Goodbye Chains is a
Webcomic by Alice Hunt and Tracy Williams. It details the dramatic (and comical) misadventures of thieving con artist Banquo White and his Communist (yes, you read that right) companion, Colin Lord.
Generally speaking.
It takes place in the
American West, so there's frequent use of
The Western tropes. (It is also an excellent example of
Shown Their Work when it comes to the setting and its history). It sports a concoction of clever writing and great character interactions, especially between the two main characters, who are most likely ready to kill each other (at least from Banquo's end) as much as support each other.
The comic can be read
here
. It has a sister site entitled
Venus In Points, "which is about Banquo and Colin if they were badly-drawn cartoon doggies who die a lot." It can be read
here.
This series contains examples of:
- The Alcoholic (Colin and especially Banquo can be this at times)
- Alt Text
- All Men Are Perverts (Just enough that Banquo sleeps with as many prostitutes as possible)
- A Man Is Not A Virgin (Banquo's character profile elegantly describes his marital status as "manwhore")
- Badass Bookworm (Colin — a Marxist academic who is also a great shot, and loves to make stuff blow up)
- Badass Longcoat (Banquo)
- Badass Normal
- Bandito (Banquo is half-Mexican)
- But Not Too Foreign (Banquo's other half is Swedish. Cordelia fits this trope, too, being half-Ute)
- Cluster F Bomb (Banquo has a very dirty mouth)
- Crossdresser (Banquo. In a dream sequence. In a kimono.)
- Crowning Moment Of Funny (Just try to look at this page and not crack up)
- Did You Just Have Sex (Banquo to Colin when he and Johnny made love; made all the funnier when Colin cried Banquo's name in the throes of passion)
- Distaff Counterpart (Cordelia and Bridget, humorously denied on their profiles)
- Dream Sequence (A fourteen page dream sequence. That's about two months real life time. But it's mostly okay, considering we get panels like this.)
- Gentle Giant (Played straight and subverted with Colin; he's a generally kind and sympathetic man, but can be Trigger Happy in sadistic glee when prompted).
- Genius Ditz (On certain very academic subjects, such as philosophy, Latin, and engineering, Colin is quite the expert. On all other topics, including every day competence at functioning in the Wild West? Ditz.)
- He is, however, a great shot. He just doesn't necessarily know when to shoot, and when not to...
- Gratuitous Japanese: Here, presumably for SFX.
- The Gunslinger (Colin's pretty damn good with the pistols)
- Hadaka Apron (This troper won't spoil on the how, but the comic shows it!)
Heroic Bastard (Banquo)
- Heterosexual Life Partners (Halfway subverted because Colin really is gay)
- Hidden Eyes (Colin, all the time because he wears sharpshooter glasses, and because he wants to be cool and mysterious, as explained in the comic's notes page)
- Hidden Heart Of Gold (Banquo only exhibits this to Colin, the only person he doesn't hate. Otherwise, he's an ass. Golden heart exemplified the best here)
- Jerkass (Banquo to a tee, taken to extremes with his Vi P counterpart).
- Mountain Man (Johnny)
- Not Good With People (Banquo hates his fellow men...unless you're an attractive woman)
- Opaque Lenses (Colin always wears these, we've yet to get a clear view of his eyes)
- Outlaw
- Peek A Boo (With word bubbles!)
- Put Down Your Gun And Step Away
- Shirtless Scene (Nearly all the main male characters—much to the happiness of fangirls).
- Shout Out To Shakespeare (Banquo is named after the character in Macbeth. Understandable, given that his mother was an actress who tried to groom him for the stage as well.)
- Shown Their Work (Despite its comedic nature, the comic is very firmly grounded in the Real Life history of The Wild West, and the author will happily tell you all about it on the site's Historical Notes page.)
- Soiled Dove (May who only subverts this for Banquo, whom she hates—she took glee when he was about to be executed)
- Straight Gay (Colin, who harbors a crush on Banquo—doesn't help that Banquo keeps calling him "pumpkin". Johnny is one, too, though "Bear" might be a better modern description)
- Stuff Blowing Up (Colin's preferred method of spreading the good news that is Marxism. Notably happens to a bridge of railroad tracks.)
- Superheroes Wear Capes (Colin, during his dream-stint as The Comrade, sports a half-cape.)
- Take A Third Option (Banquo and Johnny hate each other; when Banquo and Colin are forced to hide in Johnny's cabin, Colin declares they can get along or part ways. Johnny leaves).
- Too Clever By Half (Banquo)
- Walk The Earth (Err...America, at least)
- The Western
- The Wild West
- Yaoi Fangirl (The author and artist, perhaps..? :P )
