Lackadaisy: Difference between revisions

[[File:logic_fail_2.jpg|frame|He's crazy, crazy like a cat!]]

 

 

The [[Loveable Rogue]] protagonist is Rocky Rickaby, a jazz violinist turned whiskey- and gin-runner for the Lackadaisy gin joint. He's a bit [[Crazy Awesome|eccentric]], to say the least. Wild escapades abound as Rocky struggles to do right by Mitzi, the only person 'kind' enough to give him a job in these tough times. Joining him on these less-than-legal adventures are his young cousin Calvin 'Freckle' McMurray, a quiet, earnest youth rejected from the police force because of his, um, [[The Berserker|enthusiasm]]; and longtime Lackadaisy 'employee' Viktor Vasko, a surly, grizzled one-eyed Slovak with [[Handicapped Badass|bad knees]]. Rounding out the cast are Sedgewick 'Wick' Sable, mining magnate and Mitzi's current paramour; and Ivy Pepper, Atlas' goddaughter and Lackadaisy hanger-on.

And [[Funny Animal|they're all anthropomorphic cats]]. But that's neither here nor there. Tracy Butler uses cats, not because she identifies with the [[Furry Fandom]], but because she finds them more expressive than humans.

 

 

 

== A-E ==

* [[All There in the Manual]]: Much of the back stories of the characters are only alluded to in the comic itself, while much more is elaborated on in supplementary material, such as Viktor serving in World War 1, his partnership with Mordecai, etc, etc....

* [[Apron Matron]]: Aunt Nina.

* [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking]]: Played to a T in this quote:

'''Lacy''': "Hopelessly trapped in the twisted wreckage of your car. Mangled limbs. Probably on fire... With your tax records all out of order." }}

* [[Art Evolution]]: Not that it even needed it from the start, but as you progress through the comic you see the lighting becoming more expressive and detailed (thanks to computer rendering) and the bodies becoming more proportionate and closer to human body types. Now every frame looks like an authentic 1920's photograph.

* [[Badass Adorable]]: Calvin/Freckle.

** Several characters, really, since this is a webcomic about anthropomorphic cats in a prohibition-era setting.

* [[Badass Longcoat]]: Mordecai frequently sports one.

** Also Freckle's [http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=12 trenchcoat]

** Ivy - yes, Ivy of the fancy flapper outfits and the ditzy demeanour - has a temper that's proven nothing to sneeze at. She manages to handle a gun well enough to convince some gin-runners she's genuine, too.

* [[Big Brother Instinct]]: Viktor is unusually protective of Ivy, to the point where he's scared away most of her previous boyfriends. Or injured them.

** To be clear, the reason stairs were an obstacle is because his bad knees can't really bend anymore.

* [[Big Ol' Eyebrows]]: Rocky, to the point where when the speakeasy is being attacked by the pig farmers, they know him as "The one with the eyebrows."

* [[Bilingual Bonus]]: ''[http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=30 KUS VOLA! ZABIJEM T'A!]''

** ''Especially'' Freckle.

** Though we've yet to see Lacy mixed up in any wrongdoings, time will only tell if this remains the case.

* [[Blah Blah Blah]]: [http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/comic.php?comicid=10 Noise noise noise].

* [[Butt Monkey]]: Oh, Rocky, so much it borders on [[The Chew Toy|chew toy territory]], though you couldn't tell by looking at [[The Pollyanna|him]]. If you were to make a list of all the people who have hit him, and all who haven't, you would find it to be about even.

* [[Can't Hold His Liquor]]: Mordecai, apparently.

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Zib.

** Mordecai has shades of this in addition to a heaping helping of [[Comedic Sociopathy]].

** Tracy Butler herself is one; her artist comments and answers to reader questions are filled with snarks to rival Zib's.

* [[Death Glare]]: [http://lackadaisycats.com/comic.php?comicid=86 VIKTOR used GLARE BEAM!] [[Pokémon|it's SUPER EFFECTIVE!]]

* [[Defictionalization]]: The club-shaped pin, in a case of [[The Red Stapler]].

