Bug (webcomic)

Made you laugh? Well that's just the first panel.

(For other uses of the term "Bug", click here)

Bug is a gag-per-day humorous webcomic written by Adam Huber, started on October 19, 2009. Bug features caricatures of cockroaches as its characters and uses those character to poke fun at a wide array of subjects. The comic touches on a wide variety of comedic material, with little pattern as to what Huber will lampoon. The comics themselves rarely have a set punchline, often instead having a joke in each panel, thus providing multiple laughs per strip. (See "Pizza Delivery" for a good example).

Update: Every weekday at midnight sharp.

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Tropes used by this webcomic:

• Zero-Percent Approval Rating: This comic gives that page its picture.
• AI Is a Crapshoot:
  • And abusive.
  • And it will judge you for the porn you look at.
  • And will call you a failure at life.
• All Men Are Perverts / All Women Are Lustful: When it comes to space travel, all anyone cares about is whether the astronauts have sex in space.
• Amnesia Danger: Subverted.
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking:
  • Things you should never say when you're on a date with a girl:

You look just like my ex-girlfriend, except you're fatter and not as pretty. What's up with your outfit? It's like you were dressed by deranged gypsies. I like comic books.

• • Also the magazines bug receives subscription offers for after he kills someone.

No, I do NOT want to subscribe to "Murderer Monthly", "Killin' Quarterly", or "Maxim".

• Art Evolution: Bugs became noticeably thinner, and their eyes are now much more expressive and less like blank white dots. The Bug makes a comparison.
• Batman Gambit: A young bug used to instigate his friends into risky behavior so he could live vicariously through them.
• Black Comedy: Done oh so well here and here.
• Blatant Lies: Skipping isn't gay.
• Blessed with Suck: "A time machine is the worst gift you could receive."
• Brain Bleach: "Hm... maybe I can destroy this memory by drinking turpentine."
• Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick:
  • Thing's the bug would like to do before he dies: use a pun while beating up a bad guy, be a contestant of Jeopardy and give immature answers, and visit/attack France.
  • When considering the consequences of killing someone, the bug considers the obvious worst one last.
• Buried Alive: A sign you may be getting older. (A rare case where it's Played for Laughs.)
• Cassandra Truth: "Son, there's no such thing as zombies..."
• Child-Hater: Bug seems to be one, though he may be just brutally honest. Of course, he is more than willing to trade a child for a working web server.
• Cool Chair: The lack of one is the reason the bug could never be a super villain.
• Cursed with Awesome:
  • Getting your hands cut off can be more handy than you think.
  • Being short has no shortage of advantages.
• Cut His Heart Out with a Spoon: Many are displayed in Discontinued Methods of Execution.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Bug loves this trope.
  • "Stupid slow driver. Hope you get cancer."
  • "God? Billy called me: "booger breath" today. Please give him cancer."
  • This would also happen if the bug were Magneto.
  • "Wow. I never thought an argument about wheat thins would end like this."
• Dress Code: Variations on casual friday.
• Driven to Suicide: By his website going down.
• Emo Teen: Even worse when they become a zombie.
• Enhance Button: Lampshaded here.
• Every Car Is a Pinto: Invoked here.

"Stupid kitten!"

• Extreme Omni Goat: Though the goat doesn't eat anything, goats' propensity for eating anything is used in this comic.
• "Falling in Love" Montage: Deconstructed.
• Fan Hater: In-Universe example. The bug's Grinch persona is one.
• Five Stages of Grief: Inverted in "The Five Stages of Joy".
• Fridge Horror: "Birthdays just celebrate the fact that you're not dead yet."
• Genghis Gambit: What the UN should be doing.
• Good Angel, Bad Angel: Want vs. need.
• Good Flaws, Bad Flaws: Is it possible to have indifferent flaws?
• Gratuitous French: Au contraire!
• Growing Up Sucks:
  • Subverted; adulthood isn't all that different from childhood.
  • Yet played straight in "How to become an adult in three easy steps".
• Guns Akimbo: Invoked here.

"Ack! What amazing peripheral vision!"

• Hulk Speak: A prominent feature in Zombie Week.

"Zombie smash cheap aluminum siding!" "Zombie give compliments to chef." "Zombie gonna bring the pain!" "Zombie think you guys are jerks." "Zombie really identify with characters in "Twilight". "Zombies have song and dance number planned for finale..."

