-memory-lane-part-4/ wasn't always]] a pie-obsessed nutcase with a tendency to endanger the universe... |
61 | %%* HalloweenEpisode: ''[[http://www.nobmouse.net/2008/10/13/the-scary-house-part-one/ The Scary House]]''. |
62 | %%* IdiotBall: Franky is one. |
63 | * IntelligibleUnintelligible: Bricky can say only 'Pop' but this doesn't stop him being a useful ideas man. |
64 | * InvisibleAnatomy: How else would Jip put his hat on? Averted with Wilf and Frederick however, as these guys use prehensile ears to manipulate objects. |
65 | * ItRunsOnNonsensoleum: The comic is the epitome of this. One example in many is that waving a jelly on a stick with pink-icing buns stuck on it will summon a letterbox that lets you post yourself to another universe. |
66 | %%* LittleKnownFacts: which, in an almost inevitable inversion, sometimes turn out to be true. |
67 | %%* KnightOfCerebus: Grandfather Time. |
68 | * LongRunners: The comic began in 1996, making it one of the oldest webcomics. |
69 | %%* MindRape: Grandfather Time did this to Frederick, turning him into a prototypical MadScientist. |
70 | * TheMultiverse - subverted through ''[[http://www.nobmouse.net/quantum-history/ Quantum History]]'', in which every point in time is effectively a separate reality. Also, played straight through the multiple alternate universes and, arguably, alternate continuities shown throughout the series. Examples: |
71 | ** In ''[[http://www.nobmouse.net/1998/01/10/parallel-land-part-1/ Parallel Land]]'', an entirely separate universe with its own history is shown. This universe reappears briefly in ''[[http://www.nobmouse.net/2007/06/24/pie-noon-part-1/ Pie Noon]]'' |
72 | ** In ''[[http://www.nobmouse.net/2008/04/14/interlude-doctor-nob/ Doctor Nob]]'', we see Nob Mouse as a [[Series/DoctorWho time/space traveller]] instead of a café owner. |
73 | ** In ''[[http://www.nobmouse.net/1997/03/01/nob-trek/ Nob Trek]]'' and [[http://www.nobmouse.net/2008/07/21/nob-trek-the-next-adventure-part-1/ its]] [[http://www.nobmouse.net/2009/06/05/the-wacky-space-races-part-one/ sequels]], the Blob City denizens live aboard a starship shaped like a giant cheese with oars. |
74 | ** In ''[[http://www.nobmouse.net/1999/07/01/nasties-part-1/ Nasties!]]'' there are at least three other universes, with at least two of those having a separate history. |
75 | * NoirEpisode: [[http://www.nobmouse.net/2009/07/10/the-squeeze-part-one/ This detective story]] where most of the main case appear to be petty crooks of some kind. The art style and the writing are significantly different to anything else the comic has done. |
76 | * OddShapedPanel: Skewed ellipses with part of a character popping out of them occur so often they are almost a signature effect in Robinson's long-form comics. |
77 | * OlderThanTheyLook: The ''Memory Lane'' story makes it clear that Nob Mouse was born prior to the founding of Blob City but in ''The bureaucratic empire'' a Blob City law is mentioned that is [[http://www.nobmouse.net/2010/05/19/the-bureaucratic-empire-part-9/ dated to 244]]. If the dating used in Blob City is based on the year the city was founded, that makes Nob Mouse over 240 years old. |
78 | * OutOfGenreExperience: In ''The Squeeze'', a surreal comedy comic suddenly turns into film noir. |
79 | * PaintingTheMedium: Apparently people in Blobland [[http://www.nobmouse.net/2008/09/05/asterisks/ can't hear anything replaced by asterisks]] in speech bubbles. |
80 | * PartTimeHero: Nob Mouse. He is a mayor, cafe owner and part-time adventurer who just wants a quiet life but apparently can't have one. |
81 | * PeoplePuppets: In ''Parallel Land'', [[spoiler:the parallel universe version of Nob Mouse]] is being remote-controlled by [[spoiler:the parallel universe version of Wilf]]. |
82 | * PrivateEyeMonologue: Jip does this in ''[[http://www.nobmouse.net/2009/07/10/the-squeeze-part-one/ The Squeeze]]'', a film noir parody strip from ''The Life of Nob T Mouse''. |
83 | * PowerTrio: Two sets. WordOfGod is that this is down to Robinson preferring to write about Nob Mouse and Franky, while Kirk prefers to write about Wilf and Spam. |
84 | -> The main trio: |
85 | -->'''Super Ego''': Nob Mouse |
86 | -->'''Id''': Franky |
87 | -->'''Ego''': Bricky |
88 | -> The secondary trio: |
89 | -->'''Super Ego''': Spam |
90 | -->'''Id''': Wilf |
91 | -->'''Ego''': Kevin |
92 | %%* PowerUp: Wilf gets one of these when he opens [[http://www.nobmouse.net/2010/01/27/all-over-the-mouse-part-seventeen/ a literal can of ''Whoop Ass'']] in order to battle Grandfather Time. |
93 | * PromotedFanboy: In-universe example. Zoe was a fan of Hubert Schlongson's ''Blobland Band'' stories and originally made ''The Life of Nob T Mouse'' as a fanfiction comic, before meeting Schlongson and winning ownership of the copyright to the ''Blobland Band'' franchise off him in a game of poker. |
94 | * PunctuatedForEmphasis: Frederick delivering his final words to Grandfather Time during ''[[http://www.nobmouse.net/2010/02/17/all-over-the-mouse-part-twenty-four/ All over the mouse]]''. |
95 | -->'''Frederick''': You! Broke! My! Mind! |
96 | * TheRant: The news section is occasionally used to tell extra anecdotal stories. |
97 | * RunningGag: Several: |
98 | -->Kevin's inability to comprehend metaphor. |
99 | -->Spam's inventions will go wrong. |
100 | -->Every series on the site's 'Stories' page includes a claim that "some claim [it] is the Golden Age of Nob Mouse stories" |
101 | * SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: The strip sits firmly in the middle, with idealistic stories and tones masking a dark and cynical core. The [[http://www.nobmouse.net/2010/04/28/the-bureaucratic-empire-part-1/ ''Bureaucratic Empire'' storyline]] is a good example of this. |
102 | * ShooOutTheClowns: Notice how often Bricky is missing from the more modern stories. |
103 | * SpeechBubbles: Grandfather Time has translucent black speech bubbles without tails. Everyone else gets normal speech bubbles. |
104 | -->However, in the past, everyone got a speech bubbles whose outlines were the same as their main colour. |
105 | * StoryArc: Several. The longest is probably the establishment of Memory Lane in its titular storyline. At first it seems like an abortedarc but then it reappears in ''All over the mouse''. |
106 | * {{Surrealism}}: Robinson studied the surrealist movement for her school art classes and regularly discusses the influence of surrealism on the comic. |
107 | * TeamPowerWalk: Wilf, Franky and Bricky power walk into battle against the minions of Grandfather Time. |
108 | * ThresholdGuardians: Nob Mouse is forced to [[spoiler:risk killing Frederick]] [[spoiler:(who is effectively his adopted father)]] in order to save the world during ''Pie Noon''. |
109 | * TheUnseen: Hubert Schlongson is mentioned in ''All Over the Mouse'' and even writes the occasional anecdotal story in the site's blog but he has never actually been shown anywhere. |
110 | %%* WaddlingHead: Most of the cast. |
111 | %%* WeirdScience: Anything Frederick and Doctor Franky create will undoubtedly fit the bill. |
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