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PS238: Difference between revisions
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'''''[http://ps238.nodwick.com/ PS238]''''' is a comic book series about the eponymous first public school for metaprodigies -- [[Differently-Powered Individual|super-children, in other words]]. That is, if you can call a top-secret underground school "public".
Created by Aaron Williams, who is also known as the maker of ''[[
Basically concerned with the general, superpowered going-ons of a school filled with superpowered children (most of whom are the children of [[Lawyer-Friendly Cameo|Lawyer Friendly Cameos]] of various well-known [[Marvel Universe|Marvel]] and [[The DCU|DC]] heroes), ''PS238'' follows a small core cast of about ten to twelve kids, with plenty more who make cameos. The closest thing the series has to a protagonist is Tyler Marlocke, the notably only non-superpowered student on campus.
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Needless to say, the series thrives on [[Superhero]]-related tropes, and indeed, tropes in general. Several characters are openly [[Genre Savvy]], including Tyler at times -- though he would probably prefer if those tropes ''weren't'' there.
Originally a print comic, Aaron has followed the example of [[Girl Genius
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=== ''PS238'' provides examples of the following tropes: ===
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** The longcoat becomes [[Badass]] unto itself as well as making Cecil [[Badass]]
* [[Badass Normal]]
** The Revenant, Tyler's mentor (who bears a [[Captain Ersatz|striking resemblance]] to [[
** Tyler himself can be considered a [[Badass Normal]] in training. (A time-travel storyline offers a glimpse of his adult self in which he's Revenant's partner.)
* [[Bad Bad Acting]]: When Zodon sarcastically "acts" to keep up the illusion of being a normal child: "Oh, ow, ow, ow. My innards. I fear I shall never recover." Cue [[Face Palm]] from Ms. Kyle.
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* [[Beehive Barrier]]: When {{spoiler|Aurora's "ghost"}} attacks Ambriel, her [[Deflector Shield]] is briefly visible as a geodesic crystalline dome.
* [[Berserk Button]]: [http://nodwick.humor.gamespy.com/ps238/comics/index.php?date=2011-04-20 Don't rip Julie Finsters' cape].
* [[Blessed
* [[Bungling Inventor]]: Angie. In a variation, her gadgets all work, but they're ''too powerful''. [[Tim Taylor Technology]] is her [[Planet of Hats|Hat]].
* [[Butt Monkey]]
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** Tyler has moments of this as well, but in his case, it's more to [[Training From Hell|toughen him up]].
* [[Cape Wings]]: Cecil
* [[Captain Ersatz]]: ''PS238'' is ''made out of'' this trope. Two of the more outstanding examples are [[Superman
* [[Casual Danger Dialogue]]: The Revenant is perfectly able to take calls while in the middle of fighting bad guys, and has been known to ''make'' them as well.
* [[The Chessmaster]]
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* [[The Corps Is Mother]]: Averted, as PS238 is just a superhero-flavoured school and is, if anything, ''less'' sinister than the regular kind. {{spoiler|Praetorian Academy, meanwhile, is not an aversion.}}
* [[Crazy Prepared]]: The Revenant. He has a box under the seat in his jet just in case he suddenly needs to go into space.
* [[Crimefighting
{{quote| '''The Revenant:''' I sometimes think access to cash is the greatest superpower of all.}}
* [[Crossover]]: In issue 39 it was revealed that the events of ''[[
* [[Cut Lex Luthor a Check]]: The Crystal Skull, an ex-supervillain, has since turned his intellect to taking money from people legally, and runs one of the higher-class casinos in Las Vegas.
* [[Daddy's Little Villain]]: {{spoiler|Alexandria von Fogg, Victor's sister and a student at the Praetorian Academy.}}
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* [[Genre Savvy]]: Many of the heroes and the villains. One even notes at one point that he '''has''' read the [[Evil Overlord List]].
* [[Geometric Magic]]: {{spoiler|Alec, who ends up being able to do magic with scribbled runes after some exposure to Malphast.}}
* [[Grappling Hook Pistol]]: Tyler's still getting the hang of it. [[Hilarity Ensues]]. Interestingly, it's about the size of the ''[[
* [[Guardian Entity]]: Ambriel's power.
* [[Harmless Villain]]: Zodon. He ''would'' count as [[Not So Harmless]] as he has both a will and potential to cause a lot of carnage, but [[Butt Monkey|events usually conspire]] to keep his malicious acts in check. Victor Von Fogg probably counts for this as well.
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* [[Implied Love Interest]]: Julie "84" Fenster to Tyler. Though, as both of them are eleven, it's more like "implied childhood crush".
* [[Instrument of Murder]]: Captain Clarinet's clarinet.
* [[Intercontinuity Crossover]]: Sort of -- the Revenant was created by [[Michael Stackpole]] for the [[Tabletop Game]] ''[[
* [[Is This Thing Still On?]]: Doctor Von Fogg's pre-recorded gloating in issue #10.
