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Broken Lines: An Illustrated Novel.
—Page Title
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Broken Lines is a hybrid of prose, spot illustration, and comic art by Tom Pappalardo. It is a comedy/non-adventure story about a cowboy, a spaceman, and a waitress travelling cross-country fighting evil in a stolen rental van. Pappalardo has been publishing the story a few chapters at a time in 8"x8" black & white comic book format since 2007, and online since 2010. Pappalardo is also the author of The Optimist, a weekly comic strip.
Tropes used in Broken Lines include:
- Amusing Injuries
- Beat Panel - An often-used device in the comic, as seen here,
- Bland-Name Product
- Character Overlap
- Comic Book Time - The timeline of events in the story are left intentionally vague.
- Deadpan Snarker
- Death Glare
- Double Entendre
- Eyes Always Shut - Cowboy is almost always scowling.
- Face Palm
- Four-Fingered Hands
- Homage - Scenes from several movies are referenced, quotes and reenacted throughout the story: Blade Runner, Magnificent Seven.
- Law of Disproportionate Response
- Lazy Artist - Artwork is often re-used with slight tweaks, for example, two panels on this page followed by this page. Or this series of pages: 1, 2, and 3
- Rubber Hose Limbs
- Self-Deprecation - The entirety of Chapter Seven.
- Series Hiatus - Broken Lines is published somewhat sporadically both in print and online.
- Strip Buffer - Pages currently being published online were originally published in print approximately three years earlier.
- Take That
- Unsound Effect - STRETCH, SIT!, and CENSURE!
- Unwanted Glasses Plot - Chapter Seven involves an unfortunate pair of eyewear.
- Vitriolic Best Buds - The cowboy and the spaceman are an ill-suited match for close-quarters travel.
- With Friends Like These...