History Webcomic / Lackadaisy

* OhCrapThereAreFanficsOfUs: Mordecai, Ivy, and Viktor were made aware they have shippers. Ivy took it [[http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=337 gracefully,]] Mordecai [[http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=338 not so much,]] and Viktor's reactions ranged from stoic silence to uproarious laughter.

* PassThePopcorn: What one young cat does after Mitzi and Wick [[http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/comic.php?comicid=82 spill out of a photo booth]] due to an impromptu make-out session.

* [[DeliberatelyMonochrome Deliberately Sepiatoned]]: part of the comic's charm.

* StopHelpingMe: [[http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/comic.php?comicid=46 Rocky's face]] when Freckle explains why the pig farmers are trashing the club.

*** Think on that a second: he's ''barely done anything in canon'' and the fangirls are all over him. His previous character profile claimed he enjoys "a sort of effortless popularity with the lady-types." ''Huh.'' Touché, Tracy. Touché

* HitmanWithAHeart: Viktor Vasko is a remorseless murderer, but is loyal to his employers and particularly kind to Ivy and Mrs. Bapka. His status as a killer appears to be largely a product of his experiences in World War One, and the effect that had on his mind. His ex-partner Mordecai, for comparison, is an out-and-out psycho with bells on.

---> '''At least a dozen forum-goers'''(independent of each other): "He talked sense in the first place?"

---> '''At least a dozen forum-goers''': "He talked sense in the first place?"

The series is very much a tongue-in-cheek affair with a serious plot line and strong characterizations. [[SugarWiki/AwesomeArt The artwork is of a high professional level]], and was first published by [=ReNoir=] Comics in Italy and has now been published in English by 4th Dimension Comics for a North American release. English version available for purchase [[http://www.4thdimensionentertainment.com/product_details.php?pid=4 here]] or other major book stores.

* ProgressivelyPrettier: Thanks to ArtEvolution, Zib has become better-looking, Viktor has beefed up considerably, and Mitzi looks younger and more elegant.

-->'''Lacy''': "Headlamps, Mr. Sable."
-->'''Wick''': "Right, where would I be without you, Miss Lacy?"
-->'''Lacy''': "Hopelessly trapped in the twisted wreckage of your car. Mangled limbs. Probably on fire... With your tax records all out of order."

---> '''Zib:''' Indeed. These arms weren't designed for manual labor. I'm afraid I'm relegated to the arts.
---> '''Rocky:''' [[RunningGag But you're less like spaghetti.]] Besides, shouldn't we revel in this opportunity to ''suffer'' for our ''art?''
---> '''Mitzi:''' Zib, go suffer for your art.
--> Cut to Rocky leading the band through the tunnels.
---> '''Zib:''' [[DeadpanSnarker Your enthusiasm for suffering is somewhat unsettling.]]

* LostInTheMaize: Subverted. [[spoiler: Rocky [[GenreSavvy attempts to use it as a means of escape]] when he and Ivy were found by the owners of some stashed liquor,]] but the corn was too low-grown to be of any use.

* MoeCouplet: [[{{HugeGuyTinyGirl}} Viktor and Ivy]], [[{{MoralityPet}} whose relationship is not romantic]] but defintely cute. [[http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=337 Discussed and practically lampshaded here]], especially in the last panel.

* ArtEvolution: Not that it even needed it from the start, but as you progress through the comic you see the lighting becoming more expressive and detailed (thanks to computer rendering) and the bodies becoming more proportionate and closer to human body types. Now every frame looks like an authentic 1920's photograph.
** If you ignore the anthropomorphic cats, that is.

---> Cut to Rocky leading the band through the tunnels.

** In an interesting near-subversion, Freckle actually noticed Mordecai before Mitzi got in. It's just that nobody

** Even [[CoolOldLady Mrs. Bapka]] (Viktor's upstairs neighbor) [[WordOfGod is a hardened criminal]], who [[spoiler: [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotHeinous stuffed sardines down her kitchen drain before the widespread adaptation of garbage disposals]]]].

