History ComicBook / Planetary

* ProductionForeshadowing: In the WhatIf story "Terra Occulta", part of the plot involves the creation of a [[spoiler:time machine]]. Seven years later, in the main story line, the final issue revolves around the creation of a [[spoiler:time machine]] of identical design.

In addition to the main series, there were three crossover one-shots: ''Planetary[=/=]ComicBook/TheAuthority: Ruling the World'' (2000), ''Planetary[=/=][[Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica JLA]]: Terra Occulta'' (2002), and ''Planetary[=/=]Franchise/{{Batman}}: Night on Earth'' (2003). (Alternate universes were involved for the two Franchise/DCUniverse crossovers.)

* CloudCuckooLander: The Drummer.

*** The Invisible Woman, the team mom who could make herself and other things invisible, becomes The Drummer, a boy sidekick who perceives things all around him that most people cannot -- namely, information. For an added bonus, the Invisible Woman has often been written has having some strong emotions simmering under a calm surface. The Drummer, on the other hand, is a CloudCuckooLander with a calmly idealistic center.

* BlackDudeDiesFirst: [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] and weaponized Ambrose Chase, originally a member of the group, had the bad fortune to come across a character who had the ability to make HorrorTropes the laws of physics, explicitly including this one. Of course, they NeverFoundTheBody. In the final issue, [[spoiler:the above example is subverted; it's revealed he activated his time field and is currently preserved exactly a moment before his actual death, allowing Elijah to save him]].

* BlackDudeDiesFirst: [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] and weaponizedAmbrose Chase, originally a member of the group, had the bad fortune to come across a character who had the ability to make HorrorTropes the laws of physics, explicitly including this one. Of course, they NeverFoundTheBody. In the final issue, [[spoiler:the above example is subverted; it's revealed he activated his time field and is currently preserved exactly a moment before his actual death, allowing Elijah to save him]].

* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Ambrose Chase, originally a member of the group, had the bad fortune to come across a character who had the ability to make HorrorTropes the laws of physics, explicitly including this one. Of course, they NeverFoundTheBody. In the final issue, [[spoiler:the above example is subverted; it's revealed he activated his time field and is currently preserved exactly a moment before his actual death, allowing Elijah to save him]].

* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: Pretty much every character who appears apart from the main ones, including versions of the Comicbook/FantasticFour, Comicbook/{{Superman}}, Film/JamesBond, and more besides.

%%* MightyWhitey: Lord Blackstock.

** Many of the individual issue covers pastiche an art style (such as a movie poster style or book cover style) associated with the issue's subject. The cover of "To Be in England..." is done in the style of the covers Creator/DaveMcKean did for ''ComicBook/TheSandman''.

* PageTurnSurprise: Night on Earth'' has a downplayed version, with a GilliganCut being placed on a page-turn. The last panel of one page has The Drummer declaring that he's staying at the base where it's safe; the first panel of the next page shows him out in the field with the rest of the team, complaining loudly.

** Even Deconstructions are deconstructed; the widescale DarkerAndEdgier trend in superhero comics in the 1980s and 1990s is deconstructed with the appearance of a former [[TheCape Cape]] who, having apparently suffered one of these during that period and angrily blaming the [[ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}} John Constantine]] {{Expy}} for it, angrily rants that he didn't want or need such a deconstruction just for the hell of it and liked his former, more innocent life perfectly fine, thank you very much.[[note]]The John Constantine expy is used as as a stand-in for Constantine's creator Creator/AlanMoore and the other "British invasion" writers, who played a major role in the deconstruction of American supehero comics in the '80s and '90s.[[/note]]

* DeconstructorFleet: In case you haven't noticed by now, their were a lot of these.

* EverybodyLives: The end of [[spoiler:the series as a whole. Ambrose Chase is revived and the full team go off into the sunset on their shift-ship.]] This wouldn't be quite as notable if Warren Ellis didn't have a Tomino-esque reputation for KillEmAll endings.

