No Black Plume



""It's interesting that after 2.7 billion years of evolution, the trait that best secures one's genetic line is 'being delicious'.""

- Caption, Comic #27

"No Black Plume" is a webcomic started in July 2011 by Matthew "Curly" Jeffers (writer) and Aubrey Zepeda (artist). The comics are very short, usually single-panel, and usually deal with absurd topics and situations, as well as science, literature, and social trends. There is no storyline or recurring characters, and most of the tropes are mocked or played for laughs. The comic is hosted on Blogger and updates Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

In addition to the comic, each update comes with a "Something Cool", where Curly and Aubrey alternate discussing something they enjoy and expounding the reader to check it out.

No Black Plume provides examples of these tropes:
"Played for laughs again in the six-part "Science Will Ruin Your Life" arc."
 * A Cup Angst: Here.
 * Added Alliterative Appeal: Lil' Lolita.
 * Are We There Yet?: The "fighting in the back seat" variety
 * Artistic License History: The history of "Hangman". Played for laughs.
 * Artistic License Statistics: Averted. According to Word of God, statistics is Curly's favorite branch of mathematics.
 * Art Shift: For its six-part "Science Will Ruin Your Life" series, the comic switched to a black-and-white, Film Noir-inspired style.
 * Black Comedy: Oh so much.
 * Blatant Lies: Each comic comes with the authors' "credentials".
 * Comedic Sociopathy: Here.
 * Cosplay: Played for laughs.
 * Depending On the Writer: Curly and Aubrey alternate writing the credentials that accompany each comic. Curly's tend to be shorter and simpler; Aubrey's are longer and more madcap.
 * Eagleland: Flavor 2.
 * Elegant Gothic Lolita: Played with.
 * Gone Horribly Wrong: Humanity. See The Monolith below.
 * Headphones Equal Isolation: Double subverted.
 * Hipster: Here.
 * I'm Your Worst Nightmare: Mocked.
 * Inkblot Test: Mocked.
 * Inside a Computer System: Played for laughs.
 * Ironic Hell: A four-part series of comics on it.
 * It Got Worse: See "Lonely Rich Kid" below.
 * Lonely Rich Kid: Here.
 * Moral Guardians: Averted and mocked.
 * Narm: Subverted.
 * Neologism: Played for laughs
 * Noodle Incident: Comics will sometimes appear In Medias Res, between Noodle Incidents.
 * One of Us: Both authors are huge nerds. They met through Quiz Bowl and share a Dungeons & Dragons party and a Laser Tag team.
 * Schedule Slip: Just once so far. The comic was posted later in the day.
 * Science Is Bad: Averted here and played for laughs here.


 * Shameless Self Promoter: Curly. He has openly asked to do guest comics, addressed to "EVERY WEBCOMIC EVER", and introduces the comic by saying, "You should check it out, click on the ads a few times."
 * Shout Out: Tons of 'em. It's the whole point of the Something Cool posts.
 * Steampunk: Played for laughs.
 * Stylistic Suck: The comics tend to be hastily-drawn to maintain a cartoony appearance. Taken Up to Eleven here and here.
 * Take a Third Option: And a morbid one at that.
 * Take That: Against Twilight.
 * The Fun in Funeral: Comic #25.
 * The Monolith: Played for laughs.
 * The War On Straw: Inverted and mocked. See Moral Guardians above.
 * Touche: Touche, hipsters.
 * Underdogs Always Win: Averted and parodied.
 * Understatement: Here.
 * Unicorn: A rather dark take.