* [[Deliberately Monochrome|Deliberately Sepiatoned]]: part of the comic's charm.

* [[Did Not Do the Research]]: So heavily [[Averted Trope|averted]] that's it's astounding to see the extent to which the author has [[Shown Their Work|shown their work.]]

** A very good example is [http://lackadaisycats.com/comic.php?comicid=85 this] comic. Where Tracy actually mentions in the footnotes that the radio isn't correct for the time period. Not only does she mention what kind of radio it should be, but also notes the year it was produced, the manufacturers, and adding that she felt bad for not using an accurate radio. All of this for an item which has no bearing on the plot.

* [[Dirty Cop]]: The two who picked up Zib took his money that he had just gotten from Mitzi, and joke about using it to gamble at the next horse race in front of him.

** They get called on this by Dom Drago, though. {{spoiler|Not that his showing up portends good things in the future for Zib and the rest of our merry band...}}

* [[Dramatic Necklace Removal]]: Kinda. Zib grabs Mitzi's pearl necklace. When she pulls away, the necklace breaks and the pearls go everywhere. He didn't do it on purpose, however.

* [[Early-Bird Cameo]]: Wick and Mordecai both appear during the flashback in strip 2 of the comic. They join the cast proper in strips 25 and 27, respectively.

** Asa Sweet has a ''very'' early cameo as well. He isn't formally introduced until about 3/4s of the way through the first volume, but if you look close you can see him in the crowd attending Atlas May's funeral.

* [[Estrogen Brigade Bait]]: Zib seems to be turning into quite the competition for Mordecai over the title of Fan Darling.

* [[Evil Cannot Comprehend Good]]: Mordecai just can't understand sentimental types like [[Heroic Sociopath|Viktor Vasko]].

'''Mordecai''' "...No one who counts." }}

* [[Eyepatch of Power]]

 

 

== F-J ==

* [[Face Heel Turn]]: A pre-story one by Mordecai.

* [[Fed to Pigs]]: One of the uses of the pig farm...

* [[Femme Fatale]]: Mitzi, if you don't think she's [[The Vamp]].

* [[Four Eyes, Zero Soul]]: Mordecai.

* [[Four-Fingered Hands]]: Justified, since they're all cats.

* [[Funny Animal]]: Everyone, but quite a few feline expressions are used.

* [[Furries Are Easier to Draw]]: Why the cast are felines, [[Word of God|according to Tracy]].

** Word of God is that she thought cartoony cat faces were more expressive. She may have a point as when she draws the cast as humans, she shows an inclination to do so with stunning realism.

*** Proof the cat faces are more expressive? Check out [http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=333 "Lackadaisy Expressions"] - Tracy's attempt to deliver advice on drawing a multitude of facial expressions, filled with examples utilizing a number of the strip's characters. The range of expressions and emotions is absolutely astounding.

* [[Furry Confusion]]: Talking cats and real pigs.

** [http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=347 "Pets? Who said there were pets?] [[Suspiciously Specific Denial|No one knows anything about any pets."]]

* [[Heel Face Turn]]: Zib seems to make one, wanting out of the crime business and starting a clean life. Of course since the main characters are criminals a heel face turn is essentially a face heel turn to us.

* [[Heroic BSOD]]: Freckle gets a little... ''out of sorts'' after the incident with the pig rustlers.

* [[Huge Guy, Tiny Girl]]: Viktor and Ivy, respectively.

** Also Nicodeme and Serafine.

* [[Humanoid Female Animal]]: The female cats have human-like head hair, and the males do not.

** Males ''do'' have hints of hair, and [[Fridge Brilliance]] can tell that short hair for men was the standard back then.

*** Though that does depend on how seriously you take the characters' human depictions - the boys have hair of varying lengths in [http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=328 this] picture, for example.

** Appropriate enough for a BAR.

* [[I Can't Believe It's Not Heroin!]]: [http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=351 This] is what you get when you mix little Rocky with pancakes.

