Concerned

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
No, Frohman.

Concerned: The Half-Life and Death of Gordon Frohman is a Machinomic by Christopher C. Livingston based on Half Life 2. An Affectionate Parody, it blurs the line between Machinima and a traditional comic: all images are in-game screenshots taken from Garry's Mod, which allows the user to pose ragdolls and play around with the scripted events of the game, that have had speech bubbles and whatnot added. The name of the strip comes from a letter from "A Concerned Citizen" read in the game by the administrator of Earth, Dr. Breen, which the comic provides an explanation of.

The (concluded!) story follows the misadventures of Gordon Frohman, happy-go-lucky if none-too-bright resident of City 17 and former file clerk at Black Mesa, as he precedes/follows in Gordon Freeman's footsteps and attempts to ingratiate himself to the Combine overlords, catch Dr. Breen's latest show, cleanse the city of evil Vortigaunts, find an apartment, survive the horrifyingly friendly residents of Ravenholm, get his trans-human surgical upgrade, and stop that crowbar-wielding jerk from ruining everything. As the comic's name suggests, Frohman dies at the end. What? It's right there in the title!

If you're at all familiar with Half Life 2, or even if you're not, you may want to check it out. Expect some spoilers, though.

Despite the fact that Frohman did actually die at the end; an unofficial sequel titled Concerned 2: A Concerned Rip-Off-The Continuing Adventures of Gordon Frohman by Norman N. Black demonstrates that our loveable dumbass survived due to a lack of Gameplay and Story Segregation.


Tropes used in Concerned include:

Frohman: There's no rule against having a Garg play soccer! This is gonna be the best season ever!

  • Anyone Can Die: Well, almost everyone.
  • Author Appeal: The reason the strip exists is precisely because the creator loves a great deal of the things Half-Life 2 does. Read his notes for more in-depth information.
  • Battle Couple: Frohman thinks of Sandy as his girlfriend. Sandy thinks of Frohman as a liability.
  • Bilingual Bonus: Froh means happy in German.
  • Black Comedy
  • Black Shirt: Frohman is staunchly pro-Combine and an avid fan of Dr. Breen, but is fortunately such a screw-up that he ends up helping the good guys by accident.
  • Boss Room: Confused for "a perfect place to rest" by our hero.
  • Brick Joke: In the very first comic, two members of Civil Protection comment that the train is running late. In the very last comic, the rebels comment that the train to Episode Two is running late, with one of the group commenting "again?"
    • The T.G.I. Friday's, but it doesn't come up 'till the unofficial sequel.
  • Call Back: A lot, but especially here.
    • Don't forget how at the beginning when Frohman leaves the train station, he cannot find any TGI Fridays. Then, in the sequel, he passes by a TGI Friday as he's evacuating the city. Too bad it would explode even if Frohman got to stop in.
  • Card-Carrying Villain: Wallace Breen fulfills this role basically.
  • Catch Phrase: You got Frohwned!!!
  • Chekhov's Gun: Described here. Or lampshaded. Or both.
  • Cigar Fuse-Lighting: When Frohman meets his squadmates at the start of the revolt (who all introduce themselves by their character archetypes), one of them claims to be a demolitions expert who'll do exactly this.
  • Continuity Nod: Several jokes in Concerned 2.
  • Companion Cube: Gordon's *ahem* forward relationship with the gravity gun, coming to a head *ahem again* in strip #77.
    • In Concerned 2, a "Breen Idol" and a Lawn Gnome play this role.
  • Cool Ship: G-Man's magical hovercraft.
  • Crapsack World: It wasn't great to begin with, and then Frohman helped make things worse...especially Ravenholm.
    • Heck, before our hero got there, Ravenholm was nicer than most of the real world.
  • Downer Ending: Read the title.
    • Due to the deserved death of Frohman and Dr.Breen the ending could be seen as a subversion.
  • Dumbass Has a Point: Used here, here, and here. Made all the more jarring considering Frohman's utter dumbassery.
  • Eleventh-Hour Superpower: The truth behind the blue gravity gun revealed!
  • Everything Fades: Played straight.
  • Evil Laugh

Roommate wanted for 2 bedroom, 2 bath home. Hardwood floors, tool shed. Close to church, schools, and public teleportation. Cats, robotic dogs okay. $325 a month. Ravenholm area. Contact F. Grigori.
Note: Non-smoker preferred. Must enjoy sermons and shotguns.
PS: Heh heh! Hah hah! HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH!

