On Earth-Alpha, Dragonflyman and his sidekick, Stinger, are heroes of Incorruptible Pure Pureness who's sole mission in life is to protect their beloved Fortune City from all manner of costumed crooks. On Earth-Omega, Fortune City is a Crapsack World, and though Dragonfly also believes in protecting it from criminals, he does it in such a morally ambiguous way that it can sometimes be hard to tell who's the hero and who's the villain. Also, his version of Stinger is Dead to Begin With. When they accidentally get switched after trying to capture their respective versions of the villain calling himself Number 1, they quickly discover that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in their philosophies.
The first volume was followed by a prequel called Dragonfly & Dragonflyman and then a sequel subtitled Night and Day. A fourth volume called The One Shots collected all the one shot tie-in comics.
Tropes:
- Action Girl: Deuce is revealed to be this when it's revealed she discovered Dragonflyman and hideout and kept the info from Number One. She also easily defeated Earth-Omega Number One. She later joins Dragonfly and Stinger as Lady Dragonflyman.
- Affectionate Parody:
- Of Batman, especially Batman (1966) in regards to Earth-Alpha and Dragonflyman. While it exaggerates both Dragonflyman and Dragonfly to be parodies of light hearted and darker interpretations of Batman, it portrays both as competent crimefighters with plenty of depth to their character.
- Trapped on Teen Planet has Dragonfly, Stinger and Deuce ending up in an Archie inspired universe which on Earth-Omega is the setting of the Sandy comics. Dragonfly, who grew up reading the comics as a way to cope with his abusive father, is very defensive of the universe and the people as while he knows others might see them as corny or quaint, he argues that they are in fact just decent. However it does poke fun of Archie comics in general and in a way this issue does make fun of the more odd crossover comics, and it turns out that the villain responsible for bringing the heroes to this universe was the Betty expy who’s tired of how chaste and kid friendly her universe is.
- Affirmative-Action Legacy: The Earth-Omega Stinger was a Caucasian red head like his counterpart on Earth-Alpha while his successor is African-American.
- Alternate Universe:
- Earth-Alpha, a Lighter and Softer world where there is little corruption and the villains are mostly harmless, and Earth-Omega, which is Darker and Edgier where everybody with power is corrupt and the heroes are just as terrifying as the villains. Dragonfly and Dragonflyman both realize they're in one of these fairly quickly, and they're not happy about it at all. The end of the comic also teases the existence of Earth-Zeta, a world where a version of Number 1 has somehow managed to solve every major environmental crisis in the whole world, by offloading their pollution to other earths.
- Trapped on Teen Planet is set in an Archie inspired Earth which isn’t given a designation.
- Purple is set on Earth-Kappa, where Dragon-Fly debuted thirty years ago and fights a music themed villain called the Player. While much darker than Earth-Alpha as Dragon-Fly has become more concerned with making money through Fame Enterprises, it’s ultimately more optimistic than Earth-Omega as he realises his mistake and tries to correct it by being a better hero. This universe also has it’s own version of Jordan Reece, who is implied to become Richard’s new sidekick at the end with Chip seemingly not existing in this reality.
- Anti-Hero: Dragonfly is this as he's a brutal vigilante being hunted by the police and kills criminals. This naturally makes things difficult for Dragonflyman when everyone believes he's Dragonfly while Earth-Alpha is unprepared for this type of hero.
- Atrocious Alias: Stinger-Two can't hide his amusement when Deuce tells him her superhero name is Lady Dragonflyman.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Man-Dragonfly, the Earth-Zeta counterpart of the heroes, appears to be an Ideal Hero who fights corruption and evil, but is aware Number 1's use of the mirrors to send pollution to alternate Earth's and tries to kill the heroes when they plan to stop it. He also has apparently abused his version of Stinger.
- Blatant Burglar: Dragonflyman dresses like one in order to infiltrate a Bad Guy Bar.
- Chronoscope: Earth-Zeta developed the technology to surveil parallel worlds, whose entire history is available to them. Each of them apparently destroyed themselves in global war. That Earth's Number One managed to advance the technology to allow travel to them.
- Cliffhanger:
- Volume 1 ends with the two heroes staying in the other worlds, and taking their world-views with them. This could be good for Earth-Omega, not so good for Earth-Alpha. And then there's the question of Earth-Zeta...
