Robots and Racks



Robots and Racks is a science fiction webcomic written and illustrated by Batchix and launched in August 2011. It chronicles the adventures of Petra Deunan, captain of the space freighter Wild Child and her colorful, mostly female, mostly human crew. Set an indeterminate amount of time following Earth's annihilation, the human race have continued to survive among the stars, individuals like Petra doing so by facilitating trade and smuggling between the various powerful alien races. Petra's crew initially includes the calm scientist/sniper Elizabeth, the upbeat ex-mercenary Peach, ship's engineer Pumpkin, and their security droid Crash. They are soon joined by Tumi, a convicted criminal working off her sentence and by Glitch, a robot butler whom Pumpkin rescues from a garbage dumpster. Deals are made, goods are smuggled, and adventure ensues.

It can be read here.

"Elizabeth: Sorry for the impromptu science lesson. Sometimes I can't help myself."
 * Action Girl: All of the main female cast members to one degree or another.
 * Aerith and Bob: Petra, Peach, Pumpkin, Tumi... and Elizabeth.
 * As You Know: Justified when new crew member Tumi must be brought up to speed. Lampshaded at one point:

"Pumpkin: I FUCKING HATE ZOMBIES!"
 * The Big Guy: Peach again.
 * Boobs of Steel: Petra and Peach, described by Word of God as the "tanks" of the crew, have some appropriately big guns...
 * Broken Bird: Tumi., possibly.
 * The Captain: Petra
 * Disappeared Dad:
 * Earthshattering Kaboom: As seen in the very first strip.
 * Highly-Visible Ninja: The crew goes into battle wearing pastel armor that matches their hair colors.
 * A Father to His Men: Petra.
 * Friendly Sniper: Elizabeth
 * Funny Background Event: A trademark of the series.
 * The Ghost: The Vox aliens who refuse to be seen, conducting all their work through robots and proxies from other species.
 * Giant Space Flea From Nowhere: The Crystavos who are literally giant space fleas and whose motives for the attack on the Kaln are unexplained at present.
 * Good Scars, Evil Scars: Subverted with Ambassador Devon. Her "good guy"-style scar only adds to her sinister demeanor.
 * Then there's Tumi who has a nasty bullet scar on her shoulder.
 * Genius Ditz: Pumpkin.
 * The Greys: Approached in an interesting way. In a universe teaming with alien life the Greys remain as mysterious as ever. They are believed to be a myth by many and humans are one of the few species alleged to have encountered them.
 * Guns Akimbo: How Elizabeth fights when unable to act as a sniper.
 * Killer Rabbit: The Kaln, who are a race of small, cute aliens... until they are taken over by the Crystavos.
 * Let's Get Dangerous: Crash is a cute, mischievous, little robot with noodle arms who spends most of his time acting like a puppy... until it's time for the gatling guns to come out...
 * Ludicrous Gibs: "Um, you've got something on your helmet there..."
 * Mecha-Mooks: The Vox battle robots to the point where Elizabeth even calls them out on what slow-moving bad shots they are.
 * Meganekko: Elizabeth
 * Noodle People: The as-yet-unnamed species of alien seen in this strip.
 * Our Zombies Are Different: The Crystavos.


 * Precursors: The Ones Who Came Before.
 * Sex Slave:  was illegally grown in a laboratory to serve as one.
 * Spy Catsuit: The gals' battle armor.
 * Robosexual: Glitch, much to Pumpkin's delight.
 * Team Pet: Crash
 * Tsundere: Tumi is a Type A while Pumpkin is a Type B.
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair: And matching armor!