Les Innommables
Les Innommables is a French-Belgian comic book series by Yann Le Pelletier and Didier Conrad. It tells the adventures of a trio of deserters from the US Army, McButtle a.k.a. Mac, Tony and Tim, who wander throughout post-WW 2 Asia, looking for a quick buck and for Mac's one true love, a Chinese girl named Alix Yin Fu. The latter is a fanatically committed agent of the Chinese Communist Party and goes through numerous adventures in her own Spin-Off series, Tigresse Blanche.
Tropes used in Les Innommables include:
- Alternate Continuity: After the publication of the third album was cancelled, the series was suspended for a while and then started over with various retconned elements.
- Anti-Hero: Three of them. Mostly, they're the good guys because everyone else is worse.
- Ascended Extra: Alix.
- Asian Baby Mama: Alix bore Mac's child while they were estranged, and he only finds out a few years later. In an interesting twist, Alix's brainwashing results in partial amnesia, and she herself forgets about her daughter.
- Band of Brothels: While in Hong Kong, Mac bought himself a brothel.
- Black and Gray Morality
- Black Comedy
- Boisterous Bruiser: Mac.
- Brother-Sister Incest: Basil and Sybil Jardine are incestuous siblings.
- The Chew Toy: Lt. Damage.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Basil Jardine, of Jardine & Matheson.
- Dark Action Girl: Alix.
- Deadpan Snarker: Tony. Snarking is pretty much all he does.
- Death by Sex: Sybil with a Fat Bastard.
- Decoy Protagonist: The first two panels of "Matricule Triple Zero", the first album, depict the character who was ostensibly going to be the real hero of the series, a USAAF pilot with rugged good looks inspired by Buck Danny. And then he gets unceremoniously run over by a Jeep and is never seen again.
- Disposable Sex Worker: Roseau Fleuri and most of the employees of the Crimson Lotus.
- Dragon Lady: Alix is a ruthless secret agent, highly trained in martial arts and assassination.
- Executive Meddling: The publication by instalments of the third album was abruptly cancelled by the weekly Spirou because it was considered too mature for the young readership of the magazine.
- Government Conspiracy: While trying to get a private detective agency started, the Innommables get involved in a FBI conspiracy to assassinate the governor of New York State.
- Hammerspace: Lampshaded with Tim's baseball bat. The other characters wonder how it's possible for him to always have it at hand, even when he hasn't taken it with him.
- Historical Domain Character: Marilyn Monroe and a few other figures from 1950s American history. The Song sisters also appear in the spin-off series.
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Roseau Fleuri.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Mac
- The Korean War: The characters see it from up close.
- Me Love You Long Time: Mac and Alix, the Official Couple of the series.
- Mind Control Eyes: Alix had Blank White Eyes while under the telepathic influence of a psychic.
- Multiple Endings: The episode "Alix-Noni-Tengu" has two different possible endings, a happy one and a downer one.
- The Napoleon: General McErnest.
- Papa Wolf: Mac
- Pirate Girl: The three characters are at one point abducted by Pirates led by a female captain. She gets a crush on Tim and has Mac and Tony thrown overboard.
- Psycho for Hire: Colonel Lychee, who really enjoys his work.
- Shoot the Shaggy Dog: Happens with regularity.
- Shorttank: Claire, a former street urchin that the Innommables have taken in.
- Shout-Out: in Alix's spin off series, she's partnered with a Chinese guy named Eh-Nak.
- The Slacker: All three started out as complete slackers, but while Mac and Tim shaped up to some extent, Tony has remained one.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Very, very far down the cynical end.
- Smug Snake: Basil and Sybil Jardine.
- Stout Strength: Mac.
- Invisible to Gaydar: Tony, in the rebooted version.
- Suddenly Sexuality: Tony was initially assumed to be heterosexual, and in fact behaved as a bit of a Casanova. But in the rebooted version he turned out to be gay.
- Tsundere: Alix.
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Mac and Alix, though they aren't technically married.
- Weapon of Choice: Tim is constantly toting a baseball bat, which he uses to painful effect against adversaries.
- Your Tomcat Is Pregnant: Happened with Raoul, the trio's pet pot-bellied pig, who turned out to be female.