Line #88 ComicBook/TheRedTen


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/trt_01_page04.jpg]]
2
3	->''"I'm never gonna get to kill the Justice League, but the Alliance better watch out."''
4	-->-- '''Tyler James'''
5
6	''The Red Ten'' is a ten-issue comic-book miniseries created by Tyler James and Cesar Felicario and published by Creator/ComixTribe. Inspired by Creator/AgathaChristie's ''Literature/AndThenThereWereNone'', it is a murder mystery with superheroes.
7
8	When Red, the world's greatest detective, is brutally murdered, her teammates in the Alliance attempt to track her killer down and bring him in. Things go horribly wrong, however, and one by one, the members of the Alliance die.
9
10	Has a prequel, ''ComicBook/{{Oxymoron}}''.
11
12	Not to be confused with ''Literature/TheRedTent''.
13	----
14	!!This series contains examples of:
15
16	* AIIsACrapshoot: Androika is described as the most advanced artificial intelligence on the planet. [[spoiler:An e-mail from one of her creators suggests that she suffered an existential crisis, which eventually led to her killing them.]]
17	* TheAlibi: In issue #4, the remaining heroes discuss where they were and what they were doing during the night Red was killed. Each of them, sans Mazu, give a reason as to why they could not have been present at Red's murder, and were therefore innocent of the crime. In particular, Justice America was preventing a plane crash at the time Red died. [[spoiler: Or rather, he stopped the plane crash shortly after killing Red, which was a case of EngineeredHeroics to cover up his involvement.]]
18	* AlienCatnip: A prose sidestory about the Omniverse Protectorate's Jezella reveals that ''bacon'' is this to many alien species; in fact, it's so addictive that large-scale introduction to a world can and has led to societal collapse.
19	* AmbiguousSituation:
20	** [[spoiler:The deaths of Androika's creators are attributed to her and her existential crisis, but it's unclear if she deliberately murdered them or if the explosion which occurred happened accidentally when she had an emotional breakdown.]]
21	** [[spoiler:The death of Mazu's romantic rival was clearly done by Mazu's generals, but Mazu's direct involvement is unclear. She knows they killed the woman for her, but it's not specified if they committed the murder on Mazu's orders or did it to make her happy. Likewise, the framing of the man Mazu loved. Did Mazu allow him to take the blame for his lover's death which then led to him committing suicide, or did she only find out afterwards? All we know is Mazu feels guilt for what happened, but if that's guilt for action or inaction dies with her.]]
22	* AndThenWhat: Invoked when the heroes find Oxymoron's body. Master Mage suggests that he might have found himself with nothing to live for after finally killing Red; Crimson dismisses the idea that Oxymoron committed suicide. [[spoiler:He should know, being the one who actually killed Oxymoron.]]
23	* AntagonistInMourning: [[spoiler:Oxymoron was completely distraught over Red's death, sobbing to Crimson that he loved her and how she made his life complete.]]
24	* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: [[spoiler:Justice America gives one to Bellona, revealing that he's in love with her and that he thinks they're meant for each other, in an attempt to convince her that he's not the murderer. Bellona's only reaction is to start laughing uncontrollably. Justice America is so hurt by this that he unwittingly kills her.]]
25	* AnyoneCanDie: Every issue features one of the main cast getting killed off.
26	** Issue #1: Red is shot in the head [[spoiler:by Justice America]], [[spoiler:Oxymoron is found with his neck snapped (by Crimson, who had promised as much)]], and [[spoiler:Androika self-destructs when the killer uploads a virus into her]].
27	** Issue #2: [[spoiler:Master Mage is killed when his magic staff is tampered with to open a portal to Hell.]]
28	** Issue #3: [[spoiler:Throttle is murdered when his poisoned drugs give him a fatal heart attack.]]
29	** Issue #4: [[spoiler:In a panic from all the people dying, Orion flees to outer space where he's caught by space police who punish him by taking his belt while he's still in Earth's gravitational field, and he burns on reentry.]]
30	** Issue #5: [[spoiler:Mazu gets lured to [[LogicalWeakness a dry room]] and disemboweled by Mold in the form of her dead romantic rival.]]
31	** Issue #6: [[spoiler:Crimson makes a run for it in Red's boat and gets blown up... or so it seems. Actually, he faked his death as part of his plan.]]
32	** Issue #7: [[spoiler:Bellona guts Magnitude from the inside out.]]
33	** Issue #8: [[spoiler:Mold was puppeted to be a weapon by the hero killer and was killed by Justice America in self-defense.]]
