Oliver Peets is your ordinary twelve-year-old boy. He loves robots, comic books, and TV. He wants to fit in despite moving around constantly with his mom, a travelling nurse. He also takes a dare or two he probably shouldn't.
But Oliver has always known there was something strange about him. His family tree starts and ends with him and his mother. He bounces off the walls while yelping in pain after hitting his thumb in woodworking class. Then he sets his lunch tray on fire in the middle of the cafeteria. So he knows something's up with his cartoony abilities by the time he's suspended for a week after jumping off a bridge and landing unharmed when two other boys broke their legs.
Things get even weirder when he and his mom are attacked by a murder of crows that smash through the windows of his home. Oliver is forced to flee for dear life with the help of an cartoony cowboy who claims to be his grandfather. The real meets the surreal as Oliver begins pulling at the threads of his family's history and he discovers just how special he really is.
Uncanny Valley is a comic book written by Tony Fleecs with illustrations by Dave Wachter for Boom! Studios. It follows Oliver as he discovers his roots while strange and frightening forces come for him and his family.
Not to be confused with the trope this is series is named for, Uncanny Valley.
Uncanny Valley contains examples of:
- Blazing Inferno Hellfire Sauce: Oliver once offered to eat some spicy peppers from his classmate Jackson in an attempt to appear cool and fit in. Unfortunately, this made him a Fire-Breathing Diner and he got in trouble for setting his lunch tray on fire.
- Change the Uncomfortable Subject: After Oliver explains the Fire-Breathing Diner incident he had that left his lunch tray on fire, Peggy doesn't call him a liar and instead asks if he has all his homework. This just leads to another uncomfortable conversation where Oliver asks about his family and culture for a social studies assignment but Peggy doesn't tell him anything other than her job as a travelling nurse.
- Circling Birdies: Three bluebirds circle Oliver's head after he jumps off a bridge, showing that he's slightly dazed but otherwise unharmed by the act. This is contrasted by the two other boys who jumped with him screaming in pain after breaking their legs.
- Come with Me If You Want to Live: Oliver's grandpa tells Oliver to hop in the car so they can drive to somewhere safe. Oliver hesitates because his mom is still being attacked by the crows, but his grandpa assures him that she's a strong woman who will be right behind them.
- Creepy Crows: Oliver and Peggy are attacked by a murder of crows who all scream the same phrases, "Deliver the halfbreed! Find the woman! Take the boy!" The crows can fly fast enough to smash through windows and are clearly intelligent or being guided by some other force, stealing Oliver's grandpa's blunderbuss and attempting to drag Peggy and Oliver away. They appear to have murdered Peggy as she lies motionless at the end of the first issue.
- Dead-Hand Shot: At the end of the first issue, Peggy's hand can be seen lying motionless amidst the crows that attacked Oliver's home.
- Do Not Call Me "Paul": Peggy tells her father not to call her by that name even as she introduces Oliver to his grandfather.
- Fire-Breathing Diner: Oliver offered to eat some spicy peppers from his classmate Jackson's father's work in an attempt to look cool and fit in. Oliver describes his reaction as seeing red before blacking out and hearing a high-pitched whistle sound. When he came to, his lunch tray was on fire.
- Half-Human Hybrid: The crows repeatedly call Oliver a "halfbreed", implying that he's half-human, half-cartoon.
- Impact Silhouette: Oliver leaves a silhouette shaped like himself on the ground after jumping off a bridge instead of breaking his leg like the other kids. This is the first indication of his cartoony abilities in the story and sets the tone for the comic. He leaves another silhouette after running through the wall of his home to escape the crows.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: Oliver caves to peer pressure in his attempts to fit in as he and his mom move around constantly for her work. He takes painful or even life-threatening dares just so he wouldn't be the "new kid" anymore. His cartoony abilities are the only reason why he isn't hospitalized after jumping off a bridge with two of his classmates, falling into the ground and leaving an Impact Silhouette instead of breaking his legs.
- Kids Driving Cars: Oliver takes the wheel of his grandfather's car while his grandfather grabs a gun to shoot at the crows pursuing them.
- "Jump Off a Bridge" Rebuttal: Peggy is shocked when she learns that Oliver jumped off a bridge at the behest of his classmate, believing it to be a cliche and not something kids would actually do. Oliver complains that he was just trying to fit in, but his principal brings up the other two incidents that get Oliver suspended before he can explain himself.
- Men Can't Keep House: Oliver doesn't keep his room clean at all. His toys are strewn about the place, clothes hang on his chair and beneath his dresser and his bed is unmade.This is coupled with him promising but failing to do his chores until his mom scolds him for it, showing his lack of motivation or organization in his life beyond his desire to have friends and fit in.
- Miniature Senior Citizens: Oliver's grandfather is a squat cartoon cowboy who only comes up to Oliver's waist.
- Parents as People: Peggy loves and cares for Oliver deeply, wanting what's best for him and to keep him out of danger. But her work as a travelling nurse means that Oliver has no friends his age as they constantly move around. This leaves him susceptible to peer pressure as he does everything he can to fit in even when it's illogical or dangerous, such as jumping off a bridge in the first pages of the comic. Her cageyness with her family's past also leaves him feeling isolated and makes it difficult for him to have the motivation to do anything other than try to enjoy himself.
- Shout-Out: The plot is described by the author as Firebreather "but what if it was cartoons", while the presence of cartoons in the real world is done in a manner strongly reminiscent of Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
- Toon Physics: The cartoons operate on entirely different laws of physics than people. This gets Oliver in a lot of trouble as he's raked over the coals for causing disturbances like bouncing off the walls after hitting his thumb with a hammer during woodworking class. But this also saves his life when he jumps off a bridge and later speeds through the wall of his house to escape the murder of crows.
- Uncanny Valley: Invoked. The art is deliberately drawn in a photorealistic way akin to a Norman Rockwell painting, creating this effect to contrast the cartoony characters and effects like Oliver leaving an Impact Silhouette when he jumps off a bridge.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: This is Peggy's reaction when she learns that Oliver jumped off a bridge because his two classmates told him to.Peggy: You jumped off a bridge?! Because all your friends were jumping off too?! Oliver, I... I didn't even think that was a real thing kids did! Are you kidding me?! That's so generic!
- You Wouldn't Believe Me If I Told You: Oliver is reluctant to bring up what happens at school because he doesn't think his mom would believe him. This is most pronounced with his Fire-Breathing Diner incident when he set his lunch tray on fire after taking a dare to eat some of his classmate's spicy peppers. Peggy doesn't say he's making anything up and instead tries to Change the Uncomfortable Subject, foreshadowing that she knows a lot more than she's letting on.