* [[Improvised Weapon]]: Viktor, [[Badass|naturally]], is the undisputed champion of this trope in the comic. He's knocked out someone with a car door, whacked people with heavy whisky bottles, and laid the smackdown on a rival gang with only a crowbar, for starters.

** Mordecai comes in a close second - he's thought quickly enough to kill someone with a fragmented wood bannister.

* [[Indy Ploy]]: "''Always'' be prepared to improvise, Freckle. That's rule number one for jazz players and vigilantes alike."

* [[Iron Butt Monkey]]: Rocky, see [[Butt Monkey]] above. For all the hits he takes, he cleans up pretty well.

== K-O ==

* [[Keet]]: Rocky oh so very much.

* [[Kneecapping]]: Mordecai did this to Viktor in the recent past.

* [[Kubrick Stare]]: Considering that this is a cast ''full'' of sociopaths, [[Sociopathic Hero|heroic]], [[Heroic Comedic Sociopath|comedic]], or emphatically ''neither,'' just about everyone gets a panel like this. [http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/comic.php?comicid=83 Even Ivy].

* [[Large Ham]]: Part and parcel of Rocky's shtick, to the point that no one can really tell when he's putting it on for his own esoteric amusement and when he's being genuine.

* [[Laughing Mad]]: Rocky has a penchant for this... [http://www.lackadaisycats.com/comic.php?comicid=49 Calvin] has also certainly picked up on it.

'''Mitzi:''' [[Casual Danger Dialogue|"He has your laugh."]] }}

* [[Mature Animal Story]]

* [[Moe Couplet]]: [[Huge Guy, Tiny Girl|Viktor and Ivy]], [[Morality Pet|whose relationship is not romantic]] but defintely cute. [http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=337 Discussed and practically lampshaded here], especially in the last panel.

* [[My Beloved Smother]]: Nina is one of these toward Freckle, the Catholic version.

* [[Neat Freak]]: [http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=92 Mordecai].

* [[Noodle Incident]]: Used in a couple of [http://tracyjb.deviantart.com/art/Lackadaisy-Chit-chat-59123905 gag] [http://tracyjb.deviantart.com/art/Lackadaisy-Euphemisms-139975448 comics].

** Though the one about Viktor's eye has been answered, if you look [http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=76 on the lower right here].

* [[Oireland]]: Aunt Nina

* [[Old-Fashioned Rowboat Date]]: Mitzi and Wick had one... sort of. And by 1920s standards, it was quite old-fashioned.

 

 

== P-T ==

* [[Pass the Popcorn]]: What one young cat does after Mitzi and Wick [http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/comic.php?comicid=82 spill out of a photo booth] due to an impromptu make-out session.

* [[Progressively Prettier]]: Thanks to [[Art Evolution]], Zib has gotten a lot more handsome looking while Viktor has beefed up considerably.

* [[Psycho for Hire]]: Rocky and Calvin.

* [[Reflective Eyes|Reflective Eye]]: Viktor's remaining eye does this when he turns on his [[Death Glare]] upon meeting Calvin.

* [[Retired Badass]]: Not quite retired, but Viktor's got [[Handicapped Badass|only one eye and bad knees]] and his official job is as bartender. He can still hold his own in a fight.

* [[The Roaring Twenties]]: Of course.

* [[Rule of Cool]]: The artist has a penchant for drawing Wick dramatically brandishing a revolver, like, all the time. She admits that he would have no idea how to use one, but it makes him look debonair. The same happens to Rocky, who, in an attempt to look "pretty dashing" [http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=19 in one of the early comic previews], promptly manages to shoot part of his ear off.

** Also, cast members wearing zoot suits, despite those being slightly anachronistic.

* [[Rule of Three]]: In "[http://www.lackadaisycats.com/comic.php?comicid=94 Lackadaisy Correspondence]:"

'''Freckle''' (third horizontal panel): *cringe* }}

* [[Scrapbook Story]]: Freckle has kept every letter his cousin has ever sent him-even the very few we're shown on [http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/comic.php?comicid=94 this page] paint a very descriptive picture of what Rocky's been up to since he left home (and explains a few things about his shenanigans as an employee of the Lackadaisy speakeasy).

