Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context ComicBook / Savage

Go To

1[[quoteright:299:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/savage_the_guvnor.png]]
2
3In 1999 the Volgan Republic of Asia invaded Western Europe, defeating and occupying Britain in hours, leaving only resistance groups fighting for liberty. When London lorry driver Bill Savage found out his family had been killed in the invasion, he took up arms against the invaders.
4
5One of ''ComicBook/TwoThousandAD''[='=]s debut titles in 1977 under the name of ''Invasion!'' and written by then editor Pat Mills the original story lasted 44 issues before being discontinued. However in 2004 the story was resurrected by Mills and re-titled ''Savage''.
6
7----
8!!Tropes:
9
10* AlternateHistory: ''Savage'''s solution to avoid FailedFutureForecast. Here the timeline diverged in 1989 when the Volgan Peoples Party was founded.
11** Possibly even earlier, as the SLR (A British FN FAL clone) is still in service in 1999. Justified, though, as at the time ''Invasion!'' was published, the SLR was still Britain's service rifle and the [=SA80=] had not been designed yet.
12** Might be even ealier, Vashkov's MotiveRant centers around Bomber Harris using poison gas on the order of UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill during the allied intervention in the Russian Civil War.
13** Also, Princess Diana wasn't killed in a car crash, nor did she and Charles divorce in the ''Savage'' verse.
14* AIIsACrapshoot: The [=MkI=] Hammersteins are unable to distinguish between friend and foe, killing everything in sight. The [=MkIIs=] have the opposite problem: They actually surrender when they calculate collateral damage from the battle and decide it's not worth lowering property prices.
15* AmericaSavesTheDay: Subverted. The U.S. government officially stays out of the war for years until freeing the United Kingdom is within their interests; Namely the newly discovered oil fields in the North Sea.
16* AntiHero: Savage shows no mercy whatsoever towards the Volgs or LesCollaborateurs, often gunning them down in cold blood without a second thought. In fact, in Book 10, he's established to be a SerialKiller.
17* AristocratsAreEvil: Heavily used in ''Invasion!'' all Aristocrats that appear are collaborateurs.
18* BadassLongcoat: Savage has a tendency to wear long coats in the newer stories in order to conceal his shotgun.
19* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Subverted. Krasnodon is stated to be the Volgan equivalent of JFK in that he's handsome and charismatic. A couple is seen discussing this in the pub with the wife noting that Krasnodon can't be evil on account of his looks. However, the Volgs fuck Britain up worse under Krasnodon, even hitting the country with an EMP to regress the country to TheEighties.
20* BerserkButton: Some Volgs insult Noddy's mother. [[BewareTheNiceOnes He responds by gunning them down with a shotgun]].
21* BreakOutTheMuseumPiece: By the time of Book 4, Electromagnetic Pulse technology has reduced Britain to early [[TheEighties eightes]] technology.
22** Fashion also appears to have regressed.
23* BloodKnight: Savage. After his wife and kids are murdered, all he does is fight Volgs. He plans to [[DeathSeeker get himself killed]] in book VIII at the end of the uprising, because he doesn't feel that he can live in peace, but his resistance cohorts want him to live, as he's become a symbol of freedom.
24* CainAndAbel: [[spoiler: Jack Savage faked his death and was working with the Volgs all along. Naturally, Bill is not happy when he finds this out.]]
25* CanonDiscontinuity: ''Savage'' retcons away a prolog to ''Invasion!'' called ''Disaster1990'' which had a nuclear explosion at the north pole, melting the ice, flooding Britain. That said, it got reprinted and packaged with December 2012's and January 2013's issues of the ''Megazine'', which lampshaded the whole thing.
26** Quite possibly also Savage's cameo in ''Armoured Gideon''.
27* CaptainErsatz: Pat Mills was forced to make the Volgans this after ExecutiveMeddling in ''Invasion!''
28** Lady Shirley Brown is a clear LawyerFriendlyCameo for UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher.
29** In book 7 it comes obvious that Scooty was supposed to be UsefulNotes/TonyBlair. Though, Blair is stated to have been head of the Labour party before they became True Labour.