34	** Issue #9: [[spoiler:Bellona dies in a fight with Justice America after she's tricked into thinking he's the murderer when her jaw is blasted through.]]
35	** Issue #10: [[spoiler:Justice America gets his comeuppance when he's exposed to an engineered virus that removes his invulnerability and he's beaten to death.]]
36	* AppleOfDiscord: Magnitude tries to convince his surviving teammates not to open the box containing [[spoiler:his miniaturized victims]], arguing that it's some kind of trick by Red to turn them against each other.
37	* BadassNormal: What the plot boils down to: [[spoiler: three normal humans (a heroine, her former sidekick and her nemesis) hatch a complex and byzantine plan to take down the superpowered members of the corporate superteam, which includes a goddess and an (mostly) invincible superhero among its ranks.]]
38	* BeneathSuspicion: Played with. [[spoiler:Red admits she did investigate Justice America, but found nothing, which is why she confided in him. It turned out he was just as guilty as the rest of the Alliance, but his crimes were more expertly covered up thanks to Kingston Lear.]]
39	* BlackAndNerdy: Magnitude is an African-American scientist in his civilian life.
40	* BloodierAndGorier: And how! The comics do not shy away from showing death and dismemberment in all its gory glory:
41	** In issue #1, [[spoiler:Red's face is shown with the bullet hole on her forehead (see page image).]]
42	** In issue #5, [[spoiler: Mazu is gutted like a fish in the steam room, and her innards are falling out of her stomach.]]
43	** In issue #7, [[spoiler: Bellona is swallowed alive by Magnitude and slashes her way out of his guts in a semi-splash page.]]
44	** In issue #9, [[spoiler: Justice America eyebeams Bellona right in her mouth, and what is left on her face is a huge see-through crater where her mouth was.]]
45	* BorrowedCatchphrase: Orion mentions the old "I am my brother's keeper" adage more than once. [[spoiler:He got it from his twin brother, who was the one who was supposed to inherit the power belt he wears.]]
46	* CallingTheOldManOut: Crimson was originally Red's sidekick, but eventually left after the two started to butt heads. He ultimately cut ties with her completely upon finding out she had recruited a second Crimson Kid, a decision he finds abhorrent. [[spoiler:Especially after she's murdered by Oxymoron.]]
47	* CaptainFishman: The Chinese heroine Mazu, who made a pact with ocean deities to gain aquakinetic powers.
48	* CardboardPrison: During their last face-to-face meeting, Red argues with Crimson and states that Oxymoron will eventually escape from prison to continue his murder spree, hence her desire to take him herself. [[spoiler: She then does everything she can to [[AvertedTrope avert]] this trope by building a prison on a deserted, untraceable island for him and him alone.]]
49	* CassandraTruth:
50	** [[spoiler:Oxymoron was the one who first discovered the dark secrets the members of the alliance were keeping. He was eventually able to convince Red to start investigating, but notes that almost to the very end she thought/hoped that everything was all just part of a villainous plan of his.]]
51	** [[spoiler: When they're the last two members of the Alliance left alive, Bellona is tricked into thinking that Justice America is the murderer. He desperately tries to convince her that this isn't the case, but she's too angry to listen.]]
52	* CastOfExpies: The Alliance is based on the ComicBook/JusticeLeague (with one exception):
53	** Justice America is a SupermanSubstitute, with a dash of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica's CaptainPatriotic thrown in.
54	** Red is a clear BatmanParody.
55	** Bellona is a WonderWomanWannabe.
56	** Orion is an expy of ComicBook/GreenLantern, complete with [[ColourCodedForYourConvenience color coded]] Lantern Corps (as shown in issue #4).
57	** Mold is an expy of ComicBook/MartianManhunter.
58	** Mazu is an expy of ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} (see above).
59	** Throttle is an expy of ComicBook/TheFlash.
60	** Magnitude is an expy of ComicBook/TheAtom.
61	** Master Mage is an expy of ComicBook/DoctorStrange.
62	** Androika is an expy of ComicBook/RedTornado.
63	** Both Crimson Kids are expies of Robin, with the older Crimson also being one for Nightwing. [[spoiler:The second is one for both Jason Todd and Stephanie Brown.]]
64	** The Oxymoron, as Red's arch-nemesis, [[PracticallyJoker is one]] for ComicBook/TheJoker.
65	** Kingston Lear is one for ComicBook/LexLuthor.
66	** [[spoiler: In contrast to almost all of the above, the "all-new, all-different" Alliance that Kingston Lear plans to unveil at the end are all [[{{Expy}} expies]] of Creator/MarvelComics characters.]]