• Humble Hero: "You didn't buy any condoms?" "I didn't want to appear presumptuous."
• Hypocritical Humor

Man in a wheelchair: "Move it, cripple."

• I Got a Rock: A newborn, a detonator, or a pencil; take your pick
• I Just Want to Be Special: The probable reason people who receive just the right amount of tanning are never happy with their tan.
• I Want My Jetpack: Justifiably subverted.
• Insistent Terminology: "We prefer to be called: "criminally challenged."
• Incredibly Lame Pun: "Surfs up, pal!"
• Insurmountable Waist-Height Fence: "I can go no further."
• It's a Wonderful Plot: One of the bug's irrational fears.
• Jerkass: Reconstructed.
• Jumping on a Grenade: A proof of love, as long as it's not you doing it.
• Jumping the Shark: In-Universe. Signs your life has jumped the shark...
• Jurisdiction Friction: Played for laughs.
• Kill It with Fire: Sacre bleu!
• Last Stand: Deconstructed.
• Like Brother and Sister: Turns out guys don't like hearing that.
• Like You Were Dying: Examined
• Logic Bomb: Turns out a logic bomb won't save you during a robot apocalypse.
• Love Martyr: Deconstructed.
• Made of Explodium: One action movie cliché the author could do without.
• Medium Awareness:
  • "The narrator is really souring me to this experience."
  • "I really wish I could give you my kidney." "No you don't. Dude, I can read your narration up there."
• Meta Guy: "Whose talking goat is this?"
• Metaphor Is My Middle Name: "My middle name is "cautionary discretion".
• Murder-Suicide: Played for laughs when the bug exacts revenge on his web server by doing this.
• Mutants: Deconstructed.
• Never Live It Down: In-universe example.
• Never Speak Ill of the Dead: Discussed; the bug thinks it's time we start speaking ill of the dead.
• No Accounting for Taste: The "Beyond Thunderdome" type of relationship.
• On One Condition: Deconstructed.
• Our Zombies Are Different:
  • They are Thanksgiving zombies.
  • Apparently zombies can be created by voodoo, science, or watching a full episode of Two and A Half Men.
• Percussive Maintenance: *tap tap* "There. That do anything on your end?" "No."
• Prayer of Malice: This comic is supposedly a message from God, asking people to stop doing this.
• Press-Ganged: This comic discusses reasons not to worry about it.
• Rapid-Fire Comedy: Not used as frequently in the earlier comics, but the later comics tend to feature a joke in each panel.
• Red Baron: Subverted.

My middle name is "danger"! My middle name is "cautionary discretion".

• Refuge in Vulgarity: "Hey, check it out. 7 girls 5 cups."
• Rousing Speech: Kinda.
• Rule of Three: The latter comics tend to have one panel of set-up, followed by three more panels, each with a mini joke within them. "Random Thoughts" is a good example of this trope in action.
• Sadist Teacher: "I hate happiness." She gets her comeuppance, though.
• Set Right What Once Went Wrong:
  • Actually, you risk doing just the opposite.
  • This is also one way to end a relationship.
• Silly Rabbit, Romance Is for Kids: The bug believes in this trope.
• Sitting Sexy on a Piano: Spoofed in "Piano Lesson".
• Slapstick: Examined; the more you know the victim, the funnier it is.
• Smoke Out: One way to end a relationship.
• Stock Aesops: The reason the bug could never exist in a television show with corny platitudes.
• Subverted Kids Book: Children's books for children you don't like...
• Take Over the World: Deconstructed.
• Take That: The bug seams to really dislike Michael Bay.
  • Also, watching a full episode of Two and A Half Men can turn you into a zombie.
• Thanks for the Mammary: "Must you hold my breasts when we talk?" "Must you tempt me with your grabbable boobs?"
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill:
  • The way the bug wishes he could clean his bathroom.
  • Also what a younger the bug wished would happen to his church.

"What are you drawing, my son?" "Our church being destroyed by three Godzillas."

• Third Person Person: [1]

"Funky don't lay low... nor does Funky speak in first person."

• Unflinching Walk: Another action movie cliché the author could do without.
• Uranus Is Showing: "I claim this planet for Urunas." "ugh... hehe, anus..."
• Wacky Marriage Proposal: Less popular methods of proposing marriage...
• What Does She See in Him?: Deconstructed.
• Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: The reason we need the stupid baby name police.
• Zombie Gait: "Quick! Everyone saunter away!"