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A MundaneFantastic NewspaperComic set in suburbia, chronicling the adventures of Alice Otterloop, a child in preschool; her brother, Petey, a neurotic and [[ExaggeratedTrope absurdly]] PickyEater; and their family, friends and neighbors.

It began in 2004 as a SundayStrip in the ''Washington Post Magazine''. The setting was explicitly somewhere in suburban DC, but after going to nation-wide syndication in September of 2007, the setting changed to a more generic suburb, though there are still references to the original setting. The strip ended in 2012 after the author, Richard Thompson[[note]]Not [[Music/RichardThompson that one]][[/note]], decided to concentrate on managing his case of Parkinson's disease. Thompson died on July 27, 2016 from complications related to the disease.

Can be read [[http://www.gocomics.com/culdesac/ here.]] Has nothing to do with the Creator/RomanPolanski film.

Now has its own [[Characters/CulDeSac Character Sheet.]] Not to be confused with an infamous fan theory regarding ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'', which can be found [[Fanfic/CulDeSacEdEddNEddy here]].

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!!''Cul de Sac'' provides examples of:

* TheAllegedCar: Dad's car runs perfectly fine, but it's apparently small enough to fit in a bathtub or get buried in a sandbox.
* AncientConspiracy: The 'Future Adults of America' society. One day, they will control everything.
* AprilFoolsDay: Close to the strip's end, a number of guest artists were brought in to do it while Thompson was dealing with Parkinson's disease. The April 1st, 2012 strip was done by [[ComicStrip/PearlsBeforeSwine Stephen Pastis]], who made an extra ''Pearls'' strip about [[SelfDeprecation his failed attempts at replicating Thompson's art style]].
* ArtShift: Whenever a comic by Petey, Andre, or Loris appears.
* ArtEvolution: Like most other comic strips, Thompson's character designs have evolved. For example Alice originally had long hair, and Petey was much more rounded-looking.
* BeleagueredBureaucrat: The dad started off like this, when the setting was explicitly in DC.
* BerserkButton:
** Don't call Sophie "New Kid" or "Soapie" over and over again.
** Never refer to Viola D'Amore's instrument as a xylophone. ''It's a '''[[InsistentTerminology marimba!]]'''''
* BigFriendlyDog: Big Shirley, but her size intimidates Alice and the other preschoolers.
* CallBack: An early strip involved a group of cows at a theme park getting annoyed with Mrs. Otterloop mooing at them, planning on quacking next time. Years later, when driving by a cow on the side of the road, Mrs. Otterloop asks the kids if they know what sound a cow makes, and Petey jokingly quacks.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Petey was a bit more of a {{Jerkass}} in the early years of the newspaper run, but quickly evolved into the neurotic grumpy mess we know and love today.
* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: The origin of Ernesto. Well, [[MindScrew maybe]].
* CloudCuckooLander: Pretty much everyone in the strip, but especially Ernesto, to the point where Petey's convinced Ernesto is a figment of his imagination.
** Alice's friend Dill is also pretty out there -- he peeks in on Alice's family through the mail slot and claims he can hear everyone in the world (including Santa Claus) with his hat.
** Cul de Sac is CloudCuckooLand
* {{Egging}}: Alice's grandmother habitually throws deviled eggs at passing cars
* EldritchLocation: The jungle gym. It's apparently alive and continually growing.
* GuestStrip: Early in 2012, several weeks of these ran as Thompson was undergoing treatment. These were drawn by talents Creator/MoWillems, [[ComicStrip/TomTheDancingBug Ruben Bolling]] and [[ComicStrip/BigNate Lincoln Peirce]]. Stephen Pastis contributed what was basically an extra ''ComicStrip/PearlsBeforeSwine'' about his inability to copy Thompson's style as a Sunday strip on April Fool's Day.
* TheGhost: Dill's brothers are frequently referred to, but never actually seen.
** One was seen in a July 4 strip, wearing a [[CoolMask giant George Washington head]].
* HalloweenEpisode: There's a set of Halloween strips every October, interspersed with regular strips.
* LargeHam: Ernesto, Mr. Danders, Alice, Dill, Petey when he's upset. Actually, enough are like this to qualify for WorldOfHam.
* LittleProfessorDialog. Ernesto. Sometimes Alice and her classmates say things that, while not quite this advanced, are more articulate than the average preschooler.
* MemeticMutation: In-universe example; the size of Grandma's dog Big Shirley.
* MeaningfulName: Otterloop. Of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_495_%28Capital_Beltway%29 the Beltway]]. Say [[StealthPun it slowly]].
* MundaneFantastic: Petey's various adventures.
* NeverMessWithGranny: Grandma Otterloop throws deviled eggs at passing cars.
* NoIndoorVoice: Alice can be like this. And Andre at cartoon camp.
* NoNameGiven: Averted. Both parents names are known (much to the chagrin of Alice); dad is Peter senior, and mom is Madeline, and her maiden name is Urqhart.
* OneTwoPunchline: The "two punchlines in last panel" variation is frequently seen.
* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: Ernesto's lycanthropy is caused by a ''food allergy''.
* PickyEater: Petey takes great pride in it.
* PowerTrio: [[TheSpock Petey]] ,[[TheKirk Andre]] and [[TheMcCoy Loris]] form one of these.
* PutOnABus: Mr. Danders, the talking guinea pig, hasn't been seen in some time.
** He reappeared; he's 'working' at a petting-zoo/animal centre type place, so CommutingOnABus?
* SeriousBusiness: For Dill, shopping carts.
* SixthRanger: Sophie, the weird new kid from Camp Blisshaven.
* ShoutOut/Crossover: PJ Piehole's a 'restaurant' that appears in Thompson's other comic 'Richard's Poor Almanac' was the subject of one strip and a source of angst for Petey.
** Petey's [[ComicStrip/LittleNemo Little Neuro]] comics.
* SummerCampy: Both the 2010 and 2011 summers, but with a day camp. For Alice it's Camp Blisshaven(Basically a camp version of her pre-school) and for Petey it's Cartoon Camp(where he and other kids draw comics and what not). Notable for introducing Sophie, Andre and Cloris.
* ThatCloudLooksLike
* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: Odd example, in that the strip was originally located in the suburbs of Washington DC. After the strip became nationally syndicated, the setting changed to a more generic suburb.
* WomenAreWiser: The mother, Miss Bliss, Nara.
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