67	* TheChessmaster: Oxymoron, being an expy of ComicBook/TheJoker, is as brilliant as he is insane. [[spoiler:He was the one who crafted the plan to kill off the Alliance, which required immaculate planning and prediction of exactly how the Alliance members would act once they arrived at the island. Ultimately, he did so perfectly.]]
68	* ClosedCircle: Partially enforced, partially voluntary. [[spoiler: Androika and Master Mage die first, depriving the team of communications and teleportation. They could still resort to the classic superhero "ones who can fly carry the ones who can't", but at this point Justice America insists on finding the perpetrator. When Orion dies after flying into space, the issue becomes moot; they can run but they can't hide.]]
69	* ColorCharacter: The "world's greatest detective" is a heroine named Red, who dresses in all... red. Her sidekick, Crimson Kid, is also based on another shade of red.
70	* CorporateSponsoredSuperhero:
71	** The Alliance is funded by the Lear Corporation. Unfortunately...
72	** This is even [[DiscussedTrope discussed]] when [[spoiler: Justice America begins his brutal beatdown on Red, his teammate:]]
73	-->'''Justice America:''' [[spoiler: I'm entirely owned by Learcorp.]]
74	-->'''Red:'''[[spoiler: So what?! You're a hero, Goddamnit! This doesn't make any sense!]]
75	-->'''Justice America:''' [[spoiler:''My actions don't need to make sense, they need to make '''billions'''. Just the '''business''' we're in."]]
76	* CorruptCorporateExecutive: [[spoiler: Kingston Lear is one, as expected of a Lex Luthor expy. For one, he was aware of many of the Alliance members' dark secrets (including Mold's creator being a pedophile) but had zero qualms about recruiting them for his team anyway.]]
77	* DarkAndTroubledPast: Red is an expy of Batman. Guess what her origins are.
78	** Crimson had one as well. [[spoiler:A criminal group murdered his entire family at his mother's birthday party, and were going to shoot him before Red arrived and saved him.]]
79	* DarkSecret: Each member of the Alliance has a dark secret, and they all come to the forefront with the death of Red, the World's Greatest Detective, as [[spoiler:while Red was interrogating her archenemy Oxymoron, he asked her some [[ArmorPiercingQuestion tough questions]], such as where Master Mage gets all the blood for his blood magic from. This led her to investigate and discover the secrets of her comrades, and she planned on taking them down. She intended for it to be non-lethal, but Crimson disagreed.]]
80	** Justice America, the Ultimate Human, is the leader of the Alliance. [[spoiler: He is the one who murdered Red. He's the brother of an expy of Lex Luthor and was uplifted by alien technology to be little more than a corporate enforcer. Besides Red, he's also murdered his reporter girlfriend and other girls before he was introduced to the world.]]
81	** Mold debuted as a friendly alien shapeshifter. [[spoiler:He's actually an artificial construct being controlled by a pedophile in prison, who's also a brilliant inventor. The corporation behind the Alliance freed him for one of his inventions and he was given the identity of Mold.]]
82	** Mazu made a pact with ocean spirits and gained power over the ocean. [[spoiler: She had her aquatic minions drown a love rival in a bathtub. The rival's lover gets the blame for the crime despite being innocent, leading him to commit suicide.]]
83	** Master Mage is a sorcerer who wields a magic staff. [[spoiler:He fuels his blood magic by murdering prostitutes.]]
84	** Bellona is the queen of the Amazons and had been trying for centuries to have a daughter. [[spoiler:She lures sailors to her island and kills them after sex; if she finds out that she's having a boy, she has it aborted.]]
85	** Magnitude is a brilliant scientist who uses size-changing technology. [[spoiler: He's also a serial killer. He keeps going out with women to shrink them down and crush them into microscope slides.]]
86	** Androika is a highly-advanced android. [[spoiler:She killed her inventors when she's first brought online.]]
87	** Orion inherited his power belt from an alien cop who crash-landed on Earth. [[spoiler:It was actually his identical twin brother. After his brother used the belt to save Orion from thugs, a drunk Orion snatched the belt from his brother and accidentally pushed him off a cliff.]]
88	** Throttle is the team's super-speedster. [[spoiler:He was a junkie who gained his speed powers when he got doused by chemicals during his attempt to rob a chemical plant. He's still on drugs and accidentally ran into a car while high, killing the family.]]
89	** Oxymoron [[spoiler:is actually in love with his nemesis, Red, and is the one to set her on the trail of her comrades. He's been on the prison island for the last three years and he helped design the plans to take down the Alliance.]]
