Hello, Cleveland!
is a webcomic created by Charles Bogle. Originally intended to simply be titled NEWT, the strip centers on Everett Bogle and his titular Newt, who may or may not be an imaginary construct of Everett's mind. Recurring characters include Everett's parents, his brother Riley, a classmate named Lisa, a family of unseen beings living in the Bogle mailbox, and a nameless bird. While mostly staying within the confines of the world of the strip, Bogle does occasionally like to poke fun at the medium in general.
This comic provides examples of:
- Blah, Blah, Blah
- A Boy And His Newt
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Newt does this. "Hey, Mr. Cartoonist!"
- Frame Break: Played insanely straight in one sequence of strips in which the character Newt snaps the panel dividers out, and the characters end up seeing and interacting with multiple versions of themselves.
- Full-Name Ultimatum: EVERETT GERARD BOGLE!!
- Hypocritical Humor: Everett lays out a declaration of principles instead of a book report, but then offers an alternate set for those who were dissatisfied with his first one.
- Imaginary Friend: Newt, possibly. There's evidence both for and against this in the strip.
- Literal-Minded: "When I said take the bus, I didn't mean take the bus!"
- Mouse World: The heard-but-not-seen denizens of the Bogle mailbox. However, the humans do occasionally interact with them (though we still don't get to see them).
- No Name Given: Played straight with the bird who keeps cropping up, and with Everett's mother's first name. Averted with Everett's last name.
- Noodle Incident: Played with in one strip involving the Austrian Consulate.
- Not-So-Imaginary Friend: See Imaginary Friend above.
- Painting the Medium: Bogle loves doing this, especially when using Newt as the agent for it.
- Recursive Reality: During the run of strips mentioned in the Frame Break entry above.
- Retcon: Bogle changed Everett's father's appearance in October 2010. Newt noticed the difference, to which Everett said, "It's a comic strip. Just go with it!"
- Rouge Angles of Satin: "Iceburgs".
- One strip used "Ola" for "Hola".
- Running Gag: Everett's brother, Riley, is usually shown sitting in a bucket.
- Self-Deprecation: In an instance where Everett and Newt are examining the background filler to the panel, Everett remarks that "most of the trendier strips employ such devices", to which Newt wonders aloud, "Then why is it in our strip?"
- Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Everett drops this sometimes.
- Shout-Out: Everett's father's appearance post-Retcon is based on Bill Wattreson.
- Take That!:
- One strip, featuring an APPROVED stamp supposedly giving the thumbs-up to an unusual euphemism, gets one in on the comics industry in general.
- In-univese, Everett whips up a campaign poster for Lisa, a classmate with a crush on him and whom he despises, in her bid to win a class office. It reads "Vote for me or I'll hold my breath!"
- Unnamed Parent: Everett's mother. Possibly the father, depending upon whether or not Bogle is writing himself in as the father.
- Unsound Effect: Ker-SNOT
- The Voiceless: Riley. The bird used to be one, but lately seems to have found a voice.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: The family of (presumably) bugs living in the Bogle mailbox hasn't been seen for quite some time.
