Safe Havens is a fantasy comic strip by Bill Holbrook, launched in 1988 and initially set in a daycare center. In 1993 the preschool children began aging in real time, and the strip has followed them as they've moved through K-12, college and now young adulthood. The main character is Samantha Argus, a personable and enthusiastic young woman with the skills of a
Mad Scientist who has unlocked the secrets of genetic manipulation.
This comic contains examples of:
- Absent-Minded Professor: Rupert and Rosalind are great geneticists but keep making trouble for themselves. Even more so when separate.
- Acrophobic Bird: An unusual variation. The dodos drink a potion to grow eagle wings for a distant travel, but to no avail.
- Artifact Title: Safe Havens Daycare hasn't been seen in decades.
- The comic has tried to avoid this by having the students continue to same-named schools over the years and even adopting the name for a band. But at this point, neither the band nor the university are particularly central.
- The Bechdel Test: Passed on many occasions thanks to a strong female lineup and a female lead.
- Breakout Character: Samantha used to be a supporting character, but she turned out more interesting than Matt.
- Cats Are Snarkers: Palmtop. Then again, snark is pretty well distributed in this comic.
- Character Blog: Roger has a weekly blog.
- Contrived Coincidence: Plenty over the years. For instance, the dodos just happen to have a natural song — with English lyrics — that works perfectly with one of Bambi's hits....
- Deggans Rule: Followed! Samantha and her family are Black, as is Don. Luis is Latino, and Ming is Asian-American. Race is rarely if ever touched upon.
- Everyone Can See It: As much as Samantha and (to a lesser extent) Dave used to protest that they were Just Friends, nobody bought it.
- The Faceless: The extremely tall Don and Rosalind were portrayed as being so tall their heads were always off-frame. Averted with Rosalind when, thanks to some mad science, she shrank an entire foot and decided she liked being of normal height.
- Gratuitous Italian: Mild examples thanks to Dave playing basketball in Italy.
- Gretzky Has the Ball: Rule of Funny is the only consistently portrayed rule in any sports action.
- Ignore the Disability: A key demand from Luis, which is why he loves self-centered Jenny instead of the ever-helpful Samantha.
- Interspecies Romance: Pretty common among the animals. Also Thomas and Remora, though Thomas sometimes becomes a merman.
- Jerk Ass: Jenny, though she sometimes borders on Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
- LEGO Genetics: Leads to both Voluntary Shapeshifting and Involuntary Shapeshifting.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Ming, though she's slowed down a bit after becoming a wife and mother.
- Meaningful Name: Everyone has at least one.
- Mr. Seahorse: Thomas, thanks to the nature of merfolk.
- My New Gift Is Lame: Averted and then subverted. Despite the expectations of relatives, Samantha didn't mind inheriting only a ring from her grandma. Especially when she discovered that it acted as a sort of Video Phone to her grandma in Heaven.
- Omni Disciplinary Scientist: Samantha. She's practically rewritten the book on genetics and is such a pro at computer security that her dad's boss has a standing offer of employment for her.
- Our Mermaids Are Different: Remora reveals many qualities not found in most other works. For example, she can shapeshift into fully human or fully fish forms only up to 12 hours at a time, after which she transforms into the opposite form whether she wants to or not. It is also said that if a human saves a mermaid's life three times, they become a mermaid themselves, although exactly what qualifies as saving their life is Played for Laughs: Samantha found herself turned into a mermaid after something as simple as giving Remora a flotation ring for swimming practice. Remora's also more than 400 years old despite looking the same age as her classmates.
- Secret Marriage: Jenny and Luis.
- Shared Universe: With On The Fastrack.
- She Is Not My Girlfriend: See Everyone Can See It.
- Speaks Fluent Animal: Several characters can speak with animals, but only so long as they mentally retain some aspect of their childhood; those who "grow up" lose the ability and eventually forget they ever had it.
- The Mole: Temporarily became a literal mole thanks to Karmic Transformation.
- This Is Reality: "So... there are restrictions even on time travelers?" "Si. This isn't some fantasy, you know."
- Time Travel: Has happened a few times of late. In a manner of speaking.
- Too Dumb to Live: The dodos have no instinct for self-preservation, so they mustn't be left alone for long. Oddly enough, they don't seem all that dumb most of the time.
- Twofer Token Minority: Luis is a Latino in a wheelchair.
- Weirdness Magnet: Compared to most of her friends, Samantha is downright normal. She even calls herself by this trope.
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