90	** [[spoiler: Red's ex-sidekick Crimson is the one killing the Alliance. He received a post-death message from Red telling him about her investigation. She wants him to take the Alliance down, but leave them alive. However, he's opted to kill them instead. He also executed Oxymoron, as he promised to do so to his replacement (who got murdered by Oxymoron on her first solo outing).]]
91	* DeadAllAlong: When the Alliance arrived at what appears to be Oxymoron's island headquarters, they're surprised to find that he's already dead.
92	* DeadManWriting: [[spoiler:Crimson gets a postmortem message from Red describing the [[DarkSecret terrible things]] she's learned about the Alliance.]]
93	* DeadPersonImpersonation: [[spoiler:A hijacked Mold takes on the forms of Red, Oxymoron, and all of the deceased Alliance members when confronting Justice America. Not only does this trick him into thinking the former two are both still alive, it gets him so mad that he attacks with lethal force... and leaves him with the dead Mold for Bellona to find.]]
94	* DentedIron: During one of their last meetings, Crimson notes that Red is still active as a superhero despite being "on the wrong side of forty."
95	* DidNotThinkThisThrough: Part of the tragedy of Mazu's backstory: [[spoiler:she had her underwater minions murder the woman involved with the man she loved. They did so by drowning her in a bathtub. Unfortunately, since said man was the only other person present in the hotel room at the time, he was immediately blamed for the crime. Things got so bad for him that he eventually committed suicide.]]
96	* DisposableSexWorker: [[spoiler:Master Mage murdered prostitutes as sacrifices to fuel his magic; even worse, his victims seemingly ended up in Hell due to being sacrificed.]]
97	* DraggedOffToHell: [[spoiler: Master Mage dies when his staff opens a portal to Hell, and all the people he sacrificed for his blood magic drag him away.]]
98	* DyingSmirk: Oxymoron, whose corpse still has his trademark grin despite being dead for quite some time. Even when his body is left a charred mess by an explosion, the smile still remains, much to Crimson's discomfort.
99	* EmbarrassingAlibi: Two examples. In issue #4, Crimson, Red's former KidSidekick, asks Red's teammates about their alibis for the night she was murdered:
100	** Bellona, the WonderWomanWannabe, simply states there was entertainment that night and "leave it at that". The accompanying image is her half-naked among other women of her LadyLand home.
101	** Magnitude, the scientist of the group, confirms he was at his lab at the time, which his keycard can confirm. He was studying something on his microscope, muttering to himself how it was "beautiful". [[spoiler:As it will be revealed later, he was actually examining microscope slides of his ''victims'', which he shrank down and smashed between the glass panels.]]
102	* EmptyShell: [[spoiler: Mold has no personality, will, or life of its own. It's a construct being controlled by a criminal inventor and child molester. Mold's creator is later killed by Crimson and thus the creature's controlled by Crimson and Tilly to help stage the murders.]]
103	* EtTuBrute: [[spoiler:When Red discovered all of her teammates' horrible secrets, she shared her findings with Justice America since she never found any evidence of wrongdoing on his part and believed him to be the friend and hero she always thought he was. She's then betrayed when he attacks and ultimately kills her.]]
104	* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: [[spoiler: Master Mage is a SerialKiller who murders prostitutes to fuel his blood magic, but he also loves his parents. Mage regards his father, a notorious conman, as a true magician and heroic person who inspired Mage to pursue magic. Master Mage also promised his mother to find his father, prove him innocent and reunite his family after the latter left them behind to escape accusations of his crimes, a goal he was still pursuing as he delved into villainy.]]
105	* EvenEvilHasStandards: What drives the plot. Oxymoron may be a twisted and murderous sociopath but [[spoiler: even he was appalled at how these supposed "heroes" were monsters responsible for crimes that made him look like a minor crook. At least [[AtLeastIAdmitIt he was open about what he was]] instead of hiding it behind a veneer of nobility.]]
106	-->'''Oxymoron:''' [[spoiler:''Of course I knew what they were!'' Underneath the masks and million dollar marketing was a festering boil. ''Frauds!'' All of them!]]
107	* EvilAllAlong: [[spoiler:The Alliance is in fact made up of criminals and murderers with superpowers, the severity of their crimes varying between them. It becomes apparent the more they appear on panel, showing themselves to be unlikable, self-centered assholes before eventually revealing how many people they've actually killed. Magnitude is probably the worst, as he initially seems to be the least offensive before turning out to be the most vile due to his microscope slides of ''dead women''.]]
