Line #99 WebComic/DeadOfSummer


1	''Dead of Summer'' is a ZombieApocalypse webcomic written by Marty 'F'nday' and Nick 'Ghostfreehood'. At the moment, it is complete, though Nick has stated that it "isn't necessarily over but for the moment. I can't say when it could return but before my life's work is over, it will be done."
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3	The comic is divided into two distinct Books, each set in Baltimore. Book 1 revolves around the adventures of the main character, Nick, as he wakes up one morning to find the city overrun by the undead. While his major priority is to escape, he soon runs across other survivors--Marty, Dan, and Ed, to name a few. They begin to adventure across the city, killing copious zombies along the way. And that's just the beginning. Tensions rise, as does the body count, as one by one, Nick's newfound allies are killed. Soon, he's the only one of the group left. Overcome with exhaustion and guilt, contemplating suicide, he collapses as a zombie approaches.
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5	Nick wakes up in a room, on a pile of zombified bodies. He is somehow perfectly alive and well. [[CliffHanger End Book 1]].
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7	Book 2 picks up right where Book 1 left off. Nick discovers that he's in the Baltimore Zoo, which has been taken over by the military. Dr. Alan Stone and his wife, Lydia, are scientists with a plan to destroy the zombies. But Lydia seems occupied with a dead monkey, Tito, and there's hints that Alan's not quite right in the head. Not to mention William, the head zoologist, who's bitter about the zoo being taken over. Eventually, both he and Nick are exiled into the irradiated city...
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9	The rest really needs to be read.
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11	The archive can be found [[http://web.archive.org/web/20090803150015/http://www.deadofsummer.org/comic-archive here]], the first comic can be found [[http://web.archive.org/web/20100924035810/http://www.deadofsummer.org/2006/04/07/comic-1-a-rude-awakening/ here]], and the entire comic can be downloaded [[https://archive.org/details/augustovnd_gmail_DoS here]]. Currently weblinks are from the Internet Archive, as the site proper has been hacked.
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13	No relation to [[Series/DeadOfSummer the TV series of the same name]]. Nor does it have any relation to the oppositely-named ''TabletopGame/DeadOfWinter'' and ''Webcomic/DeadWinter''.[[note]]Although the latter is also a fellow Webcomic set in a ZombieApocalypse.[[/note]]
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15	----
16	!! ''Dead of Summer'' contains examples of:
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18	* AndIMustScream: A comic page has this as the title, and it does happen with [[spoiler: Panther]], who's found at the bottom of a cliff, tied up, with a bag over his head. As revealed in his inner monologue, however, he starts screaming in the hopes that anyone can hear him.
19	--> ''"If they can hear me, they can help me. '''Please, God'''... let them hear me.''"
20	** In a straighter example, one can only wonder if [[spoiler: KILROY was conscious of the fact that he'd been reprogrammed to explode and kill everyone]].
21	* AnyoneCanDie: Since it's a ZombieApocalypse, it's natural that both good guys and bad guys [[{{Pun}} bite it]] now and then.
22	* ArchEnemy: [[spoiler: Doug Fetterman]], to [[spoiler: Panther]]. A background character comments that 'they want[ed] each other dead.'
23	* ArtEvolution: Book 2 has a much cleaner art style.
24	* BearsAreBadNews: How do you make a grizzly bear even scarier? Make it a ZOMBIE!
25	* BeeBeeGun: While the type of insect isn't specified, [[spoiler: Commander]] is on the receiving end of this in Book 2.
26	* BigBad: The zombies, but also [[spoiler: Alan Stone.]] A case can also be made for [[spoiler: Doug Fetterman.]]
27	* BodyHorror: What [[spoiler: Alan]] becomes.
28	* BreakOutCharacter: [[spoiler: The Protomen]]. According to the comic's author, [[spoiler: their integration was secondary, as originally, the characters in Book 2 were going to be just a group of people who lived underground. They soon became major characters, and have drawn many fans to the site for the sole reason that they're the Protomen]].
29	* ByThePowerOfGreyskull: Invoked, and [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]]. Doubles as a very funny moment.
30	* CameraFiend: Matt.
31	* TheChessmaster: Alan and [[spoiler: Fetterman]].
32	* CoolBike: Nick and Marty find these. [[spoiler: Commander]] rides one, too.
33	* CruelAndUnusualDeath: It has a lot of deaths, being a ZombieApocalypse story. One among them stands out, though. [[http://www.deadofsummer.org/2007/11/14/comic-2107-man-in-the-box/ Getting your eyes torn out]], [[http://www.deadofsummer.org/2007/11/16/comic-2108-zip-zap/ then having a huge electrical wire]] [[http://www.deadofsummer.org/2007/11/19/comic-2109-new-world-order/ jammed into your mouth]].
34	* DeadpanSnarker: Nick, at points. [[spoiler: The Protomen]] are also this, [[spoiler: Heath Who Hath No Name]] in particular.
35	* DoNotGoGentle: The poem is referenced.
