[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gear_cover.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:''My upper eyes see into heaven, my home.'']]
''Gear'', sometimes written as ''GEAR'', is the first graphic novel by Creator/DougTenNapel, originally published by Creator/ImageComics and Fireman Press Ltd. in black and white, running six issues from 1998 to 1999. It was reprinted as a trade paperback in 1999, and then again in full color in 2007.

The plot revolves around an [[TalkingAnimal animal]] [[AnimalJingoism war]] between the South Plate Insects, the North Plate Cats (who have descended from the Newton Cats, yet, refuse association with them), the Dogtown Dogs and the Newton Cats. The four states do battle with [[HumongousMecha ancient giant battle robots]] known as Guardians. Having only one Guardian so old it barely functions, Newton sends four less-than-competent [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits misfit cat brothers]] known as Gordon, Simon, Waffle and Mr. Black to hijack a new one from their enemies.

Meanwhile, the Newton cat Elder and a dog named Dr. Pilk must protect the Forbidden Mechanism, a legendary holy artifact of incredible power, from the evil forces of North Plate cat Emperor Pago and dog mob boss Big Tomato. Oh, and it's [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids really bloody, violent, full of swearing, death and religious allegories]].

Was very, very, [[RuleOfThree VERY]] loosely adapted into a much LighterAndSofter short-lived Nicktoon called ''WesternAnimation/{{Catscratch}}'' in 2005. The only remnant of the original comic was the three main cats, Gordon, Waffle and Mr. Black (whose name was changed to Mr. Blik) as the focus, although it was [[ExecutiveMeddling originally planned just to be a more Nickelodeon-audience-friendly adaptation of the comic]]. Though some people remember Catscratch, the source material is practically unknown outside [=TenNapel=] fans.
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!!Provides Examples Of:

%%* AnimalJingoism: %%Needs more context
* {{Animesque}}: While the art is about as far from the typical Japanese cartoon as you can get, the story itself is a spot-on pastiche of a late '90s HumongousMecha anime. Giant battle robots? Check. Grim war story mixed with incongruous cute elements? Check. Weird religious references? Check and mate.
* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler: Simon's death within the first 20 pages]] is just the tip of the iceberg...
* ArtifactOfDoom: The Forbidden Mechanism, but only really in the hands of evil.
* ArtStyleDissonance: The art can looks cartoon-ish and a bit three-dimensional (as Napel based the art off of actual clay models he made of the characters), but the bleak and worn-out colors plus certain things that come up like people spilling blood, people [[BlackComedy comically getting hurt but their injuries are completely serious and not just a quick gag]] (for example, in Chapter 2, a Newton Cat is walking their dog (don't ask) and is comically crushed by a piece of the deteriorating Guardian, to prove the point in the current conversation on how the Guardian's presence is the only thing protecting these civilians yet lack of adequate maintenance might as well kill anyone that goes near it), and that's just for ''starters''.
* BackFromTheDead: Neat little subversion. [[spoiler:Gear performs a miracle by temporarily pulling Chee's and Waffle's souls down from Heaven and back to their now-Guardian bodies to help fight Emperor Pago.]]
* BeingEvilSucks: Bob will ultimately obey orders no matter what, but that doesn't stop him from feeling conflicted about them.
%%* BigBad: [[spoiler:Emperor Pago of the North Plate Cats.]]
* BilingualDialogue: A funny subversion; Waffle the cat and Chee the insect seem to converse in spite of their language barrier, and Waffle even has a change of heart immediately after one of Chee's comments. Then, as he turns to leave, Waffle adds, "By the way, I haven't understood a thing you've said."
%%* BittersweetEnding
* BodyHorror: See UnwillingRoboticisation below.
** And then there's [[spoiler: Gear, after he's shoved into the Guardian's heart by Pago...]].
* BookEnds: The story of the main cats begins with Waffle saying that when he has enough money to retire he wants a nice house in the woods with a pond of guppies near it, and we see it through his ImagineSpot. [[spoiler:The story ends with Mr. Black in the DistantFinale having retired to a nice house in the woods (or at least isolated from civilization) near a pond of guppies -- exactly how Waffle imagined it to be -- in memoriam of Waffle, Gordon, and Simon, with the guppies reminding him of the former's gentle spirit.]]
* CallingTheOldManOut: Mr. Black to the Elder, after discovering that [[spoiler:the Elder was responsible for Waffle's transformation into a Guardian]].
%%* CatsAreMean: More like Cats Are Badass for most of the cast, but played straight with Emperor Pago.
%%* ConstructedWorld
%%* CoolOldGuy: The Newton Elder.
%%* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Gear and Waffle.
%%* {{Cult}}: The F.M. Cult, a group of ninja-like cats who hunt the Forbidden Mechanism.
* DarkerAndEdgier: Ridiculously compared to WesternAnimation/{{Catscratch}}. There's plenty of people who have trouble believing this was its source material.
%%* DeathByIrony: [[spoiler: Big Tomato's Death. "He's gonna squash him like a...!"]]
* DeathSeeker: In the DistantFinale, [[spoiler:Mr. Black is an old cat with only guppies to accompany him in his isolation from society. He notes that he hopes that they can keep him from being depressed until he can see the boys again.]]
%%* DemotedToExtra: [[spoiler:Mr. Black in the later chapters.]]
%%* DiedHappilyEverAfter: Horribly, horribly averted.
%%* DiscOneFinalBoss: Big Tomato. [[spoiler:Pago is the ''real'' BigBad]].
* DeusEstMachina: Gear, who can [[spoiler: revive the dead, at least temporarily, give a Guardian ultimate power, and open up the [[{{Hellgate}} GATES OF HELL]].]]
%%* DistantFinale
%%* TheDragon: Bob to Big Tomato
%%* TheDreaded: Big Tomato.
%%* EnemyMine: Dogtown and North Plate Cats join forces in the first issue.
%%* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: Good God, where to start?
%%* FluffyCloudHeaven
%%* FriendToAllLivingThings: Waffle. He talks to guppies!
* GenreRoulette: Switches back-and-forth between the FilmNoir-influenced flashbacks and the main plot's HumongousMecha war-story.
* HeroicSacrifice: The two in the final chapter are total tearjerkers, [[spoiler: Gear uses Gordon's knife to stab himself in the heart, killing himself but destroying Pago's Super-Guardian and opening up the Pits of Hell. Pago nearly escapes, but Gordon pushes him down into the pits with him, screaming "You killed my pal... I'LL [[SeeYouInHell SEE YOU IN HELL!]]"]]
%%* HumongousMecha: The Guardians.
%%* IdiotHero: Both Gear and Waffle again. Not surprising, since Doug [=TenNapel=] loves this trope.
* InterruptedSuicide: After [[spoiler:burying Simon, with Gordon trying to comfort [[ItsAllMyFault Waffle]]]], Waffle runs off into the forest and takes out a revolver handgun, believing he has to kill himself so that others won't die because of him anymore. Chee accidentally bumps into him while taking a stroll in the park and making macho poses, causing the misfire to hit a bird instead (which he promptly eats).
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold / GoodIsNotNice: Gordon. He's hard on Waffle, but he has the decency to admit it and apologize for it.
%%* JerkAss: Emperor Pago.
* TheMole: [[spoiler: A Newton cat soldier secretly working for the F.M. Cult, who tries to poison the Elder and steal the Forbidden Mechanism.]]
** As well as [[spoiler: Jimmy, a colleague of Dr. Pilk, who was really an informant for Big Tomato. However, he has a HeelFaceTurn, realizing nobody should have the Forbidden Mechanism, which results in him being killed by one of Big Tomato's goons in the opening scene.]]
%%* OneSceneTwoMonologues: See BilingualDialogue above.
%%* OneWingedAngel: Pago and his Guardian in the final chapter, [[spoiler: thanks to Gear.]]
%%* PapaWolf: Dr. Pilk
* PosthumousCharacter: [[spoiler:Simon and Waffle later on, who remain important characters even after they technically die.]]
%%* PosthumousNarration: [[spoiler:Simon]]
%%* PresidentEvil: Pago, despite being an emperor falls more under this trope, [[spoiler:since he's a VillainWithGoodPublicity.]]
%%* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: The four [[spoiler: (or rather three after chapter 1)]] main hero cats.
%%* TheDitz / TooDumbToLive: Gear, at first. "He's not a hero, he's dumb!" "No, he's retarded!" "Worse... he's ''dumb-tarded''."
* RRatedOpening: Despite using a GoryDiscretionShot, the opening still made it clear that this wasn't a kid's comic.
* SacrificialLamb: [[spoiler:Simon. He meets his end very early. We don't even know anything about his personality until after he's dead]]
* SecondaryCharacterTitle: Gear doesn't show up until the second-to-last chapter, after all. The word "gear" isn't even mentioned until then either.
* SeeYouInHell: [[spoiler:Gordon says this to Pago, while '''literally''' pushing him off a cliff and into Hell's opening]].
* ShoutOut:
** Waffle daydreaming about having a small house in the countryside and having guppies to take care of seems similar to Lennie and George's dream of having a farm together with rabbits in "Literature/OfMiceAndMen". [[spoiler:Except here, it's a BittersweetEnding; Waffle's dream is achieved, but only through a [[SoleSurvivor lonely Mr. Black.]]]]
%%* SmugSnake: Big Tomato
%%* SoleSurvivor: Out of the four main cats, [[spoiler:only Mr. Black makes it to the end of the story.]]
%%* TheStraightMan: Dr. Pilk.
%%* TalkingAnimal
* TookALevelInBadass:
** The Catscratch Gordon can break rocks with his bare hands, and beat Krakens and even vicious ducklings in hand-to-hand combat - but somehow, it's all done for laughs. The Gear Gordon will ''sneak up behind you with a knife in his mouth'', ''slit open your neck'' and ''steal your giant robot''.
** Waffle after he [[spoiler:gets turned into a Guardian]].
%%* TheUnintelligible: Chee and the insects just talk in "Chk chk"s, so their dialogue is conveniently subtitled.
* UnwillingRoboticisation: What happens to [[spoiler: Waffle and Chee due to the effects of Geno-Metal]], may be a subversion because [[spoiler: they die, but their bodies stay behind and become Guardians]].
* WeHardlyKnewYe: Jimmy [[spoiler:and Simon]].
* WouldHurtAChild: Big Tomato threatens to hurt [[spoiler:Dr. Pilk's baby son by burning his with a cig unless he fesses up about the whereabouts of the Forbidden Mechanism. It works.]]
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