Line #50 ComicBook/PierreTombal


1	[[quoteright:240:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pierre-tombal-1-coul_2923.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:240:Just hope that when you pass away you'll have a grave digger as competent and wonderful as Pierre!]]
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4	''Pierre Tombal'' is a [[BelgianComics Belgian comic book series]] by Marc Hardy and Raoul Cauvin. It's a gag comic about a gravedigger who acts like a confidence advisor towards the dead people in his cemetery. He treats them as residents and listens to their wishes, complaints and problems, yet also makes sure they obey the rules. Sometimes the dead forget that they are all [[DemBones living skeletons]] now and frighten the living people. Or they overestimate their abilities and do stuff that either leaves their bones in a mess or frightens everybody. One of the [[RunningGag running gags]] is that some people are genuinely shocked by the fact that these skeletons are still alive, while others just accept the fact that life apparently just goes on, even after death.
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6	The series is one of the PrintLongRunners, debuted in 1986 and still in syndication.
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9	!! Tropes found in this comic strip:
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11	* AllAreEqualInDeath: Subverted with a gag where Jesus and his apostles all receive poor man's graves, while Judas is buried in a colossal mausoleum. Pierre's commentary: "Judas could afford it."
12	* ArtEvolution: Compare Pierre in the first volume to the latest one. Mindblowing, isn't it? The compilation for love-themed gags makes this all the more apparent.
13	* AnyLastWords: One gag was entirely devoted to famous last words in history.
14	* AssholeVictim: People that unwisely annoy the Grim Reaper tend to have it coming.
15	* BerserkButton: One good way to anger Pierre fast is to bring up his cousin/rival gravedigger Marie.
16	* BewareTheNiceOnes: Pierre is friendly as can be, but even his patience has limits.
17	* BlackComedy: A lot of jokes about death.
18	* BrilliantButLazy: The Grim Reaper is usually seen sitting around on somebody's gravestone. Being who he is, he's actually fast enough to go anywhere on Earth on short notice.
19	* BurialAtSea: Pierre desperately tries to avoid his potential clients being buried there (same for incineration), because his rival takes care of those.
20	* CainAndAbel[=/=]SiblingRivalry: Despite being cousins, Pierre and Marie don't get along too well...
21	* CantLiveWithThemCantLiveWithoutThem: The Grim Reaper would love nothing more than to reap Life, but it's been shown that without her, the world would be lifeless and he'd be left with nothing to do, so he tries to tolerate her existence. Sometimes.
22	* ComicBookTime: None of the recurrers age a day, although given the Grim Reaper's job, that is a blessing of sorts.
23	* CreepyMortician: Pierre himself isn't particularly creepy. It's just the fact that his clients are all NotQuiteDead and he seems unfazed by it.
24	* TheDeadHaveNames: They do and some of them are celebrities.
25	* DeadPersonConversation: Pierre often talks with the dead on his cemetery, helping them out or telling them to follow the rules.
26	* DeathAsComedy: The entire theme of this series.
27	* DeathByIrony: Often used a punchline.
28	* DeathIsNotPermanent: According to this comic strip the dead are actually not really ''dead'', just spending the rest of their... er... death underneath the ground. They still find time for new activities, such as playing games, reading magazines and going on a holiday.
29	* DemBones: Skeletons are very much alive in this comic strip.
30	* DidntThinkThisThrough: One tenant was an author who would get huge amounts of hands-on experience before publishing a book. So when he wondered about death, he committed suicide, got huge amounts of hands-on experience being dead, and now... can't write the book.
31	* FantasticallyIndifferent: The people that aren't bothered by the living dead also take the existence of beings like the Grim Reaper in stride.
32	* TheFunInFuneral: A wonderful description of this comic book.
33	* GagNose: Most people have huge noses in this comic book.
34	* GraveHumor: Starting with the protagonist's name and going down from here.
35	* GraveRobbing: Whenever this happens the robbers are in for a JumpScare, because the skeletons just answer back.
36	* GrimReaper: The Grim Reaper is also a regular character. But you better not anger him, or he kills you off.
37	* InterrogatingTheDead: Pierre often does this, because something is missing and he suspects one of his dead clients stole it. Or there's some other disturbance that the living complain about and it is apparently traceable to the dead people.
38	* JumpScare: This is the most common reaction of living people whenever they see the dead move or show a sign of life.
39	* JustFollowingOrders: The Grim Reaper generally doesn't kill unless God tells him to. However, if someone makes him angry enough, he's willing to act on his own.
40	* LaxativePrank: Pierre and Marie once planned to spike the other's drink. ''[[StrangeMindsThinkAlike At the same time]].'' This goes as well as you might expect.
41	* LongerThanLifeSentence: ParodiedTrope. One gag sees a petty thug being brought to prison and panicking at the coffin in his jail cell. As it turned out, his cellmate was convicted and condemned to a 20 years jail sentence. He committed suicide during his 10th year in jail. As the cops explain to the petty thug who has just been jailed, they brought back his cellmate's coffin to serve the 10 years he still had to do.
