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Webcomic / Lightbringer

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Lightbringer as depicted by Chad Rocco.

Lightbringer is a webcomic on Comic Genesis that was updated on-and-off again from March 16, 2006 until September 19, 2012. It was created by Lewis Lovhaug, also known as Linkara, years before he became known for criticizing comic books on his Web Original series Atop the Fourth Wall. Lovhaug wrote the series for its entire run and drew the comic up until June 17, 2009 when Chad Rocco became the comic's artist and then on December 7, 2011 Sergio Ragno became the artist for the remainder of the comic's run. By the comic's end, Lovhaug lost interest in continuing the series and not only shelved the project indefinitely but also officially released the comic and all of its characters into the Public Domain. In 2021, it was announced that the series would be rebooted by none other than Lovhaug's ex-girlfriend Iron Liz.

Plot

Carter Granholme is a humble furniture store owner living in Pharos City, a once promising city in the Midwest that has since become a crime infested mess with human traffickers at large through an organization appropriately named The Slavers. Although he was born with light-based superpowers, he had always abided by the wishes of his ultra-pacifist parents who were murdered. That is until Carter became fed up with crime in the city and took on the role of the Lightbringer to fight off the Slavers, with a little help from the city's chief of police Edward Crane, and arise victorious as the city's symbol of hope and the world's first superhero.

But the rise of the superhero leads to the rise of supervillains who challenge The Lightbringer in many physical as well as philosophical confrontations. As a result, Carter often struggles with the nature of good versus evil and the role of a superhero in society.

One of Carter's employees, Hannah Ments, gets wise to his double life and actively helps him in his fight against crime. She has since become a fan favorite.

Lightbringer and one of his enemies the Smiling Man also play a big part in The Crossoverlord.

Not to be confused with...

This hero has nothing to do with the 1993 Beat 'em Up released by Taito, outside maybe being a violent Epic Fantasy. We hope he's unrelated to the other guy called Lightbringer. Also unrelated: The Lightbringer Series, Uther the Lightbringer.

Tropes:

  • Actual Pacifist: Carter's parents denounce all forms of violence.
  • Anti-Hero: Lightbringer. Although generally portrayed as an idealist, he has shown a willingness to use the ends to justify the means. Examples include his interrogation of the Serpent (which qualifies as torture), use of excessive force when handling General Werres (ie. chucking him through a window), and defiance of the mayor to continue vigilantism.
  • Arch-Enemy: Darkbringer to Lightbringer.
  • Art Evolution: Although he has since stopped drawing the comic, Lovhaug's illustrations did improve over time.
  • Author Filibuster: In the earlier chapters, Lightbringer would voice a lot of Lovhaug's opinions for entire pages.
  • Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: The Gentleman claims he was Jack the Ripper and a few other famous serial killers.
  • The Big Guy and The Smart Guy: Hannah doubles as both, giving Carter technical support but providing the lion's share of fisticuffs.
  • Black-and-White Morality: Outright stated a number of times.
  • Breakout Character: Hannah has become popular among the comic's fans.
  • Breast Expansion: Subverted. Smiling Man stole a device for this purpose from another webcomic, because it was also a reality-warping weapon.
  • Casting a Shadow: Darkbringer's abilities, as indicated by his name.
  • Character Filibuster: Darkbringer... oh, Darkbringer...
  • Charles Atlas Superpower: Hannah is capable of hoisting a stone table over her head without any sign of strain or effort despite her only mildly muscular frame and Lovhaug's insistence that she does not have any superpowers of her own.
  • Clueless Aesop: In the original comic's author's notes, Linkara states that he made the antagonists slavers because slavery is a real life issue that not many comic books cover... Except the depiction of slavery in this comic, where a gang of slavers took over an American city, killed all the policemen who opposed them, and paraded their slaves around in broad daylight just made them come off as cartoonishly evil and about as far from reality as it gets.
  • Crapsack World: Pharos city when it was in control of the Slavers. Kidnappings happened every day and gang members would walk the streets with their victims in toe. Lightbringer put an end to this.
  • Crossover: With Linkara (a character from Angel Armor, not the creator), a character from a fantasy trilogy written by Lovhaug when he was 13. Mindmistress also appeared for one story as part of the Crossover Wars.
  • Crossover Cameo: A few characters from other webcomics have appeared in the comic without speaking roles.
  • Dating Catwoman: Carter's girlfriend becomes a supervillain thief.
  • Deceased Parents Are the Best: Carter's parents were shot to death before the events of the comic.
  • Disc-One Final Boss: General Werres, in the third issue.
  • For the Evulz: Smiling Man's first appearance had him killing people and causing mayhem for fun. In The Crossoverlord, his more complex motivations were made clear.
  • Hard Light: Lightbringer's powers enable him to create this.
  • Wall of Text: The aforementioned filibuster tropes would often result in this.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist:
    • Darkbringer believes that the only way to defeat evil is by embracing darkness and despair. He wants to kill Lightbringer because "he brings false hope".
    • General Werres, who rationalizes all the terrible things he has done with the fact that part of his ill-earned money goes to charity.

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