The original run of the comic, now known as Classic Zortic, ran from 2000 to 2008, updating usually three times a week; it ran to over 1200 comics. In September 2008, Zortic underwent a Continuity Reboot, becoming The New Adventures of Zortic, otherwise known as Z2. It updates weekly on Saturdays and has reached over 200 strips.
Can be found here
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Both series contain examples of the following tropes:
- Amazing Technicolor Population: Even within the same species.
- Art Evolution: The art style improves noticeably over the course of the strip.
- Flying Saucer / Cool Ship: The Entire Prize. It actually bears a resemblance to some NASA lifting body designs.
- Green-Skinned Space Babe: Zoie is a Purple-Skinned Space Babe].
- Half-Human Hybrid: Zoie, apparently.
- Klingons Love Shakespeare: Both Zortic and Zoie are fans of Earth pop culture.
- Meaningful Name: The ship is called the "entire prize" because Zortic won it in a game show.
- In Classic, he intended to win enough money to pay off his student loans. He got a ship instead, and incredulously asks "That's the entire prize!?".
- In the reboot, part of the prize was a date with Zoie (a celebrity this time around), who is miffed at being a prize in a contest. She angrily tells Zortic the ship's the "entire prize" and he liked it.
- Pointy Ears: Most of the aliens have these.
- Robe and Wizard Hat: A robe and One-Way Visor in this case. Splink is always seen in a comfortable, long robe that hides his legs and feet completely and has never been seen without his visor, which doubles as an Expressive Mask. While his eyes have never been seen in canon, omake scenes hint that the goggles hide Eye Scream, although he says it's prosthetics and makeup.
- Spirit Advisor:Splink: I'll be joining you as your native guide, spiritual advisor and on-board mechanic.Zoie: Spiritual advisor?Splink: Hey, I didn't say I was a good mechanic.
- Stripperiffic: Zoie occasionally finds herself in outfits like this to "fit in" on planets. It doesn't make her happy.
Classic Zortic contains examples of the following tropes:
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Zortic's father is jailed by the Knastie Empire for trespassing, espionage, and body odor.
- Bland-Name Product: Burger Thing.
- Brain Uploading: When Zortic retrieves his mother from Hell, she doesn't have a body to return to, so she inhabits the ship.
- Chekhov's Armoury: Splink clearly relishes the chance to play Q.
- Conscription: Being drafted into the Sector Guard for a year is apparently considered appropriate punishment for space racing in a restricted zone.
- Crossover: Most prominently with Melonpool, although the comic takes part in some mega-crossover events as well.
- Evil Knockoff: Otto!Splink.
- Fingerless Hands: The three main members of the cast have these; other aliens sometimes do, but it varies.
- Flying Car: The Entire Prize's ground probe.
- Handsome Lech: The captain of the Space Guard Cutter Cavalry.
- Heel–Face Turn: Red Bimbo
- Heroic BSoD: Zoie's reaction to learing she'd been trapped in Splink's head.
- I'm a Doctor, Not a Placeholder: InvertedSplink: I'm a mechanic, not a doctor!
- Ironic Echo: Zortic and Zoie take out the trash.
- Lady Land: Homeworld of Space Pirate Girl Captain Red Bimbo.Captain Bimbo: On Amazonia, "Bimbo" means "ingenous warrior"!
- Lampshade Hanging: The artist depicts the characters' hands without individual fingers. This leads to a gag about them only having one huge finger and a thumb.
- Loan Shark: Student Loan Shark. The gangster Jabba...er, Chubby the Lump.
- Long-Lost Relative: Splink turns out to be the half-brother of Ralph Zinobop of Melonpool.
- And then there's Zoie's mother: Red Bimbo.Splink: Boy, talk about a gene pool that needs some chlorine.
- And then there's Zoie's mother: Red Bimbo.
- Playboy Bunny: Zoie finds herself dressed like this (much to her annoyance) when a tribe of "fake primitives" decides to sacrifice her to the Mugwump.
- Ridiculously Human Robot: Ottoette.
- Ring of Power: Chubby gets tricked into putting on the One Ring - which was coated in Crazy Glue.
- Royal Blood: Splink turns out to be the heir to the throne of Planet Zinobop. He renounces the claim, much to Ralph's relief.
- Security Cling: The bad special effects of Lost in Space are scary!
- Shared Universe: Technically, as a result of Melonpool's continuity, Zortic's adventures take place in the Walkyverse.
- Snake Pit: One of Captain Bimbo's fiendish traps.
- Speaks in Binary: Splink can do this, although it was only used once.
- Temple of Doom: An Indiana Jones parody happens, of course, complete with the required death-traps!
- To Hell and Back: Zortic beats the devil in a game show quiz to rescue Zoie's soul after a space station explosion.
- Villain Ball: Captain Brut takes firm hold.
- We Used to Be Friends: Inverted; the cast met in nursery school, and hated each other. 20 years later, give-or-take, they're fast friends.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Splink's goat is seen when he boards the Entire Prize for the first time, but is never seen again.
- Whole-Plot Reference: One arc has the crew rescue Zoe from hell; another has the ship taken over by a reality show. Yet another does The Lord of the Rings.
- Actually it would be easier to count the arcs that were not this...
The New Adventures of Zortic contains examples of the following tropes:
- Darker and Edgier: A moderate case, but the adventures tend to be more realistic and more than one quirky antagonist becomes a full-scale villain. There is also Zortic's love of Star Trek being explained as being its escape from his parents' constant arguing...