108	* EvilerThanThou: [[spoiler: Master Mage, Magnitude and Bellona are established to be the absolute worst of the Alliance. All three are willing, repeated murderers for varying reasons. Master Mage sacrifices homeless people and sex workers for blood to power his staff, Bellona regularly gets men to impregnate her and then murders them after she's finished (and always has the child aborted if told it will be male), and Magnitude is a serial killer with a fetish for shrinking women down and crushing them between microscope slides he collects. Master Mage is taken out fairly quickly at the beginning of the story, but Bellona guts Magnitude from the inside when he tries to eat her after she has the nerve to be enraged by his actions.]]
109	* EvilHero: [[spoiler: Most members of the Alliance turn out to be this.]]
110	* ExactWords: [[spoiler: After Orion is found guilty by the Omniverse Protectorate, Jezella explains that his punishment is to be immediately stripped of his belt. Orion is relieved since he thinks this means that he'll just have to go back to a normal life. She then makes it clear that she did mean "immediately"... and proceeds to take the belt from him while they're still in space, sending him plummeting back down to Earth.]]
111	* FaceDeathWithDignity: Red is very calm when facing her prospective murderer, complimenting them on picking a handgun she remembers, and reminding them [[NotWithTheSafetyOnYouWont that the safety is still on]].
112	* FemalesAreMoreInnocent: Played straight and averted. [[spoiler:The exact intent behind Androika's crimes aren't revealed, and Mazu is the most guilt-ridden of the Alliance. Both of them are only responsible for two deaths. Bellona, on the other hand, is about as bad as Magnitude with a literal abattoir of dead men on her home island.]]
113	* {{Fetish}}: Magnitude has one for [[spoiler: shrinking women down and crushing them between microscope slides. He collects dead women and observes their corpses through a microscope when he's alone.]]
114	* FirstNameBasis: Red's killer calls her "Allie," indicating some familiarity.
115	* FlyingBrick: Justice America's set of superpowers is described as "Super-Strength, Flight, Invulnerability and Energy Blasts". He ''is'' a Superman expy, after all.
116	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
117	** Magnitude's repeated attempts at touching Bellona and being near her, despite how much she hates it, make more sense [[spoiler:when it's revealed he's a serial killer who collects beautiful women in glass slides.]]
118	** [[spoiler: A modified version of the "Ten Little Indians" poem gives clues as to how each hero will die in turn.]]
119	** [[spoiler: After his supposed death, the part of the evidence board concerning Crimson shows no signs of him having committed any wrongdoing, unlike the others. By the end of the story, Crimson is the only one of the ten heroes at the island who lives, having been spared from Oxymoron's contempt towards the Alliance for their criminal secrets.]]
120	* GambitRoulette: [[spoiler:''Everything'' that happens in the series is all part of the massively complex plan to kill off the Alliance in revenge for Red's murder. [[LampshadedTrope Lampshaded]] when Oxymoron lays it all out for Crimson:]]
121	-->'''[[spoiler:Crimson]]''': You do realize how many things need to go right for this plan to work, don't you?
122	* GracefulLoser: [[spoiler:Oxymoron is caught off-guard when Crimson attacks him and breaks his neck after the two plan to kill the Alliance. However, as he sits dying, he assures Crimson that he's now ready to go through with the whole scheme and dies with a smirk.]]
123	* HairTriggerTemper: Bellona is extremely belligerent and combative. [[spoiler:It's what gets her killed in the end.]]
124	* HeelFaceDoorSlam: [[spoiler: Orion was ''just'' about to [[ConscienceMakesYouGoBack go back]] for the rest of the Alliance when Jezella and the others capture him.]]
125	* HeKnowsTooMuch: [[spoiler: Red was murdered by Justice America because she discovered most of the horrible secrets of the Alliance and was going to take them down. Ironically, she hadn't discovered his own secrets; he murdered her solely to try and protect the team's corporate-mandated public image, at the behest of said corporation.]]
126	* {{Hypocrite}}: Bellona is disgusted when she learns how many women were killed by [[spoiler: Magnitude, even as he points out she's probably killed hundreds more men whom she more or less treated in the exact same way he treated ''his'' victims.]]
127	* IHaveNoSon: [[spoiler:Throttle's parents eventually disowned him, telling him not to come home for Thanksgiving because they didn't believe he'd ever really change for the better.]]
128	* {{Jerkass}}: Every member of the Alliance, really, though Red is more of a JerkWithAHeartOfGold.
