Line #5 Webcomic/ErinDiesAlone


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cb71kt3xiaeeq2s.jpg]]
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3	''Erin Dies Alone'' is a SpinOff[=/=]AlternateUniverse of ''Webcomic/CriticalMiss''. Like its parent series, it concerns a young writer named Erin and her somewhat tenuous grasp on reality, which mainly manifest as hallucinations involving video game characters.
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5	That's where the similarities to ''Critical Miss'' end.
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7	Unlike ''Critical Miss'', ''Erin Dies Alone'' has a '''much''' darker and more character-based sense of humor in contrast to the former's lighthearted and irreverent gags. It essentially builds on the car crash / head trauma storyline from the ''Critical Miss'' series that was mostly abandoned to keep the comedy aspect. This comic runs with that theme and explores it a bit more deeply.
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9	In 2017, the series left The Escapist and set up its own page. In 2018 the new management invited back the creators, but rather then continue with the series, they dropped it and created a new comic called ''Critical Mix'' which reuses characters from ''Erin Dies Alone'' and places them in their own world. For all intents and purposes, ''Erin Dies Alone'' is done. ''Critical Mix'' itself was cancelled in 2019.
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11	----
12	!!This webcomic provides examples of:
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14	* AlternateUniverse: In this series, Erin apparently doesn't have her journalist job nor has she been outside for a while. Instead, she's cooped up in her apartment, watching TV and getting high. Eventually her subconscious decides to step in.
15	* BlackComedy: Erin's hallucinations are played for dark, dark laughs.
16	* CaptureTheFlag: Since Gunlord is an expy of ''VideoGame/{{Halo}}'' the main goal of the game boils down to this.
17	* DeliberateInjuryGambit: During their duel Gunny forces Daedalus to [[ImpaledPalm impale his hand]] while he is hold an artillery shell, causing an explosion that takes both them out.
18	* DrugsAreBad: Being the personification of everything TheNineties, Rad Panda thinks so. [[spoiler: Including prescription psychiatric drugs.]][[spoiler: Then again, since the exact nature of the pills, what they treat, or if they're a legitimate prescription or something else that she might be using to get high are all unknown, it is questionable if those pills helped anything. Given that she's been taking them and been a complete shut-in for months, they're not going to make her want to leave the house. One fan theory is that they're a real treatment for her vivid hallucinations and he's been sabotaging them all along out of self-preservation.]]
19	* EasterEgg: In [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/comicsandcosplay/comics/erin-dies-alone/17226-Chapter-6-31 Issue 144]] clicking on Althea using her fire magic will let the reader press the "[[Franchise/MortalKombat Toasty]]" button.
20	* {{Expy}}[=/=]BlandNameProduct: Unlike ''Critical Miss'', which uses the real names, this series uses replacements
21	** ''Rad Panda'' = ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' (and the glut of [[MascotWithAttitude knock-offs]])
22	** ''Vampire Fortress'' = ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}''
23	** ''Mighty Guy 3'' = ''VideoGame/MegaMan3''
24	** ''Bomb-Bot'' = ''VideoGame/{{Bomberman}}''
25	** ''Diego Bros. Paint'' = ''VideoGame/MarioPaint''
26	** ''Calling of Courage'' = ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor'', ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'', ''VideoGame/BattleField'', and pretty much every military FPS.
27	** ''Gunlord: Combat Enhaced'' = ''VideoGame/{{Halo}}'' with a dash of ''VideoGame/MassEffect''.
28	** ''Ultimate Saga VII'' = ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' mixed with other ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games.
29	* EpicFail: Somehow, Erin manages to lose at ''Diego Bros Paint.''
30	-->'''Rad Panda''': That's technically an achievement, right?
31	* FastballSpecial: Erin throws a stunned Rad at the CEO of Shard Co. so she can steal his gun.
32	-->'''Shardee''': Who throws a raccoon at people!?
33	* ForcedTutorial: Parodied with the tutorial in ''Gunlord'', which starts with insultingly basic stuff like looking up and down.
34	-->'''Scientist:''' Yes, very well. You have successfully found the ceiling.
35	* GoddamnedBats: InUniverse with the bats in ''Vampire Fortress''.
36	* {{Hallucinations}}: Apart from Rad Panda, every video game they play eventually ends up as one.
37	* KilledOffForReal: Ultimate Saga VII being a parody of a VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII made it inevitable in that game arc. [[spoiler:Turns out it's actually the ''Cloud {{Expy}}'' who dies instead of Althea, the stand-in for Aerith, getting himself killed via HeroicSacrifice in a HoldTheLine situation when the enemy deploys a weapon he couldn't block with his sword. To her credit, Althea actually tries her best to heal him, but he's too mortally wounded to save.]]
38	* MauveShirt: While [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/comicsandcosplay/comics/erin-dies-alone/13774-Erin-Dies-Alone-012 Private Alex Pendable]] starts as [[FacelessGoons a helmeted goon]] before revealing himself to be [[BlackGuyDiesFirst dark-skinned]] (not to mention his MeaningfulName, or his nickname of {{Mook}}) all indicate that [[ForegoneConclusion he's going to die]], he's at least getting more characterization than the faceless goons in the background.
39	* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: There is a question as to how much, if any, of what is going on is real, or just in Erin's head... Or if things that were in Erin's head have somehow managed to get out of her head.
40	* MundaneMadeAwesome: Erin and Rad's plan to defeat the evil [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Shinra]]-like corporation? Start a Twitter hashtag and file a complaint with customer service. [[spoiler:It doesn't end well.]]
41	* MyGreatestFailure: Rad Panda apparently climbed a tower and made it outside of the video game world. He described it as the worst mistake he ever made. [[spoiler: Given that, for a time, he was Erin's invisible friend, there's a possibility that his escape into the real world cause Erin to be placed on some sort of medication, one that may have contributed to her becoming the shut-in she is now.]]
42	* NintendoHard: Conversed. Erin isn't terribly fond of these sort of games.
43	-->'''Erin:''' This isn't entertainment, it's ''work.''
44	* RatStomp: The first fight Erin's group gets into in Ultimate Saga VII is with [[RodentsofUnusualSize Giant Rats]]
45	* TanksForNothing: The Shard Corporation sends a tank to take out Gunny. Gunny being a badass OneManArmy just bends the tank's barrel straight upwards with his bare hands. He later throws the ''entire'' tank at Daedalus, who cuts it in half in one swing.
46	* TrashOfTheTitans: Erin's apartment is not in good condition, to say the very least.
47	* VaporWear: The dancer outfit Erin is forced to wear throughout Ultimate Sage VII.
48	* WhatTheHellHero: Rad Panda gives one of these to Gunny after the latter says Erin is expendable if it means competing their mission.
49	* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: Rad has to give Althea this speech twice before the message sinks in.

Context Webcomic / ErinDiesAlone