A five-issue comic series by Paul Pope published in 1999-2000, Heavy Liquid is a Cyberpunk mystery-thriller about a man named S, on the run from various parties, chasing down a reclusive sculptor and constantly running into the "heavy liquid" of the title: a mysterious substance with strange properties.
Heavy Liquid contains examples of the following tropes:
- Chained Heat: S winds up briefly handcuffed to a teenage girl who was undergoing a gang initiation.
- Fantasy Metals: The "heavy liquid" of the title is a metal that's liquid at room temperature, highly corrosive, and surprisingly heavy. Treated properly, it can be turned into a potent explosive, or cooked into a drug. It's also a vehicle for a bodiless alien to travel the universe in.
- Film Noir: Borrows many of the elements of the genre, including a morally gray hero, his old flame, and various parties willing to kill to get their hands on the MacGuffin.
- The Men in Black: One of S's pursuers is a large, intimidating man in a black suit and sunglasses, who's working for the government. S also used to be an agent in the same agency, but quit years ago. However, the man in black doesn't care about S; he's going after the heavy liquid.
- Sparing the Final Mook: Subverted. The man in black corners and kills two of the three masked goons who are also pursuing S. Then this exchange happens:MiB: Tell your boss I said ... no.Mook: Whaddya mean, "no"?MiB: I changed my mind. (He kills the mook.)
- Working with the Ex: Partial example: the sculptor that S is hired to track down is his old girlfriend. She agrees to make a sculpture for the Collector, on the condition that she never has to see S again.
