The comic itself is surprisingly well done, working months in advance to avoid Schedule Slip (although at a comic a week, it's arguably a little slow-paced), and more than enough ladies in prominent roles to keep passing The Bechdel Test on a regular basis.The first few years' worth of comics have been compiled into a Trade Paperback, available here. There's also an RPG in progress, the beta of which is available though signing up for the mailing list, and contains some additional info not included in the comic itself.There's also a Character Sheet.It needs a lot of work.Not to be confused with the popular song by Papa Roach or the Neo Geo game.
Art Evolution: Painfully obvious, especially in the first dozen strips to the point that it's almost easier to start with the second arc instead of the first. And even more shocking is the speed of the art evolution as well — All of the comic's evolution has taken place within two years.
Badass Boast: Slick pulls off a rare post ass-kicking boast, although part of it is thanks to having to first deal with a Combat Pragmatist who wouldn't have let him get away with it if she were still alive.
Cast of Snowflakes: Having Loads and Loads of Races helps keep people straight, but so does the number of variants within each species (especially noticable between all the Talmi characters)! While the arena crowds may be Faceless Masses, the only two characters you MIGHT mix up are Vince and Nate (although that's getting better thanks to adding on Nate's new eyepiece).
The Chick: Actually one of the male cast members, Slick Giovanni.
Cyberpunk: The plot is punky, the setting is less so; the technicolor palette and furry population aren't standard fare, that's for sure. Given how many Cyberpunk works are the same Recycled Script, ANY deviation from that is going to be "unusual".
Dark Is Not Evil: The Dead Inside are "supposed" to be evil according to the Celeste, but we've not seen proof of that in the story. See also Light is Not Good below.
Among the contestants, the only criminals shown as being wholly beyond redemption (so far) are Geisha and Arikos. What exactly do they have in common (besides ridiculous body counts)? Both their crimes involved rape.
Geisha and Arikos' being beyond redemption (or at least appearing to be) doesn't seem to be as much because their crimes involved rape as it seems to be because, if given a chance to go back in time and do it all over again, they appear to be the only two criminal contestants who would behave in exactly the same way they did the first time. They don't get why people consider what they did to be wrong and without that understanding, they can't be redeemed.
Even Veled seems to have standards, with a special axe to grind against the Star Org.
Expy: Jigsaw seems to resemble Ratchet. Whether it's a coincidence or a deliberate homage is not known.
Four is Death: The number four repeats itself a LOT in Last Resort. Sixteen contestants with Four of those being Executioners, four teams of four contestants, four members of the Vaeo Family, four members of the Forte Family, not counting Jigsaw... and speaking of "Four"-te...
Grey and Gray Morality: Part of the fun in reading the story is trying to figure out which is which. Even Adharia, who should have the cleanest hands of the lot, is in cahoots with Veled!
To wit: Species can't crossbreed with each other, but they can crossbreed with a Celeste (regardless of which species the Celeste is made out of), and produce a viable Hybrid Monster from that.
I Am Who??: Jigsaw doesn't even figure out she's a vampire until about eighty pages in. Of course, Veled tops this when telling her that she's not only the only known non-human vampire in the galaxy, but that this is supposed to be a sign of a massive Apocalypse about to occur.
Iconic Logo: Y'know that little splotch with the cute skull motif on it? It's called "Cha0s".
Improbably Female Cast: Currently the story consists of: a powerful vampire girl, female mad scientist/genius ex-con, female centaur warrior princess lesbian, huge four winged super powered planetary military leader woman, among others... while the males are fewer and generally ditzier/shallower/less important than the females. Possibly because the creator is also female.
White Noise is the obvious choice for a male protagonist, Arikos and Geisha have been played up as quite evil (despite the fact we haven't seen them since, oh, Page 60-ish, though that may just be a case of them being out of the spotlight), etc. There's not a real shortage of men, just a shortage of male main characters.
Invisible Aliens: It is revealed that there are laws against interfering with developing civilizations and limitations on interacting with them. Adharia is from such a planet, and (with help from Veled) volunteered to compete on Last Resort so she could ascend her kingdom's throne.
