Red Meat
"It's true... no man is an island. But if you take a bunch of dead guys and tie 'em together, they make a pretty good raft."
—Bug-Eyed Earl
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Not sure it's possible, but here goes. Red Meat is a three-panel gag-per-day comic by Max Cannon that started in 1989 before moving to the web in 1996. It specialises in crossing the line twice, starring a host of bizarre characters talking in supposedly normal situations that are turned on their heads by the punchline. Stark, motionless art and a lack of backgrounds add to the feeling of straight-faced madness.
Recurring characters:
- Milkman Dan, the most evil and depraved milkman ever. Forever in conflict with his boss, customers and his eternal foe Karen, the little girl.
- Ted, the devoted family man with some very strange hobbies.
- Bug-eyed Earl, whose viewpoint of reality is at 37.34572 degrees to the rest of us.
Main website here. Not as active as it used to be -- posts repeat or touched-up strips, but there are some new ones as well.
Tropes used in Red Meat include:
- Alliteration
- Butt Monkey: Ted's son.
- Comedic Sociopathy
- Cut and Paste Comic: A deliberate choice, as Max wanted the text to stand out.
- Dead Baby Comedy
- Chew Toy: Johnny Lemonhead
- Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Each comic is given a bleakly funny title that describes the general tone of Red Meat.
- Intercontinuity Crossover: An early example: Mr. T vs. Red Meat.
- King of All Cosmos: God is a jerk.
- Papa Moai sees all, knows all -- but can't be bothered to help a little boy because it'd strain his back.
- Negative Continuity
- Planet Eris
- Recycled in Space
- Robot Buddy: Mr. Bix is a subversion. A vomiting, kid-microwaving subversion.
- Smug Snake: Milkman Dan tries to be a Magnificent Bastard and usually succeeds. It makes getting pwned by little Karen all the funnier.
- The Voice: We never see Ted's wife, just her speech bubbles.