- Volume 2 ends with all the heroes stuck on Earth-Zeta with all the means of travel between universes destroyed, with Man-Dragonfly stuck on Earth-Omega where he's gotten the idea to try and rule it, and all the supervillains of Earth-Alpha running rampant with no one to stop them.
- Crapsack World: The Fortune City of Earth-Omega is this, more than Gotham City has ever been. The police and mayor are all corrupt, murders happen all the time, and Dragonfly himself is seen as a terrifying entity by most people no matter their moral alignment. It almost veers into parody territory with how over-the-top dark it is.
- Crazy-Prepared: As a spoof of the campy live action Batman, Dragonflyman has a highly specific device for practically any scenario. He's Immune to Bullets due to at least two separate tools, one is an antidote that heals the damage, another is replacing his cape with super sticky paper that somehow catches them without being pierced by them.
- Dead Sidekick: Earth-Omega's Stinger.
- Evil Is Hammy: This applies to pretty much all the villains of Earth-Alpha.
- Expy: Naturally all the characters are based on characters, and specific versions, from Batman.
- Dragonflyman is based on the Adam West version from the 1966 TV show. Meanwhile Dragonfly is based on the version from All-Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder and most dark portrayals of Batman.
- Chip Andrews/Stinger is based on Dick Grayson, in particular the version from the 1966 TV show. His Earth-Omega counterpart in the prequel comic takes inspiration from later portrayals of the character that has a strained relationship with Batman, though him being dead by the time of the first volume makes him similar to Jason Todd.
- Jordan Reece/Stinger-Two is based on Jason Todd, being a former member of Number 1's gang who eventually becomes an antihero. However since his predecessor is dead he is similar to Tim Drake.
- Earth-Alpha Number 1 is likewise based on the Cesar Romero version of the Joker, while Earth-Omega Number 1 is inspired from modern portrayals like the one from The Dark Knight.
- Deuce is Harley Quinn, and is actually an interesting combination of all versions as while she is a loyal henchman to her Number 1 when the Earth-Omega arrives she shows a more heroic and competent side that wastes no time in trying to get rid of Dragonfly and the alternate Number 1. She also has similarities with Catwoman as she admits to having a crush on Dragonflyman. Later becomes one for Batwoman, in particular the Kathy Kane version, and starts a relationship with Dragonfly.
- Henry Noble, Mayor Shankford, and Chief Brady are all stand ins for Commissioner Gordon with elements of Chief O'Hara. The first two are the ones who contact Dragonflyman and are unable to solve clues while Brady is the chief of police while looking more like O'Hara than Gordon. However on Earth-Omega things are very different with Noble having been arrested, Shankford was discovered to be a child molester and Brady is willing to work with super villains to try and kill Dragonfly.
- Triviac is clearly The Riddler.
- Man-Dragonfly is based on Owlman, the evil version of Batman from Earth-3.
- Fluffy the Terrible: As scary as Dragonfly can be, he's still a man in a purple and green outfit calling himself "Dragonfly".
- Gangof Hats: A fair amount of Supervillains we see on Earth-Alpha are accompanied by a group of henchmen dressed to fit their theme
- Number One's henchmen dress in suits and bowler hats with number shaped lapel pins.
- Triviac's henchmen dress as schoolboys.
- An unseen villain called The Skipper has henchmen dressed as stereotypical sailors.
- Granny Oakley's henchmen dress in Wild West attire.
- Toreador's henchmen dress in blue suits and a hat with fake bull horns.
- Devil Man has a group of henchmen called The Imps that dress in red shirts and devil horn headbands.
- Pilgrim Progress has goons called The Plymouth Mob who dress in 16th century clothing.
- Castrato has a "criminal boy choir" who dress as members of a church choir.
- Dr. Meat's henchmen wear blue jackets and red domino masks.
- Good Is Not Nice: Dragonfly uses torture, threats, and even murder to fight crime without a second thought. It's really not clear if he can be called "good", although he might have been a little nicer before his Stinger killed himself.
- Greater-Scope Villain: The Omega version of Number 1 mentions a One-Prime, who he begs to save him right before he is ripped to pieces by his broken dimensional mirror. One-Prime is the Number 1 of Earth-Zeta, who provided his counterparts the mirrors and used them to distribute his Earth's pollution to theirs. The second volume reveals that Man-Dragonfly, the Earth-Zeta version of the heroes, was The Man Behind the Man.