42	* MeaningfulName: Pierre Tombal, a pun on the French first name ''Pierre'', which can also mean ''stone''. In combination with the last name ''Tombal'' this makes his name translate to ''Grave Stone''.
43	* MetaphoricallyTrue: "This book contains the name of a great number of people whom will die in the future." It turned out to be a phone book. After all, WeAllDieSomeday.
44	* MinimalistCast: Pierre Tombal is the only recurring character whose name we know, except for Anja the barmaid in his local bar. There are some people who regularly visit the cemetery and whom he lectures about the proceedings there, but they never receive a name. Pierre is sometimes seen playing cards with his rivals, the proprietor of a crematory and a capitain specializing in sea burials.
45	** Later volumes introduce his cousin Marie, who is also a gravedigger (and therefore another rival to his business).
46	* MundaneUtility: Ever hear of someone turning in his grave? Turns out attaching a dynamo to a coffin does wonders for your electric bill.
47	** Some of the skeletonized residents do odd jobs like unblocking the septic tank. They're willing to help, but if you forget them while they're in there...
48	* NationalStereotypes: One strip has a grave salesmen showing the kinds of graves dug in other countries: Americans' are grossly oversized, Middle Eastern countries use bomb craters...
49	* NauseaFuel: InUniverse: One talk show features different methods of burial, with one guy going on about the virtues of being buried at sea. Someone else asks if he likes seafood, he says yes, then gets sked "What do you think ''they'' eat?" Cue vomiting.
50	* {{Nephewism}}: A [[{{Retcon}} retroactive case]], as Pierre and Marie are noted to descend from fathers that shared the same gravedigger business as brothers.
51	* NoAntagonist: There's no real antagonist in this comic book, though Pierre has a business rivalry with a BurialAtSea business and another specializing in incinerations. Then there's [[SitcomArchnemesis his cousin Marie]].
52	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed:
53	** One album cover has Pierre walking towards a grave that shoots its gravestone up in the air and shouting: "I wish you would stop doing that, Mr. von Braun!"
54	** In another grave a large eagle arrives, opens up the grave, goes inside, a painful scream is heard, whereupon Pierre runs to the grave, but the bird already flew away. Turns out it was the grave of Prometheus.
55	* NonStandardCharacterDesign: Little girls and beautiful young women look different from other types of characters. They also tend to [[TheNoseless lack noses]].
56	* TheNothingAfterDeath: A particularly odd example. God and the Grim Reaper apparently exist in this universe, but the dead don't seem to go to either Heaven, Purgatory, Hell or any other sort of afterlife. They just spend their days and nights on the cemetery as residents.
57	* OurFairiesAreDifferent: The [[AnthropomorphicPersonification personification]] of Life is a nymph with blue hair and urban clothing.
58	* PalsWithJesus: Pierre and the Grim Reaper are long-time acquaintances, [[VitriolicBestBuds though not necessarily on friendly terms]].
59	* PunchClockVillain: Not really a villain per se, but the Grim Reaper fits. He simply does his job, and sometimes regrets having to make his victims' loved ones sad.
60	%%* PunnyName:
61	* TheRival: Pierre Tombal's main rivals are the proprietor of a crematory and one who specializes in burials at sea. The latest volumes introduce a third one, his own cousin Marie.
62	* ScareEmStraight: Sometimes, Pierre relies on the Grim Reaper to "persuade" people from doing a bad decision.
63	* TheSilentBob: While the Grim Reaper rarely says anything, his intent is understood just fine by some people.
64	* ShoutOut: One ''Pierre Tombal'' gag has someone buried with his flute, as a last wish. In the final panel we see on his grave stone that it is Peewit from ''ComicBook/JohanAndPeewit''.
65	* {{Slapstick}}: Naturally, since people tend to die in [[BlackComedy comical ways]]. Not even [[MsFanservice young ladies]] are spared.
66	* SmokingIsCool: Pierre is seldom seen without a cigarette between his lips.
67	* SquashedFlat: Besides his usual rounds on dry land, the Grim Reaper also has to naturally plunge into the sea to kill the animals there. This involves deep sea creatures as well, with the resulting depth pressure flattening him like a board.
68	* TooDumbToLive: One guy died because of AIDS. Pierre starts telling him off about how people should be aware of how to protect themselves, and the guy protests that he did: one condom with a glass of water every day. Cause of death: blocked intestine.
69	* WeAllDieSomeday: "This book contains the names of a great many people whom will die in the future." It's a phone book.
70	* WhatExactlyIsHisJob: Pierre's professional activities go well beyond what a normal gravedigger would do. He acts as a confidential advisor, spokesperson, guard, justice keeper, peace and order keeper, contact with the real world....
71	* YouCantFightFate: It doesn't matter what you do, the Grim Reaper ''will'' claim you sooner or later. The best thing to do is try to be in his good graces, so that he can offer protection from robbers.

Context ComicBook / PierreTombal