Webcomic / Death Clown

Spare blood

Death Clown is an urban dark fantasy/supernatural webcomic that follows Epper, an undertaker as she discovers and becomes becomes unwillingly embroiled in the affairs of Sprouts: undead monsters endowed with supernatural powers. Their existence kept hidden by the mass murder of witnesses by the ever personable and sadistic Crust.

Created by OneGrumpyLumpy, the first three chapters were published in June 2021 and is free to read on the official website. An official Spanish localisation by Gabbo_sketches is also available here.

---

Death Clown contains examples of:

• Action Survivor: Epper knows how out of her depth she is when caught between two battling sprouts.
• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Specky and "the Lollipop man" in the chapter 1 rework.
• Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Sore claims to have "ruled the underground" while he was alive and now calls himself Crust's "worst nightmare come true" despite not paying attention to his surroundings in battle.
• Art Evolution: Characters had far more cartoonish proportions in the first 3 chapters in addition to more detailed colouring, shading and backgrounds in later chapters. The difference is especially noticeable in the chapter 1 rework.
• Ax-Crazy: Crust's first appearance in chapter 1 sees him kill a frightened Sprout and a crowd of onlookers without a care in the world.
• Bathos
• Berserk Button: Her father's violent outbursts for Voca.
• The Berserker: Sore in his desperation to battle Crust is willing to kill anyone in his way.
• Big Bad: Crust.
• Black Comedy: Much of the humour revolves around suffering in some way.
  • Black Comedy Animal Cruelty: In chapter 2, Voca feeds a lizard to Epper's pet spider while it's still breathing and visibly distressed. Epper's only concern is that Noodles might not be able to eat something so big.
  • The baby smasher one-shot plays Aesop Collateral Damage for laughs.
• Blood Iron: Tickles summons weapons from his blood during combat.
  • Chapter 8 reveals that this ability extends to any nearby blood.
• Bloody Horror: Especially when Crust is about.
• Bugs Herald Evil: Noodles wanders outside to meet Epper seconds before Crust destroys her property.
• The Call Knows Where You Live: Epper doesn't believe in sprouts and dismisses the disembodied head as "latex and corn syrup" until one appears before her in the forest later that night.
• Came Back Strong: The Sprouts all have supernatural powers and survive grievous bodily harm that would incapacitate or kill any normal human.
• Chekhov's Gun: In chapter 6, Voca uses a red tendril (not unlike her father's) to stop Tam from smoking inside. She later uses them to fight Sore in chapter 7.
• Cleanup Crew: Epper is one of Crust's undertakers, tasked with disposing of whatever might be left of his victims.
• Combat Tentacles: Crust.
  • Voca too.
• Crapsack World: The world of Death Clown seems to be little more than the playground of a complete sociopath, with occasional visits from the undead sprinkled in.
• Defeat as Backstory: Sore's motivation. Once a street fighter, Sore "ruled the underground" until a chance encounter with a Sprout lead to his execution at the hands of Crust. Now resurrected, he will stop at nothing to get even.
• Disposing of a Body: Epper's line of work as an undertaker.
• Fan Disservice: The beach episode which takes place on the same beach that Epper dumps the bodies in chapter 1.
• Foe Romantic Subtext: Sore vs Voca in chapter 7. Sore was initially impressed by her swift countering and even ponders how things could've turned out differently between them. Likely dampened by the mangling he would receive thereafter.
• Friendly Neighborhood Spider: Noodles.
• Friend to Bugs: Epper and her beloved huntsman, Noodles.
• Ghost Town: Epper is implied to live in one. The surrounding forest covers destroyed and overgrown buildings. Hers is the only one in a liveable state.
• Goth Spirals: Normally to represent Crust but also appears in foliage and dust clouds.
• Humans Are the Real Monsters: Downplayed. Though all Sprouts are human, not all of them are monsters.
  • Played straight with Crust.
• Grotesque Cute
• I Just Want to Be Normal: Epper becomes overwhelmed with paranoia and anxiety after taking a beaten Tickles home, knowing Crust will kill them both should he ever find out.
• I'm a Humanitarian: In chapter 8, Tickles consumes the blood and bodies killed by Sore in chapter 6 to recharge his Blood Magic.
• Inappropriate Role Model: The civilians in chapter 1 look up to Crust as he torments and murders the sprout.
  • He's even worse in the PSA.
• Kensington Gore: In chapter 2, Epper assumes the sprout head is just this.
• Leave No Witnesses: A tactic used by Crust to keep Sprouts under wraps.
• Lightning Bruiser: Sore.
• Like Reality, Unless Noted: The world of Death Clown is similar to that of our own apart from being far more sloppily run, littered discarded garbage, deteriorating buildings, and extremely unhygienic methods of disposing of bodies giving the impression that whoever is actually in charge doesn't care much for their job. The main difference being the frequent appearance of the Sprouts and efforts to keep them hidden.
• Ludicrous Gibs: Crust reduces a crowd of onlookers to mush in chapter 1, leaving Epper to clean it up.
  • Sore descends into a crowded city center in chapter 6 and sends viscera flying.
• Masquerade Enforcer: The existence of Sprouts is kept hidden by Crust through their extermination.
• Metaphorically True: Crust calls himself human in chapter 7, right before revealing himself to be a Sprout.
• Monster Clown: Tickles with is lanky limbs, long talons of fingers and skull shaped breastplate contrasted by his otherwise friendly smile.
• Neverending Terror: Epper, as a living sprout witness knows her days are numbered.
• New Weird
• No-Sell: In the chapter 1 rework, Crust has a projectile shot through his head. He doesn't even flinch and simply retorts "You missed"
• Redemption Rejection: Sore denies Voca's offer to help keep her father in check with violence
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Voca (red) and Tam (blue).
• Revenant Zombie: Sprouts are well aware of their past lives and appear to transform rather than decompose.
• R-Rated Opening: Chapter 1 shows a terrified sprout and crowd of people being slaughtered.
• See You in Hell: Crust challenging Sore to come back and fight him, should be become a Sprout. He was most likely bluffing but it didn't stop Sore from taking his invitation to heart.
• Sir Swearsalot: Voca.
• Slasher Smile: Crust's face is completely obscured by darkness except for his grinning teeth.
• The Sociopath: Crust's constant smile and lack of care in the face of the suffering he causes marks him as this.
• The Speechless: Tickles.
• Stock Monster Symbolism: Sprouts (particularly Sore) follow the typical narrative symbolism of Ghosts, particularly the "unable to move on" variety.
• The Stoner: Tam is smoking a joint in chapter 2, not helping his testimony.
• Straight Man: Tam acts nonchalant and distant in chapter 2, even while holding the head of a corpse and telling Epper about sprouts. Not even going to the effort of arguing when Epper doesn't believe it, only offering a sardonic "sure" in response before changing the subject.
• Sympathy for the Devil: Voca in chapter 7 offers Sore a second chance as her right-hand after his breakdown. He declines
• The Undead: Sprouts.
• Through the Eyes of Madness: After taking Tickles to her room, we get a panel from her POV of the sprout surrounded by tendrils in a distorted version of her bedroom. When her anxiety reaches its peak, she imagines Crust looming over her in the void.
• The Villain Knows Where You Live: Crust makes a thinly veiled threat to Epper in chapter 2 before following her home and trashing her living room in 3.
• Weirdness Censor: Epper initially dismisses the existence of Sprouts and believes the severed head in chapter 2 to be a prop.