** In an interesting near-subversion, Freckle actually noticed Mordecai before Mitzi got in. It's just that nobody pays attention to the soft-spoken little guy.
* DeadpanSnarker: A few characters (see character sheet) and Tracy Butler herself is one; her artist comments and answers to reader questions are filled with snarks to rival Zib's.
* {{Defictionalization}}: The club-shaped pin, in a case of TheRedStapler.
* [[DeliberatelyMonochrome Deliberately Sepiatoned]]: part of the comic's charm.
** That said, the side comics where she does use full color are stunning and memorable.
* DirtyCop: The two who picked up Zib took the money that he had just gotten from Mitzi, and joked about using it to gamble at the next horse race in front of him.
** They get called on this by Dom Drago, though. [[spoiler: Not that his showing up portends good things in the future for Zib and the rest of our merry band...]]
* DoingItForTheArt: And how!
* DramaticNecklaceRemoval: Sort of. Zib grabs Mitzi's pearl necklace, but when she pulls away, the necklace breaks and the pearls scatter everywhere. He didn't do this on purpose, however.
* EarlyBirdCameo: Wick and Mordecai both appear during the flashback in the second page of the comic. They join the cast formally join the cast in pages 13 and 27, respectively.
** Asa Sweet has a ''very'' early cameo as well. He isn't formally introduced until about 3/4s of the way through the first volume, but if you look closely you can see him in the crowd attending Atlas May's funeral in the first few pages.
* EstrogenBrigadeBait:
** Zib and Mordecai seem to be neck-and-neck for the title of FanDarling, though seemingly for very different reasons.
** Nicodeme hasn't appeared much yet, but despite this he's already got a large female following.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:F-J]]
* FedToPigs: One of the uses of the pig farm...
* FourFingeredHands: Justified, since they're all cats.
* FriendToAllLivingThings: Tracy herself. As evidenced by her 08/23/2010 journal entry on her deviantArt page, Tracy has recently 'unofficially adopted' her neighbor's cat Luca after she found the poor creature barely alive with several serious facial injuries and a myriad of infections. She took Luca to the vet to have him humanely euthanized, but then found it in her heart (and wallet) to pay for his many many surgeries, antibiotic treatments, and pain medication. The result: Luca is now living happily with Tracy as a sort of bizarre IRL counterpart to Viktor, as Luca lost an eye to infection and is generally chewed up body wise.
* FunnyAnimal: Everyone, but quite a few feline expressions are used (particularly with Ivy).
* FurriesAreEasierToDraw: A reason for why the cast are felines, [[WordOfGod according to Tracy]].
** Not that she [[http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=312 can't]] [[http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=218 draw]] [[http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=184 humans]]. [[http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=328 The cast as humans]] translate incredibly well.
** And [[http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=307 normal animals]]. It's not so much "easier" as "zanier for cartoon TheRoaringTwenties antics".
** WordOfGod is that she also thought cartoony cat faces were more expressive. She may have a point as when she draws the cast as humans, she shows an inclination to do so with stunning realism.
*** Proof the cat faces are more expressive? Check out [[http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=333 "Lackadaisy Expressions"]] -- Tracy's attempt to deliver advice on drawing a multitude of facial expressions, filled with examples utilizing a number of the strip's characters. The range of expressions and emotions is absolutely astounding.
** Not to mention the option of fluffing up a cat's tail if s/he's frightened by something, or moving the ears to show interest or displeasure.
* FurryConfusion: Talking cats and real pigs.
** [[http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=347 "Pets? Who said there were pets?]] [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial No one knows anything about any pets."]]
* GorgeousPeriodDress: Being TheRoaringTwenties, we get everything from flapper dresses, three-piece pinstripe suits and some fashion holdovers from TheGayNineties. Then there's Rocky's zoot suit...
* GrievousBottleyHarm: You can't have a story about bootleggers without this one. Viktor [[http://www.lackadaisycats.com/comic.php?comicid=120 shows us how it's done.]]
* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Viktor and Ivy, respectively.
* HumanoidFemaleAnimal: The female cats have human-like head hair, and the males have only hints of hair. Justified; [[FridgeBrilliance short hair for men was the standard back then]].
** As Nico's head fur is longer than that of the other male cats, we can assume males would have equally human-like hair if they'd just grow it out. The boys have hair of varying lengths in [[http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=328 this]] side comic, for example.
* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Every page is titled "Lackadaisy [[[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness Something Multisyllabic]]]". "Sketchdumps" on the author's Deviant Art page are commonly labeled "Lackadaisy [[[AntiquatedLinguistics Crazy Old-Timey Slang Word]]]".
* ImprovisedArmour: Viktor uses car doors as a shield; nothing too ostentatious, that happens in real life as well. Mordecai also uses his accountant-esque suitcase as a shield at one point.
* ImprovisedWeapon:
** Viktor, [[BadAss naturally]], is the undisputed champion of this trope in the comic. He's knocked out someone with a car door, whacked people with heavy whisky bottles, and laid the smackdown on a rival gang with only a crowbar, for starters.
** Mordecai comes in a close second -- he's thought quickly enough to kill someone with a fragmented wood bannister.
* IncendiaryExponent: One early sequence showcasing Rocky's "logic" -- see CrazyAwesome, on the [[YMMV/{{Lackadaisy}} YMMV page]] -- lets you know exactly what kind of comic this is going to be.
* IndyPloy:
--> "''Always'' be prepared to improvise, Freckle. That's rule number one for jazz players and vigilantes alike."
* JugglingLoadedGuns[=/=]RecklessGunUsage: [[http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=19 In a background extra strip]], Rocky shoots himself in the ear when waving around his pistol, giving him the hole in the ear seen in the regular strip.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:K-O]]
* KneeCapping: Mordecai did this to Viktor in the recent past.
--> '''Mordecai:''' That is how one reasons with Viktor.
* KubrickStare: Considering that this is a cast of sociopaths, [[SociopathicHero heroic]], [[HeroicComedicSociopath comedic]], or those who are emphatically ''normal'', just about everyone gets a panel like this. [[http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/comic.php?comicid=83 Even Ivy]].
* LostInTheMaize: Subverted. [[spoiler: Rocky [[GenreSavvy attempts to use it as a means of escape]] when he and Ivy were found by the owners of some stashed liquor,]] but the corn was too low-grown to be of any use.
--> '''Rocky:''' "No! Why isn't this corn tall enough? This is terrible corn!"
* MatureAnimalStory
* MoeCouplet: [[{{HugeGuyTinyGirl}} Viktor and Ivy]], [[{{MoralityPet}} whose relationship is not romantic]] but defintely cute. [[http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=337 Discussed and practically lampshaded here]], especially in the last panel.
* NeighbourhoodFriendlyGangsters
* NoodleIncident: Used in a couple of [[http://tracyjb.deviantart.com/art/Lackadaisy-Chit-chat-59123905 gag]] [[http://tracyjb.deviantart.com/art/Lackadaisy-Euphemisms-139975448 comics]].
** Though the one about Viktor's eye has been answered, if you look [[http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=76 on the lower right here]].
* NotHelpingYourCase: [[http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/comic.php?comicid=80 Mitzi here,]] dear God.
* OffhandBackhand: Not exactly a backhand, but Viktor still pulls off something with the same sentiment. [[http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/comic.php?comicid=88 When incapacitated]]. Poor Rocky just can't catch a break.
* OhCrapThereAreFanficsOfUs: Mordecai, Ivy, and Viktor were made aware they have shippers. Ivy took it [[http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=337 gracefully,]] Mordecai [[http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=338 not so much,]] and Viktor's reactions ranged from stoic silence to uproarious laughter.
** When it was mentioned to Rocky that he might have fangirls, he was [[http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=336 thrilled.]]
* OldFashionedRowboatDate: Mitzi and Wick had one... sort of. And by 1920s standards, it was quite old-fashioned.
* OneHeadTaller: Nicodeme and Serafine.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:P-T]]