* '''Jakita Wagner''' -- A beautiful and easily-bored superstrong speedster who worked with the organisation primarily because it stopped her from getting bored (by, among other things, giving her the opportunity to beat up various monsters, aliens and giant ants).

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* MightyWhitey: Lord Blackstock.

* MysteriousBacker: The Fourth Man.
* MysteriousEmployer: The Fourth Man.
* TheNameIsBondJamesBond: Superspy John Stone introduces himself this way on his first appearance.

ComicBook series written by Creator/WarrenEllis. The series revolves around a trio of "mystery archaeologists" tasked to expose the secret history of the Creator/{{Wildstorm}} comic book universe and protect these secrets from a quartet known as "The Four" who seek to hoard the secrets for their own selfish desires.

The series was conceived as a metaphorical anthology series for Ellis: each issue would be a different genre and theme, with the only constant being the main trio. However, due to artist John Cassady being poached for work on mainstream books such as ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'' and ''ComicBook/AstonishingXMen'', and Warren Ellis quickly growing tired of the book (having regretted giving up ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'' to Creator/MarkMillar and seeing that book become a huge genre changing mega-hit), the series hit a massive {{Schedule Slip}}page crisis that led to the series being released on a severely sporadic schedule after issue #12, for the remainder of the series run.

* BadassCrew: Though Planetary and the Four definitely have their badass moments, the ''real'' standout is the Secret Society, a team of adventurers who were almost entirely killed in the line of duty in 1945. The team's roster is essentially an all-star lineup of early 20th century TwoFistedTales, including obvious {{Captain Ersatz}}es of Franchise/DocSavage, Franchise/{{Tarzan}}, Literature/FuManchu, Radio/TheGreenHornet, Operator 5, G-8 and Literature/TomSwift.

*** The sole survivor, Axel Brass, is Franchise/DocSavage AKA "The Man of Bronze". He has ''lots'' to say about those times, and turns out to be an excellent source of information on how the Four came to be.

* MightyWhitey: Lord Blackstock. A member of an advanced hidden African tribe he occasionally associates with explains to Elijah that, while Kevin is always polite to them, they can tell he sees himself as superior and thinks of them as his subjects. He also seems bemused that Elijah could find a black woman attractive and he describes Africa as his “childhood haunt”, indicating that he sees an entire continent as his personal estate/playground he can drop into whenever he feels nostalgic.

* SecretMessageWink: In issue 4, team leader Jakita and new recruit Elijah have an argument about how to handle a situation, which Elijah cuts short by taking the action he's been arguing for and silently daring Jakita to stop him. After he storms off, the third team member winks at Jakita and she smiles back; she actually agrees with Elijah, but she needed to see if he would propose the solution unprompted, and stick with it despite opposition, [[SecretTestOfCharacter as part of assessing how well he's suited to the team]].

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: In the ''Batman'' crossover, at one point, Elijah uses his powers to give someone what he calls "an ice cream headache." What he ''actually'' does is ''freeze a portion of his brain.'' Which would either do nothing, since the brain doesn't have sensory nerves, or just kill the person outright.

* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: several characters. Snow was born on January 1 1900 and still looks like a very vigorous forty-something. Anna Hark and Jakita Wagner are the daughters of Century Babies, and both of them are around 70 by the time of the comic; Anna estimates that she (and probably by extension Jakita) will live for roughly 300 years. John Stone, thanks to some very neat drugs, has aged about 5 years since 1965.

* SilverBullets: The Dead Ranger, like the Lone Ranger that he's inspired by, used silver bullets to kill the criminals who wanted the silver mine he owned. Unlike the Lone Ranger, he tipped every bullet with mercury, a byproduct of silver mining, so that even if a shot was non-fatal, which many of them were, the victim would still die of mercury poisoning.

* PhraseCatcher: Drums, [[OnceAnEpisode once an issue,]] has someone ask him, "What's the word?" He then delivers a one-word summary of the mission at hand.