129	* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: All of the Alliance and Oxymoron are dead, but Kingston Lear survives and even goes on to create a brand new Alliance. The ending does imply, if a sequel story happens, Crimson will go after Lear this time.]]
130	* KnowWhenToFoldEm: Said almost word-for-word by Orion after the deaths of [[spoiler:Androika, Master Mage, and Throttle]]. He decides to [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere leave the island]] and flies off into space. [[spoiler: Not that it helps him.]]
131	* ALighterShadeOfBlack:
132	** [[spoiler: Mazu is probably the least villainous of the Alliance with the implication she didn't intentionally have her servants kill her rival, they instead acted on her subconscious desire. However, she remained quiet about it and let her love interest be charged for the crime which then led to him committing suicide. She shows the most guilt of any of the Alliance, outright saying that she deserves the death she (correctly) believes is coming for her.]]
133	** [[spoiler: Orion likely also fits, as despite being an abrasive, sarcastic ass most of the time the only bad thing we see him do in flashbacks and on the board is accidentally crippling his twin brother while drunk and then taking his [[ArtifactOfPower belt]] to take up his superhero space cop identity; unfortunately such identity theft is a VERY serious crime according to the laws said space cops enforce... Oh, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking he also writes alimony checks that bounce]].]]
134	* LoveTriangle: Much to a young Mazu's dismay, the man she loved [[JustFriends only thought of her as a surrogate little sister]] and became involved with another woman.
135	* MadArtist: Oxymoron had killed plenty of small birds and rodents while imprisoned, so he could use their blood to paint a portrait/mural of Red on his prison cell wall.
136	* MalevolentMaskedMen: [[spoiler: The thugs who slaughtered Crimson's family were wearing masks that resembled the heads of pigs/boars.]]
137	* ManOfSteelWomanOfKleenex: Implied by the flashback of [[spoiler: the death of Justice America's reporter girlfriend, with her corpse naked in his bed and him crying and saying "It was an accident."]]
138	* MoodWhiplash:
139	** When Red is about to be murdered, her killer points a gun at her head, pulls the trigger... and nothing happens. Red calls them an asshole and bluntly points out that the safety is still on.
140	** When Kingston Lear finds out that [=LearCorp=] lost the coordinates of the island in a cyberattack, he closes his eyes in exasperation and asks if anybody wrote them down, and gets the reply, "Sir? You mean... on ''paper''?"
141	* MurderTheHypotenuse: [[spoiler:Mazu had her subjects murder the woman that the man she loved was involved with.]]
142	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Some of the characters do experience some guilt in regards to their actions:
143	** Justice America is genuinely devastated when [[spoiler:he kills his reporter girlfriend in his backstory. In the present, he's horrified when he kills Bellona in both self-defense and anger at her rejecting his feelings.]]
144	** Throttle [[spoiler: was legitimately horrified when he unwittingly killed a family during one of his highs, if his 911 call is anything to go by.]]
145	** Mazu is haunted by [[spoiler: her indirect murder of her rival, which led to the unintentional framing and suicide of the man she loved.]]
146	* NeverMessWithGranny: [[spoiler: Tilly actively helped Crimson and Oxymoron with planning the murders, and even piloted Mold for Crimson to carry out several necessary steps when the plan went into action.]]
147	* OnceMoreWithClarity:
148	** Every issue of the main story ends with a shot of a segment of someone's [[TheBigBoard evidence board]], detailing what each hero's DarkSecret was and how they could be killed. [[spoiler:It's revealed in the final issue that the board belonged to Oxymoron, who was the first to discover all of the information and who shared all of the info with Crimson as part of his plan for revenge.]]
149	** When Crimson is relating some of Oxymoron's crimes, he mentions a time when the villain beat a girl to death with a crowbar while quoting Dr. Seuss. [[spoiler:It's eventually revealed via flashback that the girl in question was Sally, the second Crimson Kid.]]
150	** When Magnitude flashes back to his time working in his lab, he's looking through a microscope and commenting on how whatever he's looking at is "beautiful". [[spoiler:It's eventually revealed that he's a serial killer and that he keeps his victim's corpses contained in microscope slides, putting this moment in a whole new light.]]
151	** [[spoiler:When Crimson is revealed to be the one murdering the Alliance, several panels show the various deaths and how he accomplished them.]]
152	* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Oxymoron is almost always [[SlasherSmile smiling]] or [[EvilLaugh laughing]]. [[spoiler:When Crimson confronts him in regards to Red's murder, he becomes angry and serious, and even starts to cry from sadness as he claims that he genuinely loved her.]]