30* CharacterDevelopment: Savage goes from little characterization (Barely any backstory and sterotypical working class attitude) in ''Invasion!'' to having a much more detailed backstory along with a wider family and more justification for his continuing struggle in ''Savage''.
31* LesCollaborateurs: Called Double Yellows
32* {{Cyborg}}: The Grinders are humans who have been augmented with weaponry to subvert the new British government.
33* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Savage'' compared to ''Invasion''
34* DayOfTheJackboot: Britain is invaded and conquered by the Volgs in around eight hours after they deploy nuclear weapons.
35* DeathSeeker: Savage reveals himself to be this in "Rise Like Lions". The rest of the resistance won't let him die, as he's become a symbol of freedom for the British people.
36* DecapitatedArmy: Subverted. Savage kills Vashkov in Book 2. Krasnodon takes over and the struggle continues, if anything, worse than ever.
37* FailedFutureForecast: Averted in ''Savage''. The Volgans are turned into a fascist party that took over the USSR in the 1991 coup.
38* GunPorn: Or, more specifically, Shotgun Porn. Bill's preference for [[ShotgunsAreJustBetter shotguns]] is shown with detailed closeups of several shotguns. In the original ''Invasion'' strips, he uses a double-barrelled side-by-side coachgun before upgrading to a Remington 870, which carries over into Book 1 of ''Savage''. In Book 2, he uses his old double-barrelled for a "Special Occasion"; Namely, the assassination of [[BigBad Vashkov]]. In later books, the Remington 870 returns, as well as an Amsel Striker and a [[SawedOffShotgun Serbu Super Shorty]].
39* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Savage is quite brutal in his methods of dealing with the Volgs, doing such things as shooting surrendering/fleeing troops, slaughtering a restaurant full of people who dine with occupying troops and using his mentally impaired brother-in-law to gain info by generally putting him in harm's way. Some of the other resistance groups are little more than thugs using the revolution as an excuse to commit criminal acts.
40* HijackedByGanon: The entire conflict was masterminded by [[spoiler: Howard Quartz]] in order to field test [[spoiler: the ComicBook/ABCWarriors]].
41* HufflepuffHouse: The entirety of mainland Europe. Apart from one cross-channel hop in ''Invasion!'' and savage being part of the ''Free European Army'' (FEAR) in ''Savage'', the struggle in Europe is not mentioned. Averted in Book 10, where Savage has moved to Germany to continue the fight.
42* InSpiteOfANail: The global recession of the late noughties and 2010s still happens in the ''Savage'' verse in spite of the AlternateHistory, as evidenced by the "Ghost Estates" of Ireland used to test the Mark II Hammersteins.
43* KillItWithFire: Certain roads have been sprayed with a combustible material that sets [[ManOnFire people on fire]] should they step on it. It gives a double meaning to the phrase "Don't cross a double yellow", as not only is "Double Yellow" a slang for a [[TheQuisling Volg collaborator]], but the fire fields are actually marked with double yellow parking lines.
44* TheLostLenore: Bill never got over the deaths of his wife and children. [[GeneralRipper He absolutely hates the Volgs]] over it so badly to the extent that where most people lay wreaths on the anniversary of the death of a loved one, Bill goes out with a shotgun and shoots a couple of {{Mook}}s.
45* MagicPlasticSurgery: At the start of Book 1, Bill has surgery to resemble his brother, Jack, who was [[spoiler: [[FakingTheDead believed]]]] killed at the start of the Volgan invasion. He changes his identity again by the time Book 4 rolls around and, by Book 9 at least, no longer resembles Jack.
46* MoreDakka: Several examples. The two that stand out are Savage's use of the [[{{BFG}} "Steel Storm"]], a six barreled assault rifle with an incredible firing rate [[UnusableEnemyEquipment that uses a coded ring to authorise its use]] and Savage's slaughter of an entire restaurant full of "Double Yellows" when the StateSec attempt to arrest him.
47* MonsterOfTheWeek: ''Invasion!'' followed this pattern with single issue stories of savage defeating the Volgans in a different location with the occasional longer story.
48* ANaziByAnyOtherName: The Volgans are a fascist party that took control of the old Soviet Union after a coup against Gorbachev. They even have a division called the SS.