* [[Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness]]: Rocky and [http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=215 Mordecai].

* [[Ship Tease]]: The artist made a few pages addressed to fans discussing the characters reactions to shippers. Specifically [http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=337 Ivy and Viktor] and [http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=338 Viktor and Mordecai].

* [[Shirtless Scene]]: Any time any of the men take off their shirt to reveal their sleeveless undershirts, they gain +5 sex appeal.

** The only way you can find a historical inaccuracy is if the author draws attention to it specifically. It then turns out to be very, very minor.

** Seriously, look at literally ''anything'' in the comic and try to see something that didn't look like lots of thought and knowledge was put into it.

* [[Small Girl, Big Gun]]: Ivy is in her school's Woman's Rifle Team.

** Serafine also counts for this considering her rifle is actually important enough to be named by her.

* [[Stop Helping Me!]]: [http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/comic.php?comicid=46 Rocky's face] when Freckle explains why the pig farmers are trashing the club.

* [[Take That]]: [http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=333 The expressions tutorial] would dissuade aspiring artists from relying on [[Dull Surprise]], [[Animesque|anime cues]], and "Dreamworks face" as regular crutches.

** [http://tracyjb.deviantart.com/#/d422uo7 Her new guide] on drawing shows a dislike to a [[Rob Liefeld|certain artist.]]

* [[Tertiary Sexual Characteristics]]: The female characters are drawn with humanoid, styled hair, but the male's fur is consistently the same length, like real cats.

** Not necessarily true, see [[Humanoid Female Animal]] above.

* [[Those Two Guys]]: Rocky and Freckle.

* [[Throwing Your Sword Always Works|Throwing Your Gun Always Works]]: [http://www.lackadaisycats.com/comic.php?comicid=56 Zib demonstrates]. Though it ''was'' established beforehand that he's quite inexperienced with firearms.

** Given that the pistol in question was a .25 caliber Beretta (and his total lack of gun-kata), Zib could probably do nearly as much damage by throwing it rather than firing it. Freckle, on the other hand...

** Sandwiches play a part in there somewhere, too.

** {{spoiler|1=Unless they have some... [http://lackadaisycats.com/comic.php?comicid=89 unfortunate] [http://lackadaisycats.com/comic.php?comicid=90 ingredients]}}.

 

 

== U-Z ==

* [[Unfortunate Names]]: Honestly, why would someone as Irish Catholic as Nina name her son ''[[wikipedia:Calvinism|Calvin]]''?

** Calvin is named after one of the author's cats. Not an in-story explanation, but still...

** Perhaps there is nothing quite like an unfortunate name to instill some good ol' Catholic guilt....

* [[The Un-Reveal]]: Rocky and Zib's conversation in [http://www.lackadaisycats.com/comic.php?comicid=30 Hallelujah: ]

'''Zib:''' Alright. [[Deadpan Snarker|I'm glad we]] [[Sarcasm Mode|settled that.]] }}

* [[The Vamp]]: Mitzi has qualities of this, especially when she's with Wick.

* [[Vitriolic Best Buds]]: The former dynamic duo of Viktor and Mordecai; while not exactly 'best buds', both had a tentative respect for each other's existence. Considering the kind of people [[Sociopathic Hero|Viktor]] and [[Four Eyes, Zero Soul|Mordecai]] are, a vague kinda-you-sorta respect is probably the closest thing to 'friendship' either one is capable of.

** The two actually spent time together out of work, if [http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=327 this mini-comic] can be trusted.

* [[Weaksauce Weakness]]: Viktor, badass, has extreme, near-crippling difficulty with stairs.

* [[Webcomic Time]]: The comic started some four years ago. Since then, ''two days'' have passed in-story. This is due in large part to how much work goes into the comic, plus some [[Schedule Slip]] now and then.

* [[World of Funny Animals]]

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Furry Webcomics]]

[[Category:Historical Webcomics]]