- Heel–Face Turn: Dragonfly wasn't technically a villain, but as he stays with Stinger in Earth-Alpha, he softens up considerably, possibly trying to make up for the fact that his own Stinger killed himself.
- Heroic BSoD: After learning that the Earth-Omega Stinger was dead and being confronted with how much darker this world was to Earth-Alpha, he becomes depressed and more goes through the motions of trying to find a way home. However after a fight against some villains at a bar he pulls himself out of this as he realizes that it doesn't matter where he is as long as he stays true to what he believes.
- He Who Fights Monsters: Dragonfly has become this after the death of Stinger, as when he was alive while he was brutal and came close to killing people he always held back.
- It's All About Me: Both versions of Number 1 have this mindset (hence the name), but as expected, the Earth-Omega version is a psychotic murderer while the Earth-Alpha version is mainly just a goofy criminal obsessed with numbers. He freaks out when he's transported to the other world, before being killed mercilessly. The Number 1 of Earth-Zeta is no better, having solved his world's environmental crisis simply for the prestige rather than any form of altruism. He also considers his counterparts lesser than him, though he admits to having a fondness for their worlds.
- Ideal Hero: Dragonflyman is a parody of this, specifically an expy of Batman from the '66 TV show. He never drinks, advocates that better education systems are the way to prevent crime, and has explosion repellent (of his own design). He finds it very hard to stick to his ideals when he ends up on Earth-Omega, but nevertheless, he stops himself from sinking to Dragonfly's lows.
- The Multiverse: Volume 2 introduces a machine that allows people from Earth-Zeta to view alternate universes while being the source of the mirrors, and the heroes are given glimpses of their counterparts throughout the multiverse. One version of Stinger resembles the art style of one of the back up stories for Volume 1, suggesting that particular comic takes place in a separate reality to the Earth-Alpha version.
- The Scapegoat: At the end of Fame and Fortune, the Alpha and Omega Richard Fame uses the mayor as one after they caused a mass disaster by cutting corners on a stadium.
- Self-Made Orphan: According to The Wrong Earth: Meat, Dragonfly murdered both his parents.
- Shout-Out: When the Number 1 of Earth-Zeta meets his Earth-Alpha counterpart it's a reference to the Spider-Man pointing at Spider-man Meme.
- Skewed Priorities: Dragonfly accuses the mayor and bank president for prioritizing a hostage situation over a far more dangerous serial killer.
- Split Timelines Plot: A variation as there is no divergence point between Earth-Alpha and Earth-Omega, but the comics do switch between both versions of the hero and showing them experiencing similar events but usually with different motives and outcomes. The very first issue shows Dragonflyman and Stinger about to be burned alive in an elaborate death trap while Dragonfly burns some of Number 1's henchman to death, while the prequel comic shows them both being briefly controlled by Devil Man and being forced to fight Stinger which results in the Earth-Omega Stinger losing all trust in Dragonfly.
- Sugar Bowl: The Fortune City of Earth-Alpha. Everything is bright and sunny, the bureaucracy is never corrupt, and criminals are more-or-less harmless, only ever venturing to murder in the case of Dragonflyman himself. Dragonfly can't believe it when he first gets there, and quickly gets annoyed when trying to find the psychotic Number 1 among a sea of comical villains.
- Tele-Frag: The Omega version of Number 1 meets his demise by traveling through a broken dimensional mirror and ending up shredded to pieces on the shards in transit.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: In Volume 2, Stinger-Two has become much more violent and aggressive, and actively kills criminals. However it's justified since his world is falling apart due to the pollution being sent from Earth-Zeta, and despite this he still respects Dragonflyman deeply for his convictions even if they disagree over which method for fighting crime is better.
- Took a Level in Kindness: While still willing to kill Dragonfly's experiences on Earth-Alpha mean that in Volume 2 he shows a more noble side and is upset about leaving his perfect life with Stinger and Lady Dragonflyman. He is fully prepared to strand himself on Earth-Zeta by destroying the mirrors if it saves Earth-Alpha and Earth-Omega while reuniting Stinger with Dragonflyman, and has taken the chance to atone for his mistakes with his Stinger by being a better mentor to the Earth-Alpha Stinger.
- White Sheep: The Stinger of Earth-Alpha reveals that both his and Dragonflyman's parents were evil criminals, inspiring them to become crime fighters instead.