    • Also:

Welcome. Welcome to City 17... also known as... HELL! HELL! YOU'RE ALL GONNA DIE! YOU'RE ALL DEAD!!! HA HA HA HA HA HA!

Civil Protection Officer: Pick up that can.
Frohman: How the heck do I do that?
[Hot-tip appears: "E Pickup object"]
Frohman: Oh. Whoah! I can pick up things in this game! I mean world. It's a little odd that I don't actually have to use my hands, though.
Civil Protection Officer: I was just thinking that myself.

Frohman: There is no Gordon, Judith...There is only...The Claw.

  • The Millstone: Frohman tries to help the Combine at every turn, but fails at all of said turns - and more besides.
  • My Eyes Are Up Here: Frohman is fascinated by the Combine Elite outfit that somehow renders everything in 2D. He then exclaims things are 3D again when he stares at Judith Mossman's breasts, causing Judith to state the trope.
  • Mythology Gag: Frohman, at the beginning of Sandtraps, states that "jumping puzzles are for effeminate Italian plumbers". This is a reference to the author's original site, Not My Desk, where he once did an article suggesting that Mario was gay.
  • Name's the Same: Subverted, as described above.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Where to begin...?
    • Ravenholm is a good place to begin. It used to be a peaceful sunny community, with only one whackjob priest who is ignored as a loon. Then Frohman comes by...
    • He takes a short break from thoroughly screwing up the world of Half-Life to ruin the only good Counter-Strike server.
  • No Animals Were Harmed: Subverted.

"Working with live seagull spawns is no picnic, either, as they're very fragile. Brush them with the physics gun beam or an object and they squawk and die immediately. Many, many seagulls were killed in the making of this comic."

Gordon: (thinking) Same old Norman, still thinks he's some bitter, world-weary action hero, spitting out sardonic, overly dramatic responses and acting like a camera is doing close-ups on him. Maybe I can trip him up... (aloud) Golly! I've got terrible hemorrhoids all up my butt! What say you?
Norman: You think it's painful sitting down? Try taking a stand!
Gordon: (thinking) Damn he's good.

Townsperson: You're not Gordon Freeman.
Frohman: No.
Townsperson: You're... Gordon Frohman.
Frohman: Yes.
Townsperson: The Sausage King of Chic--
Frohman: No.

G-Man: Look out! An Archvile!
Frohman: Archvile? Where? Where? Wait, an Archvile? They aren't even in this-- hey, where'd you go?

Judith: What? What? I don't know Dr. Breen! Who told you I know him? I don't! I've never met him! I've never even heard of him! I don't sleep with a picture of him under my pillow!

Frohman: No need to come here and look over my shoulder or anything! Even though it looks like I'm just slapping my hands randomly on the keyboard, I'm actually placing the order! For GUNS! You're not being duped or lied to like you might think! Ha ha! Hey, everyone, I think Barney here thinks I'm not actually placing the order for guns! Okie dokie, the real order is placed and isn't fake at all! If the guns never show up then I don't know who to blame except that it's not me because I ordered them and didn't fake-order them like you seem to think for some reason!
Computer: Your real order for guns has been placed. Thank you for using Citadel purchasing.
(Gilligan Cut)
Barney: Wow! Sorry I doubted you, Gordon!

Rebel: And if you come across a huge cache of ammo, weapons, health packs, and armor chargers, what does that mean?
Frohman: That I'm about to get my ass kicked?
Rebel: Bingo.

Sandy: I feel like every time I around you're doing something stupid, like holding a live grenade while standing knee-deep in radioactive sludge and setting yourself on fire.
Frohman: For the record, I'm only ankle deep.

Frohman: I don't have any idea about a lot of things.

Frohman: Well, my throat is sorta scratchy. But it could be all those SunChips I just ate.