* PassThePopcorn: What one young cat does after Mitzi and Wick [[http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/comic.php?comicid=82 spill out of a photo booth]] due to an impromptu make-out session.
* PluckyComicRelief: Rocky and Freckle's wacky hijinks.
* ProgressivelyPrettier: Thanks to ArtEvolution, Zib has become better-looking, Viktor has beefed up considerably, and Mitzi looks younger and more elegant.
* RhymesOnADime: Viktor and Ivy get into this, during an argument.
--> '''Viktor''': Chad vas... bad.\\
'''Ivy''': And Claude? Was that your work too?\\
'''Viktor''': Claude vas...\\
'''Ivy''': Let me guess -- flawed?\\
'''Viktor''': Yah.
** [[SubvertedTrope Then subvert it:]]
---> '''Ivy''': And Cecil?
--->'''Viktor''': Cecil vas, uhh...
--->'''Ivy''': Oh, don't bother answering that. Nothing rhymes with Cecil anyway.
--->'''Viktor''': Terrible name. [[CrowningMomentOfFunny And also he vas no good]].
* TheRoaringTwenties: Of course.
* RuleOfCool:
** The artist has a penchant for drawing Wick dramatically brandishing a revolver. She admits that [[NonActionGuy he would have no idea how to use one]], but it makes him look debonair.
** The same happens to Rocky, who, in an attempt to look "pretty dashing" [[http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=19 in one of the early comic previews]], promptly manages to shoot part of his ear off.
** [[WordOfGod Tracey]] admits that although Zib plays both the saxophone and the clarinet in the band, he is never pictured with a clarinet due to his own ''vanity'' at playing the [[IncrediblyLamePun "sexyphone"]].
** Cast members sometimes wear zoot suits, despite those being slightly anachronistic.
* RuleOfThree: In "[[http://www.lackadaisycats.com/comic.php?comicid=94 Lackadaisy Correspondence]]:"
-->'''Freckle''': "It's a three. It's my lucky number... I guess."\\
'''Nina''' (first horizontal panel): "Oh, is it then? Well, it's a good number."\\
'''Nina''' (second horizontal panel): "A ''holy'' number."\\
'''Freckle''' (third horizontal panel): *cringe*
* ScrapbookStory: Freckle has kept every letter his cousin has ever sent him-even the very few we're shown on [[http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/comic.php?comicid=94 this page]] paint a very descriptive picture of what Rocky's been up to since he left home (and explains a few things about his shenanigans as an employee of the Lackadaisy speakeasy).
* ShipTease: The artist made a few pages addressed to fans discussing the characters reactions to shippers. Specifically [[http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=337 Ivy and Viktor]] and [[http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=338 Viktor and Mordecai]].
* ShirtlessScene: Oddly enough, any time any of the male characters take off their shirt to reveal their sleeveless undershirts, they gain +5 sex appeal, whether they be in ''cat'' or human form.
* ShownTheirWork: Just try to find a historical inaccuracy besides people being anthropomorphic animals (zoot suits being the [[RuleOfCool sole, and acknowledged by the author, exception]]).
** It is virtually impossible to find a historical inaccuracy, unless the author draws attention to it specifically and explains the reason behind it. It turns out to be very, very minor.
** Seriously, look at literally ''anything'' in the comic and try to see something that didn't look like lots of thought and knowledge was put into it.
* SoundDefect: WordOfGod has it that [[http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=331 the sound of Viktor's fist hitting a face]]... is [[UnsoundEffect kind of bizarre]]. At least it is pre-{{canon}}. Or [[RuleOfFunny maybe just that once]].
* SplashOfColor: A few of the side comics, such as "Shenanigans" and "Tannenbaum," have color added in a few panels. "Haymaker" and "Powder-keg" have blood drawn in red, contrasting the sepia in the rest of the panels.
* SpoofAesop: [[http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/comic.php?comicid=94 "Truth is pain. 8C"]]
* StabTheSalad:
** "[[http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/comic.php?comicid=77 WICK, IFOUNDYOURTIREIRON!!!]]"
** "[[http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=332 ...Now's a bad time.]]"
** "[[http://www.lackadaisycats.com/comic.php?comicid=13 Some thug brought this message for you.]]"
* StealthHiBye: Mordecai discovers the downside of doing this [[http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/comic.php?comicid=72 here]].
* StopHelpingMe: [[http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/comic.php?comicid=46 Rocky's face]] when Freckle explains why the pig farmers are trashing the club.
