A comic book written by Mark Barnard and drawn by Terrie Smith about the owners of a small interstellar freight service, flamboyant ringtail cat Chester Magreer and his level-headed partner/lover Christophe Deck, as they deal with cyborg ex-girlfriends, demented space pirates, ineffectual cosmic ninjas, the hopping dead, a shape-changing and extremely lethal pseudo-Chester, masked wrestlers, and life in general.
Radio Comix is posting the entire series online
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Tropes:
- The Alleged Car: Regulo's ship, he leased it for cheap with no "frills" added (like new wiring, a radio, weapons...).
- Cargo Cult: Once some indigenous otters mistake them for gods. It's just a scam, though.
- Child Prodigy: Lambie turns out to be something of a prodigy in regards to economics, much to her dads' dismay when she finds their ledgers.
- Damsel in Distress: That girl Ches and Deck accidentally rescued from the raiders in the first book.
- Feudal Future: Ches and Deck have rescued the occasional princess, and they were "knights" in some past war. But the "Dread Koroboromitsu clan" who are the antagonists of "Relatively Speaking" are more like ineffectual Right Wing Militia Fanatics.
- Giant Spider: Encountered in the jungle in issue #5, and featured on the cover.
- Horse of a Different Color: They look like horses, but have fangs and three-toed feet.
- Interspecies Adoption: Ches and Deck have an adopted daughter, a mouse named "Lambie," though she's at boarding school in most issues.
- Interspecies Romance: Ches and Deck, a canine and a ringtailed cat.
- Lethal Chef: Deck's meatloaf is a little heavy on the habanero. And he suggests smothering it in ice cream after Ches tastes it.
- Leotard of Power: In a Rare Male Example, Ches sometimes goes out in an orange leotard with a plunging neckline.
- Mistaken for Special Guest: By a band of raiders from whose leader Chester swiped a distinctive gemstone.
- My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels: the first issue has Ches and Deck attempting to buy horses using a poorly written phrasebook.Ches: "I have a frog and much money, I only pray you will take me for all I am worth."
- Non-Fatal Explosions: A bomb fails to take a spoiled princess down a peg here.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: Councilor Taran; of course, she also has a bit of a grudge against Chester.
- Papa Wolf: Deck.
- Perpetual Poverty: Due largely to Chester's spending habits.
- Powered Armor: Worn by certain law enforcement or military groups, usually bulky enough to be mistaken for robots.
- Psycho Ex-Girlfriend: Knife, and her last three fiancees before Chris are all dead.
- Sapient Ship: Ches and Deck's ship has a seemingly sapient computer, though it keeps trying to flirt with their coffee maker.
- Space Pirates: They are recruited by a rather incompetent pirate captain in the second issue. Knife and her gang are another matter.
- Speculative Fiction LGBT: As eccentric as Ches and Deck are in universe, their being two mated males is never commented on as unusual.
- Teleportation: The teleportation device is possibly the only thing on "Captain" Regulo's ship that works.
- We Can Rebuild Him: Knife, after the one time Deck shot straight.
- World of Funny Animals: The cast of characters consists of various alien species resembling animals from Earth.