153	* OhMyGods: Bellona swears on "Juno's gash" and "Jupiter's balls" whenever she is angry.
154	* PantheraAwesome: The alien technology used to grant Justice America his powers was also tested on tigers, enhancing them into killing machines and causing their eyes to emit the purple energy that Justice America can project. One such tiger scarred him across his right eye when he was a baby, [[spoiler: and in the final issue Crimson unleashes two of these tigers to maul and severely incapacitate him, allowing Crimson to finish off Justice America.]]
155	* PoliceAreUseless: The cops assigned to the Red murder case show up late because they needed time to sober up. Later, they are dismissed as bumblers who "couldn't catch the clap in a whorehouse" and unlikely to find Oxymoron unless he's hiding out at their favorite bar. Admittedly, this is a case where even the best ordinary police would be far out of their depth.
156	* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: [[spoiler: Magnitude]] throws a number of borderline-misogynistic insults (e.g., "stuck-up bitch") at Bellona when they fight. [[spoiler: Given that he's a SerialKiller who targets women, that's likely no coincidence. Not that [[StrawFeminist Bellona]] is any better, of course.]]
157	* PoweredByAForsakenChild: [[spoiler:Master Mage's magic comes in part from sacrificing children.]]
158	* PronounTrouble: Mazu's last words are "It was her", leading most of the others to conclude that Red is alive and responsible for the murders. [[spoiler: Actually, it was Mold in the form of her murdered romantic rival.]]
159	* RedHerring: When the Alliance find Red's old aquatic ship underneath the island, Crimson suggests that she may still be alive and is the one responsible for the murders. [[spoiler:As it turns out, Crimson himself is the killer and was just trying to divert suspicion. When he reveals this to Justice America, he reminds him that Red even called her ship [[LampshadedTrope "The Herring"]].]]
160	* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: What the Alliance's deaths all amount to. [[spoiler:Oxymoron wanted revenge for Red's death, leading him to come up with the plan in the first place. Crimson then co-opts the plan for his own revenge.]]
161	* RobotGirl: Androika, the team's super-advanced android.
162	* SequelHook: [[spoiler:The Alliance is dead, and Crimson returns to his fiance. However, the Lear Corporation plans to simply roll out a new team of "heroes," and it's implied that Crimson will take the fight to the ones behind the Alliance in the first place.]]
163	* SensoryOverload: One of the supplementary pieces relates a time that Oxymoron used a special gas called TN-X to murder a bar full of people with a particularly lethal case of this:
164	-->'''Douglass''': Known as a sensory bomb. Within seconds, it causes permanent blindness. Lights out for everyone. But that's the least of it. Next, it cranks up the perception of the other four senses to the max -- whispers become shouts, nudges become jabs, and the slightest aroma becomes an overwhelming stank. The body isn't made to handle that kind of sensory overload. Most are dead in minutes.
165	* ShoutOut:
166	** When Orion is confronted by members of the Omniverse Protectorate, their leader Jezella [[Film/TotalRecall1990 has three breasts]].
167	--->'''Orion''': I don't [[LampshadeHanging totally recall]].
168	** Crimson refers to Mold as {{WesternAnimation/Gumby}} at one point. [[spoiler:It's eventually revealed that Mold's creators based his appearance on the character in order to project a friendly image.]]
169	** The pedophile inventor [[spoiler:who created and controls Mold]] is named Mr. [[Literature/TheAdventuresOfPinocchio Collodi]].
170	** A flashback to Red's youth [[spoiler:and her parents' murder]] shows her reading Creator/AgathaChristie's ''Nemesis''.
171	** In Crimson Kid's recollection of his whereabouts the night Red was murdered, he says he made a reservation in a restaurant called "Chez Poirot".
172	* SoProudOfYou: [[DefiedTrope Defied]]; [[spoiler: once the last of the Alliance is killed, Tilly (Red's confidante and aide), tells Crimson that Red would be proud of him for taking them down. Crimson denies this, however, claiming that she would be ashamed of him for his bloody actions.]]
173	* SpannerInTheWorks: [[spoiler: Tilly, Red's aid and confidant, is the reason the Alliance died because she's the one who let Crimson know what Red hoped to accomplish. Had it not been for Tilly, Justice America would've gotten away with killing Red and the rest of the Alliance would've never paid for their crimes.]]
174	* StrawFeminist: Bellona, who makes no secret of how much she hates men in general. Mazu is the only member of the team that she treats with any sort of respect or concern.
175	* SymbolicallyBrokenObject: The Alliance find a set of statues of themselves on the island. As each of them falls, the corresponding statue is stained with blood.
