Peter Paltridge, who later became the host of Platypus Comix, began Scrambled Eggs in 1990. Loosely adapted from a juvenile fiction novel titled Hello, My Name is Scrambled Eggs, the comic features Tuan Nuaghen, a Vietnamese boy adopted by a Massachusetts-based family with no confirmed last name. Paltridge's longest-running comic, the series features random exploits of Tuan and his adoptive siblings Quint (The SmartJerkass), Harvey (The Straight Man), and Julia (The Chick), with fluctuating levels of realism and Medium Awareness.
This comic provides examples of:
Art Evolution: Pretty much inevitable for a comic with stories spanning 20 years: Here's a page of a comic from 1991, and here's one from 2010.
Born Lucky: According to Paltridge, "Tuan has been in TV ads, invented major products, won the Nobel Prize and been involved with Hollywood and major politicians in various issues, oftentimes without warning or explanation."
Breakout Character: Tuan, as Harvey became demoted from the main character to one who's "usually just there to react to everyone else."
Quint drugs the Thanksgiving turkey to prevent Harvey and Tuan from beating him to buying a Nintendo Wii, only to discover no one ate the turkey except Julia. Her going unconscious as a result receives at least two callbacks.
A woman impulsively buys a Friends Complete Series DVD selling for $9.99, laughs and happily screams all her way home, sets the DVD on her table, calms down, and immediately regrets the purchase, throwing the DVD out the window. Later, she returns to the store, finds Julia sleeping next to a "75% off" sign, impulsively buys her, and repeats the whole gag.
Quint buys a Wee DVD Player from Michelle, who previously mistook it for a genuine Wii. The payoff is listed under "Jerk With A Heart Of Jerk"
Complaining About Singers You Don't Hear: In universe, Quint hates Jimmy Zoopie-Doo purely because of overexposure and his own lack of faith that teen singers can produce quality songs; the only Zoopie-Doo song he ever heard was a Gee cast member's cover, which to Quint's credit, has pretty awful lyrics.
Hidden in Plain Sight: Tuan spends the last six pages of "Season's Greetings! Bah Humbug!" searching the town for his Christmas present. The last panel shows it underneath his adoptive family's Christmas tree.
Homage: Tuan is left Home Alone in "Summer Break-Tuan Style!" and proceeds through various references to the classic comedy, such as catching unwelcome guests with booby traps lifted directly from the movie.
In Name Only: Paltridge says the only similarities this comic shares with Hello, My Name is Scrambled Eggs include some character names and the Vietnamese kid's catchphrase. ("No kidding!") The boys weren't even brothers in the book.
Invisible Parents: Tuan's adoptive mother only appears in two of the Scrambled Eggs comics that are still on the site, and his adoptive father only appears in one of the archived comics. Also, Tuan and his adoptive siblings never met Michelle's parents, a fact lampshaded in "IT...HAD FUR!" as Quint rose the possibility that she doesn't have any.
In "Summer Break-Tuan Style," Paltridge drew a sign next to the mother, which references the fact she rarely appears.
Leap Day: Michelle was born on February 29th. The birthday parties she holds every four years have become a Fate Worse than Death for the other characters.
Head Executive: There's no better way to make a decent creation look stupid than to make a real guy dress like it!
Tuan: But why would you-
Head Executive: Hey, it's what the people demand! They just don't realize they're demanding it!
Non-Standard Character Design: Julia has a simple spiral for hair instead of a more realistic hairstyle, a relic of the days when Paltridge drew all his girls with curly hair in order to distinguish them from boys.
In fact, practically all of the stories released after Platypus Comix's transition to color serve as Take Thats to some aspect of modern pop culture.
Verbal Tic: Tuan frequently exclaimed, "No kidding!" when he didn't know much English. Today, he continues to exclaim it, even after expanding his vocabulary.
Whole Plot Reference: "The Wizard II: Fax Me an Angel" has Jimmy Woods once again compete in a video game tournament and go to California, this time in his middle ages and competing against casual gamers. Also, the tournament takes place in Massachusetts; he doesn't go to California until he decides to move there after winning.
in 1990. Loosely adapted from a juvenile fiction novel titled Hello, My Name is Scrambled Eggs, the comic features Tuan Nuaghen, a Vietnamese boy adopted by a Massachusetts-based family with no confirmed last name. Paltridge's longest-running comic, the series features random exploits of Tuan and his adoptive siblings Quint (The Smart Jerkass), Harvey (The Straight Man), and Julia (The Chick), with fluctuating levels of realism and Medium Awareness.
0 reviews