Erma

Erma is a horror-comedy Web Comic by Brandon Santiago, about a child named Erma (who happens to be half-ghost) and her Genre Savvy classmates. Updates irregularly, but usually one or two strips each week. Read it at Tapas.


 * As You Know: In this strip, telling the readers how Our Monsters Are Different.
 * Character Title
 * Crowning Moment of Heartwarming: "Silent Night"
 * Literal-Minded and Comically Missing the Point:
 * "Hey, Erma, you mind poking your head in through the wall and... Okay... I didn't mean it like that..."
 * "I feel like going out and painting the town red!"
 * Mugging the Monster: in the strip "Down To Clown", a stock horror-movie Evil Clown tries to capture Erma... Have pity on the Evil Clown, because Erma didn't.
 * Oh Crap: The local boys might have Erma Surrounded and snowballs ready to fly, but that isn't good enough.
 * Paint the Town Red: Discussed after a fashion in this strip, but never actually happens.'
 * Poltergeist: Erma, who has poltergeist powers. This makes her regular dentist trips frightening to everyone.
 * Shout-Out: So many that the list is now on the Trivia subpage.
 * Show Within a Show: "Warrior Unicorn Princess", Erma's favorite cartoon. Clearly styled after My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, complete with a nickname for fans ("wupers").  Funnily enough, Erma is exactly the target demographic of the show, but considers it a Guilty Pleasure.
 * To be fair, Amy and Terry react as if they've "outgrown" the show when Sidney mentions liking it.
 * Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl: The character designs of Erma and her mother are strongly influenced by this archetype.
 * Summoning Ritual: Amy tries to summon Erma to ask for notes. The summoning worked but we don't see if she actually got the notes.
 * Television Portal: Erma forgot her lunch.