176	* TenLittleMurderVictims: But of course. There is a variation on the poem [[spoiler:in Oxymoron's cell]].
177	** "Ten little heroes with reputations divine; one caught a virus, and then there were nine." [[spoiler:Androika is infected with a computer virus that causes her to self-destruct.]]
178	** "Nine little heroes, each a victim of fate; one went to Hell, and then there were eight." [[spoiler:Master Mage's sabotaged staff opens a portal to Hell, through which his sacrificial victims drag him.]]
179	** "Eight little heroes, sworn to protect their brethren; one lost his heart, and then there were seven." [[spoiler:Throttle's drugs are replaced by ones that lethally overstress his heart.]]
180	** "Seven little heroes, with problems to fix; one crashed to Earth, and then there were six." [[spoiler:Orion tries to flee, only to be caught and executed by the Protectorate.]]
181	** "Six little heroes, desperate to survive; one bled out, and then there were five." [[spoiler:Mazu, disemboweled by the controlled Mold while the latter was wearing the guise of her dead rival.]]
182	** "Five little heroes don't want to play anymore; one tried to escape, and then there were four." [[spoiler:Crimson tries to escape by boat, but it explodes. This death, unlike the others, is faked.]]
183	** "Four little heroes quarrel by the sea; one couldn't stomach it, and then there were three." [[spoiler:Magnitude is disemboweled from the inside out by Bellona.]]
184	** "Three little heroes with nothing to do; one just a puppet, and then there were two." [[spoiler:Mold, killed by Justice America in self-defense after having been used as a puppet by the hero killer to kill others.]]
185	** "Two little heroes, not having any fun; one was mistaken, and then there was one." [[spoiler:Bellona, killed by Justice America after she accused him of being the hero killer and wouldn't stop laughing at his love confession.]]
186	** "One little hero, but not all alone; brought death on himself… and then there were none." [[spoiler:Justice America, who is beaten to death by Crimson for killing Red.]]
187	* ThouShaltNotKill: Red, being based on Batman, firmly maintained this sort of code. [[spoiler: That's why Crimson knows she would be ashamed of his actions, as Crimson had killed Oxymoron and participated in his plan to kill the Alliance's members.]]
188	* TimeForPlanB: [[spoiler: When Crimson observes how convoluted Oxymoron's plan to destroy the Alliance is, Oxymoron replies that if it fails, the island they're at will blow up and kill everyone there, including the Alliance. While the island is blown up, by that point all the Alliance members are dead as Oxymoron's original plan works perfectly.]]
189	* TokenGoodTeammate: As the story goes on and the Alliance's horrible crimes are revealed, it becomes clear that Red, for all of her faults, was ultimately the only member who was a genuine hero.
190	* TokenMinority: Barring the android Androika and the construct Mold, Magnitude (African-American) and Mazu (Chinese) are the only non-white members of the team.
191	* VillainHasAPoint: [[spoiler: Magnitude's crimes are horrendous, but he's honestly right that Bellona and Justice America have no right to be disgusted by his actions considering what they've done.]]
192	* WeHardlyKnewYe: [[spoiler:Androika and Master Mage are the first two to die, so any information revealed about them and the crimes they committed are only revealed posthumously. Particularly, the wording of Androika's information makes it vague if she actually did anything wrong of her own volition or if it happened as a result of her existential breakdown.]]
193	* WhamLine: Several:
194	** One of Kingston Lear's employees is sent to check on someone called "the Puppeteer" [[spoiler:and finds him murdered]]:
195	--->'''Employee''': [[spoiler:The Puppeteer is dead. The rig isn't here. We've lost control of Mold.]]
196	** When Justice America reveals why he's so sure Red isn't the one murdering the members of the Alliance:
197	--->'''Justice America''': [[spoiler:Because I killed her.]]
198	* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: [[spoiler: Justice America was essentially brainwashed by his brother into becoming a corporate enforcer for his brother's company, to the point of killing Red.]]
199	* WouldHurtAChild:
200	** Oxymoron has zero problem with kidnapping and murdering children.
201	** The criminal who murdered Red's parents tried to shoot her as well despite her youth.
202	** The group of murderers who wiped out Crimson's entire family, including his younger cousins, simply because they were rich. They even talked about hitting a bar mitzvah before Red showed up.
203	** It's all but outright stated that [[spoiler: Mr. Collodi, the man who's actually Mold, is a child molester. The scene where his dead body is found also includes him being surrounded by books and [=DVDs=] that are clearly child porn.]]

Context ComicBook / TheRedTen