* StrangeMindsThinkAlike: Not in the comic, but by the fans. During the page [[http://lackadaisycats.com/comic.php?comicid=124 Coercion]]:
--> '''Ivy''' (about Rocky): "Will he ever talk sense again?!"
** In the forums immediately after:
---> '''At least a dozen forum-goers''': "He talked sense in the first place?"
* TakeThat
** [[http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=333 The expressions tutorial]] would dissuade aspiring artists from relying on DullSurprise, [[{{Animesque}} anime]] [[CheekyMouth cues]], and "DreamWorksFace" (referred to as "The Smarm Brow") as regular crutches.
** In that same section she mentions having eyebrow privileges taken away. Possibly a TakeThat at Tom Preston, who is know for odd usage of eyebrows in his comics, usually along with smarmy faces.
*** One section of that expressions tutorial looks like it's specifically referencing [[{{CtrlAltDel}} a certain famous webcomic]] notorious for its bland, generic expressions.
*** Another section of that expressions tutorial seems to be specifically referencing [[Webcomic/DominicDeegan another famous webcomic]] notorious for its use of CheekyMouth and snout shaped noses.
** [[http://tracyjb.deviantart.com/#/d422uo7 Her most recent tutorial]] also shows a strong disdain to a [[{{RobLiefeld}} certain artist.]]
* TertiarySexualCharacteristics: The female characters are drawn with humanoid, styled hair, but most of the males' fur is consistently the same length, like real cats. Possibly justified; see HumanoidFemaleAnimal above.
* [[ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks Throwing Your Gun Always Works]]: [[http://www.lackadaisycats.com/comic.php?comicid=56 Zib demonstrates]]. Though it ''was'' established beforehand that he's quite inexperienced with firearms.
** Given that the pistol in question was a .25 caliber Beretta (and his total lack of gun-kata), Zib could probably do more damage by throwing it rather than firing it. Freckle, on the other hand...
* TwoGuysAndAGirl: Rocky, Freckle, and Mitzi seemed to be the first characters thought of and designed. The initial proto-sketches and artwork were mostly images of the three of them getting into wacky criminal hijinks together. Though Tracey now admits it would be dreadfully out of character for Mitzi these days.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:U-Z]]
* UglyGuyHotWife: Highly subjective of course, but Elsa and Bobby are an example.
* TheUnreveal: Rocky and Zib's conversation in [[http://www.lackadaisycats.com/comic.php?comicid=30 Hallelujah: ]]
-->'''Zib:''' But before you hightail it out of here, humor me - just what made a lad like you volunteer to go running hooch around in the dead of night?
-->'''Rocky:''' ''Well,'' I -- oops. Did you see that? One of my strings is broken.
-->'''Zib:''' Alright. [[DeadpanSnarker I'm glad we]] [[SarcasmMode settled that.]]
* VitriolicBestBuds: The former dynamic duo of Viktor and Mordecai; while not exactly 'best buds', both had a tentative respect for each other's existence. Considering the kind of people [[SociopathicHero Viktor]] and [[FourEyesZeroSoul Mordecai]] are, a vague kinda-you-sorta respect is probably the closest thing to 'friendship' either one is capable of.
** The two actually spent time together out of work, if [[http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=327 this mini-comic]] can be trusted.
--->'''Mordecai''': "''Wha'' was I saying? Oh, Viktor. Right. Viktor. Viktor's ''greeaat''."
* WebcomicTime: The comic started some six years ago. Since then, ''two days'' have passed in-story. This is due in large part to the excessive amount of work that goes into the comic, plus some ScheduleSlip now and then.
* WorldOfFunnyAnimals
[[/folder]]

----

*** One section of that expressions tutorial looks like it's specifically referencing [[{{CtrlAltDel}} a certain famous webcomic notorious for its bland, generic expressions.]]

The series is very much a tongue-in-cheek affair with a serious plot line and strong characterizations. [[AwesomeArt The artwork is of a professional level]] and was first published by [=ReNoir=] Comics in Italy and has now been published in English by 4th Dimension Comics for a North American release. English version available for purchase [[http://www.4thdimensionentertainment.com/product_details.php?pid=4 here]] or other major book stores.

** [[SubvertedTrope: Then subvert it:]]

'''Viktor''': Cecil vas, uhh...
'''Ivy''': Oh, don't bother answering that. [[RhymesWithOrange Nothing rhymes with Cecil anyway]].
'''Viktor''': Terrible name. [[CrowningMomentOfFunny And also he vas no good]].