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''Tumbleweeds'' is a [[NewspaperComics newspaper comic strip]] that ran from September 1965 to December 30, 2007, first distributed by the Register and Tribune Syndicate, then by Creator/KingFeaturesSyndicate. It was written and drawn by Tom K. Ryan (1926-2019), who usually signed the work under "T.K.Ryan".

Featuring a large cast, the comic strip was about the title character, Tumbleweeds, a cowboy based in the town of Grimy Gulch somewhere in the old West. Notable characters included (but are not limited to): Hildegarde Hamhocker, the only woman in town who was obsessed with marrying Tumbleweeds; TheSheriff and his inept assistant, Deputy Knuckles; the nearby military unit, the 6 7/8 Cavalry; and a local Indian tribe, the Poohawks. (See [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tumbleweeds_(comic_strip) the other Wiki entry]] for more details on the extensive cast.)

The strip itself followed a gag-per-day format, focusing on Tumbleweeds, the townspeople, the 6 7/8 Cavalry, the Poohawks or any combination of those characters; various conventions of TheWestern were parodied.

''Tumbleweeds'' was notable enough that its characters were featured as an attraction at MGM Grand Adventures Theme Park in Paradise, Nevada. A ''Tumbleweeds'' stage play was also written, usually being performed in school theater.

Various books were released over the years reprinting the strips. Fawcett printed a number of titles in the United States from the 1960s through the 1980s. Beaumont released a number of soft-cover magazine size books in Australia and New Zealand in the 1970s and 1980s.


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!!This comic strip contains examples of the following tropes:

* AbhorrentAdmirer: Hildegarde was this to Tumbleweeds.
* AdultsDressedAsChildren: Snookie [=McFoul=] was always seen wearing a sailor suit. This trope is subverted, however, in that while he looks like a 30-something, he's actually 12 and just has an overactive pituitary gland.
* TheAlcoholic: Soppy Sopwell, the town drunk
* TheAllegedSteed: The main character's horse Epic chews tobacco and is a textbook example. One trail boss, on being told that Epic was a "quarter horse", responded "You've got change coming".[[note]]This was actually Blossom, Epic's predecessor. She was constantly falling asleep, including when she was at a dead run. She eventually ran off during one nap, and 'Weeds got Epic to replace her. (This was VERY early in the strip.)[[/note]]
* AmbiguousSyntax: Happens in one exchange between the Sheriff and Deputy Knuckles.
-->'''Deputy:''' Chief! Chief! Somebody stealed m'horsie!\\
'''Sheriff:''' No, no, Deputy: "Someone stole my horse!"\\
'''Deputy:''' Goll'! A crime wave!
* AngryCollarGrab: A humorous example; how Screaming Flea reacted to anyone joking about his height or his GagNose. He'd grab the offender's collar, lifting himself up off the ground in doing so until eye to eye with the offender.
* AnimatedAdaptation:
** A brief one but ''Tumbleweeds'' was animated on the 1980 television special ''The Fabulous Funnies''.
** Another brief one. Tumbleweeds also appeared in the first episode of the Creator/{{Filmation}} series ''Fabulous Funnies'' (no relation to the above). Watch it [[https://archive.org/details/Tumbleweeds_Bean_Stew_Filmation_1978 on the Internet Archive]].
* ArmedFarces: The 6 7/8 Cavalry was prominently featured, interacting frequently with both the Poohawks and Grimy Gulch, all the while showing their hilarious incompetence.
* AsideGlance: Done by many characters when the punch line happened. If it involved Deputy Knuckles saying or doing something stupid, this might be followed by the Sheriff [[FacePalm leaning with his face against the wall]].
* BigGuyLittleGuy:
** The Poohawks' brawny giant Bucolic Buffalo, and the diminutive Screaming Flea, who didn't like when the Chief joked about his small size or his nose.
** Muleskinner Ham was the big guy to his shorter partner Beans.
* BigLittleBrother: Snookie [=McFoul=], little brother of Snake Eye [=McFoul=], was much bigger in both height and weight.
* BraidsBeadsAndBuckskins: Played straight with the Poohawks; they wore buckskin aprons and their hair in braids.
* BroughtToYouByTheLetterS: Mole Eye, a scout for the 6 7/8 Cavalry, had the word "scout" printed on his hat.
* TheChiefsDaughter: Little Pigeon was the daughter of the Poohawk Chief.
* CluelessDeputy: Deputy Knuckles was this to the Sheriff.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Frequent with Limpid Lizard. In one strip, he is wearing a new jacket with long sleeves. Little Pigeon, his unrequited love interest, compliments him tactfully.
-->'''Little Pigeon:''' You look nice, Limpid Lizard. That new jacket really does something for you.\\
'''Limpid Lizard:''' ''[proudly examines sleeves]'' How troo. No more wipin' m'mouth on m'bare wrists.
* ComplimentBackfire: Tumbleweeds praises [[MeaningfulName the cook Greasy]] for baking a blueberry pie and calls Greasy one of the best pie bakers in the whole world. Cue Tumbleweeds getting a PieInTheFace.
-->'''Greasy:''' "One of" don't cut it.
* DumbMuscle: Bucolic Buffalo of the Poohawks.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep:
** The sheriff of Grimy Gulch.
** The Poohawk Medicine Man; he was never named.
* GagNose: Screaming Flea had one. Pointing that out, especially as a joke or insult, was Flea's BerserkButton.
* {{Gonk}}: All the characters are this to an extent, given their short statures and big bulbous noses. Hildegarde though takes the cake with her buck teeth and upturned beak nose.
* HangingJudge: Judge Horatio Curmudgeon Frump, who hangs a noose from his bonsai tree.
* IllNeverTellYouWhatImTellingYou: A [[https://imgur.com/I131CN3 1977 strip]] has Tumbleweeds encountering a big man named "Bunny". The man uses that name to hide the fact that he's Myth/PaulBunyan...which he realizes he just revealed.
* InjunCountry: A comedic example being a newspaper comic strip, the Poohawk tribe's lands were this.
* InsigniaRipoffRitual: The Sheriff would sometimes tear off the star badge from Deputy Knuckles when he did something really stupid. But it was always [[ResetButton restored in the next strip]].
* LethalChef: Greasy, a CampCook Tumbleweeds encounters and has to endure a whole week's story arc of his cooking and antics.
* MediumAwareness: Happened sometimes such as when one of the characters [[BreakingTheFourthWall addressed T.K. Ryan directly]] and [[https://imgur.com/a/eW9GFHl in this strip]] with the Poohawks.
* NightmareFetishist: Wart Wimble, the local gravedigger. He actually lived in a mausoleum and slept in a mausoleum drawer complete with a pillow and blanket.
* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: Col. G. Armageddon Fluster, commander of the 6 7/8 Cavalry, is a caricature of General George Armstrong Custer.
* ObsessiveCompulsiveBarkeeping: Blackie, the local saloon keeper, is usually seen drying glasses when not serving drinks.
* PieInTheFace: Happens usually when a character insults another one holding a pie; Tumbleweeds taunts Hildegarde when refusing a pie she baked for him. Guess what she does with it.
* ProfessionalGambler: Ace, the best friend of Tumbleweeds
* ProtagonistTitle: Named for the main character himself, Tumbleweeds.
* ReusedCharacterDesign: Green Gills, an early suitor of Little Pigeon, looked nearly identical to Limpid Lizard.
* TheSheriff: The Sheriff of Grimy Gulch was a literal example of this trope; besides being the sheriff, he had [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep no other name]].
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Two Smurfettes — Hildegarde Hamhocker among the townsfolk of Grimy Gulch, and Little Pigeon among the Poohawks. Aside from Hildegarde's little niece Echo, other female characters are extremely rare (if not non-existent) in the strip.
* StoryArc: Tumbleweeds sometimes would go out of Grimy Gulch [[PutOnABus for weeks at a time]]. He'd often get lost, meet tertiary characters and have characters back in town wondering about him. Eventually Tumbleweeds would return to [[TheBusCameBack town weeks later]]
* TontoTalk: Bucolic Buffalo played this straight, adding "um" to his words. The other Poohawks though averted this trope.
* TribalFacePaint: Parodied in a few strips where the Poohawk Chief introduced a peel-and-stick version to his tribe.
* WouldHitAGirl: Snookie [=McFoul=] does so [[https://imgur.com/a/wH7oLtY in one strip]] where he tells his brother that an old lady he tried to help could take a punch well.

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