36	--> "We will ''not'' go quietly into the night!"
37	* DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength: Ed picks up a huge rock and throws it, crushing zombies... but causing a cave-in, which swiftly becomes a flood.
38	* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Nick has this happen, but it's more like 'Dreaming Of Things Happening Now.'
39	* DrivenToSuicide: Nick at the end of Book 1.
40	* DrowningPit: This happens to Ed and Dan in the end of Book 1.
41	* DrunkWithPower: Used as a page title as [[spoiler: Doug Fetterman]] does some EvilGloating, though it's closer to DrunkOnTheDarkSide.
42	* EvilBrit: One of the bad guys in Book 2 has a British accent. As expected, he's evil.
43	* EvilChancellor: [[spoiler: Doug Fetterman.]] Though it's a slight subversion in that the other characters know he's evil.
44	* EvilPlan: [[spoiler: Doug Fetterman's]] scheme to take over.
45	* EvilTwin: [[spoiler: More specifically, a robotic clone of Panther.]]
46	* EyeScream: Done by [[spoiler: Panther's clone]] to [[spoiler: Dr. Light.]]
47	* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler: Panther.]] [[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope Or not]]. That Panther was an evil clone, as part of Fetterman's EvilPlan.]]
48	* ForScience: Said verbatim by Alan as he [[spoiler: injects himself with the 'cure' for zombism.]] It doesn't end well.
49	* FriendToAllLivingThings: Lydia has shades of this. This also includes being a friend to undead things, at least as far as animals go.
50	* GroinAttack: Used multiple times on Matt, with Len getting so fed up he tells the girls to stop.
51	* GuineaPigFamily: [[spoiler: After the aforementioned 'For science!' moment, Alan injects Lydia, his wife, with the cure.]]
52	* IdealIllnessImmunity: Early in Book 2, it's revealed Nick is immune to being turned into a zombie, and his cells actually regenerate ''stronger'' than before.
53	* JustInTime: [[spoiler: The real Panther]] returns just in time to disarm a TimeBomb, and [[spoiler: Ed]] returns to save everyone from a zombie grizzly bear.
54	* KillAndReplace: This is, presumably, part of [[spoiler: Doug Fetterman's plan with the Panther clone. Thanks to Tito and Otis, he fails]].
55	* KirbyDots: Seen a couple times in Book 2.
56	* LudicrousGibs
57	* LifeEmbellished: Nick and Marty, anyone? Played with in that Marty the character [[spoiler: ends up dead.]]
58	* MadScientist: Dr. Alan Stone. Also his wife, Lydia, to an extent.
59	* MeaningfulName: [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by William:
60	--> 'There was no one more soulless than Dr. Alan ''Stone''.'
61	* [[MistakenForDying Mistaken for Dead]]: Nick is this at the end of Book 1.
62	* MsFanservice: Kaylee and Emma in Book 1. Lydia has moments of this in Book 2.
63	* MySecretPregnancy: [[spoiler: Lydia does this; the father is William. Played with in that Alan soon finds out, and may have known from the beginning.]]
64	* NewEraSpeech: [[spoiler:Doug Fetterman]] delivers one in Book 2; he's interrupted by the crowd before he can finish.
65	* NightmareSequence: Nick has one of these in Book 2. The beginning is especially horrific.
66	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Averted. Zombie versions of some bands, both local and famous, appear in Book 1.
67	* NonActionBigBad: [[spoiler: Doug Fetterman]]. This ''may'' explain some of why he's evil; he didn't get any cool powers.
68	* NotHimself: To fans of [[spoiler: The Protomen]], [[spoiler:Panther's]] actions will induce confusion and fear. While breaking a bad guy's finger is pretty cool, something doesn't seem ''right''. [[spoiler: The EyeScream, done to Dr. Light, sinks it.]] And if that doesn't unsettle you, [[spoiler: [[TheReveal the reveal]] of his FaceHeelTurn will.]] [[spoiler: Though he's ''literally'' not himself.]]
69	* NotSoHarmlessVillain: Alan. While not physically imposing [[spoiler: at first]], he beats the tar out of a sympathetic character, and is revealed to have SinisterSurveillance almost everywhere, which lets him know a great deal of secrets. A crossing of the MoralEventHorizon later and it's hard to remember that he seemed wimpy at first. [[spoiler: Doug Fetterman]] and his lackeys have some of this too.
70	** More on [[spoiler: Fetterman]]. His two henchmen don't even get names, all three are portrayed as [[LargeHam Large Hams]], and you figure they're no match for the good guys... Then they [[spoiler: assault Commander with a swarm of insects, fry KILROY'S brain and reformat him into a time bomb, and reveal that Panther is apparently [[FaceHeelTurn working for them]]. As Panther kills Dr. Light, [[EyeScream ripping out his eyes]]. And then you realize the extent of Fetterman's EvilPlan]].
71	* OneHitKill: Done to most zombies, as well as to [[spoiler: Panther's clone.]]