* [[Jerkass]]
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* [[Landslide Election]]: Tyler becomes Class President in one of these, despite the fact that he wasn't running. This is because nobody in the class liked either of the actual candidates, so they voted for him as a write-in candidate.
* [[Laughably Evil]]: Zodon and Von Fogg again.
* [[Leaning
{{quote| '''[[Wil Wheaton]]:''' ...and I'm even writing a story for a comic book about a character I played on television. Neat, huh?}}
* [[Little Professor Dialogue]]: From [[Gadgeteer Genius]] kids, supernatural kids, and [[Patriotic Fervor|politically backed]] kids.
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** {{spoiler|Cranston's headband}} is also supposed to be one of these, but it doesn't work completely -- he can still lift pens and push buttons while wearing it. (Telekinetically, that is -- his hands work just fine either way.)
* [[Powers Via Possession]]: Satori
* [[Psychic Static]]: The Revenant is fond of using [[
* [[Remote Body]]: Toby was originally one for Tyler.
* [[Restraining Bolt]]
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* [[Serious Business]]: Foursquare.
* [[Shout-Out]]: Apart from all the superhero homages, there are also homages to non-superhero comics, including:
** Zodon's human disguise makes him look like a character from ''[[
** The time-traveller Tom Davidson is named after two of the stars of ''[[Doctor Who]]'' (and the cover art for issue #12, in which Tom features heavily, includes a homage to one of the old ''Doctor Who'' title logos).
** In another issue, Murphy quotes Leela in "The Robots of Death".
** One humorous two-panel joke has the Revenant decrypting the names "Wayne, B" and "Grayson, D".
** [[Phil Foglio]] and his family appear as supervillains. He gets another [[Shout-Out]] when Zodon gets his hands on a [[Girl Genius
** Revenant's Alfred [[Captain Ersatz|Ersatz]] is named Cranston, most likely a reference to Lamont Cranston, a.k.a. [[
** {{spoiler|Toby being simultaneously bossed about by order and chaos}} is represented by him as [[Star Trek:
** Bernard has a [[PvP (
** Spell Syrin tells off her magic students for trying to start a [[Harry Potter (Franchise)|Quidditch]] game.
** Tyler uses the [[
** Tyler finds himself in a ''[[
** When Alec's drawing causes the Headmaster's computer to crash, it begins to sing [[2001: A Space Odyssey
* [[Shrouded in Myth]]: {{spoiler|Moon Shadow}} gains a near-mythical reputation amongst the PS238 students.
* [[The Slow Path]]: Zodon takes it to get back to the present day from ~10,000 years ago, [[Human Popsicle]] style.
* [[Special Guest]]: In a very bizarre but hilarious situation, [[Wil Wheaton]] guest stars in the comic about superpower career day, as the representative of meta-humans who go into the Entertainment industry. In the ''PS238'' universe, he not only played Wesley but single-handedly used his psychokinetic superpowers to do most of the special effects for ''[[Star Trek:
* [[Stage Mom]]: Tyler's parents are utterly convinced they can micromanage their son into becoming the World's Greatest Super Hero (when they aren't [[Parental Obliviousness|ignoring him]]).
{{quote| "To even ''think'' otherwise is to defy the ''will'' of the ''Universe''."}}
* [[Stranger in
* [[Suddenly Fluent in Gibberish]]: Angie can somehow understand what Prospero is saying. Nobody knows how.
* [[Super-Hero School]]: Naturally, [[Captain Obvious|the eponymous school]].
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* [[Transforming Mecha]]: Prospero's spaceship.
* [[Turbine Blender]]: Captain Clarinet is afraid of this happening to him if he flies. That is, until Zodon points out that ''he'd'' be the one blending the turbines. (It doesn't make him feel better, mostly because Zodon goes on to describe what happens to the people on the plane.)
* [[Unusual Euphemism]] (mixed with [[Tongue-Tied]]): Whenever Zodon tries to cuss, the chip in his head causes him to say a random innocuous word instead. If he goes on a [[Cluster F-Bomb|rant-length obscenity crawl]], it switches into "Showtunes Mode"... "[[Oklahoma]]", for example. Or "[[Man of La Mancha]]"... Or "[[
{{quote| '''Zodon:''' I'm going '''{{smallcaps|caroling}}''' ape'''{{smallcaps|beans}}'''!}}
* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]: The Rainmaker
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** Murphy straddles the line between this and [[Cloudcuckoolander]].
* [[Wrench Wench]]: Angie
* [[X Meets Y]]: As mentioned in the description, this has been described as "Take the kids from [[The Simpsons (
* [[Your Head Asplode]]: {{spoiler|Tyler's clone has a bomb inside the control device that lets Tyler uplink with it. Victor's immediate response to hearing that the clone is no longer needed is to trigger it -- [[Subverted Trope|fortunately the device was outside the clone's head at the time.]]}}
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