Line #24 Webcomic/JumpLeads


1	[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jumpleads.png]]
2	A British Sci-Fi comedy webcomic inspired by shows like ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' and ''Series/RedDwarf'', ''[[http://web.archive.org/web/20170113212704/http://jump-leads.com:80/index.php Jump Leads]]'' is the story of Thomas Meaney and Richard Llewellyn, trainees in the Lead Service - a sort-of self-appointed "Reality Police" who travel to [[TheMultiverse parallel Universes]] and ensure everything is occurring as it should. They've hit a bit of a problem, however - a disastrous set of circumstances during their first field training exercise have left them stranded in a broken [=JumpShip=], aimlessly jumping from one random Universe to the next. But with Meaney trying hard to return to the career he loves and Llewellyn content to meander aimlessly through existence, getting back to Lead H.Q. continues to look like an impossible task...
3
4	Jump Leads is created by Ben Paddon and illustrated by "[=JjAR=]". Rather than having a single writer, Jump Leads has a TV Series-esque writing team, with different writers writing the scripts for different issues. Paddon is the lead writer, with the rest of the team being Euan Mumford, Paul Varley and Andrew Taylor (plus guest writers).
5
6	Ten issues of the comic were completed between 2007 and 2013 when the comic went on hiatus. The issues so far are:
7
8	# ''Training Day'', written by Ben Paddon
9	# ''It Came From Space!'', written by Ben Paddon
10	# ''Trojan Horse'', written by Euan Mumford
11	# ''Just Dropping In'' (4-page mini-issue), written by Ben Paddon
12	# ''Who Wants to Rule the World?'', written by Paul Varley
13	# ''The Travellers'' (4-page mini-issue), written by Benjamin "Pooka" Maydon
14	# ''Rogues and Scallywags'', written by Ben Paddon
15	# ''Waterworld'', written by Kris Carter (who also provides the art for this story)
16	# ''The Cult of Meaney'', written by Andrew Taylor
17	# ''The Voyage Home'', written by Ben Paddon, Euan Mumford, Paul Varley and Andrew Taylor
18
19	In 2015 a ContinuityReboot was announced in the form of audio adventures, but nothing seems to have come of this and the website went offline sometime in early 2017.
20
21	This webcomic provides examples of:
22
23	!!Training Day
24
25	* DeadpanSnarker: Llewellyn
26	* MilitaryMaverick: Captain Lucas, and Llewellyn.
27	* SacrificialLamb: [[spoiler:Captain Lucas]]
28	* ShoutOut: [[Series/RedDwarf Robert Llewellyn]], [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Colm Meaney]], Creator/JossWhedon, Creator/GeorgeLucas
29	* SmallNameBigEgo: Captain Whedon. Heck, he practically says as much:
30	--> "I'm Captain Whedon. I'm very important and, as such, completely justified in my arrogance."
31	* TakeThat: "About as exciting as watching ''Series/FootballersWives''"; "I believe some of you will be travelling to dimensions where Christina Aguilera has somehow achieved a successful music career".
32	* WideEyedIdealist: Meaney
33
34	!!It Came From Space!
35
36	* AndYouThoughtItWasAGame: [[spoiler:Inverted: Meaney and Llewellyn think the alien attack is real, but the whole thing is actually a historical recreation.]]
37	* DeusExMachina: [[spoiler: Turns out there's no danger at all.]]
38	* TheNapoleon: Newman
39	* ShoutOut: [[Series/{{Firefly}} Alan Tudyk]] and [[Series/StargateSG1 Richard Dean Anderson]], among others.
40
41	!!Trojan Horse
42
43	* DeusExMachina: [[spoiler: The BodySurfing aliens have a WeaksauceWeakness which saves the life of the host.]]
44	* HighClassGlass: the monocle that Meaney finds. Subversion in that monocles are only worn by the lower classes in this universe.
45	* InMediasRes
46	* MundaneSolution: [[spoiler:Silk]]
47	* PuppeteerParasite: The Iob
48	* ShoutOut: [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Leonard Nimoy]] and [[Series/{{Andromeda}} Lisa Ryder]], among others.
49
50	!!Just Dropping In
51
52	!!Who Wants to Rule the World?
53
54	* ContractualGenreBlindness: General Gray has this in ''spades''.
55	* DeusExMachina: [[spoiler: They were never in any danger, redux.]]
56	* HarmlessVillain: [[spoiler:Gray, to the point that the world's governments don't even try to capture him any more after they've foiled his plans.]]
57	* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: Subverted - the guards use tranquiliser darts, which ''improves'' their aim because they don't have to worry about taking human lives.
58	* JustBetweenYouAndMe: Averted: this is one of the few errors Gray won't commit. No sense in a "before I kill you, let me tell you my plan" if you aren't going to kill them. The heroes can't have it ''all'' their own way.
59	* LockingMacGyverInTheStoreCupboard: Deliberate. Gray wants the crew to escape their holding cells "Somewhere between Step 1: [[spoiler: Build highly complex volcano island base]] and Step 3: [[MemeticMutation Profit]]!" so he [[spoiler: won't have to work out the details of his plan]].
60	* MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds: With taking it over rather than destroying it. Gray [[spoiler:has taken over the world once already, found the experience of running it [[VictoryIsBoring boring]], and abdicated power. But he still loves ''trying'' to take over the world. So he now invents ludicrously flawed plans for his bids for world domination]].
61	* NotSoHarmlessVillain: [[spoiler:At the end of the issue, with reverse-engineered universe-jumping technology within his grasp, Gray decides to start conquering other, parallel worlds - and this time, he's going to do it ''properly'']].
62	* ShoutOut: All to ''Film/JamesBond'': Moore to Creator/RogerMoore; General Donald Gray is a double reference (Creator/CharlesGray played Blofeld in ''Film/DiamondsAreForever'', Creator/DonaldPleasence played Blofeld in ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice''), while Gray's chief scientist Dr. Llewelyn (note lack of second double-L) is the late Desmond "Q" Llewelyn. Also, Meaney introduces himself to special agent Jane Moore as "Meaney. Thomas Meaney."
63	* VictoryIsBoring: as Gray discovered after he [[spoiler:took over the world on his first attempt]]
64
65	!!The Travellers
66
67	!!Rogues & Scallywags
68
69	* DeusExMachina: [[spoiler: You know one's coming.]]
70	* ShoutOut: Imprisoned "Freelance" dimension-hopping Mercenary Hayter is named for voice actor David Hayter who played Solid Snake in the ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' video series (but looks more like an aged Christopher Eccleston).
71
72	!!Waterworld
73
74	!!The Cult of Meaney
75
76	!!The Voyage Home
77
78	!!General
79
80	* TheMultiverse: The central premise of the comic.
81	* ObstructiveCodeOfConduct: Survive at all costs, as opposed to, say, sacrificing your life to save a universe from disaster: there are an infinite number of universes, and only so many trained operatives.
82	* UpTheRealRabbitHole: related to the ObstructiveCodeOfConduct line above.

Context Webcomic / JumpLeads