72	* PainfulTransformation: [[spoiler: Alan and Lydia undergo this.]]
73	* PlayingWithSyringes: Alan and Lydia both do this, with Alan being more malicious in intent.
74	* ProfessorGuineaPig: Alan is this, testing a potentially dangerous 'cure' for zombism on himself. [[spoiler: It turns him into a monster.]]
75	* Music/TheProtomen: Nick and Marty saw a show while working on the comic. [[spoiler: In the actual comic, they become key characters. Seriously.]]
76	* RageAgainstTheHeavens: Alan does this, after [[spoiler: turning himself into a monster and Lydia into a zombie.]]
77	* RaisingTheSteaks: Zombified animals are seen in Book 2, the most dangerous being a grizzly bear.
78	* RecklessSidekick: Matt, due to his love of taking pictures. [[spoiler: Doesn't make his zombification and subsequent death any less sad.]]
79	* RidiculouslyHumanRobots: [[spoiler: KILROY is this... until the mask comes off.]]
80	* RipVanWinkle: At the end of Book 1, Nick collapses from exhaustion. When he wakes up, the other characters explain that he's been out for about a year. Notable in that as far as we know, they're not lying.
81	* ShockAndAwe: What [[spoiler: The Protomen's]] powers seem to be.
82	* ShootTheDog: Done to [[ZombieInfectee Zombie Infectees]].
83	** Officer Len does it to himself after being bitten.
84	* SingleStrokeBattle: More literal than usual, as [[spoiler: Panther's clone]] doesn't even get a chance to move before being destroyed.
85	* SinisterSurveillance: Alan Stone not only has cameras IN the zoo, but outside it as well.
86	* SpannerInTheWorks: Tito and Otis save [[spoiler: the real Panther, who in turn saves everyone else from Doug Fetterman's backup plan.]]
87	* SpontaneousCrowdFormation: At [[spoiler: Fetterman]]'s assembly, the crowd turns into an AngryMob... which turns into a passive crowd again as the heroes step forward.
88	* SpotTheImposter: Averted. The deal with [[spoiler: Panther and his clone]] may ''seem'' to be leading into this, but it's over with one strike.
89	* SurvivorGuilt: Nick engages in this near the end of Book 1.
90	* TakeThat: One delivered at the [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush Bush Administration]] [[http://www.deadofsummer.org/2007/06/18/comic-249-press-conferences-gone-awry/ here]].
91	* TheSwarm: Seen [[http://web.archive.org/web/20100925013751/http://www.deadofsummer.org/2007/10/24/comic-2100-bug-bites/ here]] and [[http://web.archive.org/web/20100411001806/http://www.deadofsummer.org/2007/11/05/comic-2103-not-a-dream/ in the first panel here]].
92	* ThisIsNotADrill: Seen in [[http://web.archive.org/web/20081006213309/http://www.deadofsummer.org/2008/06/13/comic-2177-activation/ this strip]].
93	* TimeBomb: [[spoiler: KILROY]] is converted into this. Most likely unwillingly.
94	* TokenEvilTeammate: [[spoiler: Doug Fetterman]] fills this role. Unlike most examples, it's PlayedForDrama.
95	* TotalPartyKill: At the end of Book 1.
96	* UglyGuyHotWife: Alan and Lydia.
97	* UnexplainedRecovery: [[spoiler: Ed, who returns in Book 2 at the last second]].
98	* TheUnfought: [[spoiler: Doug Fetterman]]. This makes his [[NeverFoundTheBody status unknown]], though he can be [[NoOneCouldSurviveThat presumed dead]].
99	* TheUsurper: [[spoiler:Doug Fetterman]] ''wants'' to be this, but his attempt at controlling the populace ends in a riot.
100	* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Subverted; [[spoiler: Doug Fetterman]] only ''wishes'' he was this. Played straighter with [[spoiler: the clone of Panther.]]
101	* WhamEpisode: The ending of Book 1, as well as the introduction of [[spoiler: The Protomen]] in Book 2.
102	** In Book 2, there's the 'noctural activities' sequence, where good guys get horrific injuries inflicted upon them, bad guys set up their evil plans, and [[spoiler: Panther makes a FaceHeelTurn.]] [[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope Or does he?]]]]
103	* [[WhatHappenedTotheMouse What Happened To the Girls?]]: The girls in Book 1 disappear from the story after being knocked out by Ed. Given that this is a ZombieApocalypse, we can presume they were eaten.
104	* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Explored with the character of Tito, who happens to be a monkey and, later, a zombie.
105	* TheWormThatWalks: While it's not made clear, one of [[spoiler: Doug Fetterman's]] lackeys ''may'' be one of these. He can summon a swarm of insects seemingly out of nowhere (the art suggests they either come from around him or ''inside'' him), and have them attack. [[spoiler: Commander]] is swarmed and bitten so much his movements are slowed, and he screams that they're eating him alive.
106	* ZombieApocalypse: Naturally.
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Context WebComic / DeadOfSummer