Jedi Mind Trick: Jigsaw figures out that her ability to read minds and speak telepathically also allows her to give people suggestions; it's probably not as effective as the fabled Jedi Mind Trickshould be, but it works.
The RPG in development goes further: when the Celeste found earth/Terth they tried to tone humanity, and we only survived because of Terth's massive population of Dead Inside.
Lions and Tigers and Humans... Oh, My!: Y'know, for a comic that calls itself furry, it's sorta odd that half of the players on the Excutioner's teams are humans... Except two of those humans are Dead Inside (including a Vampire), and Daisy's also a light child to boot.
Reptilian creatures (Zillans, Vidians, Kendrils) don't have them as far as we know — Cypress is utterly flat, at least.
However, if Veled's any indication, being a Celeste who's part-reptile means you can have these.
Not That Kind of Doctor: Dr. Daisy Archanis, not that she gets treated with any respect for it. Dr. Qin Xu, however, is That Kind of Doctor, and it's not like he's treated any better because of it either. Maybe respect is just in short supply?
Not What It Looks Like: After Jigsaw's caught feeding on Addy, the Vaeo Family immediately assumes Jigsaw and Addy are in a relationship... of course, since Jigsaw can't just say she's a vampire, she's forced into a Sure, Let's Go With That situation.
One-Hour Work Week: Well, one hour broadcasted live each week, anyway; the rest of the time is implied to be recorded for security feeds and Pay-Per-View content.
Power Incontinence: Jigsaw suffers from this with her mind-reading. Of course, given that she's only just discovered her powers (and has no idea if she can even turn it off, let alone how), it's Jusitifed.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: Jigsaw, when she gets really irate. One of the signs that she's a vampire. She also seems to receive a power-boost when they show. All Dead Inside have this; Jigsaw's eyes just happen to be easily hidden since she's a vampire.
Shipped in Shackles: The condemned players arrive under heavy restraint and guard in the beginning this way.
Shout Out: On the third page, Vic notes that Jigsaw's name "has that nice "killer" tone to it already." This could probably be a shoutout to the Saw movies, considering they feature a killer named Jigsaw.
Daisy suggests that the Star Org considers Gabriel Damascus to be like a necromancer becuase he's a Celeste psychiatrist (considered a "dark art"), he corrects her, he's a "Neuromancer".
Space Jews: Inverted. Most of the Talmi really ARE Jewish! (So what about it?)
Theme Naming: Most of the Forte family (Jigsaw, Cypher, Slider and Sudoku) are named after puzzles.
The Milky Way Is The Only Way: All of Last Res0rt takes place in an unnamed Galaxy that is implied to be the Milky Way, and there's nothing else worth talking about outside of it, apparently.
The Unmasqued World: Played with, as the Celeste walk around openly among the populace, but the Dead Inside are forced into hiding.
Wham Episode: At the end of the latest arc, Cypress is badly injured, and Jason makes the situation worse by shooting two of the few people left to carry her to safety. As a result, Jigsaw can't use one hand, Daisy's insides are showing, and they've been left behind with a tone'd Team Corvus while the rest of the crew grab Cypress and leave on the shuttle.
Writing for the Trade: The comic doesn't drag, but "one-page-a-week" can be a long time to wait.
Actually works to the comic's advantage; after putting together Volume One, the comic started mixing panels that take advantage of Full Bleed alongside those that don't as part of its Art Evolution.
features a Rogues' Gallery of Condemned Contestants along with some volunteers who signed up for the ride. If they want to earn their freedom (or fame and fortune, in the case of the volunteers), they'll have to survive the season.There's Loads and Loads of Characters, but the comic's main focus is on the show's pair of Lovely Angels: Jigsaw, a furry violinist turned vampire (the only nonhuman vampire in the galaxy, in fact), who signed up for the show to save her friend, Daisy, a Mad Scientist CEO with a robotic leg.Several subplots brew underneath the surface of the reality show, currently centering on Jigsaw and her latent vampire nature (and the trouble that could stem from it), not to mention:
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