49* TheNeutralZone: Ireland, at least early on. Later, the Allied forces use Ireland as a base to launch their assault on Britain with the Hammerstein Mk 1s.
50* MonumentalDamage: Tower Bridge is blown up by the Volgans along with other bridges over the Thames to keep back the ABC robots as close in on London. Rather pointlessly considering they can cross at multiple points further up river (Oxford and Virginia Water).
51* NotDistractedByTheSexy: Martine Green attempts to seduce Savage to spare her life after he finds she is one of the ones responsible for Tom's death. Savage simply shoots her.
52* OccupiersOutOfOurCountry: The original ''Invasion!'' strip and the first nine books of ''Savage'' follows Bill Savage's fight against the Volgan occupation of the United Kingdom.
53* PreMortemOneLiner: "Laugh ''this'' off, twinkletoes."
54* {{Prequel}}: ''Savage'' is set in the same universe as ''ComicBook/ABCWarriors'' and the last couple of books have begun to introduce Hammerstein, Mek Quake and Blackblood robots [[spoiler: as well as explain how Howard Quartz ended up as a BrainInAJar.]]
55* PuttingOnTheReich: because of DependingOnTheArtist the Volgans in ''Invasion!'' dressed more like Nazis than Russians half the time (the other half, they're dressed like Americans, though these stories were published when UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror was in full swing). They also often uses [=WW2=] German looking vehicles.
56* TheQuisling: Scooty, the puppet Prime Minister in ''Savage''
57** Simon [[MeaningfulName Creepton]], the Prime Minister in ''Invasion!''
58* TelevisionGeography: An example occurs in ''Savage''. After Savage and a group of resistance fighters have formed blockade on Oxford Street, a truck comes to take them to the Centre Point building. However Centre Point is on nearby New Oxford Street. They should barely have to walk five minutes to get to it.
59* SerialKiller: By Book 10, it's established that every March, Bill takes his shotgun and goes out to kill {{Mook}}s, leaving empty casings at the scene. One of the major antagonists is a [[InspectorJavert Volgan detective assigned to find him]].
60* ShotgunsAreJustBetter: Savage has a preference for "shooters" in combat. Chantry manages to identify him this way when he takes on his brother's identity (and face). After this, he tends to use pistols and submachine guns instead.
61* StateSec: The SS is basically this. Chantry and Head are members of this organisation, with Chantry spending Book 1 attempting to identify Savage. He even sacrifices Head to maintain his cover inside the resistance.
62* LaResistance: Several groups. It's implied that Savage is the [[WeAreStrugglingTogether only thing keeping them from turning on each other]].
63* RobotWar: Doubles as a crossover with ''ComicBook/ABCWarriors" when the Americans finally attempt to liberate Britain they use Mark 1 Hammerstein robots against the Volgans.
64** Book seven also gives up the Mark 1 Blackbloods.
65** A Mek Quake unit is captured by the Volgs and used to demolish surrendering Mark II Hammersteins.
66* UnusualEuphemism: The first three volumes makes occasional usage of "Funk" in place of the more potent swearwords. Leads to some surreal moments when Savage sounds like he's talking about the Volgans being in a Disco ("Those Funkin' Volgs!"). This seems to have been dropped entirely after Book 3.
67* WorkingClassHero: very strong in ''Invasion!'', much less so in ''Savage''.
68* [[YouKilledMyFather You Killed My Family]]: Savage's motivation to kill as many Volgs as he can is to avenge his wife and kids.
69* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: in ''Savage'' at the end of book 3, Savage succeeds in driving the Volgans out of southern Britain. However by book 4 the Volgans have reinvaded (off panel).
70** Savage manages to kill [[BigBad Vashkov]] in Book 2. He is replaced with his next in command, changing almost nothing.
71** In Book 9, Britain is finally liberated, but the new pro-American regime is unpopular in its own way, especially with its use of robots and the Volgs have an underground terrorist movement of cyborgs trying to subvert the country.
72* {{Zeerust}} : ''Invasion!'''s depiction of future Britain is now incredibly dated, its basically the late 70's with a few futuristic pieces of technolgy.

Top