Line #13 Webcomic/Great


1	->''"Once you set your mind to achieving greatness... nothing can stand in your way!"''
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3	A webcomic created by Ryan Armand, formerly hosted on the now-defunct [[Website/KiwisByBeat Kiwis by Beat]]. It can still be accessed via [[https://web.archive.org/web/20150905054404/http://www.kiwisbybeat.com/great.html this archive.org page.]]
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5	''Great!'' follows the life of Lyle Phipps, a man who decides to reinvent himself following a series of crushing misfortunes, [[ToBeAMaster aiming to become "great".]] To this end he soon becomes involved with a family running the "greatest ramen shop in the world", and his life only becomes more and more strange from there.
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7	!!Tropes in Great! include:
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9	* TheAce: A main theme of the comic is what exactly being one means, and the complications therein.
10	* ArcWords: "I'm [[TitleDrop great!"]]
11	* BookEnds: The first panel of the series is Lyle saying "Hello." to the reader. The last one is him saying "Goodbye."
12	* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: Lyle is inspired to become great after an infomercial suggests to him that by lying to himself about being great for long enough, it will eventually be true.
13	* CompetenceZone: Lyle and Yukiko’s son, Barney, runs afoul of his trope. It’s understandable that he’d be TheLoad back when he’s just a kid, but by the end he’s got to be an adult (though the timeline is unclear) yet still needs to be [[spoiler:rescued by his father]].
14	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Early on, Lyle murders an entire bar full of people using a stool. Though he never does anything this immoral again, he remains talented with a stool as a weapon for the rest of the story.
15	%%* TheEpic
16	* {{Foreshadowing}}: The only time that Lyle is truly happy is during the six years of domestic bliss in which he is content to run a family-owned business with his wife and raise their child together. Carmichael offering to expand it into a big franchise ultimately leads to everything going FromBadToWorse until [[spoiler:he is estranged from his loved ones and no longer pursuing his dream of being a ramen chef]]. At least, until he stumbles across his son again, [[spoiler:saves him from a group of thugs]], and then finds contentment [[spoiler:operating a simple noodle stand in the park, having reconciled with his family]]. [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot Which is pretty much what he was doing before.]]
17	* MayDecemberRomance: Presumably between Lyle and Yukiko, since Lyle is a former office worker who had a failed first marriage, and Yukiko is around 18. They are very happy together, [[spoiler:until Lyle’s envy over his wife’s newfound talents destroys their marriage]]. In the DistantFinale, Yukiko is still middle-aged, but Lyle looks quite old.
18	* PutOnABus: Lyle is the only constant in the story. Whenever anyone else fulfills their narrative purpose, they’re written out, even if [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse their story isn’t over]]. That said, many of them come BackForTheFinale.
19	* SeriousBusiness: Ramen. What else can you expect from the author of ''Webcomic/{{minus}}''?
20	* SoLastSeason: After Yukiko surpasses Lyle’s cooking ability, everyone else finds his noodles completely revolting, even though they loved them before.
21	* SurprisinglySuddenDeath: [[spoiler:Yukiko’s father]] dies just after [[spoiler:Lyle marries his daughter]], and several years later in-universe, [[spoiler:Carmichael]] dies the day after he negotiates a contract with Lyle. There is no indication beforehand that either are ill.
22	* ToBeAMaster: Lyle's ultimate goal. [[spoiler:By the end, he’s taken a page out of [[TheCynic Diogenes of Sinope]]’s book and realizes he was after the wrong thing all along.]]

Context Webcomic / Great